Page 7 of Unlocking Hope

“Well, Zoey, who has no last name, let’s go find a shower.” He shut the door before she could respond, but she wasn’t sure what she would have said anyway. Cole had been helpful so far, but she wasn’t ready to tell him her last name.

She watched as he rounded the car and climbed into the driver’s seat. For the first time in months, Zoey felt safe, which was strange, since she barely knew the guy. “Probably should’ve asked earlier but where do you live?”

Cole snorted and pulled into traffic. “I’m not going to kill you. My house is in the Terrell Hills area.”

“Terrell Hills is expensive. What were you doing in that rundown house earlier today, if you weren’t coming for me?”

“My partner and I buy homes and flip them once we finish the remodel. I purchased the house you were in today from the Bexar County Courthouse. I expected maybe a few squatters, never someone to shoot at me.”

“Sorry.”

Zoey watched the road as Cole drove down the streets of San Antonio. Colorful tattoos covered his arms. Instead of making her look at him differently, the cartoon images on his forearm added to his sexy edge. She wanted to run her fingers over the designs and ask what had made him decide to add the art to his body, but she didn’t want to be rude.

If she hadn’t been so scared after Eric found her, she probably would’ve kept running and not gotten into his SUV. She hadn’t figured out why Cole wanted to help her, but when he mentioned food, her stomach growled loudly.

“You don’t have to keep apologizing. Now let’s talk about something else… If you could have anything to eat for dinner, what would it be?”

She let out a breath. Her favorite food was not the question she expected him to ask. She’d tried to not think about food because she hadn’t even thought she would get to eat non-expired food again. “Steak with mashed potatoes—ohh, and a side of asparagus,” she blurted out.

“No dessert?”

“Warm apple pie with ice cream.” Her mouth watered as she thought about the last time she’d eaten a piece of pie.Last Christmas…Every year, she made a pie for Christmas dinner. Apple pie reminded Zoey of her mother, who’d passed away four years ago from breast cancer.

“Apple pie is one of my favorites.”

The rest of the car ride, they spent asking each other what their favorite colors, tv shows, and sports teams were. Talking to Cole was easy, and for the first time in months, she felt satisfied with her decision. Zoey relaxed back into the comfy leather seat. She felt safer than she had in a long time.How long will it last, though?

His house was beautiful. It had a perfectly manicured lawn with a splash of color from yellow flowers around the front walkway. Not only was the yard perfect, but when they walked inside, his house was nothing like a bachelor pad. Everything had a place. The furniture matched and wasn’t the usual black leather couch or single chair guys have in their bachelor pad. She’d immediately felt out of place—his house was clean, and she stank like yogurt left out in the sun for days.

“Cole, you can take me back to the shelter. I’m sorry I put you through all this today.”

Instead of replying, he placed his hand on her lower back and moved her down the hallway. They passed two closeddoors, which she assumed led to bedrooms, before leaving the entryway. She saw a large open concept kitchen. Cooking was never her forte, but she might try if she had a kitchen like that.

Cole cleared his throat and opened a door on the left. “This is the guest bedroom, and it has a shower. I will go grab you a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and set them on the bed while you shower. They will be a little big on you, but we can put your clothes in the washer or order some new ones in.”

Tears pricked at the side of Zoey’s eyes. Paul and Al had tried to help her, but this was more than anyone had done. “Thank you.” Once again, the words didn’t seem good enough to convey how she felt. She walked into the bedroom and straight for the shower. She couldn’t wait to feel the warm water run down her body.

Zoey stopped and looked in the bathroom mirror. Her hair was so dirty, it seemed dark brown rather than light blond. Grime covered her pale skin. Not wanting to look at her reflection any longer, she turned and stripped off her clothes. Knowing a washer wouldn’t get the smell and filth out of her clothes, she quickly put them in the bathroom trash and tied the bag in a knot. She turned on the shower and stood under the warm water.

The dirt running off her body turned the shower floor brown, but she couldn’t analyze her feeling about how gross she was as fresh water ran over her body. Thirty minutes later, the water was still warm, but she knew it was time to get out and face the man who helped her today. Turning the knobs, she stopped the water, then she grabbed a soft-blue towel off the rack.

Opening the drawers, she looked for a brush to comb her hair. She couldn’t help letting out the sigh when she saw the unopened toothbrush and comb. It felt like winning the lottery. After her time on the streets, she appreciated the little things way more than she had before.

After brushing her hair and teeth, Zoey slowly opened the bathroom door to find a pair of athletic shorts and a T-shirt on the bed. The clean clothes were enormous on her emaciated frame.

Cole seemed like a good guy, but she’d also thought her old boss was a good guy in the beginning, until she’d returned to the office late one night after forgetting her cell phone and saw someone being tortured.

As Zoey walked back down the hall toward the kitchen, she heard Cole’s voice. “ I need more information out of her before I can call him .”

Her feet stumbled.Seems he might not be the good guy…And she had nowhere to run.

4

COLE

Cole pulled two steaks out of the refrigerator and sighed tiredly. The day had been filled with more excitement than he’d had in a while. Bella’s rescue had provided a rush of adrenaline he had been missing since his time in the military. Nevertheless, something about Zoey made him want to throw caution to the wind and do whatever was necessary to protect her. He snorted to himself. They’d just met, and he would do anything to help her. He wanted to know everything about her. In the car ride to the house, he’d said they were playing a game to break the tension in the car by saying things they liked. That wasn’t entirely true, though. He wanted to know everything about her, and he’d used the game to find out her favorite things. Purple was her favorite color, and she liked daisies instead of roses.

His phone vibrated on the counter, and he let out another sigh as Ian’s name flashed across the screen. Cole knew he should’ve called Ian back a while ago to let him know everything was okay, but Cole wanted to spend every second he had talking to the wildcat. His mind wandered back to the fact that she was stripping down in his shower. His dick stirred as he thought about the water running over the swell of her breasts.

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