Izzy patted Riley’s shoulder, her expression softening to one of fondness. “I know, honey.”
Unwelcome jealousy surged through Cooper, which irritated him. Jealous of a fourteen year old? What bullshit. He needed to get a hand on his jealousy. After all, that’s what got him into this mess in the first place. If he’d behaved like a man who trusted his woman, they’d be enjoying each other’s company in and out of bed right now.
But no, he had to behave like the Neanderthal he was.
If the insult fits, own it.
Then do something about it, Coop.
Even though it might take a while for stuff to sink into his thick head, he’d finally figured out he wanted Izzy around. He just had to prove to her he could change.
And admitting he’d been wrong was easier said than done for a stubborn, arrogant ass like him.
With Betheni in tow, Izzy stomped down the apartment stairs and walked to her car. Looking way too much alike, Cooper and Riley stood several feet away next to his monstrous SUV. She knew what Cooper was doing. He was protecting her, waiting until she sat safely in the driver’s seat. How could such a simple act of kindness both irritate and give her a warm fuzzy?
Izzy snapped on her seatbelt. “Betheni,” she chastised her sister. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Betheni buckled her own seatbelt. Her wild-child sister hated being forced to do anything, especially when it was for her own good.
Izzy turned the key in the ignition. Her temperamental old car spit and sputtered. A puff of black smoke escaped the muffler. The car gasped and shrieked then went ominously quiet. No amount of coaxing, cussing, and pounding her fists on the steering brought the car back to life.
She’d known the poor little car lived on borrowed time but hoped to borrow a lot more time because she sure as hell didn’t have the money to buy a new used car.
Izzy stared straight ahead, beyond frustrated and close to tears. Someone tapped on the driver’s window, and she jumped. It was Cooper, of course.
Izzy rolled down her window. “Yes?” she said calmly as if her current world wasn’t crumbling before her very eyes.
“Trouble?” Cooper stared down at her, his blue eyes full of concern. Riley stood a little behind him.
“No, not at all. Right, Betheni?” She looked to Betheni for confirmation, expecting her sister to have her back. She didn’t.
Betheni snorted. “Where do you want me to start?”
Izzy shot her one of those shut-your-mouth glares, but since when did her rebellious sister ever listen to anyone, not even whatever voice of reason she might possess?
Cooper leaned down so he could see Betheni. “What’s going on? Could I give you a ride somewhere?”
“No, we’re fine,” Izzy said.
“Yes, you can give her a ride,” Betheni countered. “But brace yourself, this isn’t going to be pretty.” Betheni jerked open the door and got out. She gestured to Izzy to follow her. “Coop, you can drop me off at your house first, and I’ll watch Riley to make sure he gets to bed.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Riley groused.
Cooper ignored him and directed his answer to Betheni. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
Several minutes later, Izzy stared out the passenger window as they drove to Cooper’s in silence. Riley and Betheni hopped out before the SUV came to a halt in his driveway. Izzy didn’t blame them. The tension between her and Cooper was thicker than a pea soup fog on Puget Sound.
Cooper pulled back onto the street and glanced at her. “So, where to?”
Izzy sighed. The last thing she wanted was Cooper involved in this mess with her parents. No one but her sisters knew what lousy parents they were, and she’d intended on keeping it that way. “Turn left at the next light and stay on that street for a few miles.”
“Okay.” He nodded and met her gaze briefly. Her heart thumped happily in her chest. The man might be sex on skates when he was on the ice, but even walking around like a mere mortal, he was so much more than that. If circumstances tonight were different— She briefly toyed with suggesting they pull into a deserted parking garage and finally get the deed done.
But she couldn’t. Her sisters came first, paying the bills came second, and screwing Cooper’s brains out had to be farther down that list. At least it was tonight. If they didn’t hustle, Fawn and Rock would have every penny spent before she could get there.
Cooper reached over and took her hand in his big, calloused one. “You okay, Isabelle?” The sexy, gentle way he said her full name wet her panties with desire and need and something even stronger, yet elusive. Yet, she wouldn’t go there.
He traced little circles on her palm with his thumb. Oh, dear Lord, that felt so crazy good. And that’s what she wished they were doing right now—getting crazy. But she couldn’t. Not until she completed her mission like the older, more responsible sister that she was. She’d embraced her role for so long, she didn’t know how to be anything else. Yet for one night, she just wanted to be Izzy, a woman needing a man to hold her, support her, protect her, and make her feel like a desirable female and convince her that just once everything would be okay.
Cooper was that man.
But she was a woman on a mission, and until that mission was finished, she’d control her most basic urges. There was always later.
“Are you sure you have to do this tonight?” Cooper asked, hope and lust brightening his deep blue eyes.
“I’m certain.” She ran a finger along his strong jaw. “But afterward, I might be able to squeeze you into my busy schedule.”
“Honey, you can squeeze me all you want, anywhere, anytime, anyhow.” He stared straight ahead, but his one hand held the steering wheel in a death-grip, and his other hand tightened around hers.