Counting On Cole (Wilde Ways #8) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,30
got a type. Obviously. Evie is the typical good girl who wants to walk on the bad side.”
“There is nothing typical about her,” Cole fired right back. “If you think that, you don’t know her at all.”
“Oh, I don’t? And you’re going to tell me that she’s not typical because she’s special and she’s—”
“She damn well is special.” Cole glared at him. “What the hell is your deal? I thought you were her friend. I thought—”
“He is her friend,” Chase told him as he grabbed Cole’s shoulder. “That’s why he’s pushing your buttons to see how you react. He wants to find out just how in to Evie you are.”
He—aw, hell. Now Leo was smiling. More like beaming. “Looks like you are all in.” Leo hummed. “Good to know. Maybe if you beg enough, she’ll give you a second chance.”
“I’m hardly the begging type.”
Leo had already turned away. He waved his hand in the air. “Don’t forget your tux for tonight! Maybe if you look good enough in it, you won’t have to beg as long.”
“I am not the begging type!”
A few feet away from Leo, one of the dancers was swinging Evie in front of him. He had one hand curled around her waist, and the other held her leg—the top of her leg, about three inches, maybe two inches away from her—
Chase’s hold tightened on him when Cole surged forward. “You know you don’t get to attack the dancers.”
“Do you see where his hand is?”
“Yes, and I know you wish that was your hand, but it’s not, and they’re working, and this isn’t about sex.”
He still wanted that hand fucking moved.
“I don’t think there is a threat to your Evie in this dance studio. I think the male dancers are in more danger than she is. And that danger is you.”
Your Evie. His head swung toward Chase. “We’re not sleeping together.”
Chase’s eyebrows climbed. “Did I ask? Did I ask you to tell me way too much information about your sex life? Because I don’t think I did.”
“You called her mine. She’s…not.”
“Yeah, but you’d like for her to be.”
“I—” Shit. Yes. A thousand times yes.
“You’re footing the bill for her security.” Chase whistled. “You know I’m not cheap.”
None of the Wilde agents were.
“That sure says a whole lot about how you feel regarding the woman.”
“You’re probing. Thought you didn’t want too much info.”
Chase let him go. “She’s right, and so are you.”
Right about what? Cole was lost. He was also trying not to glance back over his shoulder to see what the dancers were doing—
“Her protection detail can’t go on indefinitely. I’m assuming you don’t have limitless resources.”
Chase could assume whatever—
“And the perps are trying to wait until she’s vulnerable. If we backed off, if you made your presence a little less obvious in her life, then maybe they’d make a move. Have you considered that?”
“I’m not backing off,” he snarled. What the hell? Chase wanted Cole to leave Evie vulnerable? Was he batshit insane?
“Okay, okay, easy there, killer.” Chase shook his head. “Look, if they’re watching her, then they’ve seen you around her. You’re not exactly playing things low key. You’re this big, tattooed guy who is watching her every move. That screams bodyguard, just so you know.”
“I don’t care what it—”
“If you want to catch the bad guys, you need to make your presence scream something else. Obviously, you don’t want to leave Evie on her own. I don’t want her on her own, either, just so you know. I’m not into the whole throwing lambs to wolves bit. Totally not what I was suggesting.” He cleared his throat. “I thought that you might want to present a new image to anyone who might be watching from the shadows.”
His gut clenched. “Just what image would that be?”
“So, the way I see it, there are two main reasons why a guy like you would be hanging out in a dance studio for hours, watching a woman like Evie.”
He waited. “Enlighten me.”
“One, obviously, is that you’re her bodyguard. You’re looking for threats.”
Exactly, yes, he was.
“Two, you’re an obsessed boyfriend who can’t stand the thought of other men touching what belongs to him.”
His shoulders stiffened even as he had the stupid, uncontrolled thought of—
Exactly, yes, he was.
“You’re staying at her place. If the bad guys are watching—and we both know they are—then they know you’ve moved in with her. Again, two reasons why. Reason one, you’re her bodyguard and you’re giving her twenty-four, seven protection.”