I’m not sure what to do but holding her again feels right. Her arms come around, and she starts crying again. “Let it go. You don’t have to hold it in any longer,” I whisper.
Pink streaks stain her cheeks, and a soft laugh escapes. “I bet you wish you would have never come into that coffee shop that day.” She smiles, but it’s full of embarrassment. Her eyes leveled on my stomach like she’s facing regret.
Tilting my head to the side, I wait until she peeks at me under wet eyelashes and say, “I am.” Her smile falls until I add, “I wish I’d gone in sooner.”
21
Story
Wrapped in flannel pajamas with reindeer on them that Cooper surprised me with, I feel light as air lying on this cloud of a bed. I’m just not sure if I owe it to the hotel mattress or the man currently doing push-ups beside it.
I know the answer and roll to my side to get a better look at him. Even with a pair of flannel pants on, I can spend days admiring his shirtless body, but it’s his heart and the beats pumping in his chest, the soul that embodies him that have my pulse racing.
Cooper just did something that no one else has ever even tried. He freed me from my past.
He looks up but never breaks his stride. “Want to join me?” I scramble off the bed and lie on the floor next to him. He laughs. “What are you doing?”
“Joining you.”
Grinning, he moves sideways until he’s over me and keeps pushing up. I score a kiss every time he comes down. Resting my hands on his shoulders, I say, “Thank you.”
“No thanks needed.” He knows without me saying more. He just reads me so well. “I am sorry you had to go through that, and you lost your mom. I know it will be easy to just reply that it’s okay, but I want you to know that it was never okay for that to happen.”
I thought I’d cried enough for a year’s worth of saved-up tears, but shockingly, more surface in the corner of my eyes. This time, I have a chance to wipe them away before they fall.
He stills, and only his eyes move when they search mine. “Why are you crying?”
Wrapping my arms completely around his neck, I pull him closer and kiss him again. “Because I’m so happy. It doesn’t feel real, so if this is a dream, I don’t want to ever wake up from it.”
“If this is a dream, let’s stay asleep together forever.” Moving to the side of me, he says, “I got something for you.” With his body weighted on his right hand and only the side of his right foot, he starts doing push-ups again. His grin beams in pride. “What do you think, babe?”
“I think your strength is incredible.”
He stops and then gets up. Offering me his hands, I raise mine, and he takes hold, helping me to my feet and right into his arms. With my legs wrapped around his middle, he says, “I think your strength is incredible.”
My heart be still, I don’t think this man can make me swoon any more than he already has, and then bam! He does it again.
We kiss, but it’s not frenzied like so many other times. It’s slow and measured, taking our time and enjoying this one sweet moment. When our lips break apart and our eyes open again, he asks, “Do you want more champagne? I can get it from the bathroom or order another bottle?”
“I feel very uncultured saying this since I’ve not actually had real champagne until tonight, but is it bad of me to say that I don’t like it?”
He chuckles. “I’m actually glad to hear you say that.”
“Why?” I lower my feet to the floor, but his arm stays wrapped around my waist, holding me like he’s not ever going to let me go. I don’t mind. In fact, I’ve never felt more at peace than when I’m with him—protected, safe in his arms and in his heart.
“Because when it comes to alcohol or anything else, you shouldn’t drink anything you don’t like.” His hands find my hips, and he sways me. “Can I order you anything else?”
“No. I’m tired and thinking about sleeping in that bed. It’s the most comfortable thing I’ve ever been in.” Dropping my head against his chest, I laugh. “You must think I’m so small town. I keep saying it’s the best, prettiest, most comfortable . . . God, I sound silly.”
“You don’t sound silly. Hey, look at me, babe.” He stops until I’m looking at him again. “You appreciate everything around you. It’s enjoyable to see life through your eyes. You have every reason to be cynical or mad at the world. But you’re not. You find joy and pleasure in things the rest of us will never be able to appreciate or find that same contentment.”
“I do have a reason to be mad.” I move to retrieve a bottle of water from the bar near the entry. This hotel room is amazing, just like Cooper. From the spacious layout to the separate sitting area to the little Christmas tree in the corner, it really is magical in here. So, when I say, “I was mad for years,” it doesn’t reflect my current state. It’s the opposite actually. “But what I found is that I was the one suffering for that anger I carried around. Not the man who did it. Not the world. Not the universe. Not even this town. My mom made nothing more than a blip on page two of the Atterton Gazette as if it was always expected to end that way.”
Returning to be near him, I sit on the edge of the bed and open the bottle to take a sip. When I look up at him, sympathy enters his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
I don’t want that to be how he always looks at me. “You don’t have to be sorry, and you don’t have to feel sorry for me, Cooper. You just need to find what makes you happy because isn’t that the best revenge?”
“Happiness?”
“Happiness is something money can never buy.” I tap his chin. “Even if your last name is Haywood. So you might as well seek the good fortunes of every day instead.” I take another sip. “You ready for bed?”
With a nod of his chin, he says, “I’m ready all right.”
Before I get cozy under the covers with him, I go to the bathroom and then find packages of toothbrushes and toothpaste on the counter. “Did you even order the toothbrushes?”
From the bedroom, he replies, “It’s what a concierge does. I told her that when we checked in, you wouldn’t have anything except the clothes on your back. She said she’d take care of it.”
Okay, so he went out of his way to make sure I’d have everything I needed, but one thing doesn’t make sense since he surely brought a bag with him from Haywood. “Why’d you leave your bags in the car?”
“Out of solidarity.”
I stop, toothbrush in one hand, paste in the other, and stare into the mirror. His words . . . no, him. All of Cooper Haywood has me grinning. Happiness not only consumes my face but is bursting into my heart. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the girl reflected back at me. A giddy shiver runs through me, and I mouth, “How’d I get so lucky?”
“It’s not luck.” He startles me, the handsome jerk leaning against the doorframe.
With my hand still pressed to my chest, I ask, “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to correct you.” A wry grin doesn’t stop my heart from beating so fast, but it does cause it to race for other reasons. “It’s your heart that drew me in, babe.”
“And here I thought it was my ‘tits’?” I laugh like I’m funnier than I am.
His chuckle is lighter as he comes into the bathroom. Tough crowd tonight. Looking me square in the eyes, he says, “They’re fucking fantastic, but that heart of yours is hard to beat. Pun intended.”
“Look at you, bringing the funnies.” Bumping my hip into him, I hand him his personal dental care package.
Hugging me from behind, he sweeps my hair to the other shoulder and kisses my neck. “I’ll be bringing funnies tonight.”
I spin in his arms and wrap my arms around him. “Guess Christmas is coming early.”