Lowering his hand, he took hers in his again.
"I talked to your dad," he admitted, wanting to make sure she was aware of what had transpired. "About us."
Angela's eyes widened. "You did? When?"
"A couple of days ago. I needed to know where he stood before…" Jude trailed off, realizing how calculating that might sound. "I mean, I respect him, and you're his daughter. I didn't want to complicate life for either of us."
"What did he say?" Angela leaned forward slightly, her expression a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.
"He said he trusts me. And that he'd stay out of things and let us figure this out for ourselves.”
“Wow. That kind of surprises me.”
“It did me too,” Jude admitted. “But I suppose he learned some things from his dealings with Cole.”
“I’m glad that he dealt with them first,” Angela said. “So maybe it will be easier for us.”
Jude hoped that would be the case, but he wasn’t delusional enough to think it would all be sunshine and roses. He wanted to make it as easy as possible for them, but the reality was that they still had hurdles to overcome.
“I did want to let you know that I’ll be bringing someone else in to operate as your bodyguard.”
“What?” Angela frowned, and her fingers tightened around his. “Why?”
“If we go out together, I want to be able to focus on you without having to be on the alert for security threats. I’ll always be armed. I mean, I’m never without a weapon, so I’ll always be able to protect you, but I want to have someone else there too.”
“Will it ever just be the two of us?” she asked. “Like if we go on a date?”
Jude gave her a smile. “Depends on what we decide to do. If we’re going where there are lots of people, we’ll have someonewith us. But if we go to a quiet place, like on a hike or something, it can be just the two of us.”
“Guess I’d better start liking hiking, huh?”
When Jude chuckled, Angela’s smile grew.
“I don’t mind hiking,” he said. “There are some nice beginner trails around here that we can start out on. In fact, we have some on the estate that we can go on once the snow melts.”
Jude realized then that he was going to have to get creative. He’d never really planned dates in his last relationship. They’d just kind of decided together what they wanted to do.
With Angela, he wanted to do special things. Memorable things. He wanted to build a sturdy foundation for them because he wasn’t just playing around.
If he was going to open his heart and his life to a woman, it was because he wanted everything with her. A family. A home. Children. All of it.
He thought that was what Angela wanted too, but he supposed they’d need to have a conversation about that before too much time passed.
But for right then, he was content to sit with her. Holding her hand. The car creating a cocoon for them.
There were no cameras or people watching them. Just the sparkling snow and towering trees that surrounded the car.
“We can sort of have a first date now, if you want,” Jude said.
Angela’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“If you don’t mind just us driving around. Maybe we could swing into Serenity and get some hot drinks.”
“I’d like that,” she told him with a smile that let him know that she really meant it.
“Let’s switch seats, head into Serenity for the drinks, and then I’ll drive us around for a bit.”
“That sounds perfect,” Angela said.
