Chapter 47
COOPER
A crack of energy thrums between us.
She’s a little rumpled from the long day, making her even more desirable.
I’ve never wanted to kiss a woman more than I want to in this moment.
But it’s too late, we’re too tired, and I know I have zero defenses right now when it comes to her.
A lot of bad decisions are made under these circumstances—and that’s not what I’m looking for.
I take a long moment before speaking. “It’s been a really long day, and there’s nothing on the agenda tomorrow,” other than finishing the conversation we started at my mom’s house earlier, “so we’re fine to sleep in as much as we want.”
She nods a few times. “Okay. Goodnight, Cooper.” Her voice is soft and husky, and I know it’s going to keep me up tonight.
“G’night.”
She turns and walks toward her bedroom, and I watch her leave for a second before turning and walking into mine.
When I wake up in the morning, it’s to the smell of something delicious.
I quickly shower, call Deke to check in on baby Emma, and get dressed.
When I walk into the kitchen, Stephanie is making breakfast. She’s dressed in a pink sundress that does amazing things for her figure.
I can both smell and hear the bacon on the stove, and she has pancakes cooking on a griddle.
“Morning, Stephanie.”
She turns at the sound of my voice and greets me with her soft brown eyes. “Good morning. How did you sleep?”
This conversation is undoing me. It’s so domestic—and basically what I want every morning to be like until the day I die. “Good. You?”
“I’ve never fallen asleep so fast.” She takes the bacon out of the pan and lets it cool on some paper towels.
“I woke up about two hours ago and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I checked on Sam and Emma Stephanie,” her face glows as she mentions Emma’s middle name, “went for a run, then showered and decided to make breakfast. There wasn’t much in this fridge, so I went over and raided Sam’s kitchen.
Hope you like pancakes, bacon, and orange juice.
” She takes the pancakes off the griddle and places them on two different plates, adds the bacon, and slides the plates toward me.
“Want to eat outside on the deck? It’s a gorgeous morning.
” I pick up the plates. She pours two glasses of orange juice, and we head outside.
The flowers on each side of the deck fill the air with a fresh and tropical scent, the sky is clear and blue, and the sound of the waves gently washing onto the shore is the soundtrack to our breakfast.
I push my plate away after I finish eating.
“When I called Deke this morning, he said Cheryl is keeping Lou at her house until they return from the hospital. I sent Maverick to Texas to get my mom and the girls. They’re going to show up later today or tomorrow, so it looks like it’s just you and me for a little while.
” She takes the last bite of her pancake and washes it down with the end of her orange juice.
“Is that a normal thing for you? Casually sending your jet to pick someone up—like it’s picking up a kid from school? ”
Her analogy makes me grin. “No, not usually. But they’re all crawling out of their skin wanting to see the baby.
Kaylee is due back in New York in a few weeks, so Sam told them to come out right away.
Frank is exercising all of his self control and waiting a full day before he and Adie descend.
He’s got his own transportation, so Mav doesn’t need to go fetch them. "
“Do you always take care of your family like this?”
“No more than they take care of me.” I stand and start stacking the dishes.
She cocks her head and surveys me. “Somehow, I doubt that.” We take the dishes inside and finish cleaning up. Again, incredibly domestic.
“Can I ask you a personal question about your money?”
I love that she’s comfortable enough to ask. “You can ask me anything you want.” I finish drying my hands and we walk back to the deck, where I sit down on a chair and she hops up to sit on the railing across from me.
“I’ve known you for a little while now, and I’ve never gotten any ‘look at me, I’m super rich’ vibes. I mean, I could tell you did well, but not?—”
“But not filthy rich well?” I can’t help but grin using that phrase again. My mother would laugh.
“Yeah. My experience with people who have a lot of money is that they tend to flaunt it. You seem to hide it.”
“I don’t like it when people act differently around me because I have money, so I tend to keep it on the down-low.
I’m not any smarter or cooler now that my bank account is bigger, and it definitely doesn’t make me happier—other than when I can use it to help more people.
So I tend to keep the details of my finances to myself. ”
“I like that about you.”
Her words settle in my chest, and I stand up and take a step closer to her. “Can I tell you what I like about you?”
She sits up a little taller on the railing.
“Wait, are these the cards? Are you laying cards out? I spent a lot of time yesterday wondering what your cards were. Probably too much time, but then . . . we came here, and,” she begins tapping her fingers on her legs, “I didn’t know when it would come up again .
. .” She stops. “I’m sorry. Rambling. Nerves. ”
“I don’t mind. Your rambling is one of the things I like about you.
And yes, these are my cards. Stephanie James, I like everything about you.
I always have. In fact, I’d say I’m already a little more than half gone over you.
I love the way you say things out loud when you don’t mean to.
I love how competitive you pretend to be when you play games, but I can tell you don’t really care who wins.
I love watching your feet move, your toes tap, and the way you pace a room when you’re nervous or trying to figure something out.
I love the way you make everyone around you feel better about themselves.
I love that people are more important to you than things.
On top of that, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life”—I walk over to the railing where she’s sitting—“but don’t let that worry you, because that’s not your best trait, and it isn’t the first thing I noticed about you.
Did you know that I accidentally came upon you and Lou FaceTiming your nana on the day we met? ”
She silently shakes her head.
“I did. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I don’t regret a second of it.
I couldn’t pull my eyes away from you. You were funny and real and relatable, and I immediately wanted to get to know you.
But then Lou walked over and sat on your lap, and I couldn’t believe it!
You’d made me forget that Lou was even there—you’re the only one who has ever been able to do that.
I know you’ve just recently thawed to the idea that I might be a decent guy,” I place my hands on the railing, bracketing her on either side, “but the way I feel about you isn’t new at all.
” I reach up and run a strand of her hair through my fingers.
“Yesterday might have started in a desperate attempt to save you from Chase, but this is my desperate attempt to convince you that nothing about this is fake to me. Nothing.”
I see her pulse thrumming on the side of her neck. She’s stopped tapping the side of her leg and hasn’t looked away. I take this as a very, very good sign and slowly move closer.
“Wait.” She stops me with a hand on my chest. “I have things I want to say, but they’re all jumbled up in my head, and I don’t know where to start.” She flutters her fingers at the side of her head.
“Start wherever you want.” I reach for her fingers, but she hides her hand behind her back.
“No touching! I’m already flustered!” I try to hide my smile and fail.
“And put those away!” She points at my face.
I stare blankly at her.
“Your dimples! I can’t have all your cards and your dimples too.
I need to be able to think.” She jumps off the railing, ducks under my arm, and paces a few feet away.
“You stay over there and give me a minute.” She points at me like I’m a dog that she’s ordering to stay.
All it does is make me smile more, and she growls in response.
“Cooper Mallory, you are the most insane experience I’ve ever had.
You were with Lou the first time I ever saw you, and I thought I was going to fall in love with you right then. ”
I stop smiling. Not because I want to—because my face simply forgets what it was doing.
“But then I overheard those stupid phone calls right afterward. I remember being so mad that someone who seemed so incredible was actually such a jerk. Then, as you know,” she rolls her eyes and shuffles closer, “it turns out you weren’t a jerk.
It also turns out that you weren’t the remarkable man I thought you were—you were so much better.
And when I say that, I don’t mean just in the last few days.
I’ve tried to remember every time I’ve seen you in the last year and a half: every word I’ve heard you say, things I’ve noticed you do, each interaction with people I could recall.
And all of it is evidence of how incredible you are.
It was always there, but I was simply too stubborn, too proud, and too hurt to see it.
I’ve always seen you, Cooper. I’ve always,” her eyes fall to her feet for a moment, “felt something for you. A pull toward you.” She inhales a few times before going on.
“I fought it over and over again.” She takes one more step and is back in front of the railing again. “But I don’t want to anymore.”
I can’t speak. This is more than I dared hope for.
I reach out, put my hands on her waist, and pull her toward me.
Instinctively, she reaches out to steady herself and puts the palms of her hands on my torso, not seeming to realize that her hands slipped under my shirt in the process and are now resting on my skin.
I take a moment to fortify myself against the sensation.
“Thank you, Stephanie. That means . . . a lot.” Her fingers are tapping against my body.
“Here’s the rest of what I want to say: I’m crazy about you.” My voice is barely a whisper. “I have been for a long time. And I don’t see that changing. Ever.”
The whole beach is quiet, steeped in warm, early-morning light. Fragrant flowers sway lazily along the deck, their petals glowing in the sun. No one else is home. No one else exists.
I search her face before leaning down to brush my lips against hers once—twice—and then I pull back.
Our kiss yesterday had been quick, spontaneous, passionate, and a little frantic. This one will be for us—and only us.
I slowly lean in again, giving her every chance to stop me, but her body language tells me everything I need to know.
My mouth meets hers gently, unhurried. It’s soft, almost reverent. Her lips part on a breath, and the kiss lingers, deepening not because I push but because she stays.
My hands clutch the swell of her hips, and I bite back a groan at how much I love her feminine curves.
Her hands, still resting against my stomach, slowly slide upward.
She freezes.
“Oh,” she breathes against my lips. Her hands flatten against my bare torso, and her touch is suddenly very aware. Her brows knit together, half in surprise and half in something else entirely.
I can’t help the smile that curves against her mouth.
Her fingers move again, slower this time, tracing the warmth of skin that she’d just realized she was touching. The contact is light, exploratory. She lets out a soft “mmmm”—and it knocks the air right out of me.
That’s when everything shifts.
Not rushed. Not desperate. Just fuller, deeper, like we’ve crossed some invisible line together.
One of her hands wraps around me, and the other climbs up my chest.
I pull her in by the curve of her waist and press her against the railing, all while my fingers trace her jaw and collarbone, my lips following the same path.
She presses closer, like she’s making sure I’m not going anywhere. The kiss stretches, slow and consuming, and I savor the sensation of our perfect fit—of how right this is.
When we finally pull apart, it’s only by inches. Her forehead rests against my chest. She looks thoroughly kissed, and we both try to catch our breath.
I brush my thumb along the skin at her waist, where her shirt has slightly lifted.
“So,” Stephanie’s breathing is unsteady, and there’s something roguish in her smile, “is it a problem for you that I like your body as much as I do?”
I let out a soft huff of laughter. “Not if you don’t mind how much I like yours.”
Her hands tighten slightly, and I’m surprised that after what just happened, this comment is what makes her blush. Even so, I can see that she’s not done with the kiss.