Page 64 of Stealing Home

“Thank you, Cole. These are beautiful.” I take them as I speak.

“You are very welcome. Did I do okay?”

“You did great. Birds of Paradise are actually my favorite flower. Is it okay if I put them in a vase?” I ask, not knowing if we need to get back to his place quickly.

“Yes, our reservations at house De La Evans will start when we get there. Guess I did good if I picked your favorite flower,” he says with a smirk.

I unwrap the bouquet and get the vase from under the sink and wash it out first. I add water to the vase and then the flowers.

“And how did you guess?” I ask because I know I haven’t told him. I don’t even think I’ve told Heather.

“I’m not revealing my source. I need them for the future, woman,”

“You are something else.” I say as I go to give him a proper hug now that both hands are free.

He wraps me up in his arms, and I take in his scent. I need to figure out what it is and buy stock in that company. As we’re pulling away from each other, he places his lips next to my ear and whispers, “And you are something special.” I shiver at his words.

“You ready?” He asks me like his words didn’t just have any effect on me.

“Yeah, just need to grab my keys.”

I take my keys off the hook and Cole opens the door for me and we both walk out. I lock the deadbolt with my key. Cole takes my hand in his and we walk down the stairs together and over to his place.

Cole leads me down the drive to the backyard and up the stairs to the patio. He has the table set up with our dinner and candles. I’m in awe of the time this man took to plan tonight.

He walks me to the other side of the table where I see chicken scarpariello over penne pasta waiting for me. Cole pulls my chair out for me so I can sit and helps me scoot in.

“What would you like to drink? I have Prosecco, water, Cola, or Jack.” He gives me my options.

“What are you having?” I ask him.

“Water. I don’t drink often before a game.”

“I’ll have Cola then.” I tell him.

“You don’t have to not drink just because I’m not.” He tells me.

“I know. It’s not because of you. I promise.” I say.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

Cole goes inside and comes back two minutes later. He places my drink in front of me and his bottle of water in front of him.

“Your sources hooked you up with information, huh?” I question.

“Maybe or I just asked all the right questions so I could make a good impression.”

“Not something you had to do.” I smile at him.

“I appreciate that. I know you wanted to take it slow, but I wanted to make sure that our first date, hopefully of many, started off on the right foot and was memorable.”

It’s not lost on me at his mention of hopefully of many dates. This man drives home his intentions and I don’t think he even realizes it.

“Cole, I know I said that in Colorado and it was only like four days ago, but honestly, I don’t even know what slow means. Let’s just see what happens? This way, neither of us feel like we are going to say or do the wrong thing.” I state.

“I can do that. I just wanted to make sure you knew I respected you and your feelings,” he sincerely tells me.

“You have done that. I swear.”

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