Still looking straight ahead, Kole shrugged a shoulder. “I’m just saying. I did a lot of thinking this week. When we couldn’t find Gracie, I realized the only thing that really mattered was knowing she was safe. And happy. So, as long as Gracie chooses to be with someone who can ensure both those things, I guess I can’t really complain too much about who it is.”
Nate didn’t know quite how to respond to that, so he remained silent. Kole, however, had more to say.
“You’re the one she trusted enough to go to. You’re the person she felt safe with when all this shit went down.” Kole glanced over at him. “I don’t know, man. That just says a lot to me, I guess.”
Huh. Well, ain’t that a kick in the crotch?
One of the main reasons Nate had pulled back last night was because he kept hearing Kole’s voice in his head, making him promise to keep things platonic with her. He didn’t know if that meant he was ready for a relationship or anything, but Nate was damn sure certain about one thing.
If Gracelynn McDaniels ever tried to undo his belt again, he sure as fuck wasn’t going to stop her.
* * *
“I can pay for the coffees, Sarah. It’s the least I can do after all the worrying I caused you.”
“Put your money away, sis. This is my treat.”
Gracie put the twenty back into her wallet and closed the flap on her purse. She was lucky Jake was able to get it back from his detective friend. Apparently his brother was a member of Alpha Team, so she guessed that made things a little easier.
The barista at the other end of the counter called Sarah’s name, and the two women went over to pick up their drinks.
“I’d love to sit here and enjoy these, but we’d better get back to the office.”
Gracie agreed with her sister. “Yeah. I’m sure Nate probably had a conniption when he realized we came over here unsupervised.” She took a sip through her straw and swallowed some of her delicious caramel Frappuccino before asking, “Is Kole like that, too?”
“Like what?”
“All...what’s the word?”
“Overprotective?”
“That’s it!”
Sarah laughed. “You think?”
Holding up her phone so Gracie could see it, Sarah showed her the text Kole had just sent ordering them to keep their asses there and not move until he and Nate got there.
“I am curious, though.” Sarah stopped talking for a minute to give them time to squeeze through the crowd of people. “I mean, I get why Kole is that way with me. We’re engaged to be married.”
Gracie threw in, “Not to mention the whole stalker incident.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Sarah shook her head. “But, back to my original thought. Why is Nate so overprotective of you?”
Gracie’s heart thumped a little harder. “What do you mean?” she asked way too innocently.
“You said you two are just friends, right?”
“Yeah.” Friends who shared a hot and heavy, incredibly amazing kiss in his bedroom. “So?”
“So…” Sarah drug the word out. “I saw the way he kept looking over at you in the conference room earlier.”
He did?“H-how was he looking at me?”
Her sister raised a brow. “Like he was thinking about being a whole lot more than just friends.”
Gracie had thought that, too, when he was kissing her last night. But then he’d apologized for it and had been acting pretty distant ever since.
Remembering the regret in his voice when he’d started the whole, you’re-so-beautiful-but speech, Gracie said, “Well, I don’t know what youthoughtyou saw, but I can assure you, it wasn’t that.”
