by Nikki Ash
I don’t even finish my sentence before she runs over to give me a hug as she chants, “Yes, yes, yes. You are a life saver!”
“You don’t even know the specifics. Don’t you want to know your hours and pay?”
“Yes, of course, but the job I am at now just let me go today, so whatever you’re offering I’ll take. The sooner I have an income, the sooner we’ll be out of here,” she says while glaring at Bentley.
I move on to the next part of my plan directing myself to Kayla still. “Also, about the living arrangements… After what I just walked into, I’m thinking that while you guys start saving for a new place, you girls can come stay with me. I have three extra bedrooms and I promise I won’t bring any other women home.” I look over at Liz and give her a wink. She just rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest. She looks so damn cute when she’s mad.
Kayla looks between Liz and me, then smirks. “Actually, I think all of us there would be too much. How about Liz and Bella stay with you, that way you can spend time with Bella, and I can stay here. It’s just temporary. I can handle the whorehouse.” Bentley scoffs under his breath at that.
I look over at Liz and she’s shooting daggers at Kayla. I also notice Kayla is making it a point not to look at Liz. I already like this woman. Bentley jumps in and says he agrees it’s a good idea, and I know Liz can’t say no, not when everybody else is saying yes.
She throws her arms in the air, huffs, and says, “Fine. We’ll move in with you tomorrow after Bella gets home from school.” Then she moves toward me and gets right into my face. She’s so close I can smell the vanilla on her, and it’s taking every ounce of restraint I have not to grab her and kiss her right now.
She leans in close and says, “But know this, Cooper. I’m only there temporarily, and I’m only there for my daughter, so she’s not traumatized from the half-naked women wandering around this place. You and me, not happening. My mom taught me a long time ago that if you share your toy with someone and they break it, it’s their fault. If you share it with them again, and they break it again, it’s your fault. You have already broke my heart once, Liam Cooper, and you aren’t going to get the chance to play with and break it again.”
She turns to make a grand exit, but she’s crazy if she thinks I’m going to let her have the last word. I trail down the hallway after her, until we get just outside her door. Of course she turns around, raising her eyebrows, daring me to continue this fight.
But I don’t need to say shit. I just need to show her. So, I take her face in my hands and kiss her. She tries to pull away, but I hold on to her. When I finish kissing her, I trace my lips to the corner of her mouth and give her another soft kiss, then I move to the spot just under her ear and kiss her again. I know she’s affected. I can feel her trembling under my touch, trying to remain calm. I give her one more kiss on her collarbone, and then I turn and walk away. Before I get to the end of the hallway, I look back and see she’s staring at me, so I give her that wink that drives her crazy.
“See you tomorrow, baby girl.
Twenty-One
Liz
We don’t have much stuff since we lost everything in the fire. The only items we have are the ones Cooper purchased for us the other night, so it’s easy to pack everything up quickly. I drop Bella off at preschool and then attempt to scour the classifieds for a job. Living with Cooper is not a good idea. Sure, it’s the lesser of the two evils, but at least living with Bentley meant my heart was safe. I seriously need to find a job so we can move out as soon as possible.
And what the heck was Kayla thinking? Staying with Bentley instead of coming with Bella and me? What ever happened to bros before hoes or I guess for us it would be hoes before bros? Okay, that doesn’t exactly work in our favor either, but you get what I mean.
I know she has a thing for Bentley but I didn’t think it was enough to make her stay living with him, especially since he’s clearly hooking up with other chicks. She and I will definitely be sharing some words.
My phone pings with a text from Cooper. What more could he possibly want?
Cooper: What time does Bella get out of school?
Me: 2 p.m. Why?
Cooper: So, I know what time to get you guys.
Me: I have my own car, and we only have the stuff you bought. Just give me your address and we’ll head over after she gets out of school.
After a few minutes, he sends me a text with his address. I go back to looking for jobs, copying down the information of a few possible leads.
After picking up Bella, we head back to the apartment to get our stuff. Before heading over to Cooper’s, I need to explain to her what’s happening. I’m sure she’s confused about moving so many times.
“Angel, do you have any questions about what’s going on with us moving?”
“No. I’m just sad all my stuff is gone away and I can’t get any of it back,” she says with the most heartbreaking look on her face. I make a promise to myself that as soon as I’m gainfully employed, I’m going to buy her as many new toys as I can.
“Do you remember the gentleman we ran into at the grocery store a while back? You dropped your flamingo and he picked it up?” Her eyes go bright at this and then dim down.
“Yes, he was so nice to find my flamingo. My poor flamingo didn’t make it in the fire.”
“I know, and I’m so sorry.” I give her a hug. “But you’re right, he was nice. His name is Cooper, and we’re going to live with him until we can get a new home. Kayla is going to stay here, though.”
Bella takes a minute to think about what I’m saying. “Can he be my daddy since I don’t have one? Tristan said Daddies live with you.”
This would be the perfect opportunity to tell her that he is in fact already her daddy, but I think it would be best to talk to Cooper first, just to make sure we’re on the same page. Then we can tell her together if that’s what he wants.
“That is true. Daddy’s do live with kids, but how about we focus on moving there first, and then we’ll figure it all out.” Thankfully, she accepts this answer and starts to gather up the few toys Cooper had purchased for her.
When we finish packing all our stuff, we head to Cooper’s house. For some reason, this feels like a new chapter of our life is starting, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
We arrive at Cooper’s neighborhood and I press the button on the call box, so he can let us in. He hits the buzzer and I drive until I see the address he gave me. This neighborhood is absolutely gorgeous. I would never imagine somebody like him living here. I shouldn’t be surprised because Bentley and Caleb’s place is really nice, but looking around, their complex has nothing on this one.
I pull up into the driveway and park next to his slick, black Range Rover, which puts my old Nissan to shame. We get out and look up at the townhouse in front of us, if you can even call it that.
“Mommy, is this my new house?” Bella asks, awestruck.
“Yes, baby. For a little bit.”
We both stand there checking out the home. She’s standing by my side, and in one hand, she’s holding the replica of the flamingo she lost in the fire that Cooper replaced. She reaches up and grabs my hand with her other one.
The house might be called a townhouse, but it’s really more like a miniature mansion. It’s got to be three stories high. The only difference between a mansion and this place is that all the homes are connected and all are identical. It looks like there’s four homes connected in each set. The outside of each home is white with cute black shutters and a set of stairs that lead to a dark red front door. Directly under the stairs appears to be a garage door. The garage must be the first floor and the next two floors are the home.
I’m no stranger to a nice home. The home I grew up in was very nice but modest, built in the 1960s. It was a typical family-style home. For the last five years, Kayla and I have lived in an apartment made for college students. It did what it needed to do and allowed us to live close to campus an
d gave Bella her own room, but I think my entire apartment could fit in Cooper’s driveway.
We must be admiring his home for a while because he walks out of the red door with a quizzical look on his face and says, “It’s not going to bite you. Get in here you two.” I nod quickly and go back to the trunk to grab our stuff as Bella runs up to the door. Cooper meets me at the trunk and helps me grab everything.
“This car isn’t suitable for driving Bella around. We need to do something about that soon.”
He says this so nonchalantly I almost think he’s just thinking out loud, until he looks at me and raises one brow.
“Let’s just focus on one issue at a time. I can’t afford a new car, and once I find a job, my money needs to go toward a new place for Bella and me, and hopefully Kayla, too.”
His jaw ticks like he wants to protest, but he decides to let it go. Good thinking on his part, that’s for sure. We get inside and the first thing I do is introduce Cooper to Bella. Although she’s seen him a couple times, they haven’t formally met.
“Bella, this is Cooper. We’re going to be staying here in his home for a little bit. Cooper, this is Bella.”
They both suddenly look so shy. “Hi, I’m Bella. You found my flamingo when it fell at the store. I have a new one now because it went away in the fire.”
“Actually, Bella, Cooper is the one who bought you the new one and… he’s the one who bought me the one you had before.”
Bella’s eyes bug out with this new information. “You’re the special person who gave my mom the flamingo?”
Cooper nods. “Yes, I gave it to your mom five years ago when I met her. She said she liked to count animals when she couldn’t sleep.”
Bella laughs. “She still does! When I can’t sleep, she always counts the flamingos for me until I fall asleep.” Cooper appears to be so overcome with emotions, I quickly change the subject before it gets too deep.
“Yep, I count flamingos. Anyway, how about you give us a quick tour of this beautiful house and show us to our rooms?”
I hope Bella’s room is near mine since I’ve never been too far from her. Bella must just now notice the stairs because she starts squealing and jumping up and down. “Yay! Stairs! I love stairs. Is my room up the stairs? Huh, is it? Please? I will be so happy and I promise to walk so slowly up and down the stairs. Please!”
Cooper starts chuckling at her rambling, and I can already see the love in his eyes. Bella is easy to love. I just hope it’s enough to keep him around, for her sake.
“There are four bedrooms. The master is on this floor with its own bathroom, along with the library-slash-office and a half bath in the laundry room. Upstairs are two more bedrooms. One is your bedroom.”
He stops for a second because she starts jumping up and down again, saying, “Thank you” over and over.
Once she calms down, he continues. “There’s a bathroom connected to your bedroom and the third bedroom was converted into a small gym. There’s another guest bathroom up there as well.”
Bella doesn’t even wait for him to tell her it’s okay to head upstairs before she’s flying up the stairs. So much for taking them slow.
We both follow her up and when we catch up, she’s standing outside her room with her hands over her mouth. “Is this my room?” she whispers with such hope in her voice.
I walk closer to see what the big deal is, and when I look inside, I see the most beautiful little girl’s room I’ve ever laid my eyes on. The room is light pink with a white chair rail running along the length of the walls. On the walls are huge hangings of all the different Disney princess characters including a huge hanging of Cinderella’s Castle.
In the center is a huge bed fit for a princess with pink and white polka dotted bedding and in front of the pillows is the dragon from Maleficent she’s been asking for. Bella spots it and hugs it to her chest then continues to look around the room.
There’s a delicate, light pink, silk canopy spread out over the top of the bed. White wood dresser and nightstands are placed against the walls, and since the floors are all hardwood, there’s a cute pink princess rug spread out in the center of the room. Near the bathroom, there’s a sitting room that’s about half the size of the bedroom. Against one wall is the most adorable pink chair that looks like it’s from Pottery Barn kids, and on the other wall is a flat screen television with a DVD player. I walk into the bathroom and the princess theme continues. I look back at Cooper and he looks uneasy like he’s suddenly unsure of himself. He’s staring down, and his feet are shifting from one to the other.
Bella run around the room, checking it all out, and then stops right in front of Cooper, making him look up. “Is this all mine? Like really mine? Like black-black no trade back, mine?”
“Um, I’m not sure what black-black no trade back means, but yes, this is your room. I hope you like it. I wasn’t really sure what you’re into,” he says, his lips curling into a slight frown.
He’s second-guessing all of this, and he shouldn’t be. He just made Bella’s entire year and he doesn’t even know it. “What you did here is amazing,” I tell him. “I don’t even know how to thank you. Any chance my room looks half as good as this?” I ask jokingly to lighten up the mood.
He starts laughing, and I get to see his beautiful smile return. I can’t help but smile back.
“Well, I haven’t done anything to the master bedroom since I moved in, but you’re welcome to add or change anything you like,” he says with a huge knowing smirk across his face.
It takes a second, but then I remember when he named all the rooms he didn’t mention a room for me. Motherfucker. He thinks he’s slick. Two can play this game.
“Oh, that’s okay. I’m sure this bed is big enough for Bella and me to share.”
Liz: 1 Cooper: 0
Bella glances back and forth from the bed to me, and with hands on her hips, says, “Mommy, I’m almost five years old. I don’t want to share a bed with you. Remember when I tried to sneak in your bed and you told me big girls sleep in their own beds.” Well damn it, she has me there.
I swivel around to give Cooper the evil eye and almost run right into his chest. He must’ve moved closer to me while Bella was giving me her mom speech.
His eyes are dancing with laughter as he sucks in his bottom lip to keep from laughing. When my eyes lock with his, he says, “Don’t worry, baby girl. My bed is big enough for both of us.” Then the cocky bastard winks. He actually winks. He’s so lucky our daughter is in the room or I’d choke him with my bare hands.
Cooper: 1 Liz: 1
I rub my hands over my face in frustration then walk out of the room. I walk toward the room he said holds the gym and open the door to see if I can put a bed in here. Unfortunately, the room is filled with tons of gym equipment, and a bed, no matter the size, would never fit. I continue down the stairs opening each door along the way. I open the door to the master bedroom and close it immediately. I can feel Cooper on my heels. but I ignore him.
When I open the door to the library-slash-office, I notice there’s a comfy oversized reading chair in one corner and a chaise lounge in the other. Well, this will have to do.
“I’ll just sleep in here. Hopefully, I’ll find a job soon and then we’ll be out of your hair. Until then I can just sleep on this couch. It looks super comfy.” Ha! Another point for me.
Cooper walks up to me slowly like he’s afraid I might attack him, and I almost laugh at how nervous he looks. He grips the curves of my hips, and before I realize what he’s doing, he kisses me softly. I can’t help the sigh that escapes my lips as I get lost in his touch. When the kiss ends, I assume he’s going to pull back, so I’m shocked when he places another kiss to the corner of my mouth. When nipples tighten and my lady parts tingle, I back up before I completely embarrass myself.
“Look, I know I’ve messed up,” Cooper says. “But I’m here now and I’m fighting. Just give me a second chance to fight for us. Let me at least have one more shot.
I have a proposition for you, if you’ll hear me out.”
There’s now a huge lump in my throat. This is all I ever wanted, all I ever prayed and wished and hoped for. I nod my head for him to continue.
“I have a job opening at the gym. My dad ran all the books. I have no clue what I’m doing and I’m too busy training to focus on the money aspect of the business. Come to work for me and live here. Give me this last chance to fight for my family. If, after a while you don’t want this, you can move out and we can figure out the custody arrangement for Bella. But I really hope it doesn’t come to that. I want both of you. Please.”
I want to say no because I feel like he’s offering me a job I didn’t earn, but I need the money and it would be great to work in the same place as Hayley and Kayla, plus Cooper would be there often. The problem is, can I give him another chance? He’s already broken my heart once, and I honestly don’t think I would survive a second time.
He takes my chin between his fingers and kisses me once again, letting it linger for a few seconds, when we both hear little feet padding into the room and a shriek coming from Bella.
“Ewww, you guys are kissing like Cinderella and the Prince! Does this mean Cooper can be my daddy? He gave me the most bestest room ever and I love him now.”
I laugh at that. It clearly doesn’t take much to win over my daughter. Cooper looks scared shitless and that makes me nervous, so I elbow him and tilt my head to the side, silently asking if he’s okay.
He snaps out of it and whispers, “She wants me to be her daddy and she loves me.” It must all be hitting him at once.
“Bella, why don’t you go pick a movie for us to watch in your new room.” Yep! Parent of the year award goes to me for once again ignoring her daddy question. She says okay and runs out to pick a movie. I wait until I hear her feet thumping up the stairs, then I turn and look at Cooper, who’s sporting a mixture of emotions on his face.
