Fated to a Cougar: 4 (Cougar Surrender) Read Free Page B

looking for a steady
boyfriend. Her work kept her too busy, especially now that she was striving to
become a detective. As for having a short fling, she couldn’t separate her
feelings enough to have one.
    A knock on her front door brought Sage out of her musings.
She went to answer it, having an idea who it could be. She pulled open the door
and smiled at the woman who stood on the other side.
    “I had a feeling it was you,” Sage said as she stepped back
to let her older sister Macy walk through the entrance. She carried an infant
car seat with her six-month-old son Josh inside, almost buried under all the
blankets on top of him.
    “Well, you did tell me you weren’t working today and that
you’d be switching to day shift,” Macy said as she set the car seat on the
floor, then took off her winter boots and jacket.
    “Very true. I’ll take Josh.”
    Sage picked up the car seat by its handle and carried her
nephew into the living room. She pulled the blankets off him, then unbuckled the
straps. She laid him on the couch while she took off his snowsuit. The poor
thing looked as if he couldn’t move in it.
    Macy sat on the couch once Sage picked up Josh. “So how goes
the police business?”
    “Not bad. I’m still working my way to becoming a detective.
The hard part is finding the time to study to take the test.”
    “You work too much. You don’t even have time to date. I know
you feel your career has to come first and that you’re still young, but you
won’t be twenty-four forever.” Macy nodded toward her son. “Wouldn’t you like
to have a rugrat of your own someday?”
    “Of course.” Sage gave Josh a kiss on his little pouty lips.
She loved him as if he were hers. “It’ll just be something I do when I’m in my
thirties. Unlike you, I won’t be ready at twenty-six to be married and already
starting a family.”
    “You know why I wanted both those things sooner rather than
later.”
    Sage did. They’d lost both their parents when Sage had been
eighteen and Macy twenty. Their father had never been a great father or
husband. Even though their mom had tried to hide it, there had been times when
Sage and Macy had seen marks on their mother after their father had lost his
temper with her. Once Sage turned sixteen, their mom finally kicked him out and
told them the truth about her marriage. Then two years later, while Macy and
Sage were away for a week with their grandparents, their dad had forced his way
into the apartment their mom had rented and killed her. He took his own life
afterward.
    So Sage understood why Macy had wanted to have a family of
her own. As for herself, Sage had made the decision she’d become a cop. She
wanted to be able to help protect women who were in the same situation her
mother had been in. Something she hadn’t been able to do for her mom.
    “I know,” Sage said.
    “This is a change in subject, but since you’re off tonight,
do you think you could do me a favor?”
    “What would that be?”
    “Hank and I haven’t gone out alone since Josh was born. I
was wondering if you’d agree to babysit so we can go out for dinner. I’d have
Josh all bathed and ready for bed. We’ll bring the playpen for him to sleep in.
He’s usually asleep for the night around seven thirty or eight at the latest.”
    Sage thought it over, but quickly decided it would be the
perfect way to get out of her date with Grady. She’d just tell him she’d
forgotten she had to babysit. And with Josh already at her place when Grady
arrived, it wasn’t as if he could do anything about it.
    She nodded. “Sure. I don’t mind babysitting. In fact, why
don’t you go out for dinner, then go see a movie. And if you want, you can even
leave Josh here overnight.”
    “Really? I only thought to ask you to watch him for a few
hours.”
    “Seriously, I’m okay with him staying over. I don’t get to
see him as often as I’d like, and he’s growing so fast. It’ll give you a
break.”
    “If