Tidal (18 page)

process, and inhaled deeply. I squatted in

a position that would have the paparazzi

shitting themselves to take a picture,

rested my forearms on my knees and

counted, slowly, to ten.

After a minute, I heard the driver’s

side door shut. I straightened, smoothed

out the wrinkles in my dress, and walked

confidently to the front bumper, where

Paige was sitting against it, pulling her

black hair into a short ponytail.

“I feel overdressed,” I said dryly,

taking in her plain green t-shirt and tiny

denim shorts.

“You are.” Then she smiled and

stuffed her hands into her back pockets,

leaning back to give me a once over. “And

God, you look like an accident waiting to

happen. A thousand bucks you’ll ruin that

dress by the end of the night,” she said.

I snorted. “I don’t think I have a

thousand bucks to spare,” I replied, but I

couldn’t help thinking of my advance

deposit, money I still hadn’t touched.

She winked. “I don’t either.”

Letting an Ed Sheeran song and the

sound of laughter act as our guide, we

walked around the house to the backyard.

The moment the beach came into view, I

felt like I was in paradise. Someone had

turned the strings of lantern lights hanging

above the deck on, and they cast a faint,

multi-colored glow on the sand. A small

throng of people huddled around a bonfire

in a circle of beach chairs, and my eyes

immediately settled on Cooper. He was

shirtless—but what else was new?—and

talking to a pretty blonde girl in a bikini

who was making the kind of wide-ass

gestures with her hands that drove me

crazy. And he was laughing. The pit of my

belly churned, and I quickly looked away

from him, to the sea.

Paige slipped beside me, tucking her

finger under my chin to close my parted

lips. She stretched her arms, linking her

fingers behind her. “Beautiful, huh?”

My gaze drifted back to Cooper and

the other girl. “Every time I see it.”

“I’m talking about the ocean at night,”

Paige said sarcastically. “But yeah, he’s

pretty nice too if you like blondes. Me?

The skinnier and scruffier the better.”

If Cooper hadn’t glanced up then,

catching my eyes with his, making me feel

like I was the only person on the beach, I

would have been able to keep my voice

even. Instead, I said in a gasp, “I’m not

talking about him.”

God, where was Willow Avery, the

actress? Where was that girl who didn’t

give a shit? Wherever she was, she was

laughing at me.

“Fucking liar,” Paige said, shaking her

head in undisguised amusement.

I pretended not to watch Cooper

excuse himself from the chick in the

bikini. He made his way toward Paige and

me, and for a moment, I couldn’t read the

expression on his face. It was blank, and I

felt something sink in my ribcage. Maybe

I’d been wrong for coming here.

I was invading his personal time.

I was his client.

I was—

He was smiling, a slow, heart-

breaking grin that pulled me forward, on

wobbly legs until we met halfway. “My

favorite movie star,” he said, teasingly.

“You hate the film industry,” I pointed

out in a whisper.

“Not when they show up to my house

looking like you do.”

“Going to find my boyfriend,” Paige

said in a loud voice, breezing past us. “Oh

no Paige, don’t go. We love when you’re

the creepy third wheel.” She glanced over

her shoulder at us and winked. “No, but

seriously if you need me, I’ll be keeping

Eric from the lure of doing a naked keg

stand.”

I followed her finger to the keg sitting

on the deck. Eric was sitting beside of it

holding two cups of beer as he talked to

another guy. I returned my gaze to Paige

and pressed my lips into a fine line. “If

that happens I’m walking home,” I said.

Once she was out of earshot, I glanced up

at Cooper. “Sorry for interrupting your

conversation with . . .”

“Miranda.”

Miranda. As in Officer Stewart’s

sister. As in his ex-girlfriend. I peeked

over his shoulder, not quite caring if

anyone saw me, and he laughed. “Who

knew that a surfer from Hawaii could

make
the
Willow Avery jealous?” He

started to walk away from me, toward his

friends. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to

everyone.”

I caught up beside him, cursing myself

for the wedged sandals. “This place looks

amazing,” I said, as we stood on the

sidelines of the bonfire. I pointed down at

it. “And I’m pretty sure that’s totally

illegal.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Studying up on

local rules?”

“My script,” I explained. “Alyssa . . .

gets in trouble for having one.”

“That wasn’t in the original,” he said

thoughtfully.

My head jerked up in surprise.

“You’ve seen
Tidal
?” When he lifted his

chin slightly, I released a little laugh.

“Sorry, just didn’t take you for a romance

movie type of guy.”

He clutched his muscular chest and

pretended to look hurt. “Wills, you don’t

give me enough credit,” he said before

pushing his way through a couple of his

friends. They turned to grin at us as he

gestured for me to sit in an empty beach

chair. He took the one beside me, taking a

plastic red cup from someone when they

offered it to him.

A moment later, his friends started to

gravitate towards us. I held my breath

when I was introduced to each as one of

his clients, and I half-expected someone to

make a joke about the drugs or ask me a

question about Hollywood, but nobody

did.

“Did Coop tell you I’m an extra in

your movie?” a guy named Knox with

spiky red hair asked me when Cooper

disappeared to refill his beer. Nobody

else had noticed, but I’d seen him dumping

the contents of his cup—all of his beer—

into the sand a few minutes before.

I shook my head. “No, he didn’t.” Up

until tonight, Cooper hadn’t mentioned any

of his friends aside from Eric and Paige.

“They tried to get our boy here,” Knox

said, nodding to my other side where

Cooper was sitting back down.

I focused my attention on Cooper

when I asked, “Why’d you say no?”

“You know how I feel about

Hollywood, Wills,” he said and Knox

rolled his eyes before pulling a girl who

was passing by into his lap to take a chug

out of the drink she was holding.

“I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” I told

Cooper, standing and he was right behind

me. I gave him a sideways look as we

walked inside the house. “You’re coming

in with me?”

“Are you inviting me?”

“Absolutely not.”

Someone was already inside the

bathroom next to the laundry room, so I

stood with Cooper in silence, crossing my

legs together tightly as we waited. He was

biting the corner of his lip and pretending

to look down at a doorstopper extending

from the baseboards, but I could feel his

gaze heating the side of my face. I started

to tease him about it but then the bathroom

door opened. I almost groaned when

Miranda stepped out, wobbling a little.

She looked surprised for a moment, as she

glanced back and forth between my face

and Cooper’s, but then she smiled. A

genuine one at that.

“All yours,” she said, before

disappearing down the deck hallway.

I honestly wasn’t sure if she was

talking about the bathroom or the boy

beside of me, but when we went back

outside I didn’t see her and I realized she

must have already left. Cooper caught my

wrist when I started to gravitate toward

the bonfire and gave me a tiny smile.

“Let’s get away.”

“Yes.”

We walked with a couple inches of

space between us as we headed away

from the party, but when the sides of our

bodies brushed, he reached between us,

lacing our fingertips. A tingle raced up my

arm.

“I should’ve said this before, but

congrats,” I said, trying my best to ignore

the pressure weighing down on my chest,

making it difficult for me to breathe

around him.

“For what?”

“The competition you won. That’s

what this party is for, right?”

“And here I was thinking you were

congratulating me for finally getting the

girl,” he said and when I inhaled deeply,

he ducked his head and added, “But thank

you.”

The sounds of the party slowly faded

as we walked further away from his

house. Away from the lights and his

friends. Away from turning back.

“You’ve got guests,” I said at last,

stopping beneath one of the palm trees

peppering the beach.

“It’s my party,” he pointed out, “And

besides, it’s thinning out. They’ll probably

be gone before we get back.”

“And you’re leaving it to break your

rule about clients,” I whispered.

He froze, and my lips dragged up into

a satisfied smile. Cool and calm and

collected Surfer Boy was frazzled

because of something I’d said.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last very long.

Tightening his grip on my fingers, he

closed the space between our bodies,

keeping each movement controlled. His

lips parted, and I expected him to question

me like he always did, to ask me if he was

what I really wanted. Instead, he backed

me up against the tree, pinning my hands

over my head so that the leaves scratched

my palms.

Everything touched—our bodies and

lips and tongues. He smelled like coconut

and salt water, and more than anything I

wanted that scent on my own skin. I was

hardly aware when he took me down with

him to the ground, pulling me on top of

him.

His thumb pressed against the center

of my panties—against the center of

myself—and I about lost it.

Breaking away from his mouth, I

whispered, “I haven’t done
this
in a really long time.”

He pulled his hand from my panties,

cupping my face and tangling his fingers

into stray strands of my hair. “I know.”

“Cooper, I’m not going to have sex

with you—at least not out here.”

“Jesus, Wills, we’ve been undoing

one another for days. The last place we’re

going to tear each other apart is right here,

in the sand. Guess you can say I’m greedy

because I want to be the only one who

hears you come,” he whispered in a harsh

voice, hushing my gasp with his tongue,

his lips, before it even had a chance to

surface.

When I came up for air this time, I

tightened my knees against his sides and

raked my fingers through his blonde hair.

He squeezed my bottom and grinned, but it

wasn’t easy-going or teasing, like usual. It

was brimming with frustration.

“You never talked to me like this

before,” I said.

He gave a husky laugh and then sat

upright, gripping me like he’d never let

go. “You coming here tonight was the

game changer.”

Chapter Twelve

In the two weeks I’d been taking surf

lessons with Cooper, I hadn’t once seen

the inside of his bedroom or any area of

his house other than the laundry room,

kitchen, and shop. Until tonight.

By the time we’d returned to the

beach, the party was over and everyone

had scattered. I had a feeling that Paige

had something to do with that, but I didn’t

say anything as Cooper guided me inside

through the deck door, locking it behind

us.

“You’re quiet, Wills,” he said, his

fingertips pulling gently on my own as he

walked backwards, guiding me toward the

staircase. I followed him up, feeling my

heart pulse a little harder with each step.

“I thought you liked it when I was

quiet,” I teased, and he paused. Turning

sideways halfway up the steps, he turned,

and ran the tip of his tongue across my

bottom lip. My hand flew up to touch that

spot as we climbed the last six stairs.

“I don’t want you quiet tonight,” he

said.

The second Cooper closed his

bedroom door he lifted me up, gripping

my thighs through my white dress. I

wrapped myself around him, crossing my

feet behind his back, draping my arms

around his shoulders.

“Do you want to hear something,

Wills?” he asked in a low, sexy whisper,

his accent clipping every other word.

“No,” I said honestly. I just wanted

him to kiss me until I couldn’t think.

He pinned me hard to the wall, and the

dresser a few feet away shook, rattling the

items strewn across it. “I’ve wanted to do

this since night one.”