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One thing for sure, she didn’t need any more complications in her life, or in her kids’ lives. After the disaster with Michael, she couldn’t risk it.
The man she thought she loved and respected had seemed to change overnight. Something she couldn’t believe at all. She’d known Michael Robert Perry since grade school. They’d gotten together in high school and then went to the same college. There had never been anyone else.
She thought she knew the man she’d married at twenty. Until he turned into a stranger and he started keeping secrets and then finally left her and the kids. It was still hard to believe that man she’d loved and shared two children with had abandoned his family.
Worse, after the divorce, he refused to even see his own children. Gave her full custody. He did pay child support for a while, but she soon discovered that he’d mortgaged their house for the business. She couldn’t afford the payments.
Thank God she could come back home to live with her mother. Her kids needed the stability of having their grandmother there when she couldn’t be. And they helped each other out financially.
Even after all that, Lilly kept praying that the old Mike would return and want his family back. But he never showed up, never spent time with Kasey and Robbie.
For the past two years, she had to deal with the aftermath of two kids losing a parent, then the finality of his death a few months ago. Robbie seemed to be doing fine, but not Kasey. She’d always been Daddy’s little girl. Now, she was sad and angry.
Lilly could still remember when the sheriff came to tell her about Mike’s death. He said it was suicide.
That day part of her died, too. For the man who’d been such a big part of her life. The man who she’d vowed to love, honor and cherish. Mike’s desertion from his family had ended that long before his death.
“What happened, Mike?” she breathed, unable to stop wondering if she’d been the cause. “Why did you change? What made you stop loving us?”
Lilly glanced out the window again to see Coop. Why was she drawn to him? Okay, it had been a long time since she’d had a man’s attention. And Noah Cooper was easy to look at, in a rugged male sort of way. He wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty. She felt heat rush through her as he climbed off the ladder. He went to the hose, turned it on and raised the spray over his head, allowing the water to run over him.
“Oh, my,” she groaned as the water dripped over his chest and ran down to his waist. He reached for a towel and she couldn’t look away from the erotic scene as he rubbed the towel over his muscular chest and arms. Already the sun had bronzed his skin, contrasting with the white line along his waistline.
He turned and exposed his wide back and she caught a dark mark on his left shoulder. A tattoo. She squinted but couldn’t make it out.
“What’s so interesting?”
Lilly jumped as her mother came into the kitchen. “Nothing, just Mr. Cooper working on the house.”
Beth glanced out the window and grinned. “And what a nice view, too.” She sighed. “Oh, to be young again.”
Lilly tried to concentrate on her coffee. “Mother, at your age.”
“At any age,” she countered. “There’s nothing wrong with enjoying looking at a man, Lilly. You’re a healthy, young woman.”
“And I’m a mother and a school principal. I have to set a good example.”
“Then show your kids that you haven’t shriveled up and died. Get out there and live.”
Before she could put up any argument, the back door opened and Mr. Sexy walked in. He’d put on his shirt, but it wasn’t buttoned yet.
He nodded. “Mornin’, ladies.”
Her mother smiled. “Good morning, Coop. I see that you’ve already started working.”
“Wanted to get an early start before the heat really hit,” he informed her as he went to the coffeepot and poured some into the mug.
“Then you’re in time for some breakfast. Lilly is about to fix hers.” She turned to her daughter. “You wouldn’t mind cooking up some eggs for Coop? With Jenny out with the baby, I promised to help out at the Blind Stitch this morning.”
Lilly didn’t like this. “Sure.” She went to the stove, grabbed the skillet, then went to the refrigerator to take out the bacon and eggs. “How do you like your eggs, Mr. Cooper?”
“Any way is fine.”
Lilly cracked the eggs into a bowl. “Scrambled.”
“Well, I better get going,” her mother said. “I’ll be home for lunch. Anything you need from the store?”
“No, Mom, I can’t think of anything.”
“Okay, bye.” She was out the door and Lilly was left alone with the first man who, in a long time, made her aware of the fact she was a woman. She didn’t need this right now.
Coop watched as Lilly Perry stomped around the kitchen. He knew she wasn’t happy about him being here, but he had no choice. He had a job to do.
“Here, let me help.” He went to the stove and took the bacon from her and began to lay strips in the flat skillet.
“You don’t need to do this. You and my mother have a deal.”
He looked at her, catching her pretty blue eyes. “That’s right, your mother and I made a deal. You had nothing to do with it.” He felt a stirring and glanced down at the sizzling bacon. “This is your vacation, Lilly.”
“I have children, Mr. Cooper. I don’t get a vacation, summer or otherwise.”
“Okay, then I don’t want to add to your chores.”
“Cooking breakfast isn’t going to kill me.”
He stopped her. “What’s the problem? No one can help you?”
She stiffened. “It’s easier to go it on my own.”
“Sounds like you’ve been let down a lot.”
They both held the standoff until the bacon began crackling. He turned down the flame.
“You’ve made it clear you don’t want me here,” he told her. “And I’m not sure why.”
“I don’t know much about you. And with you being around my kids and mother … I need to watch out for them.”
“I’m only here to do a job, Lilly. I swear I’m not going to hurt you or the kids.” Not physically anyway. But she’d already been hurt by the man she loved. “Do you really think Alex Casali would hire me to work for him, if he wasn’t sure that I’m reputable?”
Lilly glanced away and concentrated on cooking the eggs. “The past few years haven’t been very good ones for my kids. Their dad left them, and he never even came to visit.” She looked up at him again. “I don’t want Robbie to get attached to someone who’ll be leaving, too.”
“That’s understandable, but you can’t stop your son from making friends with people. That isn’t healthy, either.”
She turned off the stove and took two plates out of the cupboard, then split the eggs between them. He placed the bacon on the paper towel as she made toast. Once the job was complete, she carried the plates as he grabbed two filled coffee mugs, then followed her to the table.
She sat down across from him, but she refused to look at him. He knew Lilly would be a tough sell.
“Would you rather I move out of the cottage?”
Her fork stopped halfway toward her mouth. “Would you?”
“If you can’t trust me around your mother and kids. Yes.” He was taking a big chance here. “I’ll leave, Lilly. The last thing I want is for you to think of me as a con man … or worse. I’ve done nothing to cause you to think like that. So maybe the solution is to just leave and move into the motel out on the highway.”
He took a bite of his eggs then found it was difficult to swallow. He realized that he didn’t want Lilly to think the worst of him. But her husband had made sure that she had a hard time trusting.
“I can’t ask you to do that. It’s my mother’s choice to rent to you.” She put down her fork. “You’re right, Mr. Cooper, you haven’t done anything to cause my rude behavior. Please accept my apology.”
“I’ll accept it under one condition.”
She waited.
“You better start calling me Coop, or I’ll have to call you Principal Perry.”
She fought a smile and lost. “Okay, Coop. What brought you to Kerry Springs?”
“Plain and simple, a job.”
He watched as Lilly began to eat and that helped him relax a little. “I’m from El Paso, Texas. Born and raised there.”
“Any family?”
He shook his head. “Not much. My mother took off years ago. My father left long before that, before my birth. I had a half brother, but he was killed a few years back. He left a wife and a baby daughter behind.” They were the reason why he wanted Delgado. And he was going to get the bastard. “I keep in touch with them.”
She looked concerned. “I’m sorry. How did your brother die?”
“He was a police officer shot in the line of duty.”
He pushed his plate away and began to stand. “I should get back to work.”
Lilly reached across the table and touched his arm, causing him to pause. The warmth and softness caused a reaction. His throat grew dry and his gut knotted in need. Something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Is there anything I can do to help you?”
A dozen different pictures shot through his mind. He never thought of a school principal being sexy, but that was until he ran into Lilly Perry.
“I wouldn’t mind if you’d keep some iced tea handy.”
“That’s all I can do for you?”
She didn’t want to know what he wanted her to do for him. She’d throw him off the property.
“That’s all for now.”
Two hours later, Coop moved his work area to the shaded porch. It wasn’t much cooler, but at least the sun wasn’t frying his back.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Coop glanced down to see Robbie behind him. “I’m trying to get your grandmother’s house ready to paint.”
“Oh,” the boy said. “Did she say you can do it?”
“Yes, and she’s happy about it.”
The kid kicked the floor with the toe of his shoe. “Can I help?”
Coop got off the stepladder. “Well, that depends on how hard you want to work. I don’t like quitters.”
“I’m not a quitter.”
“Good, ‘cause I pay a good wage and I want the best workers.”
Those big eyes widened. “You’re gonna pay me?”
“Sure.” He looked around. “I could use someone to sweep up all the paint chips.”
“I can do that,” he announced.
“Okay, you’ll need a broom and dustpan. And I have a trash can at the side of the house.”
Robbie took off, calling out, “Be right back.”
Smiling, Coop went back to work, but was quickly distracted when a work truck pulling a trailer stopped at the curb. The vehicle had the lettering Perry’s Landscaping on the side door.
Coop felt the rush of adrenaline. “Okay, it’s time to do my real job,” he murmured and climbed off the ladder.
Two Hispanic men got out of the truck and took the mower from the back of the trailer. It looked like they were here for the yard service. Then he spotted the driver as he climbed out.
Also Hispanic, he was above average height with a slender build and thick coal-black hair. He might have been dressed in a work uniform, but Coop doubted he was a day laborer.
He took a closer look at the man. Since he’d studied Delgado’s actions for a few years, he recognized this man’s familiar features. And this guy could be his twin.
And it looked like he was going to get the opportunity to speak with him as the worker walked to the porch.
“Hey, man, are you painting the house?”
“You could say that.”
“Good.” He studied Coop for a second or two. “Rey Santos.”
Coop didn’t offer his hand. “Noah Cooper.”
“Where’s your crew?”
“You’re lookin’ at it.”
Santos frowned. “You need men? I can get you some workers. At a good price, too.”
He bet he could. “No, thanks, I work solo.”
