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Rachel agreed, “Yes, he is. He’s a wonderful man, just like our dad was. It’s almost funny how similar they are. Dad used to teach us how to cook, and he would dance with me around the kitchen.”

She felt two large hands on her shoulders as they gently turned her, so she was looking up into concerned hazel eyes.

“How is it that you make me want so many things I had sworn I could do without?” Cole asked her.

Rachel felt a lump form in her throat as he reached out to cup her cheek.

“I don’t ever want you to change, and I will never make you do something that you don’t want to.”

Leaning down, he pressed his firm lips to hers, all the while keeping his eyes locked with hers.

“And, Rachel, for the moment, I am yours. And you?
You
are mine.”

As she stared up at him in breathtaking silence, he asked softly, “Well, now that I know you had the best dancing lessons available, will you come to a function that is being held for the new DA tomorrow night?”

Is there even a need for him to ask? Of course, I’m going to say yes.

But like he had said just a moment ago, he would never make her do something she didn’t want to.

With a warm smile, she placed her hand on his chest and spoke the only words she could think of. “I’d love to.”

Toward the end of her shift that night, Rachel moved up to the service window to hand one of the waitresses the dessert for table twenty-three, and that was when she caught a glimpse of Cole out of the corner of her eye.

Sitting by himself in the same seat he had been in the night before, he was looking up at Meredith the youngest server on staff, smiling at her as she scribbled notes down on her pad. Rachel noticed that Meredith was paying a little too much attention to the lone man at the table, but Cole…well, he seemed to be just ordering.

Rachel rested her hip against the stainless steel counter and continued watching, not out of jealousy but more curiosity. She supposed she was watching to see if Cole had the same effect on others that he did on her.

And God knows, he has the ability to reduce me to someone with one thing on my mind: sex. Hot, sticky, kitchen floor sex.

As Meredith tipped back her bleach-blonde head and laughed—louder than one would think was necessary—Rachel had her answer.

Rolling her eyes at the sheer absurdity of a man wielding so much power over the opposite sex, Rachel pushed off the counter and moved to turn, only to come face-to-face with Wendy, who was looking in the same direction she had been.

With a smirk on her face, the restaurant manager made her way toward Rachel. When Wendy stopped on the other side of the window, Rachel waited, knowing what was coming.

“Two nights in a row? Since Meredith wasn’t on shift last night, I guess she missed the memo on which staff member he belongs to. By the way, he must really like the food.”

Rachel almost choked on the laugh she held back at the thought of Cole belonging to anyone, let alone her. Placing her hands on her hips, she tried to glare at the petite blonde with the sleek ponytail, but she knew she was failing.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Rachel said nonchalantly.

Wendy laughed and leaned over the window as she whispered, “Well, honey, you better because every other single woman on staff has, not to mention the female customers sitting at the bar.”

Rachel frowned and turned back to look in Cole’s direction again, and this time, she found his smoldering gaze focused on her. Swallowing slowly, she felt her palms begin to itch as a smile so decadently sexual spread across his lips.

I’m going to melt into the floor.

It wasn’t until Wendy spoke up again that Rachel realized the manager was still standing there.

“Yes, I can see you are completely unaffected.”

Without breaking the heated stare she now held with Cole, Rachel responded absently, “Huh?”

When Wendy chuckled, Rachel finally pulled her eyes away from Cole’s to look at the snickering manager. It also happened to be the moment Meredith reached them with a little extra pep in her step.

“Oh, Rachel, hey. You’re just who I need.”

“Oh?” Rachel responded without giving anything away.

“Yup. See the guy in the suit at table twenty?”

Rachel made a show of looking over at Meredith’s table to where Cole was seated. He inclined his head slightly, just enough for her to notice but not enough to draw attention.

Turning her attention back to Meredith, Rachel nodded. “Yes, I see. What about him?”

“Well, first, look at him! Damn, that man is hot.” Meredith turned around to get another look, but she quickly spun back when she realized Cole was looking in their direction. “Oh shit. He’s looking over here.” She giggled.

As Rachel noticed the waitress’s cheeks flush, she had to try and hold back her own laughter. Wendy was obviously having the same issue because she couldn’t even bring herself to say anything.

When did we turn into teenage girls?

“Yes, he is, isn’t he?” Rachel replied, not actually knowing which statement—him being hot or him looking at them—she was answering. “You want to tell me what he wants?”

Meredith sighed dramatically and placed a palm over her heart. “I wish it was me.”

“Oh my god. Rach?” Wendy finally busted up with uncontrollable laughter. “Please put the poor girl out of her misery before she goes on.”

“Huh?” Meredith questioned, looking between the two of them.

“Shut it, Wendy,” Rachel told her friend and manager with a fake grin. “Now, what does he want, Meredith?”

“Well, he said he knows it’s not on the menu, but if he asked nicely, could you serve your caramel sauce a little different for him?”

Rachel felt her lips part and her thighs twitch as she thought about the things they had done with her caramel sauce just the night before.

Oh, the places I had my tongue and the places he had his fingers.

“He’d like a scoop of vanilla ice cream with the sauce served warm over it.” Meredith stopped talking when she realized Rachel’s attention had moved to the man across the room. Then, she prodded, “I told him that would be okay. Is it?”

Rachel grinned as she looked back to Meredith. “You can tell him it will be right out, and he can have my caramel sauce anytime and anyway he wants it.”

Meredith’s eyes widened before Rachel turned away, and then she heard Wendy hiss at the unsuspecting waitress, “They’re dating, you idiot.”

Rachel shrugged.
What the hell? He wants everyone to know. Well, now, they know.

An hour and a half after he had arrived, it was closing time. Cole waited patiently for Rachel, and when she finally stepped out into the empty dining room, he felt something he never had before.

His heart started to beat erratically…with nerves.

The woman walking toward him with her black hair and red highlights was looking him over like she was on a mission, and that mission was him. When she stopped in front of him, she showed no hesitation in reaching out and placing a hand against his chest. Cole wondered for a brief moment if she could feel just how hard his heart was thumping. As she raised her head and lifted her thick lashes, he had no clue how he had stayed away from her for so long. Then, he was struck with the realization that he couldn’t imagine not seeing her every day.

Wait, what? Well, that had snuck up out of nowhere.

“I think I like you waiting out here for me every night,” she told him, almost mirroring his thoughts.

Cole pushed a piece of dark hair behind her ear. “Do you? If I remember correctly, you didn’t want me in your restaurant.”

She gave him a sassy shrug and raised her brow. “Things change. I’m a woman; it’s my prerogative.”

“Oh, I see,” he murmured as her hand smoothed across his jacket lapel to his tie. “So,
now
, I have permission to stalk you?”

He kept his eyes on hers as she wound his tie around her hand, the way she had done only a couple days earlier.

Has it really been only a couple of days?

Gently, she tugged on the narrow strip of material, and there was nothing Cole could do to stop himself from giving in to her at that moment.

Lowering his head, he closed his eyes as she pressed her lips gently to his. As her tongue came out to flirt with the seam of his lips, he reached forward and gripped her hips, tugging her in close, and that was when all the lights turned off in the dining room.

Pulling her mouth from his, she whispered against his lips, “You have permission to be anywhere I am.”

He wasn’t sure she knew exactly what she was saying, and as his eyes adjusted to the shadows, he wondered if she realized how much she had just revealed.

“I’ll have to remember that,” he told her as he released his grip on her. “Let’s get going.”

“Back to your place?”

Cole took her hand and entwined their fingers. “Yes. Back to my place.”

He felt her fingers squeeze his as they made their way to the front door. When they stepped out into the cool night, another realization hit him.

This crazy, spirited, bright-haired woman needed to be his
permanently
.

He was starting to think he would do whatever he needed to make it so.

“Swimming? It’s one in the morning,” Rachel pointed out.

Cole opened the top drawer in his bureau and pulled out the small black swim shorts he had worn the other day.

Yes, it was late, and she was tired, but if she got to see him in those again—

Hell, who am I kidding? Of course my ass is going up to that pool.

Calmly and methodically, Cole started to remove his clothing, one item at a time. First, he undid his black belt, sounds of metal clinking against metal filling her ears, and then he pulled the thin strip of leather through his belt loops, creating a whoosh
noise. Second, he sat down on the wooden trunk, the one she had stood on only days before, to remove his shoes and socks. Then, he stood back up and pulled his shirt from his pants.

That was when Rachel moved across the space between them and reached up to loosen his tie. Removing his hands, he let them fall to his sides.

In his voice that stroked her in all the right places, he asked, “What are you doing?”

Raising her eyes to his, she didn’t smile or give him any kind of sassy response. She just held his inquiring gaze. “I’m undressing you, but unlike the time in my store, I want to take off
all
your clothes. May I?”

She watched him intently, her hand still holding the tie, as he moved his hands behind his back, like he had once before.

“You may,” he confirmed, granting her the permission she requested.

Methodically, Rachel undid his tie, slid it from around his neck, and dropped the material to the floor. When she raised her eyes to his, she didn’t falter once as she placed her hands on the sides of his abdomen. She smoothed her fingertips up over his chest to the top button where, one by one, she started to undo them. When all the buttons were free, she parted the crisp material. Slipping her palms inside, she moved her hands across warm tight skin. “How did you do it?”

Narrowing his eyes on her, he coerced gently, “How did I do what?”