Slow Ride (16 page)

His hand was on the door, but his eyes were searing into her. “Good to know. Can’t
wait till you say yes and my name, over and over again.” With a wink he was through
the door, leaving her to pick her melted self off the floor and try to work until
lunch.

Lunch was amazing. Sarah seated them in a secluded booth in the back and took their
order. Cooper made sure to keep close, sitting on the same side of the booth as she,
his hard thigh pressed up against hers. He had one hand around his drink and the other
was in her lap, his fingers gliding across the skin of her thigh. It was an intimate
gesture and felt comfortable as they talked about family and life in general. The
food arriving meant he had to lift his hand from her leg but didn’t stop with the
gestures that were making her stomach do gymnastics. He would swipe the hair from
her face or squeeze her hand when she had it resting on the table. At one point he
lowered his mouth to hers and licked off the ketchup from her bottom lip, taking a
quick taste of her mouth before resuming his lunch. She could see herself getting
used to this.

Even after Cooper paid, they remained in the booth. Kyla lifted her leg and hooked
it over his, her foot dangling between his thighs. “Don’t we have to get back to work,
boss?”

Cooper’s gaze was hot on her leg and in one swift movement his hands were around her
waist. He lifted her as if she were a ragdoll and settled her on his lap. One hand
slid to the back of her neck and his mouth covered hers, alternating between hard
kisses and gentle nibbles. The high back of the booth in front of them would hide
them from view of anyone who happened to be in diner, unless someone walked right
up to the table.

“Working lunch, employee relations, and all that.” She felt him smile, the words muffled
against her mouth. Cooper parted her lips with his invading tongue and swiped at the
roof of her mouth, goose bumps rising on her skin in response.

Lightning hit when he sucked her tongue and he swallowed her soft moan quickly. She
adjusted her body, her knees pressing into the bench seat as she straddled him, her
pelvis pressing into his. Kyla could feel that he was hard and ready through his jeans
and there was no doubt from the grinding of her hips against the hard length of him
that she was telling him she wanted him, too. Cooper tore his mouth from hers and
buried his face in her hair. He nipped at the sensitive skin of her neck and then
pressed his tongue there, licking and sucking. One hand sifted into her mass of hair
and held the back of her head, his other reaching under her tank top. He didn’t stop
until he found her bra, sliding along the side of her breasts, his thumb swiping over
her nipple. “Kyla, we need to get out of here. Now, before I lose control and take
you right here.”

“This is you in control?” Kyla joked but was cut off by her barely stifled groan when
his hand moved between her legs and pressed. She had already felt the dampness in
her panties from his kiss, but when his hand touched her center, even through the
fabric of her clothes, a rush of heat scorched through her. It was that moment, with
Cooper looking into her eyes, touching her, being gentle with her, that she knew.
She wanted this, and she wanted Cooper. Not just in the physical sense, though that
was certainly the case. Kyla wanted him in every way possible, even if this just lasted
a little while. And, looking at him now, having gotten to know the kind of man he
was, she had to tell him that. She had to tell him everything. “Cooper. . .” she whispered.

“Jesus, Kyla. We need to go.”

Cooper set her on the bench next to him again and got up. His hand was around her
waist and his fingers were tracing circles under her shirt, making her shiver with
excitement as they exited. He had opened the door of his truck for her when all hell
broke loose.

“Cooper!” It was Jackson and another cop walking toward him. “We need to talk.”

Cooper’s face had turned to stone. “Can’t, Jackson, got plans. Find me later.”

“No, Cooper. Now. We can talk here if you’d prefer, in front of your woman. Or we
can talk somewhere else without an audience. Either way, we’re talking now.”

His woman? Kyla opened her mouth to contradict Jackson’s assertion, but the look on
Cooper’s face told her that might not be such a good idea.

“Fine.” He turned and climbed up to stand on the running board of the truck, scooting
her over and handing her the keys. “Kyla, drive back to the garage. Do not hesitate,
just put the keys in and go. Do not stop until you get there, and tell Phil that Jackson
wanted to talk to me. You tell him I’m talking to him here. Do you understand?” When
she nodded he leaned in to kiss her hard on the mouth. “It’s going to be fine, I promise.
Leave the keys in the top drawer if you don’t see me before you leave. I’ll come by
when I can.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off with a kiss before leaning back.
“I gotta go, babe.” Her eyes moved over to Jackson and the other cop who were standing
several feet away talking, never taking their eyes off the truck.

“I know, I just. . .” She bit her lower lip. After what the she’d heard about the
cops in this town, she didn’t want to leave Cooper alone. But she wasn’t going to
get all clingy either. He was a big boy and could handle himself. Right now she had
to hold on to his promise that things would be fine. She lifted her eyes to his and
nodded, whispering, “Be careful.”

She was already putting the keys in the ignition but his eyes were still on her. “Always
am, doll.” Cooper dazzled her with his smile and jumped down, slamming the door. She
looked in the rearview mirror as she pulled out of the lot and noticed he was waiting
for her to leave before he went over to Jackson. The urge to throw the car in reverse
and run over the cops was overwhelming, but she figured that might be a bit extreme.
So she did as Cooper asked and went to the garage, screeching into the lot like the
wheels were on fire. She ran into the garage looking for Phil.

“Jesus, Kyla, what is wrong?!”

“Two cops, Jackson and another, asked to talk to Cooper outside the diner,” she told
him exactly what happened, minus the part where Cooper got to second base in the diner
booth, and watched Phil slam his fist into the nearby wall. Kyla must have gone white
as a ghost because he was suddenly in front of her, his hands on either side of her
face.

“It’s all right. I got this. I’ll get Sam and we’ll head down there and keep an eye
on things. Just hold things down here, okay? You need to go anywhere, use Coop’s truck.
Do not be walking anywhere alone and if you go back to your room, you go out the back
door and through the gate back there.” He dropped a key in her hand.

“Phil, what is going on?” Her voice and her hands were shaking, her eyes darting between
the dent in the wall and Phil. She knew he’d never hit her, but still the force of
his anger surprised her.

“Just bullshit. I can’t go into details, Kyla. Especially not now—I gotta see to Cooper.”

She watched dazed as he walked into the garage and bark orders to the guys before
getting into his truck and pealing out of the lot. Jack meanwhile made a point to
come into the office regularly throughout the afternoon, asking for coffee and making
small talk. He basically kept her occupied so she didn’t freak the hell out. Or at
least any more than she already was.

• • •

That evening, Kyla relayed the details to Maggie, who immediately called her husband,
Justin. But Maggie was also determined to get Kyla’s mind off where the hell Cooper
was and dragged her to Felicia’s so they could hang out with Sarah. It didn’t help.
Kyla was jumpy. Her eyes kept moving to the door, hoping Cooper would come in. He
didn’t. Adding to that, she received a few more text messages from a number she didn’t
recognize. The text messages were getting more graphic and this made her want to vomit.

“You think your injuries last time were bad? I can’t wait to see your face when I
plant my gun in your cunt. Yeah, the one you shot me with. I got it back, bitch. How
do you think that will feel? I can’t wait to see it.”

She was sure it was Frank now. Kyla’s hands were shaking as she put her phone away.
She just wanted to go home, to be inside her room, safe behind the locked door. Exhausted
both physically and emotionally, Kyla called a cab and went home. Her mind whirled
with her fears, about Frank finding her, about him hurting her again, but they all
came back to her worry for Cooper. Where was he? Was he okay? He was out there somewhere
after a shadowy meeting with corrupt cops. No matter how many times she repeated Sarah’s
mantra in her head—everything was going to be all right—Kyla knew better.

• • •

Sarah, Maggie, Rose, and Kyla sat at the table on the patio of the bookstore. Sarah
was looking relaxed, and she had reason to be. It was a day off from both her jobs
and those were rare. Kyla was leaned back in an iron chair, one leg tucked under her
as she sipped on her iced chai. She wore her hair thick and loose, tumbling over her
shoulders and back, comfortable in her khaki shorts and a hot pink retro Jem t-shirt
with the words decked out in glitter, and matching hot pink flip-flops. She may have
looked relaxed on the outside, but inside she was feeling the opposite. Her insides
were churning as they had been for the last couple days.

“So tomorrow is the July fourth picnic, the one Phil invited you to. You’re supposed
to go with Cooper, right?”

At Sarah’s question she looked up and wrinkled her nose. “I haven’t talked to Cooper
since we were at the diner. Phil stopped by, told me Cooper was fine, and that he
got caught up having to take care of a few things. Phil assured me he’d call.” She
shrugged. He still hadn’t called. This bothered her on a few levels. That day in the
diner things between them had been getting pretty heavy, frustratingly so. But here
she sat, no contact from him since his ominous departure, three days ago. She thought
they were getting somewhere, she’d started opening up to him and was prepared to tell
him everything about her past, to let him in. How could he say he wanted to explore
their relationship and then dump her like she had no business participating in his
life?

“I’m sure he is fine, Kyla. Phil would tell you if something was wrong. He knows how
much you care about Cooper. He wouldn’t lie to you or placate you with untruths.”

“Whatever.” She waved off Maggie’s reassurances and ignored the soft look from Rose.
Sure, she was trying to play it cool and trust Phil, but with her history, she was
scared, worried sick in fact. To deal with it, or more like avoid it, she focused
on work. Going into the office, keeping busy, and then going home.

When the second morning following the incident rolled around, her worry and concern
turned into anger. She didn’t expect Cooper to tell her his every move, but it wasn’t
like everything had been exactly normal the last time she saw him.

Maggie reached out a hand and squeezed Kyla’s, jarring her from her thoughts, “Kyla,
seriously, he’s fine. Cooper can handle himself.”

She leaned forward and addressed her three friends, “I’m not worried anymore. I’m
pissed. I get that Cooper can take care of himself, but what happened at the diner
scared the crap out of me. He’s only told me bits and pieces about the troubles with
the cops in this place and all of it makes me uneasy. I left a corrupt cop at home.
It’s why I was on the road. I know what they are capable of at their worst, and Cooper
knows I have issues with this.” He might not know all of it, but he should have known
enough to check in with her. “So this is just hitting a little too close to that home
and freaking me the fuck out.” Her eyes flicked to Rose and she mumbled, “Sorry, Rose.”

“It’s all right, love. I understand your anger. Hold on to that. It will get you by
the fear until you see him and can give him a piece of your mind.”

Maggie giggled. “Wish I could be a fly on the wall when the two of you go toe to toe.”

“Yeah, well, that may not happen. I’ve lined up Jack to take me to the picnic since
Cooper can’t be bothered,” she dropped her news. The other three women stared at her,
silent as the grave.

“What?”

Sarah shook her head. “Cooper’s head would explode if he knew Jack was taking you.”

“Well it shouldn’t,” she retorted. “I know I’m new to the whole ‘normal relationship’
thing, but seriously, he hasn’t even fucking called. Who gets carted off by the cops
and then doesn’t call for days and days. It’s not normal!” She cringed when she realized
she’d sworn again and shot Rose an apologetic look. “Sorry again, Rose. I never swear
like this.”

This time it was Rose laughing. “You’re right, it’s not normal. And when he comes
to pick you up tomorrow, he’ll learn that lesson real fast.”

“No lesson needed. I don’t even like him. It doesn’t matter that when he kisses me
my toes curl. Cooper is a thoughtless jerk.” She huffed and sat back in the chair,
her arms crossed over her chest.

Sara arched a brow, her head shaking. “Keep telling yourself that, but no matter how
many times you do, it’s not going to make it the truth. Sure, be pissed, you have
the right to be and definitely give him a talking to. But don’t deny what is written
all over your face. Not to us.”

“Whatever,” Kyla mumbled into her chai and took another drink while her friends grinned.

A drop of water landed on the skirt Kyla was staring at and she moved quickly to brush
it off. Her current quandary was what to wear to the picnic at Phil’s mom’s house.
She still wasn’t sure if Cooper would remember to pick her up. Maybe he’d changed
his mind. Or maybe whatever came up was still, well
up.
She’d wait until one thirty and if he didn’t show or call, she was calling Jack. Or
maybe she wouldn’t go at all.

There was nothing she could do about it now so she sighed and went back to look at
her clothes. There was the skirt with the short sleeve top and flip-flops, or the
capris with a double tank and converse sneakers. Settling on the capris, she started
to get dressed, her back to the door.