Lexie just stared at him for a moment then let out a string of curses that had him raising his eyebrows. Oh yeah, he’d really pissed her off this time.
“Screw you, Cooper,” she said, her voice uncharacteristically shaky. “As of right now, we’re through. We’re goddamn through.”
He barked out another laugh. “Sure we are.”
With a final expletive, Lexie glared at him one last time then grabbed her purse and marched out the door, slamming it behind her.
Cooper heard a car engine start, the squeal of rubber as she sped away. Then he stood there and listened to the silence, a sliver of guilt slicing into his skin. Fuck. Why had he done that? Despite what everyone else thought, he wasn’t a cruel person. Definitely didn’t get his kicks from humiliating women.
Why was it that Lexie Price seemed to bring out the absolute worst in him?
She’s fucking Lockhart.
Those three words grounded him, brought him back to painful reality. In spite of the Romeo and Juliet thing Lexie and Gabe had going on, what with their families despising each other, the two of them were far more suited together than he and Lexie would ever be.
So yeah, every now and then, he had to remind himself of that. Sure, it might take something asshole-ish, like making her give him a blowjob and then kicking her out the door, but sometimes you needed to take extraordinary measures to get the point across.
In this case, he was making the point to himself. Because no matter how explosive the two of them were in bed, Lexie Price would never belong to him, and that was something he couldn’t let himself forget.
Chapter Seven
“I just need to go by the pub for a moment,” Nate said as he stopped the pickup in front of the small corner bar at the edge of Main Street. “Is that okay?”
“Sure,” Charlotte answered. “I’m curious to see what you did with the place, anyway.”
“Not much,” he confessed. “Still looks the same way it did when my dad ran it.”
They climbed out of the truck and the sight of the familiar tinted windows and glowing neon Open sign brought a rush of memories. As she followed Nate into Bishop’s Corner, she couldn’t help but remember the nights she and Nate spent there, playing pool, making out in the back booth. When Nate’s dad had been too drunk to work, he’d forced his underage son to tend bar, and Charlotte would come by to keep him company. Though really, she only ended up distracting him.
When they walked inside, she saw that he was right. The place looked exactly the same, with its long bar counter and tall wooden stools, the black vinyl booths and little tables. Even the sports posters and framed photographs on the wood paneled walls hadn’t changed. As Nate rounded the counter, Charlotte drifted over to the wall of photos, grinning when she spotted one of the four Bishop brothers. The picture had been taken at the lake, and each boy held up a fat large-mouthed bass dangling from a fishing rod.
“Are the twins still skinny as twigs?” she called.
Nate laughed as he scribbled something down on a pad of paper. “Nah, they beefed up. You should see Jake—looks like an action hero now.”
She turned away from the photos and stared at Nate, admiring the broad set of his shoulders and the way his rippled biceps rested on the counter. He looked comfortable behind the bar, like he belonged there. She thought of the men she’d dated in Manhattan, with their tailored suits and expensive haircuts, and realized she’d pick Nate and his faded jeans any day.
“So, were you going to do that library thing Mrs. Easton mentioned at the diner?” Nate asked.
Charlotte bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know. Do you think there’ll be a lot of people there?”
“Nah, just the kids. I think you should do it.”
She continued to hesitate. As they’d been leaving the diner just now, one of the librarians had pulled her aside and mentioned that there was some kind of youth club meeting at the library that afternoon. The kids there ranged from middle-grade to high school, and apparently they spent two weeks every summer reviewing last year’s curriculum and preparing for the upcoming school year. Mrs. Easton had said the kids would love to meet her and maybe get an autograph, and though Charlotte liked kids, it was the parents she was worried about. What if Tara was there? Or one of the other girls who’d tormented her in high school?
Then you hold your head high like you did at the reunion and show them you don’t give a damn.
The newfound confidence eased her nerves. Yeah, why shouldn’t she go? The kids would love it, and screw the parents. Besides, if she and Nate were to have any future, she needed to get over her animosity toward the people of Paradise. Even if Nate weren’t in the picture, letting go of the bitterness was something she probably ought to do anyway.