by Morgan Rayne
And with that Victoria pushed open the door and ran to her car in the pouring rain. Cooper stood there for a few minutes trying to decide if she was kidding or not, and by the time her brake lights disappeared he concluded she wasn’t.
The rain was starting to let up just a little, so Cooper made sure his keys were firmly in hand before making a break for his Mustang. Quickly unlocking the door, he jumped in and wiped off with a shirt laying on the backseat. When he was relatively dry, Cooper pulled out his phone and dialed Amy’s number.
“Hello”
“Hey sis, I was calling to see if you found any listings that had open houses today. I’m free for the rest of the afternoon because of the rain.” The sound of papers rustling around filled the phone then Amy’s excited voice came back on.
“There were three that I liked, but only two of them are available to look at today. If you want we could probably make both.” Cooper told Amy to text him the address of her favorite and they agreed to meet there in an hour. The address was only a short distance from the stadium, so Cooper grabbed a quick bite to eat at a local diner before parking along the street in front of a large building. The outside appeared to be well taken care of and as he approached a doorman opened the door.
“Good afternoon Mr. Wilde. Welcome to Spring Towers South.” Cooper smiled at the sharply dressed man and was once again amazed to be recognized by a complete stranger.
“Thank you, but please call me Cooper.” The young man dipped his head and closed the door behind them. “I’m here for an open house, but I’m waiting for someone. Is there a place to sit?”
“Of course. If you follow this corridor here,” he pointed down a brightly lit hallway “you’ll come to the lobby.”
“Thank you…” Cooper extended his hand and waited for the man to offer his name.
“Benjamin.”
“Benjamin. You’ve been very helpful. I’m waiting for a woman named Amy. If you could point her in my direction when she arrives I would really appreciate it.”
“I certainly will.” Benjamin said before he excused himself to open the door for an older couple. Cooper followed the corridor he was directed to and found himself standing in a very beautiful lobby.
To Cooper it looked more like a hotel than a condominium complex, but he found a sitting area with three couches surrounding a fireplace and took a seat. He never imagined himself in such an upscale place, but the added security would make him feel better when he was on the road and Amy was here alone.
Cooper was still taking in everything around him when he felt a small hand touch his shoulder. Cooper turned to see a very pretty, if not overly made up blonde woman standing behind him.
“Mr. Wilde, I’m Rachel Stewart. I’m responsible for all the listings in this building. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Cooper stood and walked around to shake her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you Ms. Stewart.” The young woman practically split her face in two with the smile she was giving him.
“If you’re ready, we can head up to see the space.” Rachel stood a little too closely, and Cooper had never been more relieved to see his sister than he was in that moment.
“Amy!” He practically ran to greet her. “I’m glad you made it.” Cooper wrapped her in a hug and almost laughed when he turned around to see Rachel’s smile slip. “Ms. Stewart, this is my sister Amy. She would be living here as well.”
“Of course, we spoke on the phone. It’s nice to put a face with the name.” Rachel and Amy shook hands and Rachel’s bright smile was back in full force as the three of them headed for the elevators.
The ride up to the tenth floor was quick and soon they were standing in a large living room listening to Rachel go over the specifics of the condo. When she was finished she handed each of them a piece of paper with all the information on it as well and told them to come to her for any questions.
According to the print out they were standing in a three bedroom, two-bath condo with a large wrap around balcony. Other features of the building included around the clock security, an indoor pool, state of the art gym, and laundry hook ups in the units themselves. There were also two assigned parking spaces for this unit which Cooper really liked.
Amy had disappeared down the hallway, so Cooper walked in the direction she headed. He passed a spacious kitchen with stainless steel appliances and dark granite counter tops, but didn’t spend too much time looking because he was hopeless in the kitchen. As long as there was a refrigerator and microwave he was happy.
The first door he came to appeared to be a small bedroom, or would probably work better as an office because of its small size. Making his way further down the hallway Cooper found Amy standing in what he assumed was the master bedroom.
“This place is amazing.” Amy gushed as she twirled in the large space where a bed would go.
“I like what I’ve seen so far. How did you find it? I don’t remember seeing it when I was looking at listings.”
“When you were outside talking to Victoria last night I was telling Kyle about looking for a place, and Alex told me about it. He said they don’t advertise their listings, but he heard about it because it’s the same group that owns the apartments where he and Stella live.” Cooper poked his head into the master bath and the walk-in closet before coming back to Amy.
“Did you look at the other two bedrooms?” He asked his sister.
“Yes.” Amy said as she stepped out onto the balcony and Cooper followed. “The one is kind of small, but the one next to the bathroom would be perfect for my bedroom furniture.”
“What? You’re not going to argue with me for the master?” Cooper gave her shoulder a playful bump.
“Right, like I’d win that argument.” Amy bumped him back and they spent a few minutes looking at the view. The rain had finally let up giving them a pretty amazing view of Lake Michigan off in the distance.
“Do you have any questions for me?” Rachel asked from behind them, and they walked back into the master suite. Both women looked at him expectantly and after one final look around Cooper put them out of their misery.
“I’d like to look at the rest of the amenities and find out what the HOA fees are, but I think we are in agreement that this will work for both of us.” Amy screeched and hugged him, and Rachel sighed in relief.
“Excellent. If you would like to follow me I’ll take you down and show you the pool and gym, along with the elevators that lead to the parking garage.”
The rest of the tour went fairly quickly, and by the time they left Cooper had placed a deposit on the condo. Since it was Sunday there was no way to talk to the bank, but he promised Amy he would try to have everything taken care of in the morning before he had to board the plane to San Francisco.
After walking Amy to her car, Cooper climbed into his and headed for Kyle’s house. He needed to let Kyle and Lindsay know what was going on and pack for his upcoming trip. With the burden of finding a place to live lifted off his shoulders, Cooper’s only worry now was how he was going to survive so much one on one time with Victoria over the next week.
He wasn’t any happier about the situation than she was, but he was sure his reasons were much different than hers. When he moved back to Chicago Cooper vowed he was done with relationships. Sure he had taken women out, but those were just to annoy Victoria. Nothing ever came of his dates, but when it came to being around Victoria his celibate body betrayed him every time. Just seeing her made his pulse race. Maybe he could convince her to drop the business attire for the sexy tank top and shorts she wore yesterday.
A guy can always dream Cooper grinned then groaned. No way would Victoria ever take a chance with him. Not after everything he had put her through, and after his last disaster of a relationship Cooper shouldn’t even want to try. Victoria just screamed complicated.
“But damn it, why can’t I stop thinking about her?” Cooper slammed his fist into the steering wheel as he made his way through the wet streets of Chicago.
>
****
Chapter 5
The next afternoon traffic was heavy on the interstate around Chicago as Victoria sat in the passenger seat of Stella’s Malibu flipping through the faxes she received yesterday from Mr. Richards office. As promised they had taken care of everything from airline tickets to hotel reservations, and Victoria was nervously reorganizing them all for the millionth time.
“You’re going to wear the ink off the pages if you keep shuffling them like that.” Stella said, obviously amused. Victoria called to let her sister know about the trip last night and Stella had insisted on driving her to the airport.
“I still don’t know why I even agreed to this.” Victoria shoved the papers back into her bag. “I’m thirty-one, I own my own business, and now I’m playing babysitter to a grown man all because his boss thinks he’s going to ruin the reputation of a ball club that hasn’t won a World Series in over a hundred years.”
Victoria slumped back in her seat and watched as the first plane came into view from O’Hare. Victoria knew she was whining, but the more she thought about the whole situation the more annoyed she got.
Pain in the ass old bastard!
Traffic started getting more congested the closer they got to O’Hare International Airport and eventually stopped completely as they neared the departure lanes. Stella, who had been drumming along to a song on the radio, sat quietly with a thoughtful look on her face.
“That’s a good question.”
“What is?”
“You said you don’t know why you agreed to this. Maybe you should take this time away as an opportunity to think about and evaluate what’s been going on in your life lately. Maybe think about what would make you happy at work and in the rest of your life.”
“I am hap…” Victoria started to protest, but she was cut off.
“No you’re not.” Stella snapped. “You haven’t been happy for a long time. We’ve all seen it and even though I’m glad you stopped meeting people online, at least then you were trying. Do you know how hard it is for me to see you alone with nothing more than work to consume your time?” Victoria thought about telling her sister how wrong she was, but the pointed look Stella gave her stopped the lie in its tracks.
“It’s not that I want to be alone. I just can’t seem to find someone I like enough to take things to that next level. Not everyone can find the man of their dreams living next door, Stella.”
Victoria hadn’t meant for that last part to sound so snippy but talking about her love life, or lack of as the case was, was becoming tiring. Traffic finally started moving again and when Stella pulled up to the curb and put the car in park, she got out without so much as a word.
“Great.” Victoria groaned. “So much for not taking things out on other people.” The little pep talk she gave herself after the debacle at Maxwell’s the other night clearly didn’t sink in because she was still being stubborn and defensive when all her sister was trying to do was help.
Unbuckling her seat belt, Victoria grabbed her purse and carry on bag before opening the door and making her way back to the trunk of the car. Stella was just placing the last of the bags on the curb when Victoria pulled her sister into a tight hug.
“I’m sorry, Stella. You know I’m happy for you and Alex. I’m just in a bad mood and shouldn’t have taken it out on you.” Stella’s grip on Victoria tightened further.
“I love you, Vicki. All I want is for you to be happy.” Stella loosened her hold and stepped back. “I know better than anyone how your past can affect your future. I just hope you can move past yours too.”
“I love you too. I promise I will think about what you said.” After one final hug, Victoria picked up her bags and took a few steps toward the automatic doors. “Thank you for the ride. I’ll call you when we get checked into the hotel in San Francisco and give you the room number.”
“You better.” She said then smiled. “Try and have some fun, Vicki. I know this is a work trip, but even the boss is allowed some downtime every once in awhile.”
More cars started pulling up to the drop off area so all Victoria could do was shake her head and laugh as Stella got back in her car and drove away. Victoria waited until she could no longer see her sister’s car then headed for the check-in counter. After checking her bags and making it through security, Victoria found herself sitting in the first class lounge waiting to board the flight.
A member of the airline staff was going around offering champagne, but Victoria turned down the bubbly liquid. Flying wasn’t one of her favorite activities and the fizzy drink wouldn’t taste too good the second time around if her nerves got the best of her.
Victoria was taking everything in around her when a tingle of awareness made the hair on her arms stand up. Victoria tried to blame the coolness of the air for her bodies reaction, but when she looked toward the entrance she knew it was a lie. Standing near the front of the first class area, staring back at her with those dark green eyes she had become so familiar with, was Cooper.
Instead of his usual polo and jeans, Cooper wore a nice button down shirt tucked into a pair of black dress pants. The pants fit him to perfection, and Victoria had to look away. Her nerves were already shot and thinking about the body she had seen only days earlier practically naked wasn’t going to help.
Removing her headphones, Victoria wound them around her iPod before placing it back in her carry-on. The bag was sitting on the seat next to her so Victoria moved it to the floor and motioned for Cooper to have a seat.
“Thanks.” He said sounding out of breath. “I didn’t think I was going to make it on time. Who knew buying a condo involved so much paper work?”
“You’re buying a condo?” Victoria asked. She didn’t remember him mentioning it before.
Cooper nodded then reached into a side pouch of his carry-on and handed her a piece of paper.
“I put a deposit down yesterday, so now I just have to wait for the bank to do their part. That’s where I was before here. I’ve asked for a quick closing, so hopefully it will all be taken care of by the time we get back.”
From the few pictures provided the place looked beautiful, but it seemed like an awful lot of space for just one person. Victoria was handing the paper back to him when the building name caught her eye.
“Spring Towers South?” She said more to herself than him, but Cooper answered anyway.
“Alex told Amy about it Saturday night. Apparently the same people that own where he and Stella live own it. Amy can’t stand living at home anymore and I needed a place, so we went to check it out yesterday. The building is only a few blocks from the stadium so it will be perfect for me and there are plenty of doctors’ offices close by for Amy to apply at.”
Cooper’s entire face lit up when he talked about his sister, and Victoria could hear the pride and love in his voice as well. The last of her animosity toward him began to fade as the real Cooper came out more and more. This Cooper was easy to talk to and obviously cared about his family. This is the Cooper Victoria wished she had been dealing with from the beginning.
The same voice as earlier announced it was time to board their flight and together they made their way toward the terminal. A bored looking man scanned their tickets and Victoria had to remind herself to breathe as she walked down the small hallway to the plane.
“Are you okay?” Cooper asked once they were in their seats.
“Depends on your definition of okay.” Victoria closed her eyes and tried to remember all the breathing exercises she had been told about over the years, but nothing worked.
Every seat in the first class cabin was filled which made the walls seem like they were closing in even faster. The rational part of Victoria’s brain knew there was nothing to be scared of, but that didn’t stop the fear from taking over anyway.
“Is there anything I can do?” Cooper asked, looking completely helpless. Victoria tried for a smile, but it probably came across more like a grimace.
“I’
m fine.” Victoria never let anyone see her vulnerable side, not even her sister if she could help it, and she hated the fact Cooper was catching a glimpse of it for the second time.
The pilot announced they were cleared for takeoff and when the plane began backing away from the terminal Victoria instinctively reached for the armrest. A large and slightly calloused hand engulfed hers and Victoria knew she should protest, but as the plane sped up she gripped Cooper’s hand even tighter.
“I’m right here.” Cooper said calmly. “Just keep holding on and we’ll be in the air before you know it.”
She didn’t know if it was the tone of his voice or the sincerity in his eyes, but Victoria felt herself relaxing slightly and soon the pilot announced they were at their cruising altitude.
The fasten seat belt sign turned off and Victoria untangled her hand from Cooper’s. She immediately missed the warmth, leaving her mind reeling. No one had ever affected her the way Cooper did, but twenty-three thousand feet was not the time or place to analyze that disturbing realization.
Needing to distract herself Victoria began to stand when she noticed Cooper flexing the hand she had been squeezing. Color seemed to be returning to the appendage, but the small crescent marks near his knuckles were bright red and her mouth dropped open.
“Why didn’t you tell me I was hurting you?” Guilt washed over her as she tried to look at the damaged skin. No blood was visible, but the angry marks still looked painful.
“It looks worse than it is.” She gave him a disbelieving look and he laughed. “I promise. No permanent damage done. Other than my pride, of course. You have a lot of power in that tiny body.”
“Oh, you have no idea.” Cooper raised an eyebrow and Victoria inwardly groaned. She hadn’t meant that the way it sounded and quickly stood to retrieve her carry-on.
They still had another three hours until they would be landing in San Francisco and work would be a good way to distract both of them from whatever attraction seemed to be simmering under the surface.
