I looked up. “You cook?”
“Yeah, don’t sound so surprised.”
“Sorry.” I held up a hand. “My dad is hopeless in the kitchen, unless it involves heating leftovers up in the microwave.”
Cole made a sound. “Sounds like your dad is hopeless at a lot of things. I’m no chef, but I can grill. I’ve got some good steaks in the fridge.”
“How about I make some vegetables to go with them?”
“Deal.”
Soon, I was humming as I chopped and cooked. I liked this. Moving around his modern kitchen, roasting some potatoes and cooking up some asparagus. I cooked sometimes, but never anything fancy since I was usually cooking for myself. It wasn’t much fun to cook for one.
When he came in from the outside patio where his grill was with the cooked steaks, we maneuvered around the kitchen like we’d been doing it forever.
Licking my lips, I stared at his broad back. His black T-shirt stretched tight over his muscular body. He was so big, so strong. I wished he saw me as more than a young woman in trouble and in need of rescuing. I’d give anything for him to see me as a woman.
“Ready?” He glanced back at me.
I pinned on a smile. “Ready.”
We plated up and ate at his table. Cole drank a beer, but I stuck with water.
“Do you work in security at the Avernus like Nash?”
He shook his head. “I help out if the guys need me, but I actually have a business. Darkwolf Tactical.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I have a training facility in the desert, where I teach tactical training and CQC. Close quarters combat. Mainly for private military contractors. I just take a few jobs when it suits me.”
“So you still use your mercenary skills.”
“Yeah. I did a short stint in the Army, then joined my Dad and uncle. They had a small outfit.”
“So it’s a family business.”
“It was. They’re both dead now.”
My stomach clenched. “I’m sorry.”
“They both lived exactly how they wanted. Dad had a heart attack while drinking whiskey and smoking cigars. He was alone at the time. By the time someone found him, it was too late. A few years later, Uncle Heath had a stroke.” His lips twitched. “Old bastards probably liked going out before they got too old.”
I wondered if Cole was living the life he wanted. I wanted to ask him how he’d become an assassin, but I didn’t know how to bring it up.
“I had a great team I worked with. Delta Team. Some of the best men I ever knew.”
Past tense.My heart squeezed. I saw the dark look that crossed his face. “You lost them too?”
His lips pressed together. “Yeah.”
He didn’t say anything else, and I didn’t push.
I ate as much of the steak as I could, but it was enormous. He eyed my plate like he was contemplating forcing me to eat more.
“I’m totally stuffed. Can’t fit anything else.”
“Want to watch some TV?”
