Chapter 20
Kendall listened to the soft, even breaths from the man asleep beside her. She’d never dreamed Cooper would come back into her life, never dared to hope for it. Yet, here she was, in his bed. He’d made love to her as if she were the most special woman in the world.
With the warmth of his body next to hers, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but it was impossible.
Her mind was full of thoughts of him. He’d said he wanted to be in Livie’s life, and she was beyond happy for that, but what about her?
Did he want her or was this just a temporary thing between them?
Her life was in Decatur and his here in Myrtle Beach. He was deeply entrenched in The Phoenix Three, so he wouldn’t want to move. And he shouldn’t. He and his two friends were doing great things by rescuing and saving children. What they did was something that was close to her heart.
Was she willing to move to Myrtle Beach?
She liked it here, liked his friends… Well, she’d yet to meet Liam’s wife, but she didn’t doubt she’d like Quinn.
Her job, her father, her life was in Decatur.
That was all true, but if Cooper was willing to commit to a relationship, she’d seriously consider moving.
Livie would love to live near or with her daddy.
Her mind was all over the place, and she wasn’t going to fall asleep. She eased out of bed, slipped on her panties, then stole the T-shirt he’d been wearing earlier. It smelled like him, and she inhaled deeply, savoring the spicy scent of him. She quietly padded out of the room.
It was too late to call and see how Livie was doing, but Harlow would have called if there was a problem, so she wasn’t going to worry.
She was too sated and happy to worry anyway.
They’d left all the dirty dishes on the dining room table when Cooper had carried her to his bed, and she set about cleaning up the dishes and kitchen.
She was loading the last plate in the dishwasher when she sensed she was being watched, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Cooper leaning against the wall, his gaze on her.
“I didn’t mean to wake you.” He wore only his boxer briefs, and his hair was tousled from sleep.
The man was absurdly sexy. She wanted to drag him right back to bed.
He prowled toward her. “You didn’t. I reached for you, and you weren’t there.”
She smiled at how grumpy he sounded.
He stopped behind her and wrapped his arms around her chest. “Couldn’t sleep?”
The feel of his body aligned along the back of hers sent a shiver down her spine. She leaned back into his embrace, loving the warmth and strength of his body. “I was just finishing up here. Didn’t want to leave a mess for tomorrow.”
He pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck. “This mess could’ve waited until morning.” His hands moved gently down her arms, sending tingles of warmth through her. “I can think of a much better way to spend our time than cleaning up the kitchen.”
She turned in his arms. “Yeah? Like what?”
“Like an encore performance of earlier.”
Yes, please. She slipped her hand in his. “Lead the way.”
The next morning, it was her turn to wake up to find Cooper gone. She found him sitting at the kitchen counter, a cup of coffee next to him, and his laptop open. She hadn’t taken two steps—silent ones because she was barefoot—when he turned on the barstool and smiled at her.
“Good morning, beautiful. There’s K-Cups if you want coffee.”
“I didn’t make any sound. How did you even know I was here?” She padded to the coffeepot.
“For one, I grew up in a house where it paid to be alert to a change in the air. Second, the military trained me to sense when there were eyes on me. Awareness was a matter of life or death. Bring your cup over here.”
“Did you like being in the Army?” She poured a cup, then sat on the barstool next to his.
“There were things I liked about it and things I didn’t.
I learned much that is invaluable to what I do now, so it was worth every minute of my time in the military.
” He turned the laptop’s screen toward her.
“Gray, Liam and I have been working on a response this morning for you to send to our bad man.”
“Bad man. Good name for him.” She read the words on the monitor.
Devoted fan,
Do you think you’re God? I ask because only God has the right to decide when a soul leaves this earth.
Do you have feelings? Compassion? Regret for a young life taken too soon?
Do you even give a thought to the heartbreak of the families who lost a precious child?
Or are you a cold-blooded bastard who thinks he can justify these crimes by pretty words?
Well, your words are ugly, and you disgust me.
What you claim is a beautiful thing is sickening to me. I will not be discussing anything you said on my next podcast. In fact, fuck off.
Kendra Hartley
They couldn’t be serious. “No, we can’t send him this. It’s going to make him furious.”
“We want him angry. Angry people make mistakes, and we’ll be waiting for that to happen.”
“I don’t know. This scares me, like we’re poking a monster.”
He pushed the laptop away from her, then shifted on the barstool to face her.
“That’s exactly what we’re doing.” He took her hands in his.
“Monsters like him want attention. They want control. He won’t be able to ignore this email and won’t be able to help himself from responding. We want him communicating with us.”
“What if he comes after me? Or God forbid, Livie?”
“He’s not going to come near you or Livie. We won’t allow that to happen. I promise.”
She believed him. “Okay. When do you want me to send this?”
“Now if you’re willing.” When she hesitated, he said, “If you want to think about it, take the time to do that.”
She didn’t want any contact with the bad man, but if the guys believed this would draw him out so they could catch him, she’d do it. “Here goes nothing.” She hit Send.
“I’m proud of you, Kens.” He cupped her cheeks and kissed her.
Her nerves were like live wires, snapping wildly. The dangerous game they were playing made her want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over her head. But his kiss calmed her. As if he knew that, he deepened the kiss. Too soon, though, he leaned back and studied her.
“You okay?”
“Scared, but yeah, I’m good.” Only because she knew there were three formidable men at her back.
“Ready to go get our daughter?”
“Definitely. She’s never been away from me overnight.”
“Gray invited us to have breakfast with them. Thirty minutes enough time for you to get ready?”
“Make it twenty.”
He grinned. “That’s my girl.”
“Mommy!” Livie ran to her with her arms in the air as soon as they stepped inside Grayson’s house.
“Good morning, sweetie.” She kneeled and hugged her little girl. “Did you have fun?”
“Yes! So much fun.” Livie’s eyes lit up at seeing her father. “Daddy!” She pushed away to get to Cooper.
Kendall wasn’t used to sharing Livie, and for a brief second, she resented Cooper for taking Livie away from her. Then she rolled her eyes at herself because that was silly, and her resentment faded as fast as it had come.
Cooper scooped Livie up. “Hey, Princess. Mommy and Daddy missed you, but I’m glad you had a good time.”
“I have a joke, Daddy. Tyler told it to me.”
“Yeah? Let’s hear it.”
“What has legs but can’t walk?”
“I give up. What?”
“A chair. That’s so funny.”
Cooper laughed. “It sure is. Ah, here’s Ruby.” He set Livie down and scratched Ruby’s head. “Was Ruby a good dog?”
Livie wrapped her arms around Ruby’s neck, giving the dog a big hug. “She was so good, Daddy. I was, too.”
Kendall’s heart was a gooey mess watching Cooper with Livie and how he looked at their daughter with nothing but love in his eyes.
And when he glanced up at her with a smile that felt like it was meant just for her, she finally understood when a book heroine claimed to melt into a puddle at the hero’s feet, because she was seconds from doing just that.
“Good morning, Kendall,” Harlow said, coming into the room.
“Morning. Hope Livie was good for you.”
“She’s been a perfect guest. Come in the kitchen and meet Quinn.” She turned to Cooper. “The boys are on the deck. Tyler’s out there, too.”
“Great.” He picked up Livie. “Let’s go outside.” Ruby followed them out.
“He’s really good with her,” Harlow said.
“It was love at first sight for them both. Livie’s so happy to have a daddy, and he’s been amazing with her.”
“Cooper has a big heart and a lot of love to give,” Harlow said.
She was seeing that. She’d truly hit the jackpot on a baby daddy. When they walked into the kitchen, a woman who looked like she was due any second was standing at the counter eating cake. The funny thing about that was that she was digging her fork into the entire chocolate cake.
The woman—Quinn, she assumed—narrowed her eyes at seeing Kendall, pulled the decimated cake closer to her and said, “Mine.”
Kendall wasn’t sure how to respond until the woman burst into laughter. “You should see your face. Like who’s the crazy lady?”
Harlow shook her head but had an amused smile on her face. “Behave, Quinn. Kendall, this is Quinn, who’s due just about any day now and really is a bit crazy right now.”
Kendall chuckled. “Been there, so I totally get it. Nice to finally meet you, Quinn. I’ve met your other half, and his eyes get all soft when he talks about you.”
“Although I know that’s true, right now, he’s a little afraid of me. If I don’t get this bowling ball out of me soon, I might murder the man in his sleep who put it there, and he knows it.” She forked up another large bite of cake. “Just kidding.” She grinned evilly. “Probably.”
“Livie was two days late, and I was miserable and snarling at anyone who came near me.”
“Tyler was the best boy,” Harlow said. “He arrived a week early.”
Quinn scowled at Harlow. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t. Put that cake away. Breakfast is ready.”
Grayson and Harlow’s home was on the beach, and as they ate breakfast on the deck on a perfect late spring morning, Kendall thought she might like living on the beach someday.
Did that mean she wanted to move to Myrtle Beach?
She peered up at the man next to her…the seriously hot man who happened to be her baby daddy. Maybe.