Slow Ride (24 page)

Winking, he slapped her ass. She shot him a mock glare and he chuckled, watching her
hurry off. Cooper buckled his pants and ran a hand through his hair as Jackson banged
on the door separating the garage and office.

“Customer service sucks when Kyla isn’t around. Where is she?”

“Fuck you, Jackson!” he hollered back, but he couldn’t hide the grin on his face as
he went see what the cop wanted.

• • •

Once Kyla cleared the back door she jogged back to the music store, straightening
her clothes and fixing her hair as she went. She took some time in the office, trying
to gain some semblance of composure, but she couldn’t hide the grin on her face or
the state of her hair.

Cooper walked in while she was at the counter ringing up a sale. One minute she was
joking with customers, the next she saw his molten steel eyes on her as he leaned
against the wall, and her body responded instantly. She locked the door behind the
last customer a half hour later and stopped mid-turn when she felt two arms slide
around her waist.

“I like watching you work. Didn’t much like that old guy staring down your top, though.”
He slid one hand up and snagged the front of her tag at her cleavage, the other moved
underneath her shirt.

“Cooper. . .” she started, not wanting to get into an argument when what she really
wanted to get into was their bed and his pants, though not necessarily in that order.

“I’m just telling you how it is. If he wasn’t a hundred and twenty five years old,
I might have had to take him out, but I figured a guy at his age needs the excitement
so I let him have it.” Cooper chuckled as Kyla smacked him lightly in what he assumed
was some sort of admonishment. “But in all seriousness, it doesn’t bother me, not
anymore because I’ve evolved, remember, and I also trust you completely. .

His hand moved higher, his thumb stroking over her bra-encased nipple. “Besides, after
moving in together, I’m pretty sure the message has been received that you’re taken
and everyone knows I do not share. Ever.”

She should yell at him, lose her temper, and give him a piece of her mind. But she
couldn’t with his thumb still working over her hardening nipple and his other hand
sliding up the front of her skirt.

“Coop, I would never
let
another man touch me. But so we’re clear, the same should go for you. Don’t make me
get into a catfight with some random bitch at a bar or, well, anywhere.”

He bent down and kissed her smiling lips. “You got it. You’re mine, baby, but I’m
yours, too. Every inch of me.” His lips moved to her jaw and kissed down her throat.
“Now let me show you how a gentleman does things.”

She snorted but tightened her hands around him. “Gentleman. Now
that’s
funny seeing as you’ve got one hand down my skirt and the other up my shirt. In my
workplace no less.”

“I’m a different kind of gentleman.” The words were murmured against her skin and
she shivered from the vibration. His hand was over her panties, his fingers feather
light as her hips pushed forward. She moaned, needing more. “He licked his tongue
along her neck, sucking lightly at her skin. “Let’s go home.”

• • •

Kyla walked along the beach and sighed. She was relaxed, sated, after hours of being
in Cooper’s arms. When he’d had to go back to the garage, she’d decided to head down
to the beach. Kyla strolled on the beach and let the cool water lap over her toes.
She kept walking until she reached the pier, her mind busy with thoughts.

Looking back at the last six weeks, Kyla couldn’t believe all she’d been through.
Even with her Mustang Lola, breaking down, most of what happened to her had been good.
She found a job she loved and in finding that job, she got to know great people. Heck,
she even made friends. Her life was starting over and she was loving every minute
of it. Especially those minutes that involved Cooper. He understood her and accepted
her for who she was. He didn’t judge her for her past, and he didn’t treat her like
she was a piece of a glass because of it. It was a normal relationship. Or at least
what she thought a normal relationship was supposed to be.

She noted a few people at the far end of the structure, but otherwise the beach was
quiet. Maybe she could find a perfect shell, a memento of this perfect evening in
her life, among the items the ocean had churned up. She walked into the surf, shivering
as the cool water hit her lower legs. Crouching down, she reached into the sand to
pull a white object from it.

As cheesy as it was, she decided to give it to Cooper. Maybe he could find a place
in his house for it. She spun around to head back up the beach but only found time
enough to scream once and raise her arm to deflect the blow from the object coming
toward her. She was only partially successful as she felt the object smack the side
of her head. It was the last thing she knew as she lost consciousness, crumpling to
the ground with the cold water folding over her.

Cooper willed himself to stay awake despite the exhaustion he felt. It had been the
longest day of his life. When he got to the hospital and saw her, Tommy had to hold
him back from bursting into the emergency room. Tommy said they had to get her stabilized
and cleaned up. Between the water, sand, and blood, she’d been a mess. When the doctor
finally let Cooper in and he saw Kyla’s bloody clothes on the floor, the bruises on
her face, and the bandage on her forehead, he felt his heart skip a beat. He wanted
to drag Kyla out of there and take her home, defend her to the death if he had to.
Kyla had wormed her way into his heart and Cooper knew, that he would never let her
go. But the possibility of her going, of her being taken from him, it hit home and
scared the fuck out of him.

“Kyla. Kyla, you have to wake up. Come back to me, baby.” Cooper heard his voice crack
as he spoke. He’d been sitting there for hours, waiting impatiently for her to open
her eyes. He wouldn’t leave her side, he wouldn’t let go of her hand. He needed to
feel that connection, their connection.

He felt her fingers move, squeezing his gently. Her head moved to the side and she
groaned. “Kyla, baby, that’s it. Wake up and look at me. Let me see those beautiful
eyes.” Her eyes fluttered open and he smiled for the first time since he’d gotten
the call about her accident.

“Cooper?” Her voice was raspy. “What happened?” Her legs moved under the blanket as
she tried to lift herself up.

“No, Kyla. Just don’t move, all right. You were on the beach, remember? You got hurt.
We’re at the hospital now. You’ve been out of it for awhile.” Almost 24 hours. Cooper’s
jaw clenched. It had been the worst 24 hours of his life in fact, praying Kyla would
wake up and come back to him.

“Oh yeah,” she murmured. “Am I okay?” Cooper smoothed some hair from her forehead,
careful of the bandage that now covered a large portion of it. “You’re fine. Just
a bump on the head. The doctors wanted to keep an eye on you. But we can talk about
that later. Go back to sleep, doll. I’ll be here when you wake up.” He hesitated,
as if he didn’t want to give her any more news, then finally blurted out, “Ky, I called
Mike. He’s coming up here. He’s worried about you.”

Kyla tried to sit up again. “Mike’s coming? When?” She trained her now wild eyes on
Cooper. “Cooper, I don’t think this is a good time for a family reunion. He’s had
to deal with enough of my crap and he got hurt by Frank already. He doesn’t need this.”

“I called him when I found out the ambulance brought you in. He’s your brother and
deserves to know what is going. You may think you need to protect him from Frank,
but he sees it as his job to protect you, his little sister.” Cooper took her hand
in his and kissed her palm. “He’s coming, Kyla. There isn’t any stopping it. You’re
probably lucky he was able to convince your mom to stay home until he got here and
assessed the situation.”

“Mom knows?” she asked.

“Yeah. She’s been calling me every three minutes to check on you. She seems really
cool. I’m just sorry the first time I got to talk to her was to tell her that her
daughter had been admitted to the hospital.”

They tabled the discussion as a nurse and doctor walked into the room to check Kyla
over. They wanted her to stay one more night, and then, they would need her to go
to home with someone so they could keep an eye on her.

“That won’t be a problem, doc.” Cooper spoke up. “We live together and I’m not going
to let her out of my sight.”

“Cooper, I’m staying at your place, but you don’t have to take care of me. I can go
back to the motel or stay with Sarah. You have work and the thing with Jackson. I’m
not your responsibility.”

It took all of Cooper’s will power to not respond to Kyla. Instead, he waited until
the doctor and nurse left. He carefully laid down on the bed next to her.

“Cooper, what are you doing? I don’t think the hospital allows visitors to sleep with
patients.”

“I don’t care what the hospital policy is, Kyla. I need you to listen to me.” Kyla’s
mouth closed and she waited for Cooper to continue. “I get that you don’t want to
be a burden. I get that you want to be independent and be your own person. And I’d
never try to change you, or force you to do something you don’t want to do. But you
have to understand, Kyla, it is my responsibility to take care of you. It always will
be. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Wanting to protect you, to make sure you’re
safe and loved, that isn’t a bad thing and it doesn’t mean you’re giving anything
up by letting me do that.”

“But Cooper, we just started this and it’s all so much. I don’t want you to regret
this or think I’m a pain in the ass with a bunch of drama following her.”

He shook his head. “Enough, Kyla. I don’t think that, and I won’t ever. You’re right,
we haven’t known each other long, but I can tell you that I’ve wanted you since the
moment I saw you and that hasn’t changed. In fact, that feeling has just grown. Now,
you’re not going back to the motel or staying with Sarah. You’re staying at home,
with me.” He kissed her lightly and then smiled. “And of course, if you want to take
care of me, in whatever way you can, I’m all for that.”

Kyla laughed softly. “All right, Cooper. If we can take care of each other, be each
other’s responsibilities, and protect each other, well then, I’m on board with that.”

At that point the nurse came in but didn’t say a word about Kyla being snuggled up
with her man in the hospital bed. Instead she headed for the IV stand and injected
something into her IV. In matter of minutes Kyla drifted off to sleep. Cooper remained
at her side, dozing off with his woman in his arms.

• • •

Sometime in the night Kyla woke up again, her eyes adjusting to the dark. She pulled
herself up a bit on the bed, pressing her hand against the large bandage on her forehead.
She turned in Cooper’s arms and snuggled against him.

“Cooper.” She kissed his jaw, a light touch but one that had him stirring.

“Right here, babe. You need something?”

“Yeah, you. And I want you to tell me what happened.”

Cooper lay facing her, stroking her cheek with his finger. “Scared the hell out of
me when Tommy called. A few fishermen were walking down the pier, saw someone go after
you, and heard you scream. Whoever did it pushed you into the water and you weren’t’
moving. One of the guys called 911, another dropped his gear and jumped off the pier
to get to you. If they’d backtracked on the pier and then took the hill down to the
beach, you’d have drowned before they could pull you out.” His voice was rough, his
emotions laid bare. “Tommy and his partner were first on the scene. He called me while
he was working on you and told me to get to the hospital and to call your family.
Jesus, Kyla, I thought you would be gone when I got here.”

She tried to blink back the tears but failed as they began spilling over. “I’m sorry.”
She knew it was an odd thing to say, but she felt badly for making him worry.

“Don’t be sorry. You didn’t do anything. Just the thought of losing you . . . it was
not a good thought.” Cooper kissed her nose and settled back. “Whoever did this, they
hit you with a piece of driftwood. It was found down the beach, your blood all over
it. They didn’t find who it was; they did trail some tracks in the sand and the cops
are still looking. Jackson is heading the investigation.” He started to shake his
head as Kyla narrowed his eyes. “No, it’s okay. He seems to like you and wants to
nail the fucker who did this to the wall. And more power to him, I say.”

“But he hit you.” Maybe he could forgive, but she couldn’t forget the bruises he came
back with the day at the diner.

“Jackson has to do his job, and that day he had to send a message for someone. He
did, we tussled, and I gave as good, if not better, than I got. But all that shit
is being put on hold until we find this asshole.”

Kyla burrowed into the length of Cooper’s body. She traced her fingers along his shoulder
and down to his waist, resting it there. “And you called Mike.” It wasn’t a question.
She remembered him saying that when she first woke up. Her feelings about Mike knowing
what was going on, and getting involved again after the last disaster with Frank where
he got hurt, were mixed.

“Yeah. I found his number in your phone, which you left in our bedroom. We’ll talk
about that later. You need to take it with you everywhere.” When she nodded, he continued.
“Mike was planning on coming down anyway, wanting to straighten things out with you.
He loves you, though I did tell him that if he upsets you, I’ll kick his ass.” Her
eyes grew wide. Mike was nearly as big as Cooper. Maybe two inches shorter but just
as broad. Cooper continued, “He then told me if I broke your heart he’d tear me to
pieces and throw whatever was left into the ocean. I think we bonded over all that
actually.”

She couldn’t help but grin. “Mike has never liked anyone I’ve dated. You should have
seen the way he hated Frank. Open hostility like I’ve never seen. That was one of
the reasons I backed away from everyone when I was with him. I hated being around
that.” She sighed, her eyes meeting Cooper’s. “Is that who they think did it? Frank?
Did he find me?”