Cole (The Ride Series) by Megan O'Brien Read Free Book Online Page B

what
felt like just seconds of sleep. I squinted and saw “Cole calling” flashing on
the screen. Of course he programmed himself into my phone. I hit ignore and
drifted back to sleep. My phone rang again, not a moment later, and I picked it
up knowing he wouldn’t stop until I did.
    “Yeah?” I asked, my voice raspy with
sleep.
    “What the fuck, babe?” his deep voice
demanded through the phone.
    “Hello to you too,” I answered dryly.
    “I thought you had to work till one,
Wes was supposed to make sure you got home okay, but you weren’t there.”
    “Is it a crime for a girl to get off
early? Jesus calm down,” I grumbled irritably.
    He sighed, clearly trying to get a
handle on his temper. “I was just concerned, that’s all.”
    Now was an excellent time to say what
I’d intended to earlier, even if I was half asleep.
    “Cole, I appreciate everything you’ve
done but this isn’t your concern. I don’t expect, nor do I want, any type of
protection. Whatever obligation you feel toward me, it’s not necessary.”
    “You think its obligation that I
feel?” he growled.
    “I don’t know what it is that you feel,
and frankly, the visit I got at work tonight just confirmed that I don’t want
to know,” I replied harshly. Okay, maybe this was the point where I realized
that having this conversation half asleep was a bad idea. My snarky side seemed
to be wide awake, though.
    “I heard about that. It’s been dealt
with,” he replied without hesitation.
    I laughed. “Something tells me there’s
more than one of those girls waiting in the wings. Were you planning on
chartering a blimp to broadcast some type of message?” I asked sarcastically.
“She was classy by the way, good to know what your type is.”
    He chuckled unaffected by the bite of
my words. “If you didn’t care what it is that I feel, then you wouldn’t give a
shit. From the sound of your voice it seems that she got you all riled up. And
from what Connie said, it was a sight to see, too. So from where I sit, you’re
just denying the inevitable with your suit of armor darlin ’,”
he drawled.
    I scowled that he had me pegged.
    “I’m surprisingly patient, so you can
keep up this act a while longer if you’d like, though I really don’t see the
point.”
    “God, you are infuriating,” I seethed.
    He chuckled, his deep voice sending a
wave of tingles straight to my groin in a way I wished I could deny. “Yeah but
you like it, all of it,” he replied arrogantly.
    God, I so did. Dammit.
    “Are you going to keep goading me or
are you going to let me sleep?” I demanded.
    “You set the alarm? Lock the doors?”
he asked, his tone softer now.
    “Yes,” I sighed.
    “Okay then. I’ll pick you up at six
tomorrow night.”
    “Wait, what?” I demanded.
    “Already checked with Connie, I know
you don’t have to work. You and I are going out. I would tell you what to wear,
but I’m sure anything you chose will be sexy as hell. Night darlin ’,”
he murmured before he hung up.
    “ Gah !” He
clearly wasn’t accepting my brush off and I wasn’t entirely certain what to do
about that. The man drove me absolutely crazy, in every way.

 
    Chapter Four
    I considered standing Cole up, I
really did. But then I thought about everything he’d already done for me, and I
couldn’t go through with it. And if I was being honest with myself, I was
thrilled at the prospect of spending more time with him. It was official, I was a glutton for punishment.
    After some guesswork and lots of input
from Kat the next evening, I settled on tight, dark blue jeans and my green
fitted blouse that hugged my curves and made my eyes pop. I finished it off
with my high heeled sandals. It was an outfit that would work in almost any
setting, which was pretty much what I had to go for. I left my long hair down
and a bit wild. To complete the look, I applied black eyeliner and my blush
colored lipstick for a bit of color.
    “You look smoking,” Kat