Chapter 16
Something is wrong, Cooper thought. She was upset about something, and it’d happened since they’d been in her bedroom. “Do you want to stop?”
She looked up at him, seeming surprised. “What? No, I don’t want to stop.”
“Would you tell me if you did?”
“Yes, I’d tell you.”
“It’s okay, you know. If you’ve changed your mind.” He wanted to tell himself to shut up. What man in his right mind said that when he had a goddess like her on top of him, halfway impaled on his cock?
“I haven’t changed my mind about the fact that this weapon of yours ought to come with a warning.”
Cooper laughed at the face she made, but then her internal muscles fluttered around his cock, and it took every ounce of control he could find not to lose it too soon.
That couldn’t happen. Not with her. He felt like he’d been rehearsing for this main event since his first time with Mindy Farthing ten years ago.
Everything since then had been leading to this, to Gigi.
By the time she finally took all of him, he was sweating from the effort to hold back, to let her take the lead.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Ask me that tomorrow when I can’t walk or sit.”
“I’ll carry you around.”
She rolled her eyes. “You can barely move, let alone tote me around.”
“I could tote you around if I had to.” He squeezed her ass cheeks and gave a gentle push that took him deeper into her.
Her head fell back, and her mouth opened on a silent scream.
She was the sexiest fucking thing he’d ever seen, and Cooper knew he’d remember this moment for the rest of his life.
“Fuck me, Gigi,” he whispered.
“I’m afraid to move.”
“You’re not afraid of anything.”
Her eyes opened, and when her gaze collided with his, he realized that wasn’t entirely true. For some reason, she was afraid of him, and he couldn’t have that. “When we’re done here, you’re going to tell me why you seem upset.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
She was magnificent. Her eyes flashed with annoyance even as her cheeks flushed with desire.
She was a study in contrasts—funny, prickly, secretive, effortlessly sexy, insightful, loyal to the few people she loved and protective of herself and the tender heart that loved so few people.
He desperately wanted to be one of them.
As he watched her, she began to move, probably trying to throw him off the scent of whatever was troubling her. Maybe she figured if she fucked his brains out, he might forget about that conversation he wanted to have with her after the fact.
He wouldn’t forget, but damn, she knew how to move.
Watching her breasts bounce and her skin flush with heat as she rocked his world had him at the edge, clinging to control when she threw her head back and came.
Cooper was right there with her, his fingers sinking into her ass as he exploded inside her. Nothing in his life had ever been better than sex with Gigi.
When she would’ve disentangled herself from him right away, he stopped her by putting his arms around her and bringing her to rest on his chest. Exertion had them both breathing hard, and his heart beat so fast, he could hear the echo of it in his ears.
Her internal muscles continued to contract around him, keeping his cock harder than it should’ve been after that grand finale.
“Wow,” he said when he could speak again. “That was amazing.”
“It can’t happen again.”
Stunned, he asked, “Why not?”
“Because. It just can’t.”
“Gigi.”
She wriggled free of his arms and was up and off him so quickly, he had no time to prepare for the loss of her. The bathroom door closed with a loud slam.
What the fuck?
Cooper ran his hands through his hair and sat up slowly and painfully to find his shorts. He had put them back on and was sitting on the edge of her bed when she emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later, wearing a robe tied tight around her waist. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Save that bullshit for someone who doesn’t see right through it.”
Her eyes flashed with outrage. “Don’t act like you know me so well, because you don’t. So we fucked. So what? That doesn’t suddenly give you rights.”
Cooper was surprisingly hurt by her harsh words. “I’m not looking for rights. I’m just wondering what happened in the last half hour besides the fucking.”
“Nothing happened. Nothing’s going to happen. I told you that from the beginning, so please don’t act like I’m changing the rules on you or something. Nothing has changed. You should go now.”
Cooper sat frozen in place, staring at her for a full minute before he found the wherewithal to stand. “I don’t know what you’re so afraid of, Gigi, but it doesn’t need to be me. I’d never hurt you.”
“I know that.”
“Then why—”
“This is who I am, Cooper.”
She never blinked as she said those words, but her voice wavered ever so slightly. Just enough to let him know she wasn’t as unemotional as she seemed as she kicked him out of her home.
Though he wasn’t one to stay where he wasn’t wanted, he couldn’t leave her like this.
He went to her, put his hands on her shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze.
“I like you, Gigi. I like you more than I probably should. I understand that’s not what you want, but I can’t help how I feel.
You’ve been through a lot in your life, had people disappoint you, so I get why you’ve learned not to let new people get too close.
But you should know I don’t give up easily, and I want to show you something different, something you maybe haven’t had before now. ”
“Cooper—”
He kissed her softly. “Sleep well, sweet Gigi. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“No, you won’t.”
He let her have the last word, but he hadn’t even left her place before he was formulating his plan for tomorrow.
At the clinic, Jared paced the hallway outside the cubicle where Lizzie was with the baby, who hadn’t stopped crying in what seemed like hours.
They’d done everything they could think of to soothe her—fed her, changed her, rocked her.
Nothing had helped. His nerves were shredded, and Lizzie’s had to be, too, even if she never gave up on trying to pacify the baby.
Dr. David Lawrence approached him. He was tall with dark hair and wore a white coat and an exhausted expression.
Summer on Gansett was rough on a number of island residents, including the clinic’s only doctor.
“So sorry to keep you waiting, Jared. We had a moped accident in town with multiple trauma patients that had to be stabilized before we could send them to the mainland.”
“Those damned mopeds.” Island residents hated them. Tourists loved them.
“You said it. I’d personally outlaw them if I could. We have a serious moped accident come through here at least once a week all summer long.”
“Are the new patients expected to make it?”
“They are, but it’ll be a rough recovery.”
“Sorry to hear it.”
“What’s up with the little one?”
“I wish I knew. She’s been inconsolable for hours. We weren’t sure if it was normal or something to be concerned about. We have no idea what we’re doing.”
“I’m sure you’re doing great. Let me take a look and see what we can do.”
Jared followed David into the cubicle where Lizzie was standing, swaying back and forth in her latest attempt to calm the crying baby.
“Let’s put her on the table,” David said.
Lizzie did as he asked, placing the baby on her back on the table.
The baby wasn’t having that. Her little face turned red, her hands curled into tight fists, and she screamed her head off.
Jared went to Lizzie and put his arm around her rigid shoulders. He hated seeing her so undone and wanted to rage at Jessie for doing this to them, even if he knew that wouldn’t help anything.
David performed a thorough exam of the baby, who’d finally stopped screaming. Figured. “I suspect we might be dealing with gas. Her abdomen is rigid.”
“What do we do about that?”
“I’ve got some drops we can give her to ease her discomfort. I’ll be right back.” He waited until Lizzie was there to make sure the baby couldn’t fall off the table before he left the room.
“Gas,” Lizzie said. “All this over gas. Who even knew that was a thing with babies?”
“Thankfully, David knew.”
“Maybe this is a sign that we’re not cut out for parenthood.”
“It’s not a sign, Lizzie. You’re doing great with her. You can’t be expected to know everything there is to know when you had a baby dumped in your lap. Most people have months to prepare themselves. You had minutes.”
The baby sucked on her own fists as her body shuddered with sobs.
“She needs a name. Something we can call her besides ‘the baby.’”
“We can’t name her.” With every passing second they spent with the baby, Jared felt more desperate to free them from this situation. Naming the baby would only drag them deeper into it.
“It wouldn’t be an official name. Just something we call her while she’s with us.”
“Hopefully, she won’t be with us for much longer.
” He felt cruel saying that, but he had to keep things real with her.
The baby wasn’t theirs, and he would remind her of that repeatedly if necessary.
In a day or two, when Jessie realized the magnitude of what she’d done, she’d be back to collect her child.
Jared was determined that neither he nor Lizzie would be decimated when that happened.
David returned and administered the drops to the baby, who lapped them up like they were candy.
“That ought to give her some relief.” He handed the baby to Lizzie and the bottle to Jared.
“You can give them to her any time she seems uncomfortable. If that doesn’t work, give me a call.
” He handed Jared a business card. “Any time, day or night.”
“Thanks so much, Doc.”
“No problem. Still no word from the mother?”
“Nothing,” Jared said. “I know you have privacy rules and such, but if you have info on how to reach her, we’d sure appreciate any help you can provide.”
“I’ll take a look at the file and see what she gave us.”