Double whoa.
“Touchy much?” Jake said dryly.
“Yeah, touchy much.” Cooper snuffed out his smoke and wrapped both hands around his mug. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m having a crappy morning and it’s not even nine o’clock yet.”
“My morning’s not so hot either.”
They fell silent, sipping their coffees, until Cooper let out a soft curse. “I do like her, okay? Actually, I more than like her. I’m in love with her, man.”
Jake’s eyebrows shot up.
Cooper chuckled. “Pretty fucking shocking, huh? But it’s true. I love everything about that woman. Every neurotic, aggravating inch of her.”
“Have you told her?”
“Nope.” Cooper shook his head. “She doesn’t want to hear it, man. She’s all about appearances, and she cares way too much about what her snooty family thinks. They’d never approve of her being with someone like me.” He snorted. “Piss-poor construction worker who lives in a fucking shack? The mayor would skin me alive before letting me touch his princess.”
Jake knew all about snooty families. Whenever he’d encountered Bree’s parents in town or at school events, they’d looked down their noses at him, speaking to him as if he was a speck of dirt beneath their expensive shoes.
“Why don’t you give her an ultimatum?” he suggested. “You or her family. Make her pick.”
Cooper gaped at him. “Clearly you know nothing about women, Bishop. Ultimatums always backfire. That shit causes even more problems. Best I can do is keep talking to her, try to make her see that we’re so good together she’d be crazy to give this up.”
You don’t talk to me, Jake.
Discomfort wedged in his chest. Hell. Maybe he didn’t know anything about women.
But he did know that snapping at Bree first thing in the morning was not the way to ensure she spend more time with him.
Annoying as it was to admit, he wanted more time with Bree. The woman had a calming effect on him. She was smart, kind, incredible in bed. Being with her was…well, nice. Easy. And considering how out of sorts he was feeling at the moment, nice and easy was exactly what he needed.
Bree had just finished buttoning up her coat when Jake strode through the front door. Her heart did an involuntary flip, which annoyed the crap out of her. She was supposed to be angry with him for being such a closed-mouth grouch, but his sheer sexiness distracted her. His sweat-soaked T-shirt plastered to his broad chest, outlining his tight six-pack and defined pecs. His cheeks held a ruddy glow from his run, and the serious amount of scruff he sported made her skin tingle as she remembered how that thick stubble had felt scraping over her inner thighs.
Last night had been amazing. Not just the sex, but falling asleep with Jake, their legs tangled together as he spooned her with his hard, masculine body. It was the first time they’d ever done that, and as Bree drifted off to sleep, she’d felt so utterly contented.
But then Jake had gone and ruined everything by shutting her out this morning.
“You’re leaving?” There was a chord of disappointment in his husky voice.
“Yeah. If I go now, I might still make it for breakfast with my folks.”
He stepped closer, his big body dominating the front hall. “I thought you cancelled that.”
“I did.” She shot him a pointed look. “But I figured you wouldn’t be in the mood to have breakfast with me.”
His gray eyes twinkled. “And miss out on the omelet you promised? No way.”
“Jake—”
“Stay.” His tone became urgent. “Please, Bree, stay. I’m sorry I practically bit your head off before, but I promise, I’ll be a perfect gentleman from this point on.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right. You are the furthest thing from a gentleman, Jake.” But to her disgust, she was already undoing the buttons of her pea coat.
His eyes followed the movement of her fingers and a smile stretched across his sexy mouth. “I’ll gather the ingredients while you hang up your coat.”
She watched as he bounded off with a spring to his step, wondering when she’d become such a pushover.
When she entered the kitchen, Jake had done what he’d promised. A carton of eggs sat on the counter, along with a cutting board laden with green peppers, mushrooms and red onions. Jake grabbed a cheese grater from one of the cupboards and glanced over at her. “Should I get anything else?”
“No, it’s okay. Sit. I’ll do the rest.”
Bree puttered around for the next ten minutes and prepared breakfast, while Jake sat on a stool and watched her, his gray eyes tracking her every move. When that brooding stare of his started to make her uncomfortable, she finally shifted her attention from the stove and fixed him with an irritated scowl.
“What?” she demanded.