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He came around the end of the Jeep and helped Lauren gain her footing as she got out. He held her steady and she gazed at him, gratitude glowing in her eyes. “I know where you’re taking me.”
His brows lifted. “You do?”
“Of course. Tony would talk about this place incessantly and I would be green with envy.”
“Yeah, this was a special place to us,” he said, taking hold of her hand. “Be careful, the land’s uneven here. Lots of roots breaking through the soil.”
They walked a bit, her hand gripped in his, reminding him just how long it’d been since he’d held a soft woman. And Lauren was that and more. He didn’t like noticing her that way, or feeling even remotely attracted to her. She was cute and funny and nice. Emphasis on nice. Any other thoughts about her weren’t going to happen. He had a job to do. Protect Lauren. Stop her wedding if need be. Make sure she didn’t get hurt and pray she didn’t hate him for the rest of her life.
“Just a little bit longer now.”
And then he came upon his childhood fort, a mismatched set of planks built between the lower branches of a thick oak. The place looked the same as he remembered, though a bit more weathered, but the roof was intact and the wood beams were holding strong. A rope ladder, made of thick hemp, scraped against the dark tree bark.
“You’re smiling so wide right now,” Lauren said.
“Am I?” This place always made him happy.
“There’s a twinkle in your eyes, too.”
“Careful, Laurie Loo. I’ve never taken a girl here before. Don’t make me regret it.”
“Never. I’m glad to be here. I guess this is where you and Tony conspired.”
“It is. Mostly we pretended to be looting pirates or badass cowboys. My dad gave us the wood and told us to have at it. I think we were ten at the time.”
“So you built this all by yourselves?”
“Hell, no. After three attempts, my dad intervened. He said he didn’t want us breaking our necks when the whole thing collapsed. But he taught us one important lesson.”
“What was that?”
“That things aren’t always as simple and easy as they initially seem. Your brother and I were so damn eager to do this on our own, certain we could figure it out. But after failing a few times pretty darn badly, we finally realized the project was too big for us. Our pride was bruised and we were embarrassed to ask for help after insisting we could do it all on our own. And Dad was great about it, without rubbing our noses in I-told-you-sos. He was proud of us for not giving up and for finding a way to make it happen.”
“Wow. Your dad was pretty wonderful.”
“He was a good man.”
A sudden chilly breeze blew by and Cooper gazed upward. Clouds were moving in fast, turning the sky gray, and he caught Lauren trembling. “We should go. The weather’s about to change and it can put you in a world of goose bumps. If we’re lucky, we can make it to the lake before the wind gets out of hand.”
“Sounds good,” she said. “And thanks for bringing me here, Cooper.”
“Welcome.” He took her hand again. As they began to forge their way back to the Jeep, the air grew chillier, the clouds completely obscuring any sunlight.
“Damn,” he said. “I think we’re in for it.”
“In for what?”
Suddenly, off in the distance, lightning ignited the sky. Clouds crashed against each other and rain poured down as if a giant water balloon had burst. Caught in a flash storm, they were getting soaked.
“Wow! That came on fast,” Lauren said.
“Sure did.” He gauged his options. “C’mon, let’s make a run for it.”
“Where?”
But he had already changed their direction. The Jeep would provide no protection. There was only one place to go. Still holding her hand, he guided Lauren along the muddied path leading them back to the fort.
Once they arrived, Lauren took a look at the ladder rope. “You’re kidding, right?”
He shrugged. “Either that or get soaked to the bone.” Which she already was. “C’mon. I’ll help you up.”
“Okay,” she said tentatively.
And then she was climbing the rungs as he held the ladder firm, her butt in his line of vision. It was a beautiful sight, one he shouldn’t be noticing. But he had to keep his eyes sharp, just in case she lost her footing. At least, that’s what he told himself as she ascended the ladder.
She threw herself inside the fort and he followed her. They nestled together against the back wall, out of the spray of raindrops. Lauren shivered, her blouse soaked and plastered to the beautiful swells of her breasts. The transparency was hard to miss and, for a moment, Coop couldn’t tear his gaze away. Then sanity rushed in. He began unbuttoning his shirt. “Here you go. Put this on.”
Her face flushed cherry-red. She was aware of the sight she made. She accepted his shirt without argument and he helped her put her arms into the sleeves. “Thanks.”
She hugged her knees to her chest and sighed. “Well, guess I was wrong.”
“About?” He sat next to her, in his undershirt, his legs straight out, his boots just inside the confines of the fort.
“The weather.”
It was too much to hope she’d admit she was wrong about marrying Kelsey. Wishful thinking never got him anywhere. He’d have to tell Loretta his suspicions and start scouring Tony’s computer for hints that Kelsey had been cheating the business. And he’d have to start as soon as possible.
“It’s actually pretty cool to be here, storm and all,” she said. “Tell me more about you and Tony. What did you do when you came here?”
“I already told you,” he said. “Pirates and cowboys.”
She nodded, seeming suddenly sentimental. “Isn’t there more?”
“We’d bring our lunches and eat, and then sometimes just lie back, sort of like we’re doing now, and dream.”
“What did you dream about?”
“Growing up. Racing cars. Dating girls. Boy stuff. I remember one of the last times we ever came here. I think we were fifteen. Samantha Purdue had broken up with Tony. He was crushed. We came up here with a six-pack of beer I’d swiped from home and chugged while he cried his eyes out.”
“Wow. Over Samantha Purdue?”
“Yeah, it was stupid. The very next week, Tony was crushing on another girl.” The memory made Cooper smile. “Your brother was girl-crazy.”
“Maybe that’s why he never married. What about you?”
“Me?” He shook his head. “I wasn’t girl-crazy. More like, girls made me crazy.”
She chuckled and a drop of rain fell from her hair and drizzled down her cheek. He braced her face in his hand and wiped away the rain with the pad of his thumb. Her skin was the softest silk. She smiled sweetly at him then, and something shifted in his chest.
“I meant why didn’t you ever marry,” she said quietly, gazing at him with those pale green eyes.
The impact of her question shook him to the core. He had no right touching her this way. He dropped his hand from her face and looked out at the driving rain. “I had some serious relationships in the past. They didn’t work out. There’s time for me.”
“So you do want to marry eventually?”
“Yeah. One day. In the very, very distant future.” Right now, women were off the table for him. He’d purged his “little black book.” He was officially taking a break.
“And you? Did you ever imagine yourself getting married so young?”
“Young? I’m twenty-six. In the olden days, I’d be considered a spinster.”
“Yeah, but it’s not the olden days.”
“I know, Coop. It’s just that I’ve been kinda boy-crazy all my life. No one ever stuck. Maybe it runs in our DNA. Maybe Tony and I weren’t very different from my father,” she said quietly. “I’ve always worried about that. My father never seemed satisfied with what he had. You know his history, four marriages and divorces.”
“Nah, you’re not like him.”
“I’d crush on one boy and then another, and I never wanted to settle.”
“You shouldn’t settle. Ever. You should be dead sure.”
“My friends tease me about it, but Mama says it’s just that my heart is big and it takes a whole lot to fill it.”
“And Roger does that for you?”
Lauren bit her lip, hesitating for a fraction of a second too long. “Yeah, he does.”
He wasn’t convinced and, when she trembled, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in tight, warming them both up.
He hoped like hell Kelsey was true blue.
Otherwise he’d have to punch the guy’s lights out and send him packing.
Three (#u3cdd52d6-6a6f-5425-81a3-cb4b2ca8c146)
After dinner that night Cooper sat facing Loretta in the dining room while Lauren was in the kitchen, cleaning up. “That was about the best darn chicken soup I’ve ever had,” he said. “But don’t tell Marie I said so.”
“I won’t,” Loretta answered, beaming. Apparently after her rest, Lauren’s mom had decided soup and homemade biscuits would be perfect on a rainy day. And she’d been right.
“Thanks for cooking tonight.”
“Of course. It’s my pleasure and the least I can do. What do you do when Marie isn’t here to cook for you?”
“I scrounge around for leftovers. Marie’s pretty good about making extra for the nights she’s not here. Or I order in or scramble an egg or something.”
“An egg? I can’t imagine that would fill you up at all, Cooper.”
“Well, I don’t do that often. I’ve been known to meet up with a friend for dinner.”
“A female friend?” Loretta asked coyly.
He grinned. “Don’t have too many females in my life right now. Aside from you and Lauren.”
“I think we’re probably all you can handle right now. Don’t you?”
He grinned. “Absolutely. Listen, while I have you alone, I need to tell you something. Come into the study with me. I don’t want Lauren to overhear.”
“Fine. I’ll follow you.”
He led Loretta down the hall and into his study and promptly closed the door. He didn’t have much time, and he’d rehearsed how he was going to put this to cause her the least amount of grief.
“Loretta, I have a confession to make. Please sit down.”
She stared at him curiously for a moment and then settled on the sofa. He took a seat on the opposite end.
“What is it?”
“It’s just that when you approached me about Lauren and her decision to marry so quickly, it made me think of something Tony had told me just prior to the accident. I didn’t want to bring it up at the time because it could be painful, but now that we’re in this full speed, I need to tell you the truth.”
“And that is?”
“Tony told me that he didn’t trust Roger Kelsey. He thought his partner was cheating him and up to no good with the company. Tony was trying to get proof and confront him.”
“You mean Roger was stealing from my son?”
“Yeah, that’s what Tony seemed to think when he confided in me. Of course, he would’ve never approved of Lauren marrying the guy. It was the deciding factor in me helping to break up this wedding. Tony had good instincts and I trust that he was going to get that proof, but then the accident happened.”
“Well, now...that makes it all the more important that Lauren break up with him.”
“Yeah, that’s how I see it.”
“What if we told Lauren about Tony’s suspicions?” Loretta asked. “Surely she’d take Tony’s word over his.”
“We have no proof. If we tell Lauren now about Tony’s suspicions and she confronted Kelsey, it would give him time to cover his tracks and then we may never find out the truth. If the guy is that cagey, he’ll win Lauren over and prove that he’s straight as an arrow. Then she’ll...”
“Blame us for interfering.”
“Exactly. I’m sorry, Loretta.”
She took his hand and squeezed. “No, I’m glad you told me. I only wish Tony would’ve shared this with me.”
“I’m sure he didn’t want to burden you and, of course, at the time, Lauren wasn’t involved with Kelsey.”
“That’s true. And I was always saying that I didn’t know a thing about real estate.” Tears dripped from her eyes. “I never showed much interest in my Tony’s business.”
“He loved you, Loretta. And was so proud of you. He’d tell everyone you were the best nurse in the Lone Star State.”
“Thanks, Cooper. I appreciate that, and I know that’s how Tony felt. He would tell me that often.” She straightened in her seat, no longer sorrowful. Instead a protective glint filled her eyes. “Now this sudden engagement makes all the more sense to me.”
