Claiming Sarah (Ace Security #5)(19)

She couldn’t help but huff out a breath. “See? This is weird.”

“Nope. This is what people who are dating do. This is our first date. We ate food together, I met your parents, we got to know each other a little better, and in a few minutes, when I take off, I’m gonna promise to call, and you’ll blush and say you’d like that, and I’ll text when I get back to the gym just so you don’t worry.”

“What if I don’t want to date you?” Sarah asked, trying to keep a straight face.

Instead of laughing, Cole leaned down until his nose almost touched hers. “You do. You couldn’t keep your eyes off me while I mowed your grass. I saw you peeking out from behind the curtain. Then you went out of your way to make me something to eat instead of thanking me on your doorstep and sending me away. You showed me your dad’s room and the place you feel closest to him. You didn’t protest when I said I was gonna have my friends look into your case. You want to date me, angel. Almost as much as I want to date you.”

She didn’t say anything, simply looked at him.

He straightened and brought a hand up, running his pinky finger down the bridge of her nose. “You gonna be okay the rest of the day?”

“Yeah.”

“You gonna be able to come to Castle Rock tomorrow and meet with the guys at Ace Security?”

Sarah nodded.

“Good. Can you make a list of the gifts and letters that you remember receiving from Owen, and the approximate dates you received them?”

She frowned up at him. Before she could speak, he said, “I know it’ll be hard to remember exact dates, but it’s important so Logan and the others can get a full picture of what they’re dealing with.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but once more, he talked over her. “You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about either, angel. Everyone knows that you didn’t ask for this guy’s attention. So don’t worry about that.”

She waited a beat when he stopped speaking.

“What?” he asked.

“Are you done?”

He grinned. “Yeah.”

“Good. What I was going to say is that it won’t be a problem. I took a picture of every single thing he sent me, the day he sent it. I even have it cataloged on my laptop.”

Cole gaped at her. “You do?”

“Yeah. I figured that if I ever disappeared one day or my body turned up mutilated and dead, that maybe the police would look at my computer files and find it, and if it was Owen who did something to me, they’d be able to use all my notes to make their case.”

“You took pictures?”

“Yeah.” Sarah nodded. “Is that odd?”

“No! It’s awesome. Holy shit, that’s going to make Logan’s day.”

Sarah’s lips quirked up. “Do you have his email? I can mail the file to him today.”

“Send it to me,” Cole ordered. “I’ll pass it along.”

For the first time, Sarah hesitated.

“What’s wrong?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I just . . . I’m not sure I want you seeing all the evidence.”

“Why?”

“Because. It just seems . . . weird or something.”

“I thought we’ve been over what is and isn’t weird.”

“Okay—I don’t want you to lose your shit,” Sarah said bluntly. “I want you to like me.”

“And you’re afraid if I see the love letters this Owen guy has sent that I won’t like you anymore?”

It sounded silly when he said it out loud, but Sarah nodded anyway.

Cole took her face in his hands and tilted her head up. “Nothing that jizzjockey says will change the way I feel about you, angel. Got it?”

She nodded.

“Good. Now I’m gonna go before I say anything else that will freak you out. I’ll text you when I get to work. Send me the file you’ve got on the gifts and letters he’s sent, and I’ll get it to Logan. I’m going to shoot for a meeting around eleven tomorrow morning. That work for you?”

“Can we make it one? I need to go grocery shopping in the morning and pick up a few things for Mrs. Grady, then I have an appointment at ten in Aurora with the Adoption Exchange—the agency that Mike and Jackson went through to adopt me. The foster parents bring the kids to group meetings fairly regularly, and I try to meet with the kids every other month or so and talk to them about what it was like having two dads, and how families come in all shapes and sizes.”

When Cole didn’t say anything, Sarah frowned. “Cole? I can cancel if that won’t work.”

“It works, angel. It’s just that every time you open your mouth, I realize exactly how amazing you are.”

She shook her head. “No, I just . . . They advocate for gay and lesbian parents who want to adopt, and I just want to give back in some way.”

One intense beat of silence as he stared at her, then Cole dropped his hands from her face, turned without a word, and swung his arm over her shoulders, guiding them both out of the room toward the front door. Once there, he hugged her briefly again, reminded her to send the file she’d made about everything Owen had sent her, and then he was hustling toward his black Acura TLX sports car.

Sarah would’ve been worried about his abrupt departure—if she hadn’t seen the evidence of his arousal in his jeans. She’d seen Jackson do the same thing often enough, leave a room before he did anything inappropriate in front of his daughter, to know it was an alpha man’s way of making sure he didn’t do or say something he’d regret later.