by Morgan Rayne
All around her couples were forming and falling in love, even making babies, and Victoria was starting to feel like an extra in a sappy romance movie. One that had her cast as the forever single friend.
When is it going to be my turn for a little happiness? Victoria wondered.
Fearing the answer to that question, Victoria took her drink from the waitress as soon as she was near and downed it in a few quick swallows. The bitter cocktail did its job and by the time she was finished the pain that had been rising to the surface a lot more lately was once again kept at bay, but when she lowered the empty glass away from her lips four sets of eyes were staring back at her.
“What?” Victoria asked as she licked a drop of liquid from the corner of her mouth. A series of looks were exchanged before Lindsay finally cleared her throat and spoke.
“Nothing. It’s just we’ve never seen you so…thirsty. Is everything alright?” What was with everyone tonight? Did something have to be wrong for her to have a drink? Couldn’t she do something without getting the third degree? Slamming her glass down on the small table, Victoria gestured to all of them.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that? I’m fine. Nothing is bothering me, so everyone can go back to enjoying the party and stop worrying about me. Okay!”
Lindsay’s eyes widened and Stella said Victoria’s name in a way that meant she was way out of line. Victoria covered her mouth with her hand. She couldn’t believe she had just exploded like that, but too many emotions ran through her to apologize. Needing a quick escape, Victoria headed to the door that led to the patio area outside and opened it.
Finding the chair furthest away from the door, Victoria sank down into it. She didn’t know what had come over her, but she really needed to get a grip. Blowing up like that, especially on her friends and family, wasn’t her. In the craziness that was her life, they were the only ones she could count on, and now she was pushing them away.
Victoria sat there for a minute staring up at the night sky, trying to think of a way to explain her actions when she heard the door open. Knowing it was probably Stella or Lindsay or both, Victoria plastered on a smile and turned around. The smile disappeared instantly.
“Go away.” She bit out then turned her back and resumed her stargazing; waiting for the door to once again open, but it never did. Instead footsteps and the sound of metal dragging across concrete filled the silence.
Victoria could feel Coopers presence next to her, but she would be damned if she would acknowledge him. What the hell could he possibly want? To make her life even more miserable?
They sat next to each other for several minutes. Neither of them saying a word, and she was just starting to forget about him when Cooper broke into her troubled thoughts.
“If it wasn’t so hot out, this would be perfect. I can’t believe how many stars you can see this close to the city.” Not wanting to look at him, but unable to stop herself, Victoria turned her gaze toward Cooper who sat with his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, hands resting on his stomach, and staring up at the sky.
From this angle, Victoria was once again mesmerized by how attractive this man really was. From the way his brown hair fell across his forehead to the slight bend in his nose, and the dimples that never went all the way away. It all added up to a face that would make any woman weak in the knees. Sitting there had calmed her down quite a bit, so when she spoke it was more exasperation than anger.
“What do you want Coop? I know it isn’t to talk about stars or the weather, so just say what’s on your mind.” Her question or maybe her calmer tone seemed to surprise him, but without taking his eyes off the sky he answered.
“At first, I wanted to talk to you about what happened this morning.”
Ugh, that is the last thing she wanted to talk about, but now he was looking at her and the air around them seemed to change. She wanted to look away, but something made her keep her eyes exactly where they were.
“And now?” Victoria asked, and silently cursed how breathless the question sounded.
“And now it’s up to you.” He said with a shrug. “Obviously something is bothering you… other than me of course.” He said with a hand over his chest in a dramatic move that brought the corners of her mouth up just a little. The small smile must have been what he was shooting for because Cooper grinned back at her before turning his attention back to the stars.
She shouldn’t want to talk to him, hell he was a big reason she was in this mood, but something about the way he was acting made her want to spill everything. Luckily she had more sense than that, but that didn’t keep her from opening up just a little.
“It’s stupid.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” With a heavy sigh, she tried to explain what was going on inside her.
“I feel like everything and everyone around me are changing while I’m stuck in the same place. My best friend and my little sister are getting married and Stella’s having a baby, but as happy as I am for them, I can’t stop feeling like that should have been me. I mean, they deserve everything great in their lives, but…”
Victoria’s hand flew to her mouth. What was with her tonight? She never said these kinds of things out loud, and definitely not to someone she barely knew.
“But what?” Green eyes the color of freshly cut grass stared back at her with curiosity, and something that looked dangerously close to understanding.
“Nothing, forget I said anything.” Victoria pushed out of her chair and headed for the door. She needed to get far away from Cooper before more long-winded rants came spewing out.
“Wait, talk to me.” Cooper’s hand grabbed her forearm, but she yanked it away. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry. I just want to make sure you are okay. You seemed pretty upset earlier.”
Oh this was rich. The man had spent the last three months pushing all of her buttons, and now he was acting like he cared. Too bad for him she wasn’t born yesterday.
“Just stop.” Victoria said. “Stop pretending to listen, stop pretending to care, stop pretending we are friends because we are nothing of the sort. All I wanted was to sit out here and collect my thoughts, try to come up with a way to apologize to my friends, but yet again you’ve ruined something else for me.”
Victoria was well into Cooper’s personal space now, but he made no attempt to back up.
“You have got to be one of the most hard-headed women I’ve ever met. I came out here to see why you were upset and to apologize for what happened this morning, but clearly that was a mistake. You don’t give a shit what I have to say, or anyone else for that matter. At least now I understand why you’re alone. It’s because you only care about yourself.”
Cooper was breathing as though he had just run a marathon when he finished his verbal attack, while Victoria couldn’t breathe at all. It had been a long time since someone spoke to her that way, and the memories from that time in her life were trying to break free from the cage she locked them in long ago.
Fear of what might happen if those demons broke free had Victoria pushing past Cooper to get to the side gate. It had been years since she let herself cry over her past, but she could already feel the moisture building behind her eyelids, and she just wanted to be alone.
Her hand fumbled to unlatch the gate, when strong arms wrapped around her from behind. Instinct took over, and with two quick moves Cooper was flat on his back with Victoria’s forearm on his throat.
A shout of surprise came when he hit the ground, but when Victoria looked down it wasn’t Cooper’s face she saw and her forearm pushed harder. Frantic tapping on her arm and a gasp for air cleared up Victoria’s haze and she immediately removed her arm from Cooper’s throat and backed away.
“I…” She tried to apologize, but the words died on her tongue. There was nothing she could say that would change what just happened. Taking even more steps backwards, Victoria clutched her hands behind her back and waited.
Cooper was lying on th
e ground rubbing a hand back and forth over his throat and stomach. When he seemed to be breathing normal again, he slowly sat up and stared at Victoria.
“What the hell was that about?”
“I…you surprised me. I took a self-defense class years ago and I guess I just reacted.” That class had been the only thing that allowed Victoria to not jump at shadows every night.
“Well you must have had one hell of a teacher. I’ll be lucky if I don’t have a bruise on my throat by morning. Why didn’t you stop when you knew it was me?”
Because it wasn’t you I saw Victoria wanted to scream, but kept that little bit of information to herself. Feeling more in control now she moved closer and offered a hand to him. Cooper eyed it suspiciously, but reached to grab it.
“Thanks.” He grumbled as he got to his feet.
“No problem. Uh, sorry about slamming you to the ground. I haven’t actually ever had to do that outside of class. Good to know I still remembered how.” She gave him a small smile, trying to lighten the mood.
“Gee, how lucky for me.” Cooper said dryly, but she could see the hint of a smile pulling at his lips. Cooper started brushing off his pants and shirt, but stopped abruptly. “Oh shit, you’re bleeding.”
Victoria followed his eyes and could see a line of blood making its way down her leg from a small cut on her knee. With all the adrenaline that had been pumping through her Victoria hadn’t even felt it. Her dress hit her a few inches above the knee, so when she pinned him to the ground her knee would have taken the brunt of the impact.
“It’s nothing. I’ll clean it up inside.” Victoria assured him, but Cooper either didn’t hear her or didn’t care because a second later she was being led by the elbow to the nearest chair.
“Stay right there.” He said, but before she could argue Cooper disappeared into the bar.
This is ridiculous Victoria thought. The cut wasn’t bad, and she didn’t need him or anyone else taking care of her. She put her hands on the arms of the chair to stand up when loud music blared onto the patio and muffled again as the door closed. Cooper stood in front of her holding a first aid kit and Victoria held out her hand.
“If you just hand me the stuff, I can clean it up myself. You don’t have to do that. I can take care of myself.”
“Yes, I’m well aware you can handle yourself.” He said coolly as he ran the hand not holding the kit over his still red throat.
“I said I was sorry.” Victoria grumbled and sat back with her arms crossed over her chest. Cooper didn’t say anything more as he opened the kit and began dabbing the small cut on her knee with peroxide. The sting only lasted for a few seconds, but when Cooper leaned forward to blow on the abused area Victoria’s skin began to tingle for an entirely different reason and she closed her eyes to avoid giving anything away.
“Victoria?” Cooper tapped her on the thigh, and Victoria slowly opened her eyes.
“Hmm?”
“I said are you okay? Your leg was shaking and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t hurting you.” Hurting her? More like driving her out of her mind, but she regained what was left of her composure and shook her head.
“I’m fine.” The bleeding had stopped for the most part, but Cooper insisted she needed a Band-Aid so it wouldn’t get infected. The sound of paper tearing was followed by a smooth and gentle glide of fingers over the sensitive skin on Victoria’s knee.
“There, all better.” Cooper exclaimed. Victoria lifted her leg to examine his handy work then put her feet back on the ground and stood up. Cooper finished putting everything back in the first aid kit before doing the same. “Does it hurt?”
Victoria took a couple of steps and shrugged.
“Not really. I don’t think it will need amputated.”
“Ha ha. Just make sure you keep an eye on it over the next few days. God knows what’s on the ground back here.”
“So not only are you a commentator, you’re a doctor too?” Cooper opened his mouth but the loud music signaled that someone else had come outside and when they turned to see whom it was Victoria’s smile melted away.
“There you are. I was wondering where you disappeared to.” The leggy brunette made her way to Cooper’s side and looked quizzically at the first aid kit in his hand. “Everything alright?”
“Victoria stumbled and cut her knee. I was just helping her clean it up.” The woman at his side raised an eyebrow and glanced in Victoria’s direction. Cooper seemed to understand what she wanted because he placed a hand on her back and brought her forward. “Sorry. Amy this is Victoria my image consultant, and Victoria this is Amy. My sister.”
Sister? Did he say sister? Victoria closed her eyes. Of course he did. This day just keeps getting better and better.
When she opened her eyes Amy was holding out her hand, so Victoria pushed aside her stupidity for a moment and shook Amy’s hand.
“It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Victoria could only imagine what she had heard. Amy must have been a mind reader because she started laughing and shook her head. “Nothing terrible, I promise.”
“Um, okay. It’s nice to meet you too.” Victoria let her hand fall back to her side and looked between the two of them. Now that she knew what she did, the family resemblance was actually quite obvious. They had the same dark hair and Amy appeared to have the same grass green eyes as her brother as well.
“So I’m guessing the two of you haven’t talked about last night’s unfortunate pictures yet?”
“I hadn’t gotten that far.” Cooper said, and then the two of them shared a look that must have said get lost because a few seconds later Cooper excused himself. “I’m going to take this stuff back inside.”
Both women watched until the door closed behind him. An awkward silence fell over the patio and Victoria was at a loss for what to say, so of course she was grateful when Amy gestured to a couple of chairs. Victoria nodded and sat down in the one opposite Cooper’s sister. Victoria had no idea what to say, but that didn’t appear to be a problem for Amy as she got comfortable in her chair and kicked off their conversation.
“You’ll have to forgive my brother. He may seem all cool and confident, but he’s pretty terrible at admitting when he’s wrong. I actually think that’s a male trait in general.” Amy smiled, and Victoria couldn’t help but smile back. There was just something about this woman that drew a person in. Kinda like her brother.
“Normally I would agree with you, but it seems I was the one that was wrong. I thought you were some drunken bimbo he picked up and may have flipped out on him over those pictures. Sorry about the word choice. Obviously if I would have known you were his sister, I wouldn’t have said that.” Amy waved her hand in the air as if to swat a fly away.
“Don’t worry about it. As I understand it Cooper hasn’t been the most cooperative client in the world and you were justified in thinking that, and for quitting. He can be a bit thick headed when he doesn’t want to do something, or thinks he has a point to prove.” Victoria couldn’t hide her snort at that underestimation, and Amy smiled again.
“So what did happen last night if you don’t mind me asking?” Knowing it was his sister made the situation slightly better, but it didn’t change the fact that Cooper had drank enough alcohol that he should not have gotten behind the wheel. Two pink lines slashed across Amy’s cheeks, and she ducked her head sheepishly.
“Cooper took me out to celebrate finishing my nursing degree. It took me a little longer than it should have, but I made some dumb mistakes after I graduated high school and it threw my whole plan off.”
“Congratulations.” Getting a degree was something to celebrate, so Victoria couldn’t fault her for doing just that.
“Thank you. I don’t really drink anymore, but last night I guess I over did it. I don’t even remember leaving the club, but I do know Cooper didn’t drive.” Amy gave Victoria a pointed look, like her assuming that was blasphemous. “He went to the car to get my purse because I l
eft it in there on his insistence, and then he hailed a cab. He would never take a chance like that with my life or his.”
“This is one time I’m glad to be wrong about something, but can I be honest with you.” Amy gave a slight tip of her head, so Victoria went on. “If it wasn’t the pictures from last night, it would have been something else. I mean, its obvious Cooper doesn’t want an image consultant, and I would rather quit than be fired for doing a poor job.”
More importantly she would like to keep what was left of her sanity. Dealing with not only the pain in the ass Cooper but the flesh and blood sex on legs one too was about to drive her crazy. Most days Victoria didn’t know up from down with him around, and she was looking forward to getting back to some semblance of normalcy.
Amy was still relaxed into her chair watching Victoria closely. After a minute a smirk, the same damn smirk as her brothers, played on Amy’s lips and Victoria wondered what exactly was going through that head of hers.
“Is getting fired all you are afraid of?” Amy asked curiously as she leaned forward and lowered her voice like what they were discussing was a secret. “Or is there something else going on entirely?”
Like a rubber band being let go after being stretched, all of Victoria’s defenses snapped into place and she sat up straighter.
“I never said I was afraid, but yes getting fired is my only concern. And as of Monday morning that will no longer be an issue.” Victoria still didn’t understand why Mr. Richard’s had rescheduled, but it didn’t matter. Two days wouldn’t make a difference. She was quitting and that was all there was to it.
“Cooper will be back any second, so I’ll just say my piece quickly. I love my brother and I know he has his reasons for fighting this process so hard. I’m not saying I agree with his actions, just that I understand them. He knows what he’s been doing is wrong and is willing to start listening to your advice. All he needs is for you to give him the chance to prove he’s not who you think he is.”
“What makes you so sure he will, or that I even want him as a client still?” Amy gave Victoria a knowing look.
