Claiming Sarah (Ace Security #5)(6)

How Sarah wished her dads were still around today. They never would have let Owen get away with what he was doing. They would’ve confronted him and made him stop with the gifts and letters way before now. Jackson and Mike had been her champions and protectors from the second they’d opened their home to her. She missed them every day, but never as much as she did right now.

Fighting tears, Sarah went into her room and, after making sure her curtains were shut tight and no one could see inside, stripped off her scrubs and headed down the hall to the guest bathroom. She took a soothing, hot shower, standing under the spray long after she was clean.

Feeling marginally better, a little more like the optimist she usually was, Sarah put on her robe and climbed into bed. It was early, but it wasn’t as if she had anything she needed to do. Besides, she had to get up at four fifteen in order to get to the hospital in time for her shift at five. She had one more day with a twelve-hour shift, then she had a couple of days off.

As she lay in bed, her thoughts drifted to Cole Johnson.

She’d been ready to blow him off, to see if she could find someone else to teach her self-defense, but then he’d gone out of his way to restore her faith in him. After hearing him talk to his receptionist, she’d gotten an image in her head of an older, pompous business owner who felt he was way more important than anyone else. But seeing him had been a pleasant surprise. He was young, probably around her age, and good-looking. Very good-looking.

He probably had women falling all over themselves to gain his attention. He was surrounded by fit women all day—surely one of them had caught his eye. Cole Johnson was probably very busy, both with his work and his social life.

She, however, had virtually no social life. She worked odd hours, and when she did have time off, Sarah found herself either catching up on chores she’d put off around the house or sitting on the couch, binge-watching one show or another.

But even before she began working as a nurse, she hadn’t been a socialite exactly. She’d studied hard in high school, trying to make her dads proud of her, and that had continued into college as well.

After graduating with her two-year degree, Sarah had immediately found a job as a nurse’s assistant. She’d been working in the field for almost ten years now. She loved her job and really didn’t want to do anything else. Many of the nurses she worked with had encouraged her to go back to school to get her nursing degree, but honestly, she was happy with the level of responsibility she had now. She also got to spend more time with the patients and their families, to share in both their joys and sorrows.

Sarah tried to think back to the last boyfriend she’d had—and winced when she realized it had been years. Literally. Josh—no, John—had been the last, and that was . . . four years ago.

She shook her head. She wasn’t really surprised, as her fathers had been killed around the time she’d broken up with John, and she’d had to deal with the cops, lawyers, and her grief. But still.

She’d lived in Parker, Colorado, since the day Jackson and Mike had taken her into their home. The suburb of Denver had been home almost her entire life, but she enjoyed working at the hospital in Castle Rock. It wasn’t as crazy as the hospitals in Denver, and it only took her around twenty minutes to get to work. Castle Rock had grown on her. She liked the small-town feel.

But because she hadn’t grown up in Castle Rock, she didn’t know any of the small-town gossip.

One day at work, Sarah told one of the nurses about Owen, and she suggested Sarah contact Ace Security. She’d gone on and on about how the brothers who owned it, triplets, had grown up in the area before moving away after graduation. The nurse had also been more than happy to tell Sarah how the boys’ mother had murdered their father, and about the trouble each of their girlfriends had run into.

She’d even good-naturedly complained about losing her chance to hook up with one of the infamous brothers for good, after a half brother showed up and immediately became infatuated with a woman who was being stalked.

Sarah realized that Cole’s partner must be the woman who had married the last Anderson brother.

Thinking about Cole again made her blush inexplicably. He wasn’t the kind of man she was usually drawn to. He was a lot taller than she was, and his eyes seemed to bore right into her as she spoke. So many times, men either looked over or through her, as if she wasn’t important enough for their time and attention. But not Cole. She’d had his entire attention, and she had known he was listening to her. The air of intensity surrounding him was a surprise. His tattoos also made him look badass, but he’d definitely treated her with care.

And before meeting him, she’d figured he’d be in shape since he ran a gym . . . but she hadn’t really understood what in shape meant.

Cole’s biceps were almost too big for the T-shirt he’d been wearing. In fact, she’d never seen such large muscles on anyone before. The plethora of tattoos accentuated that strength. His thighs were even more muscular; she could see that he definitely filled out the sweatpants he was wearing.

But what really surprised her was how she’d felt while standing next to him. She probably should’ve felt uneasy. He could easily squash her like a bug; she wasn’t exactly in shape herself. But instead of being scared of his obvious strength, she’d felt safe.

No one would dare mess with her when Cole was by her side.

It was an uncomfortable thought.