Chapter 20 #2
“Even better! You used the words thought and were. Both are past tense. It means you don’t think that anymore.” His eyebrows go up and the look in his dangerously dark eyes challenges me to question his reasoning.
My nerves are a shaken soda can. I can’t tell what Mallory is thinking, but this is very flirtatious, and I need it to stop.
I like it too much. “Mallory,” my voice comes out quieter, “you’re making jokes, and I’m trying so hard to apologize.
” I heave a small breath and forge on. “Most of the things I thought about you are apparently incorrect. It’s going to take a moment for my mind to untangle my thoughts,” my fingers wildly gesture to my brain, “but I’ve been so unkind to you. Please forgive me.”
He sends me a lopsided grin, and a stupid dimple pops. No part of me knows how to respond. “Don’t worry—it happens all the time.”
“People accuse you of dating your mom and sisters all the time?”
“Well, not that.” His baritone chuckle sends a ripple through my bones.
“That was a first. But it’s not the first time someone has come to the wrong conclusion about me.
” He states this as if he were telling me the swimming pool has water in it, or the sun will come up tomorrow, and doesn’t seem annoyed at all.
“Are you really taking everything this well, or are you waiting to retaliate at a time when there are more witnesses?” I surprise myself again when my voice has a slightly flirtatious nature to it. I’m not thrilled with how many times I’ve used that tone with him tonight, but he makes it too easy.
“Waiting for more witnesses.” Mallory shifts his head a little and smiles. His dimples will be the end of me.
“So,” I’m hesitant, “you’re really okay?”
He looks like he's analyzing me. “Are you always like this? It seems so easy for you to swallow your pride and apologize when you think you’ve been in the wrong.”
“I don’t think I’ve been in the wrong; I know I’ve been in the wrong.
” I take a small step closer to him while continuing to fiddle with the stem in my hand.
“And if someone hurts someone else, they need to apologize and make sure the other person is okay.” I tamper down my excess energy. “So, are you really okay?”
Another calm sits between us as he considers his answer. I’m uncomfortable with how comfortable it is, because everything about this is new territory.
“Stephanie, you keep surprising me.” His voice is low and slow. “Another of your characteristics that I find amazing.”
I literally gulp at his statement. Another implies he’s thought of others.
A bead of sweat falls from the end of a curl and onto his bare chest. I follow the drop with my eye, tracking it down his torso. I remember how little he’s wearing and tear my eyes from his chest to his shoulder, catching another glimpse of his tattoo.
“I’m sorry.” He quickly walks over to his T-shirt and begins pulling it over his head. “I guess I should get some clothes on.”
“It’s fine. I didn’t mind. I was enjoying the view.
” We both freeze at my words. “That didn’t come out right!
” I’m mortified. “I mean, sure you look great. Obviously.” I hold my hands up to gesture at his body (not helping), and he continues to—slowly—pull his shirt down while sucking in his lips to stifle a grin.
“It’s that I was looking at that,” I point at his now-covered shoulder, “and thinking it was really nice.” The twig in my hand is spinning so fast, it might disintegrate.
“It’s not like I was making a commentary on your body and objectifying you or anything.
” My every word digs me deeper into a hole, and the grin he was trying to suppress spreads across his face.
“I just didn’t know you had a tattoo until the other .
. . well . . . until the other week, and this is only the second or third time I’ve noticed it, and I was just .
. . looking. At it. On your shoulder. I’ve not really gotten a good look, so I was .
. . looking.” I let out a pathetic breath, put my hands behind my back, and start to pace.
The seconds that pass are coated in concrete.
He reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder to stop my pacing. “You know, Stephanie, I think you paid me another compliment.” His hand drops, and the slant of his mouth suggests that he’s very entertained by all of this. I’m not happy about how happy that makes me.
“What? When I said you had a hot body? I’m sure you already knew that.
” I blow out a puff of air. “How could you not know your body is incredible? It looks like it was carved from granite!” Once again, I gesture at his entire person.
“That’s not a compliment. Like Kaylee said earlier, it’s simply stating facts.
” I’m so mortified; I can’t look at him.
“Originally you simply said I ‘looked great.’” His hands form air quotes. “But you escalated quickly from there, and now I look ‘hot’.”
I force myself to look at him, no matter how much it pains me. “I didn’t think I could be any more embarrassed tonight, but apparently I was wrong.”
“Would it help if I complimented you? Because I could. I just need to know how you want my list. Is alphabetically okay? Or do you want it chronologically from when I met you?”
“Shut up!” I laugh. Once again his humor defuses whatever had been building like a bomb inside me. “Do you always use humor to defuse situations?”
“Who said I was being funny?”
The look on his face makes me want to call his bluff, but I don’t.
“Look, I haven’t been very nice to you since, well, since the day we met.
I don’t have any defense other than that I had just gotten out of a relationship with someone who had a different idea than I did of how many people he should be seeing while we were dating, and I jumped to conclusions. ”
“Stephanie,” his look is the most sincere it’s been since we started this odd exchange, “it’s okay.
You don’t need to keep apologizing. Honestly, I might have thought the same thing under the circumstances.
I know how I talk to my sisters and my mom when I’m on the phone, and I can easily imagine how someone could have gotten the wrong impression.
I’m also sorry you had a jerk of a guy that didn’t appreciate what he had when he had you. ”
“Well . . . thanks. That’s really understanding of you.” My cheeks heat at his kind words, and something inside me stirs. “Are you always so good at forgiving people?”
“Not always, but you make it easy.”
When I look up at him, he’s smiling and his dark eyes are inviting. Everything about him has always looked inviting, but I’ve kept him at a distance because I thought he was dangerous. But now, he’s a different kind of danger—and for a moment I let my mind wander in a new direction.
I think of his eyes; his smile; his sense of humor; the rich baritone of his voice; the way he treats people; and the smooth, casual way he carries himself, and I realize that if the most delicious-looking chocolate on earth took human form, it would be as Cooper Mallory.
My eyes dip to his lips, and I wonder what kind of chocolate they would taste like.
Would it be bitter or sweet? Would it be too rich, or the kind you could snack on all day long?
Somehow I know it would be the latter, and I’m annoyed—because if there’s one man on earth I’ll never kiss, it’s Cooper Mallory.
But I really, really love chocolate. Is my chocolate metaphor going off the rails right now?
Probably. There’s too much history between us, and even though Mallory is being incredibly nice to me right now, there’s a huge leap between “I forgive you” and—well—letting me taste test.
Yet, curiosity still simmers in a dark corner of my mind. Yes, part of me still wants to kiss him. Just once. For research purposes. Totally scientific, of course. And that terrifies me.
I shake my head to snap me out of my thoughts. “So, moving forward, can we forget basically everything I’ve ever said or done to you up to this point?”
“Heavens, no!” His brow creases and he crosses his arms across his chest. It does great things for his biceps, and my inner self drools a little.
“You’ve called me hot and told me I have a chiseled jaw, which—taken in the context you said them—seemed like compliments.
So, no. I won’t forget everything you’ve ever said to me. ”
I let out a laugh. “Mallory, you’re a funny guy.”
“Funny haha,” his brows go up hopefully, “or funny funny?” His thick brows drop low over his eyes in a small scowl.
Another laugh bubbles from my lips, and my head falls to the side.
I’m trying to appear exasperated, but I know I’m failing.
He keeps talking and doesn’t make me answer him.
“Let’s talk about something other than the fact that you misjudged me but now see me as a fine, upstanding citizen.
” He gives me a quick wink. “We have our meeting tomorrow. Anything you should brief me on or that I should know? You haven’t said anything about it since the morning you saved us. ”
Ugh! Way to kill the mood, Mallory. Not that there was a mood happening between us, but I’ve been trying to forget that I was going to see Chase tomorrow.
“Nothing you need to know. It should be a pretty chill meeting. You’ll meet McKay and Alyssa, and they run the company that will be handling all the logistics for the event, so they will do most of the talking.
They are amazing people and dear friends.
Without them, this wouldn’t be happening, so make sure you thank them.
They jumped through some big hoops for this. ”
“Noted: chill meeting, thank Alyssa and McKay. Anything else?”
“No. Chase Collins will be there, but in this situation, he should be harmless.”
Mallory stills, watching me. “Are there situations where he isn’t harmless?”
“Don’t worry about Chase.”
I wish I were as confident as I sounded. It’s been nineteen months since I last saw him.