She didn’t want to change anything when it came to him, but she wanted to change everything when it came to the rest of her life.
As she began to fill the sink with warm water, the door burst open and Cooper strode in. He smacked on the light and for a second she blinked, blinded.
Fuck no. He couldn’t see her looking like this. She grabbed a towel and hid behind it.
Cooper hadn’t been asleep when Paris slipped out of bed. He’d thought she needed the bathroom—until he heard the water running, and the vague sense of something being not quite right that had haunted him for the last few mornings slammed into him.
He pushed open the bathroom door and she looked at him as though she’d just caught him doing something disgusting.
“What’re you doing?” Her voice was high pitched as she clutched a towel up to her eyes as though she was trying to disappear behind it. Any other time he would’ve found that funny, but there was nothing funny about this. What the hell was she doing?
All her shower things were balanced on the narrow edge of the sink. “It’s four in the morning,” he said, sounding like an idiot because they both knew what the time was. “You’re having a shower now?”
Except if she was having a shower why was everything on the sink?
“What? No.” She flapped a hand at him until she realized that made her towel gape. “Cooper, why’re you in here? You’re supposed to be asleep.”
He frowned at her. She sounded really upset. He ignored how she backed away, and pulled her into his arms. “Babe, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“Of course I’m not sick.” She was rigid. He rubbed her naked back in what he hoped was a soothing gesture. “I’m just—look, just go back to bed. I’ll be there in a minute, okay?”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s wrong.” His gaze drifted to the sink again and her shower gel caught his eye. She had bottles of the designer stuff and that was the scent that turned him on every morning when he woke up. She always smelled fresh and gorgeous as though she’d just left a pricy salon, and her hair was always bouncy.
Right now her hair was a tangled mess—the way her hair should look after a night of fantastic fucking.
Her brush was also balancing on the edge of the sink.
He looked back at her. She was biting her lip and glaring at his chest. “Do you do this every morning before I wake up?”
She attempted to shrug out of his arms, but he wasn’t having any of that. Finally she let out a huff and wrapped her arms around her waist. “What if I do? You can’t tell me you don’t like it.”
“Yeah, but why do you do it?” He couldn’t figure it out. They’d had sex every morning this week. Except for that first time when he’d checked out her infamous Sunset Heights episode, he’d been under the delusion she slept in his arms all night, until he woke her up with hot kisses and a rock hard erection.
But she’d already cleaned herself up and climbed back into bed by then. Was that what girls did? He didn’t want to admit it to her, but he had no idea. Seeing as his previous experience consisted of casual hookups, he was hardly an expert when it came to this side of things.
But his gut told him something wasn’t…right.
She frowned at him as though he’d just asked her something incredibly stupid. Maybe he had.
“So I don’t look a horrible mess first thing in the morning.” She sounded defensive. “Not to mention morning breath.”
Embarrassed heat shot through him and he stepped back. “I have morning breath?” Fuck, he’d never thought of that. It appeared there were a lot of things he was clueless about when it came to spending the entire night with a girl.
“What?” She screwed up her face. “Of course you don’t. I never said that.”
“I think you did.”
She hid her face in one hand. Her towel draped, revealing half of her naked body, which was damn hot, but for once he wasn’t distracted. “I just didn’t want you to see me looking like this.”
He was still reeling from the whole morning breath idea. But he couldn’t see what she was getting so worked up about when it came to how she looked. She always looked great, but she wasn’t the high maintenance chick he thought she’d be. She didn’t care about getting mud all over her in the yard and although yesterday when she’d broken a nail she’d sworn in a way that had rivaled his gran, five minutes later she’d laughed about it.
“Why don’t you want me to see you like this? You look gorgeous. All messed up and fuckable.”
Her hand slid down her face. He wasn’t sure whether her expression was good or bad. The silence stretched between them. Finally, she frowned.
“All messed up and fuckable?”
While his head might be trying to ignore the way she looked, his body had been thoroughly enjoying the view. “Can’t you tell?”
She tugged her fingers through her hair as she eyed his far from disinterested dick, but she was still frowning doubtfully.
“So you don’t care what I look like first thing in the morning.”
“I’m just happy to see you in the morning. Thought you’d know that by now.” When she glanced up at him, he leered at her in the hope it’d make her laugh. She didn’t laugh, but at least she stopped frowning.
“Oh.” She stopped pulling on her hair and instead hugged her waist again. She didn’t seem to notice how the towel had slid down and barely covered her nipples. “I thought that’s what you’d want. Hudson said…” Her voice trailed away and she sighed.
A violent burning sensation gripped his chest. He’d never felt anything like it, and it hit him how much he hated the sound of her ex’s name. “What did Hudson say?”
She shrugged. “That me looking rumpled with sleep in my eyes wasn’t the sexiest thing to wake up to.”
“He’s a fucking dipshit.”
She gave a snort of laughter. “He was very polite about it. Put it down to my inexperience and then said he didn’t really mind because he loved me so much.”
Cooper knew he was glaring. He couldn’t stop himself. “You’re better off without him.” He knew they’d split up two years ago—but Paris hadn’t been with anyone else since. Was that because she was still in love with the jerk?
The thought made him sick in his gut. She deserved a lot better than some asshole like that.
“You’re telling me.” She said it with such enthusiasm he narrowed his eyes at her. “He’s a narcissistic prick, and I’m just sorry I didn’t see it earlier.”
That didn’t sound like she was still in love with him. He gripped her wrists and tugged her toward him. Her towel dropped to the floor. “Sounds like you need to forget about every damn thing that came out of his mouth.”
“I know.” She bit her lip. She wasn’t smiling anymore. “I thought I loved him. Maybe I did in a way. Guess it wouldn’t have hurt so much if I hadn’t cared.”
Again that burning sensation speared through his chest. “When you broke up, you mean?”
“Yes. Well, no. It was the way he only stayed with me to use my contacts. Once he had everything he wanted he didn’t need me hanging around anymore.”
It wasn’t often he wanted to punch the shit out of someone. He’d lived his entire childhood under the shadow of his father’s short temper and hard fists, and he’d never wanted to follow in that bastard’s footsteps.
But right now, if Hudson were to suddenly appear, he wasn’t sure he’d hold back.
“Is everyone like that there?”
“No. Apparently I’m just a lousy judge of character. Trouble is, I couldn’t trust anyone after that. Were they with me because they really liked me, or because of who I could introduce them to? It’s a real passion killer.”
He guessed it would be. At least he’d never had that problem. The only thing girls wanted from him was a quick screw.
That had never bothered him before. Why did it bug him now?
She wound her arms around him and rested her cheek aga
inst his shoulder. His cock thickened against her stomach, and he buried his face in her hair.
The answer came to him. This was the reason why. He didn’t want Paris to only want him for a quick screw. This week had shown him another side of life. One he’d never even thought about before.
Sex had always been available. He’d had more girls than he could count and couldn’t even remember all of their names. It’d never occurred to him to want more from a girl, because what more was there?
He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. Everything he wanted was here, in his arms. Sure the sex was fantastic. He couldn’t get enough of her, but he liked being with her when they weren’t naked, too. She made him laugh, and it was fun having her work by his side, whether they were in the yard or the kitchen.
The truth was, he wanted to protect her from the rest of the world. That’s what he did; it was his job. But when it came to her, he wasn’t thinking about work at all.
She might be Scott’s sister, and the last girl he should’ve touched, but now he didn’t want this week to end. It didn’t matter which way he looked at it. Why would a girl like Paris, who could have anyone she wanted, choose him once they were back in the real world?
Maybe he’d see her again after tomorrow, but for all he knew this was their last day together. He’d make sure she never forgot it.
He pulled her with him and turned the shower on.
“A shower? Really?” She looked up at him. “I thought you didn’t mind me looking hideous.”
He smiled, because she wasn’t serious. “I want you wet and slippery up against the tiles.”
She gave a little shiver. “When you put it like that, how can I refuse?”
He grabbed her shower gel and stepped under the water. It was cold. He hadn’t gotten around to looking at the plumbing yet. “Come on.” He pulled her toward him.
She shivered and gasped as the chilly water hit her. Her nipples were erect, just waiting for his mouth. He poured a generous amount of gel onto his hands and smoothed it over her shoulders.
The water warmed up, and the scent of orange blossoms filled the air. He angled her so most of the spray hit his back, and she sighed and stretched as he massaged her taut muscles.
“That’s so good.” She arched her back, her message clear, and he cupped her tits. She sighed, her eyes closed, and he watched droplets of water slide over her skin.
He squeezed out more gel and massaged her butt. She swayed into him, her slick body sliding against his. He gripped her ass cheeks, and her groan filled his head. Their kiss was slow and sweet, as she ran her hands over his wet back.
She broke their kiss. “Condom.”
They were in the bedroom, and he had no intention of going to find one. In any case, the tiles in this shower were cracked and uneven. No way was he shoving her up against them.
“Later.” He slid his hand between their wet bodies and circled her clit. She was so silky soft, and her little gasps drove him crazy. Slowly he pushed a finger inside her and her head fell back. For a second he stared at her, transfixed. You’re so gorgeous. He licked the length of her throat, pressing his open mouth against the frantic beat of her pulse.
Her hand joined his between their bodies, and she grasped his cock. He tried to hang onto his control, but it was sliding away with every glide of her palm.
Her orgasm rolled through her, and her entire body shook. He loved watching her come, the way her eyes fluttered shut and her lips parted. Her wet hair and the way the shower splashed over her face mesmerized him. Her grip on him was brutal and he gritted his teeth, trying to make the moment last.
But he couldn’t. With a strangled groan he pumped his release over her slick body and held her tight until the water ran cold yet again.
Chapter Thirteen
Paris watched Cooper from the front door as he did his daily bike maintenance. It was early afternoon and they’d only left her bed about an hour ago. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to walk straight for a week—not that she was complaining.
Five minutes ago something had occurred to her. She guessed she should’ve thought of it before, but she’d been kind of busy.
She smirked as she remembered just how busy she’d been, and strolled across the yard toward Cooper.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he said as he turned and kissed her, before returning his attention to his bike.
She folded her arms. She loved watching him work on his motorcycle. Or in the yard. Basically, she just loved watching him in whatever he was doing. Mentally she shook herself. Concentrate.
“Do I need to pack for a night away? Or are we coming back here tonight?”
He turned to her. He was wearing his shades so she couldn’t see his eyes, but since she thought he was sexy as hell in them, she didn’t care.
“Hadn’t thought that far. What d’you want to do?”
What she wanted was for him to invite her to stay over at his place. It was kind of deflating that he hadn’t offered right away. She shoved her disappointment into a corner and pasted on a bright smile. Not quite a Lola smile, since he didn’t appear to think much of those, but it wasn’t far off.
“I didn’t know if you were planning on doing anything after this tea thing. Catching up with your brothers or something?”
He frowned. “You think I’d leave you alone somewhere? I’m responsible for you until tomorrow morning.”
She had a hard time keeping her fake smile on her face. Being responsible for her wasn’t at all how she wanted him to think about her. She tried again.
“Who says you have to leave me anywhere? I could come with you.”
He didn’t answer right away, and now she wished she could see his eyes. They might give her a clue as to what he was thinking.
“I guess.” There was an odd note in his voice that she couldn’t figure out. “You could always wear your wig so no one recognized you.”
It was like a slap in the face. She hadn’t even considered wearing her wig. She didn’t even know what that meant. That she didn’t care if anyone saw her out with Cooper? Or she actively wanted people to see her out with Cooper?
“Sure,” she said, as though that had been her intention all along. “We don’t want your gran having to deal with any more paparazzi, do we?”
She hadn’t considered that either. All she’d focused on was being in public with him. Why was that?
Because she wanted more than this with him.
It was horribly obvious he hadn’t given any of it a second thought.
“I wasn’t thinking of my gran.”
She was starting to wish she’d never come out here and asked the question. She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Whatever.” She tried to keep the acid from her voice but wasn’t entirely sure she succeeded.
He frowned as though he couldn’t work out what her problem was. “You’re supposed to be in Europe this week, babe. You don’t want your cover story blown, do you?”
She’d totally forgotten she was supposed to be in Europe. The last thing she wanted was for her mom to somehow find out she was only a car drive away. Even though, technically, she was going home tomorrow so none of this even mattered, she still couldn’t seem to stop obsessing over it.
“No…” Her voice trailed away.
“You don’t have to worry about my brothers saying anything.” He took a step toward her, but he didn’t reach out and take her hand. “You know that, right?”
“Sure.” She hadn’t given his brothers a lot of thought, except to wonder if Cooper was going out with them tonight. Which, clearly, he wasn’t. She frowned before she could stop herself.
“We don’t even have to tell them who you really are. Although, I might have to warn my gran.”
Everything he said made perfect sense. So why hadn’t any of it occurred to her?
Because I don’t want to hide who I really am with his family.
She hid behind her best Lola facade of couldn’t-give-a-shit. “Soun
ds good to me.”
He gave her a weird look, as if her answer sounded off or something. She really didn’t want to discuss this anymore. He was being thoughtful, and if she sniped at him she’d just feel mean.
She scraped the gravel with the toe of her sneaker. He still hadn’t answered her original question, even though she knew the answer. Maybe she’d make it easy for him.
“Okay, so we’re coming back here for the last night, then. It’s no biggie. I just wanted to know.”
There was a pause. “Yeah.” He sounded vaguely confused. She gave him a firm nod so he’d know this line of conversation was well and truly over, and went back inside before she gave him any more reason to think she’d lost her mind.
Cooper parked outside his gran’s house, and Paris unwrapped her arms from around him. He couldn’t figure out what was going on with her. She was the one who’d wanted them to turn up today, but ever since they’d left her bed she’d been acting really strange. Like she didn’t want to go after all.
Before they left he’d even asked her outright. She’d looked at him as if he was mad and then, as she arranged that damn wig, had told him to save any confusion with his family she’d call herself by her third name, Sofia.
He was the one who’d suggested she go undercover, but only because he thought that was what she wanted. He hadn’t expected her to try and fool his brothers, but she’d looked so worried when he’d told her she could trust them that it was obvious she didn’t fully believe him.
It wasn’t that he blamed her for being wary after what she’d told him about Hudson, but it still sucked, because it followed that she didn’t want anyone knowing about them.
He got off the bike. What the fuck was he thinking? Sure, she wanted to see him again—at her cabin. When she was on vacation, and he could turn up to help out with her yard, but she’d never said anything about them getting together in public.
How could they? Even if she wanted to, Scott would fucking kill him if he found out he’d broken the bro code with his little sister.
Hold Me Until Morning Page 11
