Page 84 of This Time Around
“Oooh,” I teased.“Look at me, getting the VIP treatment.”
“You’re such a pain in my ass.I’ll see you soon.”
He hung up before I could say goodbye, but he’d already done his brotherly duty.I hung up smiling and no longer wallowing.
Yeah, my younger brother rocked.
Brooke setdown her glass of Rosewood Riesling and pushed it to the side as I told the story.True to Jordan’s word, he’d had it waiting for us.It wasn’t just my favorite Riesling because it was delicious and local, but because it was employed by adults with special needs.Their work was amazing and gave those who had difficulty providing for themselves a place to thrive.Yeah, I was a fan.
“What I want to know,” she said in a stern voice entirely unlike her, “is why you didn’t call your girls when he left this morning so you could toss this in our laps and let us help you.”
“Because she’s as stubborn as my grandma’s donkey,” Kelly muttered, her wineglass not nearly as forgotten as Brooke’s.
“Because it’s not a big deal.He’s leaving anyway.I should have been prepared for this.It’s not that big of a deal.”
The acidic taste of the lies wasn’t washed away with a giant gulp of sweet wine.
Kelly smirked at me.“That was two, ‘it’s not that big of a deals,’ woman.Who exactly do you think you’re fooling?”
I fell back into the seat cushion.“No one.”
“Damn straight.Now, I don’t think any of this is funny, although Ireallywant more detail on how he was, you know?”
“I told you, we didn’t have sex.”
“Yes, let’s imagine that for a moment.”Kelly closed her eyes and hummed.Brooke slid Kelly’s wineglass to the other side of the table.
“And, that’s enough wine for the married pervert.”
Kelly peered at her out of one eye.“It’s not nearly enough for this pervert.”She grabbed her wine back and took a healthy swallow.
Not enough for me either.More times than had to be healthy through the day I caught myself thinking about the thickness of him in my mouth.Perfectly sized in width and length.The man was muscled and sculpted to perfection everywhere.But it wasn’t the physical act that held my main attention throughout the day.It was his tenderness in taking care of me.
Cooper Hawke was a man who would sacrifice his life for a woman.He’d serve her, take care of her.He’d comfort her and protect her and help her and stand at her side when she needed a partner.He’d be at her back when she needed to handle business on her own, and he’d be at her front when she couldn’t.Everything he showed me since the day he arrived proved the kind of hard-working, decent man he was.
And it was possible I was falling for someone who would no doubt break my already pummeled heart.
“I do have to say you two look really cute together, and I really like the dopey look on your face.”Brooke was on her phone, finger swiping, lips curled up.
“What are you talking about?”
“The photo of you two at Down Home.It’s really good.”
I ripped the phone out of her hand.And oh my goodness, she was not entirely wrong.Sitting across from each other in the booth handmade from wood pallets, white icicle Christmas lights that hung from wood beams across the restaurant all season long cast a gentle glow over Cooper and I.I’d been munching on a taco salad, he was carving into his ribeye steak, but both of us weren’t looking at our food.Our eyes were locked on each other and both of us wore the barest hint of a smile, like we had a secret no one else in the world knew.I didn’t even remember what we talked about at dinner, but I guaranteed no secrets were shared.We talked about our day, our lives, the differences and similarities.
Turned out, Cooper thought living in L.A.and working with actors and actresses felt similar to trying to corral escaped chickens.An exercise that made you want to bash your head into the nearest shed wall whenever it happened.
A notification slid down and her phone chimed.I didn’t mean to look but Cooper’s name scrolled across the screen.
“What’s this?”I asked, already swiping to see what Brooke had on her phone.
“Oh, I set up Google Alerts for him.”
I raised my eyes to her.“You what?”
“Yeah,” she shrugged.“No bigs.I have it for a lot of celebrities I like.I just sign up for Google Alerts and whenever they hit the news, that news hits my phone.”
“You are so weird,” I muttered, my attention diverted to her phone.
Where Cooper was sitting across from his wife.Smiling almost that exact same grin he had in the photo with us.
The sting of betrayal whipped through me and I dropped the phone.I’d known from the beginning he wouldn’t be mine, not forever, but it didn’t diminish the pain I currently felt.It was such a minor thing, he was out to eat with his wife after all.
That made it even worse because while he assured me his marriage was over, he was still a married man.A man I’d practically slept with.
And no one, not even my best friends sitting across from me, their silence palpable while I stared at that photo, knew, was that the night Joseph died, we’d been arguing because I’d just found out he cheated on me.
