“Oh, no,” Cooper said. “Want me to go with you?”
Yes. The woman in her didn’t want to leave, not when the man she’d loved for so long was finally right there beside her, looking at her like she was the only person in the room. But the mother in her needed to leave, and the mother in her always won.
Jackson and Erica rose from the table. “We’re so sorry to hear about your sister, but we’re really glad we got a chance to meet you.” Jackson hugged Cici. “Will we see you at our wedding in two weeks?”
“Please?” Erica asked as she embraced Cici.
Cooper nodded. “Please say you’ll go?”
Life was so easy when no children were involved. “I want to, but with the move”—and our daughter—“I’ll have to check my schedule.”
“We need to be at the shoot in ten minutes,” Jackson said to Cooper.
Cooper’s brows knitted together. “I’ll walk you up to get your stuff.”
“No, that’s okay. I can get it. Go to the shoot with Jackson. I’ve managed for four years. I think I can handle carrying a suitcase.” She took a piece of paper from her purse and scribbled her phone number on it, then pressed it into Cooper’s palm. “I really don’t want to leave, but Tegan’s all drugged up and getting a cast. I need to pick her up and take her home.”
She pressed her lips to his, wishing she could stay. She’d give anything to have one more night alone with him, to lie in his arms, to love him and soak up his love for her. To tell him about their amazing daughter, who had his sense of adventure, his eyes, and his intense ability to love. But doing that now, when she felt every passing second like a ticking time bomb, would be a mistake. Learning he had a daughter would change him forever, just as it had changed her. It wasn’t something she could just blurt out and then leave.
He folded her into his arms and touched his forehead to hers. “I feel like I’m losing you all over again.”
She snuggled in closer, memorizing the feel of him, his masculine scent, and the look of love lingering in his eyes. “You never lost me the first time.”
***
COOPER TRIED TO focus on the celebrities as they arrived in their fancy cars and flashed their famous smiles, but every time he lifted his camera to his eye, it was Cici’s face he saw through the lens. Fans hollered, vying for autographs. Eager photographers hoped to catch just the right shot to make their mark in the industry. The film festival was the place to be this weekend, and he couldn’t concentrate on the event worth shit. He knew Cici hadn’t wanted to leave. He’d felt it in her touch, seen it in her eyes when she’d told him as much, but still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that at least some part of her had wanted to go.
That scared the shit out of him.
Had he been too honest? Scared her off with his confession of wanting forever? He was stewing on those thoughts when his cell phone rang with a call from Logan.
“Hey, bro. How’s it going?”
“Hey, Coop,” Logan said. “Everything work out okay for your girlfriend?”
“As good as could be expected. We taped up her window, police are searching, but you know how that goes.”
“It all sucks. I’m sorry she’s dealing with that. Look, Heath and I are at the travel agent’s office. Do you still want to go in on the gift with us?”
“Hell yes.” The three brothers were buying Jackson and Erica a trip to Paris for their honeymoon. Like the rest of the Wild men, Jackson made enough money to buy anything he or Erica could ever want, but his idea of a honeymoon was camping in the mountains in upstate New York, where he and Erica had gone camping since they were teenagers. Not exactly the most romantic getaway, or at least that’s what the three of them had decided.
“Cool. We’ll book it, then.”
Cooper maneuvered through the crowd to an open space and paced. “Logan, I need a favor.”
“Anything. Name it.”
If there was one thing Cooper could count on, it was that he and his brothers would help one another out without question. They’d banded together after their father died, and as each one had fallen off the deep end, the others had been right there to help them find their way back to the surface. They took turns visiting their mother daily and cared for her without question and without fail. He knew he could count on Logan to come through with his request—hell, he could do it himself if he had a computer with him. He’d finally seen the light for the first time in four years, and he knew exactly where he wanted to be. He just needed a little guidance on how to get there.
“I need you to track down an address for me, in Peaceful Harbor, Maryland. The name’s Fine. Celeste Fine.”
Chapter Nine