“Coop.” Alex leaned across his desk. He was frowning. “You okay?”
Cooper took a deep breath. “I’m fine.” Now or never. “I’m thinking of taking up Dale’s offer.”
The silence was deafening.
“Dale Mathers?” Jackson said just as the silence got awkward. “You serious? He wanted you to move to the East Coast.”
“I could do with a change of scene.” Sweat trickled along the back of his neck. Alex was just staring at him with that mask, the one he’d never had before he’d been sent to juvie.
“This got anything to do with Paris?” Ella frowned at him, but it wasn’t a pissed frown…more curious.
“No.” He let out a breath and finally looked Alex in the eye. “This is about me. I need to get away. I’m thinking of going to night school.”
He’d told Paris he wished he’d gone to college. Until now, he hadn’t known just how much he did want that. He’d barely finished regular school, and he’d rarely bothered turning up to classes.
He wanted more now. Much more. And while he’d rip out his own tongue before admitting it, the truth was, working for Alex was suffocating him.
“Okay.” Alex leaned back in his chair. Cooper couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “If that’s what you want. There’ll always be a place here for you when you want to come back.”
Take it.
He couldn’t. “I don’t know if I’ll be back.”
“It’ll be good for you,” Ella said. Then she turned to Alex, who looked like he’d turned to stone. “You’ve been saying you wanted to put out feelers. See how things are in other states. We’re expanding here, but look ahead. Why can’t Grayson’s expand nationally?”
“There’s a thought,” Jackson said.
Alex still didn’t say anything.
An hour later the meeting finished. Cooper had a few more scheduled jobs but after that he’d be off.
A strange combination of relief and freedom rolled through him. The guilt was still there, but it didn’t grip his guts the way it once had. After his initial silence Alex seemed okay with his decision. Maybe one day he’d come back to Grayson’s. If he did, it’d be because that was his choice, and not because it was the only option open to him.
They all left the office together. Ella was trying to get Alex to go with her to her sanctuary. Again. She never gave up.
“I’m not into small furry animals.” Alex looked as though Ella had asked him to shovel shit or something. “I donate. What more do you want from me?”
“What the fuck.” Cooper froze. On the other side of the street was the guy who’d taken photos of Paris in Murphy’s—and he was making his way toward them.
Alex pushed Ella behind him. Without a word, Cooper’s brothers flanked him, both positioned slightly in front of him. A shudder inched along his spine.
All his life his brothers had protected him as best they could. Even now, when they had no idea what the problem was, their first thought was to shield him from danger.
He broke ranks and stepped forward. “What’re you doing here?”
The guy stopped about six feet away. “You’ve got fans,” he said. “Want to give a quote on how it feels to be loved and discarded by the darling of Hollywood?”
“I’ll give you a quote,” Jackson said. “You can take your camera and shove it up your fucking ass.”
Cooper raised his hand, and Jackson shut up. Of the three of them, Cooper had always let his mouth run away with him. There was plenty he’d like to say to this guy, but there was no point.
It’d get twisted. It’d get back to Paris. She might hate him right now for how he’d treated her, but he didn’t want her to despise him.
“No comment.”
The guy gave a half smile. “Must be hard, having your childhood sweetheart choose to go back to her mom rather than stay with you. But hell, Cora O’Connell has balls of steel.”
Childhood sweetheart? Was that the way the story was being played? At least Paris knew the score. She’d know he hadn’t made that shit up.
Wouldn’t she?
“I’ve been following Paris for a couple of years now,” the guy said. What the fuck was the matter with him. Did he have a death wish? “For what it’s worth, I’ve never seen her looking the way she did that night I caught the pair of you in Murphy’s. Like she was really happy. Guess that’s something, huh?”
“I’ve got nothing to say to you.” He turned and marched toward the parking lot. With every step the paparazzo’s words rang in his ears.
Must be hard, having your childhood sweetheart choose to go back to her mom rather than stay with you.
Except she hadn’t made that choice. He was the one who’d broken up with her. Paris hadn’t gone back to her mom. She’d gone back to Hollywood because she had a photo shoot scheduled.
He hadn’t given her any choice at all.
“Shit.” He gripped the handlebar of his bike and fought the urge to double over. What had he done?
All his life his brothers had looked out for him. From the age of twelve he’d been Jackson’s right hand man on the streets. They’d never discussed it. They were brothers. And when Alex set up Grayson’s there was no question that he and J would join.
They were brothers. Guilt had driven him to skip school so he could watch Jackson’s back, and guilt over Alex going to juvie was why he’d stayed at Grayson’s even when he realized he wanted more from life.
He’d pushed Paris away because he was afraid guilt would kill him if she stayed.
But he hadn’t fucking asked her what she wanted.
Jackson slapped him on the shoulder. “You want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Sucks, right?”
Cooper glared at his brother. Jackson had a grin on his face, as though he found this situation funny. “Fuck off.”
“Take your own advice, bro.” Jackson still looked amused, the bastard. “Seems to me you’re in love with Paris O’Connell.”
Talk about throwing good advice back in your face. He’d said that to Jackson about Scarlett barely two weeks ago. Ella would call it karma that he now found himself in the same god-awful mess.
Do I love her? He’d never even thought about it before. Just knew having her around was so right. And now that she was gone, nothing made sense.
“I’ve screwed up.”
“It’s what the Graysons do.” Jackson gave him another slap on the back. Do that again…
“I told her it was just some fun. I don’t think she’ll ever speak to me again.”
“You can’t have screwed up worse than I did with Scarlett. We managed to work it out.”
His brother didn’t have a clue.
Neither did he.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Paris’s new bodyguard hustled her to the waiting car. The photo shoot had dragged on all day, not helped by the fact everyone wanted to talk about Lola’s shock demise three nights ago.
She closed her eyes as the car sped off and ignored her mom and assistant’s excited conversation on how fabulously the day had gone, and oh, by the way, which restaurant were they going to now?
“I don’t care,” she said without opening her eyes. She guessed she was being a little mean to her mom. After all, she’d been really understanding since Paris had turned up yesterday, red-eyed and spoiling for a fight. Instead of giving her twenty questions she’d just given her a big hug.
It was a relief not having to tell her mom Cooper had dumped her from a great height. She wasn’t sure she could’ve stood seeing the I-told-you-so look on her face.
Her agent Marcia was already at the restaurant when they arrived. Not that she cared, but why had her mom even asked for her opinion if they’d already decided on this one?
The three other women discussed the impact of Lola’s dramatic exit until she wanted to scream. Instead, she checked her Facebook account on her cell. Cooper hadn’t left any message. Not that she’d expected him to.
/> Whatever.
“Honey.” Her mom leaned across the table and tapped the screen of her cell. “Did you hear what Marcia’s been saying? She’s been approached by three different producers today regarding high profile movie projects.”
Paris took a deep breath. She’d had well over a week to come up with a calm and well-reasoned speech on what she planned to do, but figuring out how she was going to tell her mom about her future was the last thing she’d focused on when Cooper was around.
He sure as hell wasn’t around any more. She’d felt horrible when Hudson had ditched her, but that was nothing compared to how hard it’d been to crawl out of bed this morning—like a lead weight was crushing her heart. Luckily the photographer today had wanted a moody pout. She wasn’t sure her acting ability could’ve coped otherwise.
There was no easy way to say it. “I’m going to Brown.”
Her mom didn’t even miss a beat. “Paris, honey, it’s great they still want you, but we have to strike while the iron’s hot. And you’ve never been hotter than right now.”
“Hmm,” Marcia said. “You know we can work around college if you want to.”
Her mom waved her hand. “Paris has to be here. It’s no good her being on the other side of the country, is it?”
Her chest tightened and it was hard to breathe. It was a familiar sensation but that didn’t make it any easier to cope with. “Mom, we talked about this last year.” When you persuaded me to defer for a year.
“I know.” Her mom smiled at her. “Look, I’ll have someone call them and explain. I’m sure they’ll be happy to defer your place for another year or two.”
She didn’t want someone to call them. She didn’t want to defer for a year or two. Why the hell couldn’t she just tell her mom what she wanted?
“I want to start this fall.”
“Paris, you have the world at your feet right now. You can do anything you want. If you disappear for three years you might as well kiss your career good-bye. No one will remember you, let alone want you.”
Cooper had thought it was a great idea. He hadn’t said she was crazy for wanting to put her career on hold. Oh God, she missed him.
She stood up. “I’m going to Brown.” Before she lost her nerve again, she turned and walked out of the restaurant. So she wouldn’t have to look at anyone while the car was brought round, she dragged out her cell and went online.
An image of Cooper by his bike, head bowed, with Jackson by his side, leaped out at her.
Paris Does a Lola & Leaves Sexy Cooper Heartbroken
Hot bodyguard Cooper Grayson was unceremoniously dumped by his childhood sweetheart, Paris O’Connell…
Fighting back emotion, macho Cooper faces the world alone once again…
“Paris, we need to talk about this.” Her mom appeared by her side and there was the faintest note of panic in her voice. Then she caught sight of what she was reading. “Honey, it’s for the best. It was never going to work.”
I could’ve made it work.
“Whatever.” Somehow she couldn’t stop staring at his photo. He looked…crushed. Or was that all in her mind?
“Childhood sweetheart?” Her mom leaned in closer. “Well, I guess that’s nice of him, saying you were the one who ended things.”
She frowned. She hadn’t told her mom which of them had ended it, although she supposed it wasn’t hard to guess. “Mm.”
Her mom took a breath. “He didn’t want to stand in your way. He knows you’re going places. He’d only hold you back.”
Her stomach heaved. She sure as hell hadn’t told her mom any of that. “What makes you so sure he was the one who broke up with me?”
“What? Well, you’ve been so sad…”
“He didn’t want to stand in my way?” Her hands were sweaty and her legs were shaking. Her mom blinked at her, as though she had no idea what Paris was going on about.
“Well, I’m assuming…I mean that would be the reason why he…Paris, what’s this all about?”
What’s this all about? She gripped her cell and hitched in a shallow breath. It didn’t help the tightness crushing her chest.
“That’s not why he broke up with me.”
“Okay. Then the best thing you can do is go all out for this Milo Mallory movie. That’ll show him what he gave up.”
“My God, you don’t miss any chance do you?” Where the hell had that come from? But now her mouth wouldn’t stop. “You were the one who told him to dump me, weren’t you? Because you wanted me back here where you can control every fucking thing I do.”
“Paris.” Her mom’s shocked whisper didn’t make her feel bad the way it usually did. Because her own mother had fucked up her life. “How can you even say that? Everything I do is for you, honey.”
Paris knew people were looking their way. She ignored them. Take as many damn photos as you want. For the last couple of years she’d gone along with everything her mom wanted, hoping things would change—but nothing would change if she didn’t make her stand.
“Is that why you leaked the fact I’d been in rehab to the press last week?”
Her mom sucked in a sharp breath. “I would never—”
“I know it wasn’t Cooper.” It hurt, knowing her mom would stoop so low, just to get her own way. “Is that why you went to see him, because I didn’t blame him for that gossip and run back home?”
If it had been anyone but him, her mom’s plan would’ve worked. But Cooper wasn’t like that. She had trusted him.
I still trust him.
“I don’t want you to throw your life away on someone like Cooper Grayson.”
Fury burned through her chest, and all the little resentments that she’d buried over the years finally came bubbling up.
Yes, Mom loves me. No, it doesn’t mean she can rule my life. It was past time her mom faced that, too.
“Don’t talk about him like that. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“What?” Her mom stared at her as though she’d lost her mind. “But he’s nobody, honey. He can’t help your career or—”
“Stop right there.” She leaned into her mom’s space. “Why would I want him to help my career? He doesn’t give a fuck about who I know. Do you have any idea how good that feels?”
Her mom opened and shut her mouth, but for once nothing came out.
Just as well. She wasn’t in the mood to take any more of her mom’s crap. “From now on, you stay out of my personal life. It’s none of your business who I date.”
“Paris.” Her mom’s voice was all choked up, as though she’d been horribly wronged.
It was a good thing the car arrived right then. Paris glared at her mom, got in the car, and slammed the door. Then she called her brother.
“Scott? I need a huge favor.”
When it counted, her brother wasn’t a dick at all. He ditched his plans so he could go with her to the cabin. It had nothing to do with him picking his car up from there, because why would anyone do that at ten at night?
“You want to tell me what’s going on?” Scott said as she drove her car toward the mountains.
She didn’t answer right away. She might be mad as hell with her mom, but that didn’t stop the ache deep inside, or the guilt that she’d confronted her in public. She hoped nothing had been recorded.
“I told her about Brown. She’s not happy.”
Scott grunted. “She was never going to be happy about it. At least it’s done now.”
“There’s something else.” Had he really not seen any of the gossip about her and Cooper? “She warned Cooper to stay away from me.” God, that pissed her off so much. Tension knotted her shoulders, and her guilt for swearing at her mom vanished.
“Cooper?” She could hear the frown in his voice. “Don’t tell me she believed all that shit in the gossip columns. That’s insane.”
She let out a puff of breath. “It wasn’t shit.”
There was a long silence. “Are you telling me
…?” His voice trailed away. Obviously he was having trouble processing the thought.
“Yeah. I’m in love with him. Deal with it.”
Two hours later they were almost at the cabin before Scott had come around to dealing with it.
“So, I need this favor,” she said, when his threats of bodily harm against Cooper had slid into the less volatile he better not fucking hurt you territory.
“I’m doing you a favor now. What the hell do you call this?”
“This isn’t the favor. This was just to get you alone.”
Scott muttered a few obscenities under his breath. She ignored him.
“I need you to ask Cooper if he’ll meet me at the cabin some time this week. Just to talk things through. Will you do that for me?”
“I’m not a dating agency.”
When she glared at him, he scowled back. “Fine. I’ll ask him. Not promising I won’t break his nose, though.”
She snorted. “You wish.” She turned down the dirt track that led to her cabin. As it came into view she frowned when the headlights picked out a Harley parked out front.
God. Was that…?
“Looks like I won’t have to be your messenger.” Scott made to get out of the car and she grabbed his arm.
“No. Promise me you won’t do anything. I need to speak to him, Scott.” Maybe he had dropped by simply to pick up the things he’d left behind last week. She hoped it was more than that. Maybe he’d wanted to leave her a note or something.
Scott didn’t look convinced. “I’ll give you ten minutes. Don’t make me want to bleach my eyes when I come in.”
Huh. She’d love for Scott to have to do that, but she wasn’t at all sure things would go that well.
At the door she hesitated. Suppose her mom’s interference hadn’t been the reason why Cooper had ended things? Suppose he really had meant what he said and she was about to make herself look like the biggest idiot in the history of the universe?
There was only one way to find out.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cooper finished checking the water pressure in the shower and stepped back. He’d been working on the plumbing for hours so Paris wouldn’t be having cold showers anymore.
Hold Me Until Morning Page 17
