Chapter 5
JOY
Ihadn’t planned on talking to Cooper Frost ever again. Life had other plans.
As if my exercise in humiliation wasn’t already bad enough, now I had to face the man I had never stopped thinking about even after all these years. I lost my job. Then my apartment. And had to return home with my tail between my legs and now I had to see him.
I must have seriously pissed off the universe at some point. I just couldn’t remember when.
Cooper was striding across the parking lot like some Norse god.
His coat swung open enough to show the broad planes of his chest beneath, and his helmet dangled from one hand.
His boyish build had grown into the kind of body you’d trust to pull you out of a burning building.
And his face? His face had lost every trace of teenage softness.
All sharp lines and stormy edges now. Dark blue eyes that looked straight through you.
And they were looking at me.
Correction: glaring at me.
I blinked, caught like a deer in the headlights. My jean-clad knees were wet from where I’d been crouching behind the lumpy snowman. For half a second I was seventeen again wanting him to notice me.
Then reality hit. He wasn’t noticing me. He was scolding me with his eyes.
Great. Of course the first time we locked eyes in nearly a decade, it was because I’d set off a fire alarm.
His expression said he was pissed at me. I was not entirely sure why. I didn’t actually burn down the school. And they didn’t have to roll out their hoses.
“Joy Murphy,” he said flatly, coming to a stop just a few feet away. His voice was deeper now, rougher, and hearing my name in it did something traitorous to my pulse. My stomach felt like I swallowed a hive of bees.
I forced myself to stand up, brushing snow from my knees. “Cooper Frost,” I said, aiming for breezy, but I sounded more like I was choking.
He didn’t smile. Not even a twitch. “That was you?” He jerked his chin toward the school, where the alarm had finally gone silent.
“Technically it was the cocoa powder.” I hoped my attempt at humor would get the guy to lighten up.
It didn’t.
His jaw flexed. “You call burning sugar on an open coil supervising?”
Heat crept up my neck. “It wasn’t intentional.”
“You think fires are intentional most of the time?” His tone was barely controlled irritation. “You had kids in there. You don’t get to be careless when you’re responsible for children.”
And just like that, the spell broke. He might have been gorgeous and doing things to my lady parts, but he was also lecturing me like I was one of the fourth graders rolling snowballs twenty feet away.
I bristled. “Okay, first of all, it wasn’t a fire. It was a little smoke. Barely a puff. And second, I am not responsible for children. I can’t even keep a succulent alive. I didn’t set up that station.”
He glared at me harder. “But you set off the alarm, right?”
“Okay, yeah, I spilled some water. And the cocoa. But I didn’t plug in the extension cord. Even I know that’s dangerous. I was just working with what I had. Trust me, I know I’m not responsible enough to be in charge of kids.”
“Then what are you doing running events for them?”
My embarrassment flared hot, but so did my temper. “I just got back to town. I’m helping out. My aunt’s stepping back from organizing the festival, and I’m—” I made vague helpless gestures. I was at a loss for words. “I’m taking over for her.”
He stared at me like I’d just confessed to juggling chainsaws in a daycare.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I snapped.
“I’m looking at you like someone who nearly set an elementary school on fire.”
“Nearly? That’s generous. We were nowhere close. It was a little smoke. The extension cord was unplugged. Damn, don’t act like you’ve never burnt a grilled cheese and set off the smoke alarm.”
“Never in a school.”
“It’s sensitive!”
He opened his mouth to retort, but before he could, Aunt Victoria swooped in to save me.
I wanted to say it was about damn time. I wasn’t the one that created that mess. Not all of it.
“Cooper Frost,” she said brightly, slipping her arm through mine. “I haven’t seen you in forever! You’re all grown up now.”
“Victoria,” he said with a warm smile.
Oh, she just popped his overinflated ego. And I loved it. I dared him to try and be a dick to her. I raised my chin in challenge. Bring it, buddy. Yell at her for using an extension cord.
She patted his arm like he was still twelve. “Ease up, young man. No one’s hurt. Everyone’s fine. There’s no need to forget your manners.”
Cooper’s eyes snapped back to mine. “Keep Joy from burning down the town and then I’ll be in a much better mood, I promise.”
“Oh goodness, there was no fear of a fire,” Aunt Victoria said with a wave of her hand. “I’ve done worse making Thanksgiving dinner. And I happen to know you’ve had to put out actual fires caused by much bigger problems.”
“Victoria, those fires didn’t involve fifty kids,” Cooper said.
She laughed. “You’ve never raised kids, apparently. They are walking fire hazards. No one was hurt. No one even coughed from the smoke. If anything, they’re having a better day playing in the snow. So it all worked out in the end.”
“Those hot plates should not be used. They should definitely not be plugged into an extension cord. A cord taped to the floor. People step on those cords and—”
Aunt Victoria held up her hand. “Trust me, young man, I know. I’ve been on this planet a lot longer than you. If I thought there was a risk, I wouldn’t have done it. I’ve run that exact same setup a hundred times before.”
“You set that up?” Cooper asked with surprise.
I couldn’t hide my smug expression. He had just laid into me for doing it. I dared him to go after her. She would put him in his place so fast he wouldn’t know what hit him.
But instead of going after her with the same intensity he’d used on me, Cooper’s entire demeanor shifted. His shoulders relaxed, his voice gentled, and suddenly he was Mr. Reasonable instead of Mr. Cocky Asshole.
“Victoria, I know you’ve done this before,” he said, his tone respectful and patient. “But those extension cords can be tricky. When they’re taped to the floor like that, people step on them without realizing, and the wiring inside can get damaged. Even if it looks fine on the outside.”
I watched in disbelief as Aunt Victoria nodded thoughtfully, actually listening to him instead of dismissing his concerns like she had when he was lecturing me.
“And the hotplates, they’re old enough that the temperature controls might not be accurate anymore. It’s easy for something to get hotter than you expect, especially when you’re trying to manage multiple stations at once.”
“You make a good point,” she said, completely reasonable. “What would you suggest?”
“Maybe make the cocoa in the cafeteria kitchen next time? You could use the regular stove, get the temperature just right, then transfer it to thermal dispensers for serving. That way there’s no electrical setup in the main area, and the cocoa stays warm without any risk of overheating.”
I stared at him, my mouth probably hanging open. Where was this measured, helpful Cooper when he was tearing me apart two minutes ago? This was practical advice delivered with respect and genuine concern, not the barely contained fury he’d directed at me.
“That’s a good idea,” Aunt Victoria said. “I should have thought of that myself. Much safer, and probably easier to manage too.”
I looked at her. She was being a smartass. I knew it, but did he?
“And if you need any help with the electrical setup for future events, the fire department does safety inspections for community functions. No charge. We’d rather prevent problems than respond to them.”
She patted his arm again. “You’re such a thoughtful young man. Your parents raised you right.”
I felt my eye twitch. Thoughtful? This was the same guy who’d just finished making me feel like a pyromaniac, and now he was Mr. Community Service offering free safety consultations?
“I really appreciate that, Cooper,” Aunt Victoria continued. “Joy and I will definitely keep that in mind for the next event, won’t we, dear?”
Both of them turned to look at me expectantly.
“Oh, you big bully.” The words burst out of me before I could stop them. “I will not stand here and be lectured for an accident. Go ahead, write it all down, put it in an envelope, and shove it down your chimney hole.”
The second I said it, I regretted it.
Another one of the firefighters materialized behind him. “Chimney hole?” he said with a laugh. “I see you’re making friends, Cooper.”
Cooper’s brow arched, his mouth twitching like he was fighting a smile, which only made me glare harder.
“Come on, Joy,” Aunt Victoria said, steering me toward the doors before I could dig myself deeper. “We’ve got cocoa to salvage and thirsty kids.”
I let her drag me away, chin high, even though every nerve in my body was buzzing from the weight of his gaze.
I wanted to turn around and stomp right back over to the man.
I didn’t know where he thought he got off, but I really wanted to give him a piece of my mind.
He humiliated me in front of all those people.
It was a simple accident!
The last thing I saw before we slipped back inside was Cooper Frost, standing dumbfounded in the snow, watching me go like he wasn’t sure what had just hit him.
The cafeteria smelled faintly less like burnt sugar and more like humiliation by the time we got back inside. Aunt Victoria busied herself re-plugging the less-scorched hot plate while I tried to clean up the mess on the table.
“You know he’s aged well,” my aunt said.
I pressed my palms to my face. “Do not.”
“He’s very handsome.”
“Stop.”
“And clearly still interested.”
I peeked over my fingers. “Interested? He just called me a public menace. And humiliated me. I think the only thing he’s interested in is running me out of town with his big red firetruck.”
She smirked. “Sometimes interest wears funny disguises.”
I groaned and wiped off the tablecloth. “Kill me now.”
“Not until after the festival,” she said cheerfully.
Deep down, a small and treacherous part of me replayed the look in his eyes. Yes, they’d been angry. Yes, he had been lecturing me. But underneath all that storm and scowl, something else had flickered. Recognition. Awareness.
Did he remember that kiss?
After seeing him again, I was pretty sure there had been a million kisses after me. I was probably one in a long line of ladies that came after me. There was no way he remembered or cared about that kiss. I was a blip on his radar.
I wondered if he had a girlfriend. I went out of my way to avoid the small-town gossip when I was in New York. Knowing Cooper and getting a good look at him, I was certain there was no way that man had managed to stay single for more than five minutes. Then again, he was probably a player.
Definitely a player. Cooper Frost was the kind of guy that was all about hit it and quit it. Love ‘em and leave ‘em.
Just like in high school.