Page 113 of The Ranger
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
COLE
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Turn back.
Every bone in my body—even the oneshehates right now—is screaming at me to turn around and go back to my house.
Leaving Zara and Scarlett is hard for two obvious reasons.One; they were recently kidnapped, and two; I’m on the verge of losing them.
Oh, and three; Zara is a newborn.I might not be her mother, but the need to protect her is all encompassing.
I couldn’t share how I felt because I’d just get accused of wanting sex.Okay fine, maybe not, but I’m mad and confused.
I want to wring her neck and tell her to wake up and realize there’s a man standing in front of her who’s madly in love with her and to stop being a stubborn and defensive goddamn idiot.
Jerking off last night wasn’t even enjoyable.Yes, I want to fuck her, but I want tomake loveto her, and what is wrong with that?
It’s not like I’ve abandoned her and Zara at any damn point.
I feel like a muttering old lady as my thoughts go around and around my head.
Perhaps I’m the one in denial.
You think I want you to stay so I can have sex on tap and my daughter here full-time?
Jesus.
She may as well have called me my father and been done with it.I have tried to do everything right.Give her space, protect her—fine, I failed at that last week—and was even willing to name our kid after Mother-Goddamn-Nature.
Thankfully, it was a Scarlett prank.
Now I’m moody, horny and torn between doing my job and racing back to stand guard in front of the two most important people in my life.Because they are.
I don’t want them to leave.
They both belong to me.What do I have to do to get her to fucking understand that?
