Fawn just smiled, as if the missing money were of no importance to her. “Yes, Lou met us here. We used it to pay for a recording studio for our next album. Money well invested, if you ask me.”
“And the remainder you’re spending here, buying a round for everyone.” Izzy ground her teeth together until her jaw hurt. Trying to reason with her mother was more difficult than reasoning with all of her sisters combined.
Fawn shrugged, already bored with the conversation.
“I need that money to pay for my sisters’ tuition. Remember them? Your daughters?”
“Really, Izzy. You don’t need an education. If the four of you would use your musical talent like I’ve counselled you to do multiple times, you wouldn’t be concerned with wasting your time on a piece of paper that costs tens of thousands of dollars and takes at least four years.”
“Neither of you have an education, so you’re reduced to stealing money from your daughters. How’s that working for you, Mom?” Izzy said the last word with as much distaste as she could. Her body shook with anger and frustration, as she recalled the times she’d been left with three younger sisters to care for when she was only a kid herself, little money, no food in the pantry, while Rock and Fawn chased the next big break, treating their responsibilities as if they didn’t exist.
Fawn’s laid-back attitude disappeared, as she morphed into the ruthless bitch who’d been a rock star diva at one time. “You’re delusional. You need to go before I have Steve call the police, which would be so unfortunate, considering you’re my ungrateful daughter.” Fawn’s eyes glittered as if she’d just realized the publicity her has-been band would receive. After all, there was no bad publicity in her mother’s eyes. Take a drama-filled altercation with her daughter and throw in an NHL player, and she’d have a recipe for some front-page coverage and prime-time viral attention.
Cooper leaned in close to Fawn, and Izzy froze, not certain what he was up to but suspecting her mother may have met her match. Misinterpreting Cooper’s move, Fawn batted her eyes at him and fingered his collar.
“We’re leaving,” Cooper growled in a low voice only Fawn and Izzy could hear. “And if you so much as borrow one more penny from Izzy or any of her sisters, I will personally see to it that you never make it again in the music business. If you don’t believe I have that kind of clout, just try me.”
On that note, he tucked Izzy’s arm in his and together they ambled out of the hushed bar into the rainy Seattle evening. Once outside, they ran for the car as the rained drenched them. Cooper opened the passenger door for Izzy and sprinted for the other side, jumping in the SUV, and revving the engine. He cranked the heat and sat back against the seat, his head angled toward the ceiling.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drag you into the mess that is my family.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me. After all, I dragged you into my own family mess.”
“Thank you,” Izzy said simply.
“You’re most welcome. You can call on me any time, and I mean that. I truly do.”
“That means a lot to me.” And she meant that, she truly did. “I don’t want to talk about them anymore.”
“Okay.” He darted a glance in her direction and blew out a long breath. “So do you think a Neanderthal like me stands a third chance with a classy female like you?”
“If you’re referring to between the sheets, then yes, you stand a good chance. A damn good chance.” Grateful for the distraction from her family and financial woes, she slid her gaze down his fine, if somewhat soaked body, and back up to his face. The light of the dashboard cast shadows across his hard male angles, making him look dangerous and formidable.
Just her type of guy.
“How mad will Betheni be if we don’t show up for a few hours?” he asked.
“She won’t give a shit. By now she’s drank half your good whiskey and is watching some pay-for-view movie.” She needed his touch tonight, his assurance everything would be okay, at least for a short time. She’d forget all her troubles and lose herself in a hot man with a very large bulge in his pants begging to be set free.
He nodded and licked his lips. “I think we can find a private place for a few hours.”
“And where would that be?”
“Fuck if I know, but I’d better think of something fast.” Cooper rubbed his chin and stared straight ahead, his dark brows furrowed. Putting his car in gear, he pulled out of the parking lot onto the rain-slicked city street.
“Ever done it in a pool?”
She smiled and ran a hand over the corded muscles of his thigh. “No, but I’m ready.”
“So the fuck am I.” His gaze burned down her body and should’ve turned her clothes to ashes.
Several minutes later, he pulled down a familiar tree-lined street.
“Isn’t this the way to your house?”
“Yeah, but we’re not going home. My neighbors left on a cruise and asked that I keep an eye on their house.”
“What if they have cameras installed?”
“What if they do?” He grinned like a naughty boy willing to take a risk stealing cookies from the cookie jar. He could steal her cookies any damn day.
“I like the way your naughty mind works.”
Cooper pulled down a long driveway a few doors from his own house. He jumped out and lifted Izzy out of the SUV, leading her toward a fence gate. Izzy ran to keep up with him.
“Aren’t we going in the house?”
“Afraid of a little rain?”
“Not in the least.”
They snuck around the back of the house across the wet lawn. In the backyard was a pool with an attached hot tub. The rain pitter-pattered on the patio.
“I’m wet,” Izzy slid up to Cooper, burying her hands in his hair.
“I hope to hell you are.” He stared down at her, his dark eyes even darker. Rain water slid down his nose, and she leaned up to lick it off. He pulled her to him, his mouth rough and demanding. She parted her lips and welcomed him inside. He attacked like a starving man, and she clung to his hard body. The heat between them should’ve caused steam to rise from their wet clothes.