Claiming Sarah (Ace Security #5)(30)

“Far be it from me to break your no-kisses-until-the-third-date rule,” he said with a smile when her eyes popped open and she stared at him incredulously.

She returned the grin and hugged him tightly for a long moment. “Thanks for being a good guy,” she whispered.

“Drive safe,” he told her, pulling back and holding the door as she sat in the driver’s seat. He wasn’t going to tell her that he wasn’t a good guy again. He liked that she saw him that way and vowed to never do anything that would tarnish the image she had of him. “Don’t forget to text me when you get home.”

“I won’t.”

“Later.”

“Later.”

Cole stood in the parking lot for a few minutes after she’d pulled out, until he couldn’t see her car anymore. She might not truly understand how much her life had just changed by agreeing to go out with him . . . but she would.

Cole had a feeling Sarah was the woman he’d waited his whole life for. He’d watched his friends fall in love and get married, and he hadn’t once felt jealous of them. He’d known his time would come.

And it had. In the form of a five-foot-seven angel.





Chapter Seven

The next week and a half passed without Sarah having a chance to see Cole. But that didn’t mean they didn’t communicate. She went from having her phone as simply a piece of safety equipment, carrying it around just in case her car broke down, to texting nonstop.

Cole sent her notes all day, every day. Sometimes he just inquired about how she was doing, and other times they got into in-depth text conversations about some random topic or another.

As Sarah drove home after a grueling shift, she thought back to the conversation they’d had during her last break that day at the hospital.

Cole: Did you talk to any of the real estate agents I recommended?

Sarah: Yeah. I have an appointment with one in a few days. She’s going to come over and look at the house and let me know what she thinks.

Cole: Good.

Sarah: Thanks for the recommendation.

Cole: Of course. And I heard from the manager of that apartment complex here in town. He says they have a vacancy coming up in about two weeks, and that it’s yours if you want it.

Sarah: Really? Wow!

Cole: The only thing is that it’s a studio apartment.

Sarah: Oh.

Cole: Yeah. Not ideal. But I can help put the stuff that won’t fit into storage for you, and it won’t be forever. Once you’re in, you’ll have a better shot at getting a bigger place when it becomes available.

Sarah: True. I appreciate your help more than I can say.

Cole: You have the next three days off, right?

Sarah: Yes.

Cole: We haven’t had a chance to get together in a while . . . are you up for another lesson?

Sarah: Yes.

Cole: Good. Because I’d already planned to have Nathan and Joel come tomorrow afternoon and help me out.

Sarah: Joel?

Cole: Bailey’s little brother.

Cole: You still there?

Sarah: Yeah. I’m not sure about this.

Cole: About having them help? Trust me, angel. It’ll be fun.

Sarah: If you say so.

Cole: I do. And I was thinking if you could come a little early tomorrow, around four, we could do the self-defense thing, I could take you over to the apartments so you could check out the studio, then I could bring you back to my place for dinner.

Cole: That is . . . if you don’t already have plans.

Sarah: The only plan I had was to maybe try to figure out where to start on packing.

Cole: I can help you with that the day after tomorrow.

Sarah: Felicity is gonna fire you if you don’t start working more. :)

Cole: Nah. She knows I’ll be around less when you’re not working and more when you’re on shift.

Cole: Sarah? You still there?

Sarah: You changed your work schedule to match mine?

Cole: Yeah. After the last week or so when we couldn’t get our schedules to mesh, I figured if I want to see you, that was the easiest way to accomplish it.

Sarah: I don’t know what to say.

Cole: Say you’ll come for a lesson tomorrow, then have dinner with me.

Sarah: I’d love to.

Cole: Good.

Sarah: Cole?

Cole: Right here.

Sarah: I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.

Cole: Get used to it, angel. I was serious when I told you I wanted to see where this thing between us could go.

Sarah: Thank you.

Cole: I need to get going. There’s some sort of altercation out at the front desk. But first, you okay? No more presents or letters?

Sarah: I’m good, and I haven’t received anything since the cookbook.

Cole: Excellent. But don’t let down your guard. Let me know when you leave work and when you get home.

Sarah: I will.

Cole: Be safe. I’ll talk to you later.

Sarah: You too. Bye.

Cole: Bye.

Sarah had dated in the past. Men who she’d thought were nice and who’d treated her with respect. But no one had ever made her feel the way Cole did. She knew some people would think he was high-handed and bossy . . . especially for someone she’d known for such a short time.

But Sarah saw him in a different light. They’d talked on the phone for hours in the past week or so. Cole was a worrier. He worried about Felicity. He worried about societal pressures on Bailey and Nathan since they had no plans on getting married, even though they were both more than happy about their decision. He worried about his parents in Arizona and the fact that he was so far away if they needed something. He worried about his brother. He especially worried about Logan and Grace’s babies . . . little Ace and Nate.