“What do you want?” she asked with a sigh.
Cooper Grady shot her that little-boy grin he probably practiced in front of the mirror. “Owen gave the crew the day off, so I wanted to see if you felt like hanging out.”
Translation: having sex.
Because why else would Cooper be here? Up until three months ago, the two of them had been involved—if you could consider having sex and hardly talking an involvement. But she’d been fine with it. She hadn’t wanted any lasting attachment to Cooper, only the hot, sweaty sex he was always willing to give her. And she would’ve kept up the fling—if he hadn’t treated her like a piece of garbage a month ago and thrown her out of his house. Since then, she’d made an effort to avoid him, and when several weeks had passed and he hadn’t come a-knocking, she figured he’d written her off too.
Apparently not.
“I don’t think so,” she said with a frown, making a move to shut the door.
He wedged one steel toe boot in the doorway. “Come on, Lex, you can’t still be pissed off at me. I told you I was sorry for what happened. I was having a bad day, okay?”
“You threw me out after I gave you a blow job because you were having a bad day? Gee, Coop, forgive me if I can’t accept your apology.”
He reached out and dragged his thumb over her chin. Lexie forced herself not to react. He was too damn sexy for his own good, with those glittering charcoal eyes, scruffy black hair, and lean, muscular body. Shoving his hand away, she crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him. “I’m serious, Cooper, go away. I’m not starting things up with you again.”
He ran his hand over the razor-sharp stubble coating his strong jaw. “Is it because of Lockhart?”
Lexie smothered a groan. Why did he always feel the need to bring up Gabe Lockhart? A few days into their fling, she’d made the mistake of revealing to Cooper her on-again, off-again relationship with Gabe, and since then, he’d been like a dog with a bone, refusing to let the subject go.
“No, it’s not because of him,” she snapped. “In fact, you’ll be happy to know I’m not seeing him anymore.”
She could have sworn she glimpsed a glint of satisfaction in his eyes. “Then what’s stopping you?”
“You,” she said softly. “You are stopping me. You treated me like a cheap whore, Cooper. Do you honestly blame me for not wanting to see you again?”
Now she thought she saw a flicker of vulnerability. Damn it, she would never understand this man. One minute he was like a shark, circling her, ready to go in for the kill. The next, he was a lost little boy, begging her to take care of him. Well, forget that. She was done with guessing Cooper Grady’s moods, done with the way he pierced her with a harsh word then licked away the sting with the brush of his talented tongue.
“You’re being stubborn,” Cooper grumbled.
“So sue me.” She tried to close the door again, but this time he shoved his big body through the threshold to stop her.
And he kissed her.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Suddenly his warm mouth was pressed against hers, and his tongue was prodding at the seam of her lips. She instinctively parted her lips to let him in, and their tongues tangled and swirled as he cupped her ass with his hands and pulled her closer. An involuntary moan slipped out at the feel of his erection on her belly. He rolled his hips, sending a flurry of shivers through her body.
“See,” he rasped when they finally broke apart. “We can’t ignore this. We’re too damn hot together, princess.”
It was the mocking endearment that snapped her back to her senses. The shivers dissolved, the heat in her belly extinguished. Taking a step back, she drew air into her lungs in an attempt to control her rising anger. Cooper Grady was a total asshole. Sexy, yes. Amazing in bed, definitely. But still an asshole.
“I am going to ignore it,” she squeezed out. “Wanna know why, Coop?”
Wariness filled his eyes. “Why?”
“Because you don’t deserve me. I’m not a damn toy for you to play with, only to throw aside when you get bored. I’m worth more than that.” To her shock, tears stung her eyelids. Oh no. No fucking way. She was not going to cry in front of this man.
Setting her jaw, she pressed her palms on his rock-hard chest and gave him a little push. He stumbled backwards, and once he was no longer blocking the door, she shot him one last glare and said, “Go home, Cooper.”
Then she slammed the door in his face.
Chapter Three