Page 57 of Billionaire Protector

“Of course not!” Sarah yelped. “There may be some similarities, but I can assure you they’re all coincidental–”

“He has the same hair,” Jessica noted.

“And the same eyes,” Harmony agreed.

“The body sounded the same,” another chimed in.

“And he was in the military,” said Mrs. Carmichael. “But most of all, he had the same–”

“Ass!” the minister’s grandmother shouted.

“Grandma!” the group cried together.

“What? It’s true,” she said, gesturing to Cole, who had watched the entire proceedings with the same green eyes Sarah had just described. The same hair. The same military background.

And, yes, the same ass.

Sarah fought for control. “It’s just a coincidence,” she said firmly. “I wrote this before Cole even came back into town.”

Two dozen pairs of eyes widened, then narrowed.

“It’s not what you think.” She held up her hands. “I mean I hadn’t seen Cole in a decade.” She was only making it worse. She smiled weakly. “Who’s next?”

Finally, after a minute or million, the moderator picked the next reader. Sarah snuck a look at Cole. He grinned.

Oh yeah, this would follow her forever.

“So that was interesting,” Cole began as soon as he revved up the car, right after they’d said their good-byes to the surprisingly boisterous writing club. Of course, they hadn’t been so energetic until Sarah read her passage, a description that obviously matched him. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it.

Actually, it felt great.

She’d said it wasn’t about him, but it was so obvious, even the minister’s grandmother had figured it out, although it was a little disconcerting when she commented on his ass. Why had Sarah made her character so like him, even before she’d seen him again? Did it mean something?

Sarah looked everywhere but at him. “Did you notice Mrs. Carmichael’s story had an astounding resemblance to Curious George?”

Cole tapped the wheel. “There did seem to be some unusual similarities today.”

She closed her eyes, opened them. “How many times do I have to say it? It wasn’t you.”

“It wasn’t?” He said the words lightly, but a somberness eclipsed their levity. The answer – and its ramifications – meant more than he’d admit.

“No,” she returned, and it seemed like she was telling the truth, or at least thought she was. “I didn’t mean it to be anyone. It’s just what popped to my mind when I thought of–” She stopped.

“When you thought of what?”

“A hero.”

Satisfaction. Delight. Shock.A hundred mystifying emotions seized him. He believed her when she said she didn’t mean to model it after him, yet the coincidences were too great to ignore. The hair, the eyes, the body, the height, even the same branch of military. She had replicated his features, even if unconsciously. Did it mean she thought of him as a hero?

“Don’t read too much into it,” she said softy. “I still think you’re a pain in the ass.”

Her lighthearted smile belied the harsh words, and he gave his own grin. “I think the whole town knows what you think of my ass.”

She looked upward. “I’m going to be reliving this for the next decade, aren’t I?”

“The next decade?” He rotated the steering wheel, smoothly turning onto her street. “I was thinking the rest of your life.”

She made a face, but the smile was still there as he pulled into her driveway. Her police cruiser already waited, dropped off earlier by Zoe. He was about to say goodbye when she spoke first, “Do you want to come in?”

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