Page 108 of The Ranger
“Scar.”I turn, and Cole is right behind me.I spot Zara in her bassinet.
My eyes lift to his, and I feel shorter than ever in my bare feet.My body reacts, imagining him scooping me up and kissing me.
Ugh.
I’m so pathetic.
Then he shocks me by cupping my face and tugging me close.
“What?”My hands slide over his pecs and abs, and my mouth waters.This man is perfection.Every single inch of him.
“I want you to come home with me.To my house.”Cole’s thumb brushes over my cheekbone.I almost purr, but then his words hit me.
“No.I can’t.”I start to pull away, but he holds me firmly.“Cole.Zara’s bedroom and everything is set up.My things.Everything.It’s my home.”
And my heart.
“Just wait a minute.Think about this.”His eyes hold mine and darken.“Chen could be anywhere.My security is better, my neighborhood better.You and Zara will be safer.”
Damn him.
He’s right.
“But what about...I guess if it’s just for a few more days.”
He doesn’t reply.
There’s no way I can risk putting my baby in danger, and if I wasn’t strong enough to protect myself when I was pregnant, I’m not now that I’ve just given birth.
I need to let him help me.
Zara is his daughter, too.
“Okay.”
Cole surprises the shit out of me by lowering his head and gently kissing my lips.My hand touches my lips as he smiles, then turns back to Zara.
It’s not the first kiss he’s given me in the past few days sincethekiss.
He’s kissed my forehead.
He’s kissed the back of my hand.
He kissed the top of my head in the middle of the night when he thought I was sleeping.
What I didn’t catch were the words he whispered as he did it.Could have beencrazy bitch.
But I’m starting to think it wasn’t.
“IBETTER TELL my motherthat she’s a grandma,” I say as Cole drives us home.
I share a photo of Zara, who is thankfully still asleep in the back seat, dressed in her cute pink pelican onesie with matching hat.His mom, dad and sister have all visited the past few days, and their response made me cry.
“Oh darling, she is just beautiful.She looks like her daddy,” Maggie said, and Cole hugged his mom’s shoulder, looking emotional.
It was another reminder of what I didn’t have.Also, what I could have.Not as Cole’s partner, but as Zara’s mom.Unless he decided to cut me out like some single dads do.My sense is that he wouldn’t do that.
“You should’ve done it earlier.”He frowns.
