Faithful (13 page)

“You do have a fatherly appeal to the people at work,” Leo agrees.

Carson grunts in embarrassment.

“Dylan is another story,” Cooper says slyly.

“Here we go,” Dylan mutters.

“Dylan is often standing as tall as possible with his arms crossed. It’s intimidating to people who don’t know him, and he uses that to his advantage at sales meetings, I bet.”

“Oh, he does.” Emma laughs.

“And then there’s Imogene, here.” Cooper tilts his head in my direction. “She exhibits behavior similar to Carson’s when she’s among women, but when she’s around men, her nonverbal behavior is more like Dylan’s. It’s a protective, defense measure.”

“I thought her mouth was her defense measure,” Jess cuts in. “Her sarcasm.”

“It is to an extent, but that’s verbal behavior, and I’m still compiling my file on Imogene Walsh.” Cooper grins devilishly at me.

I scoff because I have nothing to say; he’s pretty much nailed us.

Lauren gives me one of her little knowing looks and then stands. “Okay, I need to collect these finished trays and give you new ones, so take a potty break if you need it,” she says to everyone.

“I’m going to get some water. Anyone want anything?” Cooper asks the group, but there are no takers; therefore, he pats my leg under the table and stands to leave.

Lauren uses that moment to nod her head in Cooper’s direction. She looks like an angry ostrich, flinching her head to get me to follow Cooper.

“Hon, is something wrong with your neck? You look like you’re in pain,” Leo says, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Oh, Leo, you’re just missing Lauren’s tells,” I say, bopping an empty felt tray on his head then leaving the room to find Cooper.

“So that was very impressive,” I say, entering the kitchen as Cooper pulls a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Glad I did something to impress you.” He smiles. “I was going to say more, but I didn’t want you to feel like I put you on the spot.”

“About what?” I lean on the counter next to him and cross my arms. Then I look down at my arms across my chest and think about that for a minute. I am like Dylan when I’m around men, defensive.

Cooper chuckles and then nods at my position. “You want to talk to me, but you’re already in combat mode. I didn’t tell them about your eyes, though.”

“What about my eyes? Are they shifty?”

“They’re beautiful.”

A little, happy tremor races through me.

“You do narrow your eyes at men. You’re very skeptical around them, and you used to be that way with me. Now you look at me in a different way. You’re still sarcastic, but your eyes give you away.”

“How so?” I ask quietly. I relax my arms and hook my thumbs into the belt loops of my jeans.

“Your eyes pop wider when you see me. Instead of turning your head or averting your gaze, you stare at me. A lot. It’s nice. Plus, it pretty much confirms what I’ve thought. You have always liked me, but now you’re showing it openly.”

Of course, I’m staring at him now, that handsome face with those cute, professor glasses. I want to ruffle his hair.

Without deliberating any further, I launch myself at him and plant my mouth on his. He grunts in surprise and then approval, managing to kiss me and place the water bottle on the counter at the same time. As he wraps his arms around me, holding me tightly, and hoists me up so our faces are aligned perfectly, I curl my legs around his waist. He pushes his tongue deeper in a hungry, aggressive manner that turns me on even more. I fist my hands in his hair as though I can’t get enough of him, the scruff on his chin grazing my cheek, making me moan.

“Wait,” he growls. “I have to get these things off.” He removes his glasses with one hand, keeping the other on my ass to hold me up. He fumbles for the counter behind him and places his glasses down. Then he grabs my plump rear end with both hands and gives me another hard boost against him. “Kiss me,” he demands.

I grab his face with both hands and ravage his mouth, not caring who may walk in on this spectacle. I feel us moving then realize Cooper is walking us into the pantry off the kitchen. It’s an old-fashioned room with a long, butcher-block counter and tall cupboards where the cook of the house stored dishware and food.

Cooper places me on the counter, keeping himself wedged between my thighs, as I keep kissing him, savoring him. I unbutton the light cotton, sleeveless blouse I’m wearing and undo my bra clasp then push Cooper’s head back so he can see me exposed for him.

His eyes leave my face and travel down to my bountiful assets as I run one hand over a breast, fondling it until the nipple hardens then palming it as an offering.

“Shit, Imogene. Your body is fucking unbelievable,” he says huskily before clamping his hot lips on my nipple. He replaces my hand with his and holds my heavy breast as he sucks and nips at it.

I run my fingers through his hair again, keeping his head firmly in place on my breasts, moaning as tingles shoot through me. That lonely, vacant place between my legs is begging for his rock hard cock. I grind against the bulge in his jeans and moan again as my head falls back against a cupboard.

“Cooper,” I whisper hungrily, “I turn into a cheap slut when I’m around you.”

His hand replaces his mouth on my aching breasts as he works his way up my chest, licking my collarbone then sucking and biting my neck.

“I want to fuck you,” he says as he kisses my neck. “But everyone is expecting us upstairs, and we deserve a bed and unlimited time.”

He pulls away and looks at me for a moment. We’re both disheveled, the heated desire overpowering, the kind that makes people commit murder.

My hands snake up under his T-shirt and my fingers trail over his firm, flat stomach and the ridges of his six-pack abs before spreading across hard pectoral muscles. Moving my hands around to his back, I pull him closer so we’re skin against skin. Then we kiss again, slower and deeper, letting our bodies rub against each other, enjoying the friction that we’d like in other places.

A thump and the sound of a flushing toilet above our heads remind us that we’re not alone. Our kiss ends slowly, then I slump back against the cupboard, closing my bra and buttoning my blouse. Cooper pulls his T-shirt down and runs his fingers through his hair so he looks exactly the same as before our tryst.

“I’m not supposed to like you this way,” I say.

“But you do.” He places his hands on my knees and regards me with a serious expression.

“I do,” I say wearily, “but I have to get back to work.”

“I know, and I’m coming with you.” He takes my chin in his hand and looks at me with sheer determination. “I’m still holding you to our bet.”

“The hike? Seriously?”

“Absolutely. I got everyone here today so you could finish your work because, tomorrow, you’re hiking with me, baby. We’ll see what you’ve got.”

“So that’s why you organized this, so I’d have to go hiking with you? And you assume I won’t complete it and will have to go out with you? Why not just call the hike a date and then we’re done?”

“No, the hike isn’t a date. It’s in the woods. A date is where you have to go out in public with me and be seen as my date. Everything you do with me, you hide from others. You don’t want people to know that you have a thing for me, just like this kiss. You keep everything hidden.”

“Cooper, we are paired up for the wedding. That’s a date.”

“No, it isn’t. That’s a duty.”

“Well, if I go on a date with you because I lose a bet, then that’s a duty, too.”

Cooper chuckles arrogantly. “When you’re on a date with me, it won’t feel like a chore or a duty.”

“Says the horny man. Besides, we never agreed to
when
this potential date would take place. I could hold you off for another year. ”

“Not going to happen.”

“What makes you so sure? A little groping today has certainly made you very cocky.”

“Because you like me, and it’s more than what happened in this pantry … or on the porch.”

“This is a bad idea. It will get too complicated.”

“No, it’s very simple. I’m going to bring you to your knees.”

Twelve

The rest of the day, I spend too much time thinking about how Cooper can bring me to my knees.

Everyone stays until dinner, and Lauren is very pleased that we’ve accomplished getting more than thirty-five necklace tray set-ups completed. Over the next week, Lauren and I will have to string beads and add in the lockets and pendants Cooper purchased for us, which is the part that makes me feel a little cheap. He gives us this extravagant gift, and I can’t keep my hands off him. The two events are not correlated; however, it didn’t occur to me that I should probably have brought this up with him. That discussion wasn’t going to happen with everyone around, though.

The conversation in our workroom was devoted to the uncomfortable temperature and humidity level in our old house, and Lauren’s wedding and her baby—and I do mean
Lauren’s
wedding and
Lauren’s
baby. You’d never know Leo is getting married or about to be a father with the way she went on about the decision-making process, which clearly required only her vote. We had a few laughs over that.

Cooper would pause occasionally and glance my way or give me one of his wicked grins, but we didn’t corner each other in secret for another kiss or grope. When he left, his elbow grazed my arm on his way out the front door, the small gesture feeling completely erotic because it was intentional. It sent an arousing tremble cascading from my arm down to my toes. As if he knew, he looked back at me and winked before descending the stairs to his bike.

After everyone leaves, I pack a small backpack with water and some hiking essentials Leo insists I take tomorrow. I then dig out some old, high tops and lay out some light weight leggings and a T-shirt. Because of the bug factor, I need to be covered, but I also don’t want to roast.

Cooper has said he will pick me up at seven to get an early start before the heat sets in. The idea of a long, sweaty hike with Cooper doesn’t keep me awake, though; it’s the thought of him bringing me to my knees.

So, what? Hell, I’m pretty sure I could bring him to his knees, too. However, this whole knee business is precisely what we should both be trying to avoid because this is where things can go wrong and get messy. People get hurt or angry or both. Moreover, who the hell needs that in their life? Not me.
Kcuf!

“You’re going to have to walk faster than that if we want to beat the sun,” Cooper says, turning around to watch me catch up to him.

We’ve been trudging up the slow incline of a wooded path for five hours. I’m drenched in sweat, have blisters breeding on my feet, and two mosquito bites I keep scratching. I’m wearing two sport bras to prevent my breasts from doing their own bouncy line dance, but the bras are a bitch. They are practically strangling me and making my hot, itchy skin worse.

Cooper, on the other hand, looks great in sweat. His hair is pulled back into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck, and he’s wearing cargo pants and a threadbare white T-shirt that’s plastered with sweat to his chest and abs.

“I need more water, and then I need to take a piss,” I say when I reach him.

I couldn’t sound or look more butch, and at this point, I don’t care. I hate hiking, but maybe this was a good idea after all. Maybe Cooper will see what I look like under duress. In an apocalyptic world, I would be ugly, stinky, and mean. The sight of me should be a big turn off.

Cooper lets out a laugh and hands me one of the water bottles since he’s carrying all the extra weight. I grab it and gulp half of it before handing the bottle back.

“You carry it. I’m already too top heavy,” I mutter as I stalk off to find another private spot where I can kill more wildlife with my never-ending urine supply.

When I return from yet another unhappy tree, I take the rubber band out of my wet hair and try to realign my ponytail on top of my head to get the sticky hair off my neck. Cooper is standing with one hip cocked, watching me and wiping his face with his T-shirt. His sunglasses are perched on top of his head, and even in all this bug-infested, sweaty grime, he looks good with his tan, washboard abs on full display for me.

It seems unfair. I’m an attractive woman, and sometimes, I even crack the beauty ranks, but I think it always takes effort. Makeup and hair are part of my arsenal, and my body is my weapon, at least when it comes to men. I’m well aware that I should be flogged for my anti-feminist thoughts, and my mother would be the first in line with the whip. Regardless, that’s who I am.

I will never be one of those fun-loving athletic women who looks good dripping in sweat with twigs in my hair. However, in my defense, I don’t shy away from confrontation and being slighted or wronged in any way because I’m also not afraid to use my other weapon, my smart mouth. Boobs will sag and beauty fades, but as long as I’m alive, no one will ever be able to shut me up.

“What are you laughing at?” I glare at Cooper.

“You. You’re so miserable, but you haven’t once asked to go home, even though I brought you to the one trail most people hike in winter when there’s less foliage and insects.”

“You did? You did this on purpose?” I ask testily.

“Yep.”

“Jesus Christ, you must really like me in order to put up with this shit.” As I walk past him, I consider flinging my backpack at his head.

“I do. I didn’t think you’d last this long, especially when we went past that hornet’s nest. There’s a clearing up ahead. We can stop for lunch.”

“Super,” I grumble and jump back on the trail, letting him follow me this time.

A half hour later, we come to the clearing where there’s rocky terrain and a view of the valley below. After I steer us towards a big boulder with a flat top, Cooper climbs up and holds out his hand to pull me up. We sit down on the warm surface and spread our lunches out.

Cooper has two apples, a sandwich on some type of rustic bread, a big bag of dried cherries, a jar of peanuts, and energy drinks. Lauren made my lunch the night before and put it in the fridge for me, so I have no idea what I’m eating. I thought she was being nice, but as I open the bag, I see she was playing with me. I pull out a bag of Goldfish crackers and a whole log of salami.