Chapter 15 #2
I pushed up from the counter and sighed, then handed out a round of shots to the needy college girls as my focus strayed to Abby. She glanced in my direction, her eyes gleaming with trouble. I was surprised when she let go of Daphne’s arm and approached my side of the bar.
I kept my eyes level with hers and not on her cleavage spilling out from her dress. “Hey, Abby.” I pressed forward on my forearms as she ambled over to me, brimming with a confidence I hadn’t seen before.
“Hey,” she said stiffly. “Gin and Tonic, please.”
I faltered. “I texted you earlier.”
Mirroring my stance, her expression was blank. “I saw.”
My eyes narrowed. I wasn’t loving this new development. Abby was obviously trying to get under my skin to rattle me. I stepped away from the counter to make her drink, then slid it over to her in exchange for the cash she’d laid out. “Abby…I don’t like games,” I told her, wanting to be honest.
I hated games.
Maya was a walking mind game.
Abby sipped on the straw, her gaze burning into me. She tilted her head to the side and slanted her brows. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said sweetly, smiling. “I must have misread something. You seemed to enjoy playing them yesterday.”
Pivoting around, she turned and joined Daphne back out on the dance floor, leaving me reeling.
Goddammit.
It hurt; I wouldn’t deny it. Abby was throwing in my face everything I’d turned down the day before, and it was fucking working.
But she didn’t get it—no, she didn’t have the whole story. And she couldn’t possibly begin to understand how much I was breaking inside.
“It all makes sense now.”
Kate appeared again, reaching around me to pile her serving tray with napkins and silverware.
“What makes sense?”
“Abby. She was taking her frustrations out on a kitchen island earlier today, and she clearly had the look of a jilted lover. I didn’t want to pry because she was armed with a sledgehammer.
I saw what she was capable of.” Her lips pursed reflectively.
“Now she’s over there dressed like a sexpot, dancing with total randoms, while sending dirty looks in your direction. The verdict is in: you pissed her off.”
I busied myself behind the bar, trying not to obsess over Abby dancing with total randoms. “Thanks, Kate. I think I got the memo.”
“What the hell did you do to her?”
“It’s personal. Can you go away?”
She stuck out her tongue, holding the tray high above her head. “Don’t be a dumbass. Just suck it up, apologize, and go down on her in the mop closet. Works like a charm.”
My jaw clenched as I gripped the edge of the counter.
Insufferable woman.
Time dragged on. I was frazzled and distracted, the customers were testing my patience, and Abby was well on her way to becoming trashed.
She’d ignored me ever since our chilly encounter earlier, only allowing Henry-fucking-Dormer to serve her at the other end of the bar.
Abby and Daphne spent most of their evening chatting and giggling with the slimy bastard, while dancing with enthusiasm to the live band.
A slower song began to play; a sensual track that reminded me of my intimate dance with Abby weeks prior. I wondered if she was thinking about it, too, because our gazes tangled from across the bar. There was a brief, subtle moment where Abby softened. She looked thoughtful. A little lost.
Kind of sad.
My heart twisted, and I debated going over to her and making this right once and for all. I’d tell her everything I should have told her yesterday. But Abby looked away, severing the moment, and I watched as Daphne gave her a kiss on the cheek and made a tipsy retreat into the bathroom.
Abby chugged down the rest of her cocktail and rose from the stool, bending forward and whispering something to Henry with a flirtatious grin on her face.
I frowned.
No. She wouldn’t.
Fuck.
She would.
Henry looked smug as he left his place behind the bar, reaching for Abby’s hand and dragging her onto the dance floor.
She stumbled behind him, her fingers curled around his arm.
Then she pressed her back to his chest and ground her body against his, sliding up and down with deliberate intent.
Her hand lifted to grip the nape of his neck as Henry’s arms encircled her waist.
I felt sick.
The woman I adored was dirty dancing with a man I hated.
And it got worse.
Henry hands slithered up and down her curves as she twirled her hips against his pelvis.
Then he leaned over and laved open-mouthed kisses along her neck.
He was kissing her in the same place I had kissed her the day before.
And she was letting him.
Daphne exited the restroom then, and I watched as she stalled in her tracks. Her jaw dropped as she seemingly had same reaction I was having. The look of wounded betrayal on her face was strikingly familiar.
I was pissed, my blood boiling.
Mostly, I was crushed.
The song ended, and Abby pulled away, her face flashing with instant regret. She smoothed down her dress and stepped off the dance floor, pausing to glance my way. Her throat bobbed when she found me staring back at her.
I held her gaze.
My eyes let her know that I’d seen what she’d wanted me to see, and that yes…it had worked.
If only she knew, there were no winners in her game.
Abby
Oh, no.
I’d gone too far.
Crossed a line.
The look in Cooper’s eyes was almost enough to make me crumple to the dance floor and drown in my tears of shame.
And Daphne.
What the hell did I do?
I needed air.
I needed fresh air, a warm bed, and a hot shower to wash away the vile Henry Dormer.
Snagging my purse off the bar top, I ignored the lewd whoops and whistles coming from the male patrons and made a swift exit out of the bar.
I was halfway down the road when I heard his footsteps behind me.
“What the hell, Abby?” Cooper was hot on my heels, his anger palpable. “What was that?”
I whirled around to face him, my hair flying over my shoulder.
A rebellious strand caught between my lips, and I swatted it aside.
I was brimming with white-hot guilt, and with emotions so intense, they might combust on the sidewalk.
Maybe I would go up in flames and everything would burn away. Maybe we both would.
Maybe I wanted it that way.
I’d intended on taking Cooper down with me, to latch onto him as I exploded into ashes and soot, but he was gazing at me with such wounded eyes, I couldn’t help but freeze.
Then I melted a little. “You broke my heart, Cooper,” I whispered.
“I just needed to feel wanted. Desired. I’ve only been with one man my whole life, and he cheated on me for four years.
Then, I finally open myself up again, and you reject me.
You don’t know what that felt like.” My eyes watered; I could feel it.
I wanted to claw at them for betraying me in such a despicable way.
Stay strong, Abigail. Stay strong.
Cooper was still staring at me, drinking in every word, every expression, every tear of betrayal. “Abby…”
“Just don’t.” I shook my head, holding up my hand when he stepped forward. I couldn’t handle being so close to him, not now. Perhaps not ever. “You made your feelings pretty clear. Just let me go home.”
I was taken off guard when he ignored my plea and continued to approach me on the sidewalk.
One, two, three calculated steps. Slow and purposeful.
Then one more.
And that final step, that was the killer. Cooper was only inches away from me, plowing through my walls. I could smell the cedar on his skin.
My gaze darted across his face, settling on his lips.
I remembered how they felt against mine, how they warmed me up, made me buzz and tingle all over.
I thought he’d been right there with me, indulging in those same feelings.
Soaking them up like the summer sun. I could have sworn he was under the spell of whatever carnal magic had been wafting around us, seeping into our bloodstream.
Cooper raised his hand, tucking a rogue strand of hair behind my ear, causing my skin to come alive with a familiar heat. I swallowed.
“Desiring you isn’t the issue, Abby.” He leaned in closer, until his lips were grazing the shell of my ear. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”
My knees went weak. I’d never known that weak knees were an actual thing, but there I was with my weak willpower, my weak heart, and my weak knees. I tried to respond, but only a breathy gasp fell out.
Cooper pulled back slightly, marginally, still impossibly close. His lips were impossibly close. I realized then that my hands had sneakily traveled up his arms, my fingers clutching the fabric of his shirt sleeves and holding on for dear life.
Possibly to steady my weak knees.
Possibly just to feel him.
Likely both.
“If you want me, then why did you reject me?”
Cooper cradled my face between his palms, his thumbs swiping the stray tears from my cheeks.
“I was trying to take the moral high road,” he said, his voice splintering.
“I was trying to do the right thing. I’m working your case, Abby.
You’re the woman I’ve sworn to protect. I’m not supposed to be attracted to you. ”
Oh.
Well, then.
I sucked in a breath so sharp, so piercing, it stabbed the back of my throat.
My hands were still clinging to him, my fingers digging into his biceps.
He was the only thing keeping me from collapsing onto the pavement.
“I-I’m sorry.” An apology felt necessary.
Well-deserved. I’d just dry-humped a man he loathed for the sole purpose of hurting him.
It was a wicked thing to do.
Cooper pulled back, as if what had happened only moments ago came rushing to the surface. “Yeah.” His arms fell to his sides, prompting mine to do the same, before he stepped backward.
One, two, three calculated steps.
And that last one…killer.
He was so far away now, I couldn’t reach out and touch him. I couldn’t breathe him in, couldn’t feel his warmth on my skin.
All I felt was empty.
“Come on,” he said. “I’ll drive you home.”
He turned away from me.
I followed, having no choice but to follow, even though my feet dragged as I trailed behind him. They were heavy.
Everything was heavy.
Guilt was a heavy, heavy weight.