Page 29 of This Time Around
Eleven
Rebecca
My brother wasn’t just a pain in my backside, he never missed an opportunity to dish out crap to any guy I brought around.He enjoyed seeing them tremble in fear in front of him.
It wasn’t surprising he showed up today.I’d expected him to make the maneuver he just made as public as possible.Yippee me, I had a younger brother who thought he was funny.
Fortunately, Cooper not only didn’t shrivel beneath my brother’s steely gaze that psyched out more than one batter when he played ball, he stood against it, at my side, and protected me.
I hadn’t had that.Not in a long time.It felt damn good and scary as hell.I ignored the way my heart fluttered at an unnatural speed and turned to Cooper.
“Can you fill him in on everything?”
He scowled at Jordan.“You trust him?”
“Yes,” I said.A soft laugh escaped me.“He’s my brother.Of course I do.”I whipped back to Jordan.“But don’t be an ass, either.I’m going to get dressed.You want to stay for breakfast, I’ll get on that after I go upstairs.”
“Awesome,” Jordan said, slapping his stomach.“I’m famished.”
I glared at him, stomping up the stairs, knowing that glare didn’t faze Jordan.“Don’t you own a restaurant?Somewhere else you can get food for free?”
He shrugged shamelessly and followed me up the stairs.
I almost stumbled over the top step as he winked at Cooper and grinned.“Yours is better.”
“Damn straight,” I replied.
I let the door slam shut in front of him and hustled up the stairs.
Good Lord, I’d barely managed to throw on a robe before I ran downstairs when I woke to the rumble of his truck.
And it was seven-thirty!I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept in, or the few times I had, the work had already been done.
I also hadn’t expected Cooper to get up and handle everything.
More, I hadn’t expected last night to happen.
I whipped off my tank top, tossed it onto my bed and turned to my closet, my body chilling not from being half-naked but from the memory of last night as it assaulted me.
Holy crap.I kissed him.His cheek, but that wasn’t where I was aiming.
What was wrong with me?I stumbled backward and when the soft fabric of my sheets hit my knees, I collapsed onto it.
I’d almost kissed another man.
I’dwantedto kiss another man.A man who wasn’t Joseph.A man who wasn’t permanent.
It was Cooper’s fault.It was his smiles and his strong jaw and his even stronger arms and muscled body and it was his laughter and his easy confidence.
It was all the things about him I’d noticed and kept ignoring ever since I agreed to the stupid idea to allow him to come here and all the stupid things about him I’d been pushing away since I Googled him and saw his photos.
He was a man, an attractive one, and I was no longer solely appreciating his physical characteristics.
“Damn it.”I dropped my face into my hands.
Joseph was the only man I’d ever loved.He was the only man who’d understood me.I’d also thought he was the only man I’d ever met who was as equally passionate about my dreams and living on our land and ranching as I was.
He was also the only man who betrayed me.
