Claiming Sarah (Ace Security #5)(60)

Sarah smiled. “Just remember who said it first,” she told him.

He laughed and stood. At the door, he turned and said, “I can’t wait to see what you decide for your tattoo . . . but do me a favor?”

“What?” she asked when he didn’t finish his sentence.

“Put it somewhere I can see only when you’re naked. The thought of you with ink on your skin turns me on so much, I’m afraid I’d jump you every time I saw it . . . no matter where we were or who we’re with.”

Sarah laughed as he left the room. She’d have to come up with something amazing. Something that would take Cole’s breath away every time he saw it. Hopefully Felicity would give her some time to think before she dragged her to the tattoo place.



“Do you want me to come in with you?” Cole asked as they stood by his car. He’d followed her all the way back to Parker. Sarah had tried to talk him out of it, but he’d insisted.

She’d pulled her car into the garage, and they were saying goodbye next to his.

It had been an amazing day. One Sarah didn’t want to end. But she had to get back to work tomorrow, and Cole had stuff to do for the gym. She also needed to get more of the house boxed up before her shifts started again. Especially if Cole was going to have movers come and start hauling her stuff away. She needed to organize. Figure out what she wanted in storage and what she couldn’t live without for the next few months.

But it still felt weird to be leaving him. They’d spent the last two days or so together, and, if she was being honest with herself, she didn’t want to part. She was feeling clingy, and that so wasn’t like her. It was almost as if she were six years old again and didn’t want to let Mike or Jackson out of her sight in case someone from the state came to take her away.

She knew a good thing when she had it, and she definitely had a good thing in Cole. They laughed together, the sex was amazing, but more than that, she was comfortable around him. She didn’t feel as if she had to entertain him, was just as happy sitting in a room with him, not talking, as she was having an in-depth conversation about health care in the United States.

“Want? Yes. But we both have stuff we have to do,” she told him with a smile.

Cole didn’t smile. He stared at her with a look so smoldering, Sarah had the feeling she would spontaneously combust if he didn’t look away. “Come ’ere,” he said, reaching for her.

Sarah willingly leaned toward him, not surprised when her arms broke out in goose bumps when his lips met hers. The kiss was somewhat bittersweet because she knew it would be at least three more days until she’d get to see him again. She had three days of twelve-hour shifts, so she’d work herself to the bone, then come home each night and collapse into bed.

But at the end of those three days, she was going to see Cole again, move into her new apartment, and start her new life.

Cole kept his hand on the back of her neck when he pulled away. His thumb brushed back and forth, and that alone was enough to make her nipples tighten.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Cole admonished.

“Like what?” Sarah asked.

“Like I’m an ice-cream cone that you want to lick,” he said immediately.

Sarah chuckled. “Come to think of it, I never did get to . . . lick,” she said coyly.

Cole groaned. “Shit, angel, now I won’t be able to think about anything other than you on your knees, those luscious lips wrapped around my cock.”

She squirmed against him. “Thank you,” she blurted.

Cole frowned. “For what?”

“For being so amazing. I know I’m not exactly the catch of the century. I’ve got some baggage, and things are uncertain with Owen. I live too far away, and I’ve been told more times than I can count that I need to not be such a pushover when it comes to people being rude to me. I just—”

“Stop,” Cole ordered.

Sarah pressed her lips together.

“Fuck the people who’ve told you that. You’re a breath of fresh air. If there were more people like you than me, the world would be a better place. Don’t ever change. Be who you are, and screw what everyone else thinks. I saw the look on that woman’s face when you offered to unload the groceries in her cart when her baby was screaming its head off. She wasn’t so sure about me, but after one look at your friendly and welcoming smile, the relief on her face was instant. And when I had to go to the gym today for a bit, you didn’t complain. Then I swear to God I thought that woman was going to propose to you.”

Sarah blushed. “She was crying, Cole. Was I supposed to ignore her?”

“No. Fuck no. But that didn’t stop everyone else from ignoring her. You went right up and asked what was wrong and if you could help.”

“It’s not cool that those girls were making fun of her.”

“It’s not. And they aren’t welcome in Rock Hard Gym ever again. No one gets body shamed in my gym. I don’t care if someone is eight hundred pounds or eighty. My point is, I probably wouldn’t even have noticed her if you hadn’t been there. So please don’t ever change. I need you in my life. I need you to slow me down and point out the beauty in the world. All I’ve looked for is the bad. Being around you is already making me look at the world in a different way.