“All right, then,” she says with a nod. “No condoms if it turns out okay.”
My thoughts are all mired in lust and an elemental need to take our intimacy to the absolute limits because the pleasure will be beyond imagination, but there’s something else there too.
A craving.
Not just for physical possession, but for emotional connection as well. This scares the shit out of me, because while Eden and I broke up a long time ago, I remember all too clearly how it felt to lose her. I know I’m on the path for that to probably happen again, and yet part of me doesn’t care. Part of me just wants to ride the wave until it peters out.
Eden’s phone starts ringing and she glances at it on the counter. She picks it up, connects the call, and answers, “Hey, Colleen, what’s up?”
She continues to flip bacon while holding the phone to her ear, listening to whatever her business manager is saying. Finally she gives a hefty sigh and says, “Okay…thanks for the heads-up.”
When she disconnects, I immediately ask, “What is it?”
Eden doesn’t turn to face me. “Um…apparently you and I have made some headlines together.” Her voice is apologetic.
“What?” I ask in surprise.
“Someone tipped the paparazzi that I was in Newberry,” she continues as she hovers over her bacon. “Apparently they were in Tilley’s last night, and there’s pictures of when you kissed me. Also of us standing outside of Tilley’s when we left.”
“What the hell?” I’m utterly baffled, as I didn’t notice anyone with a camera.
Eden flips around and the expression on her face worries me. “I am so sorry, Coop. I totally don’t want this stuff to touch you.”
I push up off my chair, reach Eden in one long stride, and take her face in my hands. I bend down, hold her eyes with mine. “I’m not mad at you, Eden. It just threw me for a loop, as I didn’t notice anyone. I thought they were all loud and obnoxious and in your face.”
“Trust me,” she says dropping her gaze. “That’s coming. This is just the start.”
I place my thumbs under her chin and force her to look at me again. “It’s okay. I swear I’m not bothered by this. It just caught me off guard because I didn’t notice anything, and I’m usually pretty observant.”
Eden’s lips curve up minutely, but she’s still troubled.
“Guess I was too struck by you to notice anything else,” I add before giving her a kiss. “You’re the kind of woman who blocks everything else out.”
There’s a flash of something in Eden’s eyes that I can’t quite identify before she’s pulling away from me. She playfully slaps my chest before turning back to the stove. “Don’t be so corny, Coop.”
So she wants to play it that way.
Here I am on the verge of lowering my emotional barriers and she’s throwing hers up. This is an interesting turn of events in this entire “rebound sex” thing, which is about the most ridiculous concept ever.
I’m not deterred, though. Eden’s not leaving anytime soon—I hope—and I’m going to let this play out. It still may end as we anticipate, with nothing but great memories and fond farewells.
But it could end differently too.
Chapter 17
That moment when you can do away with the condoms…
Eden
I push the grocery cart down the pasta aisle, considering making lasagna for dinner tonight. I smile as I see the choices for sauces. There are three total. In LA, there’d be fifty to choose from including organic, gluten free, sugar free, and fuck…probably tomato free made from flavored tofu or something.
Shaking my head, I decide to abandon the idea for Italian and head for the meat department. I think we’ll grill steaks and asparagus tonight. It’s simple, and the weather will be gorgeous on the back veranda of Goodnight House.
Coop and I have slipped into a comfortable routine the last few days. We get up early and I cook him breakfast before kissing him out the door to go to work. I then do whatever the hell I want, because I am officially on vacation. One day I spent upstairs in the library, reading and napping. Another day I went to Missy’s and helped her make cupcakes. And on another day, I went into Savannah and did some shopping, which included some new lingerie I modeled for Coop that night.
In the evenings, I have dinner ready for him. He’s usually home by six and he heads straight for the shower. We then eat, drink a little wine, and talk.
We joke. We laugh. We reminisce.
Then we fuck. Sometimes once a night; other times multiple times. Coop may have superhuman abilities, because he can recharge over and over again with very little provocation. I secretly searched his bathroom one day to see if he was on Viagra or something, but found nothing other than regular daily vitamins.
I told Coop today as he walked out the door that I’d be grocery shopping and asked if he needed anything.
“We’re almost out of condoms,” he told me with a wink.
“Hopefully our test results will be back today,” I reminded him. Both of us took the time three days ago after he deliciously screwed me over the kitchen sink to get into the doctor and we were eagerly awaiting the news.
My shopping cart is filled with a variety of items by the time I make it to the cashier. This market is so small there’s only one lane and one employee to ring up my purchases. I also happen to be the only one in the line so far, so that works out nicely.
The man working the register is young, perhaps even still a teenager, and this is perhaps a summer job for him. He smiles and says hello to me, but there’s no recognition of who I am. This is not surprising, because I’m not known to everyone. I may be a big-time star now, but not everyone watches movies. Not everyone watches the news. Not everyone listens to town gossip. I once read somewhere that 64 percent of Americans could not name all three branches of the federal government. This seems astounding, but goes to show you that there are many people out there who don’t care what’s outside their little circle.
Thus I take the moment to enjoy the anonymity and peruse the magazine rack. My eyes immediately lock on to an entertainment daily rag with the bold headline EDEN STRIKES BACK, FINDS NEW MAN. It’s one of the cheap ones done like a newspaper without the glossy images and is cranked out every day with other articles like AN ALIEN STOLE MY COW or CULTS ARE THE NEW IN-THING AMONG MILLENNIALS. I cringe as I grab the magazine noting the cover is a grainy photo of Coop and me standing outside of Tilley’s as he’s leaning in to whisper to me.
Christ these people work fast.
I throw the magazine onto the checkout counter and the clerk rings it through without even noticing I’m on the cover.
When I get out to my rental car and get the groceries loaded, I take a moment to flip to the article. It’s short, because there’s not much information that’s been gathered yet, but I immediately see who tipped off the press.
My eyes focus in on the offending paragraph.