Except… Charlotte hadn’t been the one to hurt Nate, had she? Nope, it had been her. She’d hurt him by sending him that email. Sure, he’d needed to be aware of what Charlotte was up to, but maybe she should have gone about it another way. Told him in person or, hell, just confronted Charlotte and ordered her to tell Nate the truth.
Instead, Lexie had opted for shock value, and now, with the memory of Nate’s ravaged face flashing across her mind, she regretted it.
Fighting back tears, she got out of the car and headed up the limestone path toward the house. She unlocked the front door, walked inside and drifted into the living room without bothering to turn on the light. Maybe sitting in the darkness for a bit would clear her head, help her figure out what to do next. Because she knew, without a doubt, that she couldn’t just stand by and watch Nate suffer. She might have caused the pain he was currently in, but she was equally determined to erase it.
“Hey.”
The low male voice made her jump. Just as she opened her mouth to unleash a piercing scream, something rustled and then Cooper stepped out of the shadows. The shriek died in her throat, replaced by a burst of anger that had her glaring at him.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” she demanded over the loud pounding of her heart. “How did you get in?”
He had the decency to look contrite. “The patio door was open. I figured you wouldn’t mind if I came in and waited.”
Her heartbeat slowed, but the anger stayed strong. In the darkness, Cooper looked even deadlier than usual. His all-black clothing blended into the shadows, and the razor-sharp stubble dotting his strong jaw lent him a dangerous edge. She would’ve been frightened, if not for the uncharacteristic softness of his coal-black eyes.
“What are you doing here?” she repeated.
“I just…fuck…I guess I came to do this.”
Lexie gasped as his mouth came down on hers. Hard. In a harsh, hungry kiss that contained zero tenderness and one hundred percent passion.
When they broke apart, her heart was pounding again. “Is that your idea of an apology?” she muttered.
He gave a lop-sided grin. “Yeah.”
“Well, screw that. I don’t accept.”
“Come on, Lex.” His voice went gruff. “I don’t do the whole sharing of the feelings shit. But I know I acted like a total asshole yesterday.”
“Yup.”
“And I’m sorry, okay? You and me…we’re good together. In the sex department, anyway.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to stop what we’ve been doing.”
Her nostrils flared. “Gee, how romantic. You don’t want to stop fucking me. I guess I should be flattered—if you hadn’t kicked me out the door after I sucked you off!”
A pained expression scrunched up his face. “I really am sorry. Like I said, I’m an asshole.”
Damn it. He was giving her that little boy grin now, the one that never failed to curl her toes and make her heart flip around like a stupid dolphin. Why did she have no willpower when it came to this man?
“So…forgive me?”
Without answering, she brushed past him and moved to turn on the light. A yellow glow bathed the spacious living room, making the off-white furniture gleam. “I can’t do this right now, Cooper. Seriously. I’ve had a really shitty day and I’m not in the mood.”
He raked a hand through his thick dark hair in frustration. “Fine, if you’re not ready to forgive me, at least tell me about your shitty day.”
“No.” To her shock, tears prickled her eyelids.
“Are you crying?”
“What? No.”
He was at her side in an instant, those big calloused hands cupping her chin. “Fuck, you are. I told you, I’m sorry—”
“This isn’t about you,” she interrupted, swiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her silk blouse. “I just…I messed up today, all right? I messed up, and I have no idea what to do about it now.”
There was a pause, and then Cooper gave a ragged sigh. “Okay. Well. Why don’t you tell me how you screwed up, and we can come up with a way to fix it.”
Shock jolted through her. In all the time she’d been sleeping with this man, he hadn’t once offered to help her out with a problem.
She wondered if Satan were ice-skating down in hell…
“Fine,” she finally murmured. “I’ll tell you. But only because my only other friend isn’t really speaking to me at the moment.”