Cole blinked. “Right. Remind me tonevercome to you when I need advice, ever, because as guidance goes, that was terrible.”
Flint winced. “Yeah, you might have a point. Probably best not to tell her right away. Anyway, let me go and get her statement, then she’s all yours.”
“Thanks, and Flint? Sorry about my behavior earlier.”
Flint snorted. “You know, I wondered what in the hell had gotten into you. You were acting so out of character.”
Cole grinned. “I wondered what in the hell had gotten into me, too.”
Flint chuckled. “I’ll bet. Anyway, lemme get back to it,Slugger.”
Cole rolled his eyes as Flint disappeared back into the interview room.
“Asshole,” Cole said quietly.
“I heard that!” Flint called out to him.
Cole chuckled as he headed down the corridor in search of Ice. He found him a few moments later in the dining hall, his plate piled high with steak and potatoes. One of the good things about working in a facility that knew about shifters was the food. There was an endless supply of it here, and no-one gave them odd looks when they ordered a family’s worth of food for a meal. Which was good, because using shifter skills burned through a ton of calories.
But Cole had other things on his mind besides eating. He skipped the canteen line and took a seat opposite his teammate.
“Hey, what’s up?” Ice asked.
“I just came by to apologize to you. Again.”
Ice frowned. “Dude, you already apologized.”
“I know, but that punch was, well, it just wasn’t me and I wanted to check that we’re cool.”
“Of course we’re cool,” Ice said. “I shouted at your mate. Any shifter would have done the same thing. I get it. Seriously. No harm, no foul.”
“How’s the jaw?”
Ice grinned. “Hurts like a bitch.”
“Damn. Sorry.” Cole got to his feet and clapped his teammate on the shoulder. “Thanks for being so understanding about it.”
Ice tilted his chin. “You in a hurry?”
“Kind of. They’re letting Maya go and I want to give her a ride home.”
Ice’s eyes widened. “They’re letting her go?”
“Yeah. Turns out she wasn’t one of the kidnappers after all. She only followed her brother there to try to talk him out of it.”
“Damn, that’s a stroke of luck.”
“Tell me about it. Anyway, I’ll catch you later.”
“Yeah, see you around.”
Excitement furling in his stomach, Cole made his way back out to the corridor to wait for Flint to finish taking Maya’s statement. He couldn’t help peeking through the glass in the door to catch a glimpse of her. She was perfect. Cole had never considered himself to have a type before, but if he did, she would have been it.
As if she could sense him looking, Maya lifted her head to meet his gaze and Cole’s breath got stuck in his throat. Color flooded her cheeks, causing his cock to stir. He heard Flint asking her a question, then having to repeat it when she didn’t answer. He chuckled at the flustered expression on her face when she evidently realized she hadn’t heard a word that Flint had said.
Cole moved away from the window to allow her to concentrate on the interview and to give himself a few moments to calm down before she came out. He couldn’t wait to talk to her—to get to know her.
Some shifters waited their entire lives to meet their mates, and some weren’t lucky enough to ever find the person who was destined to be theirs. To meet his mate at thirty was a rare treat, and something Cole wouldn’t take for granted.
