Chapter Eight
I cannot contain the laughter, seeing Wyatt in a bunny costume. The man is a house, taking his role as a cover model in a police uniform seriously, so to see him trying to fit in this bunny costume is something that forces the laughter to bubble up.
Cooper is having just as hard a time as me watching him. Lily, however, is enamored. Although she has no idea who is inside the costume, she fully believes the Easter Bunny made a special trip to our farm.
Walking over to Cooper I let my arm brush against his when I lean in to whisper. “How pissed is Wyatt?”
“Pissed? No way. He’s loving this. I guarantee it. Plus, he’s already gotten at least four numbers from single moms who live nearby but not in town. His favorite type of woman.” He continues clicking away with the next family that steps up. “But that doesn’t mean you,” he adds.
Cooper has been taking it slow with me, letting me call the shots with what I’m ready for, and so far that’s just been hanging out for dinner and planning sessions.
But every time I watch him with Lily, my ovaries could just explode and I’d be willing to have five more of his babies.
Talking myself off the ledge of just jumping him has been difficult, but a necessary task.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I wink at him and move away to find Lily.
Walking the trail has me in my head. Whenever I’m around Cooper I want to throw caution to the wind and let myself fall into him. But that’s how Jack and I started… and Lily. Look where that got me, a widow with a four year old. And a lady hard-on for the guy next door.
“Mommy!” Lily’s little voice carries as she runs down the trail to me.
“Hey baby girl! What are you doing?”
“Hewping Aunty Aggie! She’s wetting me put the eggs!” I see her little basket full of pink eggs for the Three Little Pigs area.
“Lily May, I need my helper!” Aggie calls after her.
Her little hand slips into mine as we walk back to the area where she is hiding the pink eggs.
“How’s it going out on the trail today?” I ask.
“Great! We’ve been running around restocking all the eggs and someone should sleep real good tonight.” She nods at Lily who’s dropping eggs carefully set apart.
“Good, because I think someone else—” I point to myself “—will also sleep real good tonight.”
We both laugh because if something is able to wear Lily out, then an army of adults would be worn out too.
“Why don’t you let her have a little sleepover tonight? Then Mommy could get some well deserved sleep… and maybe a little private time with a certain photographer?”
I swat at Aggie’s shoulder. “Aggie! I don’t need private time with him.”
“Why not? I love Tommy, but I might be willing to use a hall pass with Cooper Keaton.” She waggles her eyebrows.
“Oh my gosh, Aggie! You’re bad!”
“Aunty Aggie not bad, Mommy!” Lilly’s brows furrow in frustration at my statement.
“No, she’s not, baby. You’re right.” I look at Aggie. “She’s wonderful.” I scoop Lily into my arms and hold her tight to me. “Would you like to have a little sleepover with Aunty Aggie and Uncle Tommy tonight?”
“Can Mista Fwoppy come too?” She holds out the grubby stuffed animal that she’s been carrying around for months.
“Sure can, Lily May. I bet he’d love to have a sleepover with us!” Aggie takes her from my arms. “How about we go find some lunch and pack a picnic for Mommy, Mr. Cooper, and the Easter Bunny?”
“Yes! Bunnies wuv cawwots,” she says very seriously with a sharp nod of her head. “We need wots of cawwots!”
A big smile spreads across my face at the thought of Lily bringing Wyatt a bunch of carrots for lunch instead of an actual meal. “I think the Easter Bunny might like a couple of Aunty Aggie’s sandwiches too. He has a lot to do! Maybe we can pack him both?”
“Otay, Mommy. Both!” She scrambles down from Aggie’s arms, squeezing my legs tight before running off ahead of Aggie who tries to keep up.
Going around the trail once before making it back to the photo area, I stop and stare at Cooper in his element.
He moves around so easily, clicking, checking the back of his camera, and then back to clicking.
He interacts easily with the families, getting the best smiles from the kids even if they’re hesitant with the Easter Bunny.
Maybe some private time with him won’t be such a bad thing.
Pushing off the tree I walk back over to him when there’s a lull in families. Wyatt leaves and puts up a sign that he’ll be back in five minutes.
“I’m going to the bathroom, I need a break from this heat box.” Wyatt juts his thumb over his shoulder motioning toward the barn.
“Okay. Take your time. The trail is pretty quiet and Aggie is back at the house with Lily making lunches.”
Cooper leans in close when Wyatt is out of sight. “How’s it going today? Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.”
“They definitely are. I’ve been walking around the trail and I’ve heard nothing but really positive comments from very happy parents! You did a great job putting this together.” I bump him with my shoulder, but he pulls me in close by my waist.
“We both did a good job. You had just as much planning in this as I did.”
He stares at me with his ice blue eyes and I don’t know what comes over me. “Lily is sleeping over Aggie and Tommy’s house tonight if you want to come over.”
He smiles a wicked grin, one that I could see getting him into, or out of, a lot of trouble depending on who was on the receiving end of it. “How about a real date? I can get us some takeout from Rebels. We can watch one of your shows and fall asleep on the couch?”
I let out a sudden laugh. “Maybe I’ll even try to stay awake, but it sounds like the perfect date.”
One thing I can appreciate about Cooper is that he’s as much a homebody as I am. The perfect date night for me, and apparently him, is takeout on the couch with a movie. Something I don’t often get to enjoy.
“Great. I’ll grab whatever Clarke has on special tonight?”
Another great thing about Cooper? He loves food as much as I do, and doesn’t mind sharing.
With Jack it was always the same three meals and no sharing.
When I haven’t been able to decide on takeout at our planning meetings, he gets whatever the second choice was so we can split it.
I don’t know if he just likes what I do or he does it to make me happy. Either way, it’s working great.
“Yes, please.”
“Mommy! Whewe awe you?” A little voice comes screaming down the trail.
“Guess that’s my cue. But how does six sound?” I try to sound confident despite the anxiety coursing through my system about being truly alone with Cooper Keaton.
“I’ll be there at six on the dot.” He squeezes my hand before I get the willpower to walk away from him.
Only five more hours to get my nerves under control.
Five-fifty. I have ten minutes left until Cooper gets here and my hands won’t stop shaking.
I’ve fluffed the pillows on my couch at least fifteen times in the last thirty minutes, I’ve swept, and cleaned up all the toys that were left behind in Lily’s haste to get to Aunty Aggie’s house.
I can’t decide if I’m about to vomit or not, I’m so fucking nervous despite the fact that he’s come over many times since that first night. But we always had Lily as a buffer.
A too-short three minutes later, there’s a knock on my door. Pulling it open, I find Cooper on the other side.
A Cooper that I don’t think I even could avoid touching tonight if I wanted to.
He’s wearing jeans that showcase the tight ass muscles I’ve spent way too many hours admiring today as he squatted down to take photos, and a sweater pushed up to his elbows amplifying the strong arms I know he could use to toss me around the bedroom like a ragdoll.
I clench my thighs together in response to letting my thoughts wander.
“Hey.”
I swallow hard before responding, stunned by his grin. “Hey. I’m glad you made it.” Idiot. He lives next door. Of course he made it.
Extending a very sweaty hand, I pull it back quickly before he can touch me and realize what an absolute disaster I am. And how terrible of an idea it is to get involved with a widowed single mother who is still dealing with her husband’s debts.
“Come in. I’ve set the table. But I still only have plastic plates.”
“We can just use the takeout containers. Then we won’t have dishes.
” He sets the paper bag on the table and begins to pull out food.
“Clark had two specials tonight so I got both. One was a smothered steak with salad and baked potato, and the other was a chicken piccata.” He places both containers between the two seats across from each other, the seats that have been dubbed ours each time he’s eaten here.
“Oh, and a chocolate raspberry cake that I can’t figure out if Violet made or not. ”
I peek in the dishes and my mouth is instantly watering. I don’t often let myself enjoy takeout, instead trying to save what little money we have because I refuse to let Aggie and Tommy pay me for my help around the farm when they won’t accept rent.
“Oh my gosh this all looks so amazing.” I take my seat when he pulls out the chair for me.
“Yeah, I almost had to get three cakes so I could eat one in the car. Even though I did also eat one while I waited for our food. So I can confirm you will love it.” He gives me a sheepish smile when he admits he ate one already.
“Dessert before dinner?” I jokingly chide while laughing.
“Sorry. I had to be bad once.”
“Just once?” I ask.
He stares at me as he takes his own seat and his eyes drop to the low cut V in my sweater. “Maybe more than once.”
My thighs squeeze together once again at the heat in his gaze along with his words. We each grab the silverware, foregoing the plates, and dig into the dishes together.
Could my life be this easy as it is with Cooper?