“No, he turned into a jealous, controlling ass and jeopardized our business in the process. No one will ever control my future. Ever. Especially not a stubborn man.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t hook up with him in the naked sense of the word.”
Izzy sat up straighter and grinned her most wicked grin. “That’s what I’m thinking. No relationship to mess things up. Just plain and simple sex.”
“You?” Betheni sounded shocked.
“Why does that surprise you?” Contrary to what Cooper said, Izzy was not a prude. She enjoyed sex as much as the next woman.
Betheni shrugged and studied her bright-red fingernails. “Because there’s something different about Cooper. That’s why you didn’t show any interest in Tanner even though he was all over you.”
“In that case, why wouldn’t I jump Cooper’s bones?”
“You tell me. Why haven’t you?”
“I would’ve tonight if it hadn’t been for all this drama.” Izzy mouth pulled down into a frown and her stomach dived as she remembered what started all this. “Rock and Fawn took all of our money stash?”
“All of it. Every last penny. Of course, they promised they’d pay us back as soon as they got paid for the next gig.”
“Yeah, right.” As if their parents’ promises meant a damn thing. “How am I going to pay the bills and tuition?”
“How are we going to pay the bills and tuition? We’re in this together. Remember? Stop taking this all on yourself. At least we don’t have to worry about Avery’s tuition,” Betheni said wryly.
“Please don’t remind me.”
“Izz, we’ll work it out. Maybe we can get an advance from Ethan’s mother for the Kids for Play thing we’re doing.”
“She’s already advanced money to us twice. I can’t ask again.” Izzy stood, her mind made up. “Dammit, I’m going over there and getting our money back right now.”
“They were heading to the Overtime Tavern. They’re playing there tonight.”
“Fine, I’ll go there.” Determination coursed through Izzy. Dammit, she would not let them take this money, not when her sisters so desperately needed it, including Avery. She had every intention of convincing Avery to stay in college, once she gave her a day or two to calm down.
“I’ll go with you. You’ll need moral support to face Rock’s skewed logic and Fawn’s extreme guilt trips.”
Izzy nodded, grabbed her coat, purse, and car keys, and threw open the door, ready to do battle, only to collide with something solid and warm.
Cooper’s broad chest.
Chapter 8—Scoring Drive
“Whoa, going somewhere?” Cooper said, gripping Izzy’s shoulders. Not that he minded her sweet face buried in his neck, but the woman had obviously been on a mission to parts unknown, and he hoped like hell he was that mission.
Izzy stared up at him and blinked those big, gorgeous brown eyes of hers several times as if trying to get her bearings.
“What are you doing here?” She clutched his upper arms and stared into his eyes. For a moment they were the only two people in the world. He was a fucking goner when she stared at him like that. He’d slay any dragon, climb any castle wall, or swim any moat for her. Anything. Everything. Whatever she asked for, even what she didn’t, he’d do it. Hell, he’d even sit through two hours of a sappy chick flick. Now that was pretty far gone.
Betheni cleared her throat and Riley coughed, bringing Izzy and Cooper back from wherever it was they’d both gone and breaking the spell between them.
Izzy backed away slowly, her eyes still locked with his. Cooper ran his fingers through his hair.
Riley pushed past Cooper. After shooting him a withering glare, he focused his full attention on Izzy. “We were worried about you.”
Riley’s words prodded Cooper out of his trance. “Yeah, we wanted to make sure everything was all right.”
“It’s not, but we’ll manage.” Izzy looked like she was going to cry, and Betheni stared at her feet at a rare loss for words.
“Could we help?” Cooper said a little too eagerly for a guy still trying to figure out where he fit in her life outside of the bedroom.
Izzy shook her head. “It’s just family drama.”
Cooper noted the coat Izzy was wearing and the purse slung over her arm. “You were just leaving.”
Izzy glanced at Betheni. “Yes, we were. Thanks for stopping by, but we have an errand to run.”
“This late?”
“Speaking of late, shouldn’t Riley be in bed? Tomorrow’s a school day.” Izzy’s observation properly dressed him down and drove home the point once again that he was a crappy uncle.
“Uh, yeah.”
“Well, then, that settles it. We’ll catch up with you later.” Izzy gave Cooper a gentle shove out of her way.
His pride already wounded, Cooper forced a smile. “Good night, ladies,” he said as if being pushed aside wasn’t any big deal.
Riley hung back until Cooper tersely spoke to him. “Let’s go, Riley. You need to be in bed.”
Riley’s eyes narrowed with animosity and resentment toward his uncle. He turned his back on Cooper. “Bye, Izzy. I’m here if you need me.”
Cooper sighed. Being an uncle to a teenager definitely sucked hind tit, especially when the teenager blamed Cooper to some extent for his mother’s problems. Cooper knew at a basic level he wasn’t to blame, the drugs were, but he still felt guilt, felt he hadn’t done enough to save her. Even worse, he carried around a good dose of guilt for being oblivious to Riley’s existence. Maybe he could’ve done a few things to make the kid’s childhood a little better. For now, he was doing the best he could by providing Riley with material things he’d never had before and by giving his PI a blank check to pull out all the stops to find his sister Julie. Once he did, he’d get her some help and set her up in a nice apartment, and he’d make sure Riley was taken care of properly.