Cooper (HC Heroes Series Book 5)

by Donna Michaels

  He knew all of this from Rylee, of course, who got the scoop on everyone. The woman could interrogate the most seasoned con man and find out the location of his loot without him even realizing he’d told her. She was definitely Gabe’s sister.

  “Hi, Cooper.” The pretty brunette smiled from behind the counter. “You’re just in time. I have a box ready for you.”

  He slowed his approach and frowned. “You do?”

  “Yeah.” She laughed, no doubt at the confused look on his face. “Rylee called and asked me to put a box together and to invite me, but I can’t make it. I’m having dinner with my aunt, and I’m usually in bed early.”

  And Cooper knew why. He was usually up at the crack of dawn or oh-dark-thirty to get in a good run before work and the light was always on at the back of the bakery. Loni was a hard worker, and her aunt Emma was the McCall’s cook at Wild Creek Ranch. He’d enjoyed a few of the woman’s delicious meals. It was no surprise to him that her niece was a great baker. Must run in the family. He also wasn’t surprised that Rylee had already thought of desserts for tonight. She was damn efficient.

  “I’ll let Rylee know I picked up the box. Any of the desserts happen to be a chocolate cupcake?” That might put a smile on Abby’s face. He recalled the last time he’d brought her one she’d nearly taken his hand off.

  Loni smiled. “Ah, you mean Abby’s favorite. Yeah, I packed the last two.”

  “Great. Thanks,” he said, before he paid for them and left the bakery to head home and grab his car. Rylee lived on a small ranch ten miles outside of town.

  Seven minutes later, he parked behind the strip mall near Abby’s back door, cut the engine and waited. She never left by the front door, so he should catch her here, no problem.

  The door opened a minute later, and Oliver and Bryce walked out.

  “Hi, Cooper,” Oliver said, his voice loud enough for him to hear with his windows up.

  The guy smiled and headed toward him, so he turned the key and hit the button to roll down his window. “Hey, Oliver. Bryce.”

  “Your car is to die for,” Oliver gushed. “I’ve never seen a Shelby up close.”

  Cooper nodded. “Thanks.” He’d always had a thing for Mustangs. Both horses and cars. He got that from his father—the good one—James Thompson.

  “Is it new?” Bryce asked.

  He smiled. Pride made him do it. “No. She’s four years old.”

  Mac was generous enough to allow Cooper to keep his baby in the ESI garage since his cottage didn’t have one. He took good care of his car. He got that from his dad too. The good one.

  Cooper had purchased the Shelby GT350 to make himself feel better when Peyton left. For the most part, it’d worked.

  “V6?” Oliver asked.

  His smile widened. “5.2-liter flat-plane V8. She puts out 526 horsepower.”

  “Damn,” Bryce muttered.

  Oliver whistled. “Manual transmission?”

  “All the way,” he replied.

  She was a fast car that he used to open up at a track in California. Whenever he needed to burn off aggression, he’d head there to burn rubber. After Peyton, it’d been therapeutic. So much so that even after he’d gotten over her desertion, he’d head to the track at the end of missions to drain his adrenaline.

  Worked like a charm.

  “You here for Abby?” Oliver asked, and grinned when Cooper nodded. “She’ll be done with Mrs. Garrison in about fifteen minutes. Why don’t you go in and wait for her in the office? It’s too cold out today. You’re liable to freeze your little gentlemen off out here.”

  “Uh…thanks,” he mumbled. He wasn’t sure what Oliver carried behind his zipper, but what Cooper was packing would never be described as gentle or little. “I’ll be fine. It’s warm in here.” At least it was before he’d rolled the window down.

  Besides, he didn’t want to encroach on Abby’s space.

  “Okay. Suit yourself,” Oliver said, giving his car one last appreciative glance before the two men got into Oliver’s Kia Soul and drove away.

  Cooper cranked the ignition, rolled up his window, and flicked the heat on to take the chill off for a minute. Fishing the phone out of his pocket, he noted the time on the dashboard. He had ten minutes to kill while Abby finished with her client.

  After he cut the engine, he shot a quick text to Rylee, letting her know Abby was, indeed, at her salon and he was waiting for her to finish, and that he’d picked up the desserts she’d ordered. He glanced at the box sitting on the passenger seat next to the purple bag of Doritos he’d grabbed from home.

  The women could have their chocolate. He preferred something with a little kick. So did Dean. Contemplating opening the bag to snack on a few while he waited, Cooper received a thumbs up text from Rylee, then vetoed the snack idea so he could text Dean instead.

  How’s it going? he asked. Any word on your ETA yet?

  Negative, Dean texted back a half a minute later. Meeting with Doc on Friday. Hoping for good news.

  Roger that, he replied.

  He could practically feel his buddy’s desire through the phone to leave the rehabilitation center behind.

  The back door to Sharp Cuts opened and Abby appeared.

  Her face brightened the instant she spotted him sitting in his car. “Oh…Cooper. Hi.”

  The fact he put happiness in her eyes sent warmth through his chest. He got out and awareness kick-started his pulse. “Hi, Abby.”

  “Have you been here long? Why didn’t you tell me you were here?” She moved closer and frowned. “Is everything okay?”

  He chuckled. “Everything’s fine. I wasn’t here long, and I didn’t want to interrupt you, so I sat out here to take you to Rylee’s,” he said in answer to all her questions as he walked to the passenger side.

  “She texted a few minutes ago saying something about us all having pizza?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. I told her I’d grab dessert and you.”

  Damn, that sentence conjured up all kinds of hot thoughts. He forced them from his mind and opened the car door for her.

  “Thanks.” The smile returned to her face then broadened when her gaze fell to the box on the seat. “More cupcakes?”

  He grinned, picking up the box and the Doritos. “If I tell you there may be some in the box, you won’t try to take my hand off, will you?”

  “Boy, you get feisty with a guy one time and he doesn’t let you forget it.” She eye-rolled him then smiled as she got in the car.

  He liked when she was feisty—a lot—but he kept that to himself. He also liked her sweet, flowery scent and when she brushed past him, he dipped a little closer to inhale. Twice.

  Not smart.

  At the moment, he didn’t care. He waited until she had her seat belt in place before handing her the snacks and shutting the door. Tonight was about Abby and taking her mind off things. Making her smile.

  He rushed to his side of the car and climbed in behind the wheel.

  “Wow, I haven’t been in here since you first bought it.” Smiling, she glanced appreciatively around her. “It still looks brand new.”

  A smile tugged his lips. “Thanks.” He started the engine and drove around the building. “Can you text Rylee that we’re on our way? She said to let her know so she could call in the pizza order.”

  While Abby fished the phone from her purse and texted, juggling the snacks on her lap, Cooper drove out of town toward Dex and Rylee’s ranch. They had a nice spread. It wasn’t too large, but it was private and quiet.

  “I always love coming out here,” Abby said, shoving her phone back in her purse and glancing at the open land outside the window. “It’s so tranquil. Was it like that on your ranch growing up?”

  Surprised by the question because he’d never really talked to her about his childhood, Cooper nodded. “Yeah. Sort of.” Carter must’ve told her. “Dealing with cattle could be loud and rowdy and dusty, but there were plenty of times it was quiet and peaceful, and it felt like
you were the only one in the world.” Those had been his favorite times.

  She sighed. “Sounds wonderful.”

  “Not so much for a teenage boy.” He chuckled. “Man, I couldn’t wait to leave. See the world. Do something adventurous.” Make a difference. He’d joined the Navy right out of high school and hadn’t returned much after his mother had died from a freak accident. She’d fallen down the stairs not long after he’d graduated from BUDs training. His dad had followed five years later from a fatal heart attack.

  “I’m sorry about your parents,” she said quietly, and he wondered briefly if she could read minds.

  “Thanks,” he said, turning up the drive to Rylee’s ranch. “For a while, I felt guilty for not being there for them. Maybe I could’ve done something to help.” He’d had a lot of training. Perhaps he could’ve…

  Why the hell had he just told her that? He hadn’t given his mouth permission.

  Her warm hand settled on his as he gripped the gear shift. “I understand.”

  He glanced at her then, seeing that understanding brimming in her eyes. “I know you do,” he said quietly.

  He pulled up between a large red barn and small, two-story house and parked next to Mel’s classic Camaro before cutting the engine.

  “Sometimes being around, knowing there’s nothing you can do to help is harder.” Her voice caught at the end.

  Cooper set his free hand over hers and squeezed. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Abby.”

  He’d watched buddies die before but couldn’t imagine watching your friend die over the course of months, knowing you couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

  She nodded, and a single tear slid down her cheek. “Thanks.” Before he could wipe it away, she swiped at it with her free hand and inhaled. “I hope you also know your guilt is unfounded.”

  Caught off guard, his throat grew hot and he swallowed past the lump suddenly lodged there. Dammit. “I do.”

  “Good.” She nodded. “Me, too.” Tugging her hand free, she cleared her throat and snickered. “I probably look like a raccoon.”

  She looked beautiful.

  Abby pulled down his visor and gasped at her reflection in the mirror. “Worse than a raccoon.” She dug a tissue out of her purse and proceeded to wipe away her smudged makeup.

  Wanting to give her some privacy, he got out and walked around the car to open her door. “Ready?”

  “Yep.” She snapped the visor back in place, shoved her tissue in her purse, then smiled up at him. “Ready.”

  He reached down to take the snacks from her, but she only gave up the Doritos.

  “I can carry the box,” she said.

  Chuckling, he shoved the Doritos under his arm and held out his hand to help her out. “At least this time you didn’t try to take my hand off.”

  “That’s progress, right?” She smiled, unfolding from his car to stand in front of him.

  Her gaze was clear and cheerful again, and his body was aware of every breath she took and how her body moved doing it.

  Damn. He was in trouble.

  Her smile was infectious, and he couldn’t help but smile back. “Right,” he said, shutting the car door before he followed her to the house.

  At the first knock, Rylee opened the front door and welcomed them in. Cooper gave up his bag of Doritos but noted Abby carried the box of baked goods to the living room, where Mel sat drinking wine on the couch.

  “Oh, good, Abs, you’re here,” the redhead said. “I just poured you a glass of Lambrusco. And that’s your iced tea on the coffee table, Cooper. No alcohol for you. You’re driving.”

  “Thanks,” Abby said, accepting her glass while she sat next to her friend on the couch.

  Cooper thanked her as well and took a nearby chair. “Aren’t you driving, too?” he asked, nodding toward the wine in her hand.

  Mel shook her head. “Nah. I’m going to crash on the couch here tonight.”

  “Pizza should arrive in fifteen minutes,” Rylee said, setting a bowl full of his Doritos in front of him. “I’m so glad they deliver out here.”

  “Pizza…Pizza,” Lex said from his perch inside Marilyn’s big cage along the back wall. “Pizza…get your…Pizza.”

  “Pizza pie…in your eye,” Marilyn chimed in. “That’s…amore…”

  Abby laughed and sipped her wine.

  For the rest of the evening, Cooper joined the conversation when needed, but most of the night, he just sat there eating and listening, content to stay away from topics about makeup, chocolate, nail polish, tampons, and wine. When someone—with a big mouth and red hair—brought up the topic of kissing, he suggested they turn on Netflix to watch the special with the ventriloquist comedian and his dummies they’d all agreed on earlier.

  Cooper couldn’t have cared less what they’d watched, as long as it kept Mel from comparing onscreen kisses to that damn video of him and Abby kissing last Friday.

  Halfway through the second special, Stef arrived and scarfed down a slice of pizza, two cream puffs, and joined him in washing it down with iced tea.

  Forty minutes later, the show ended, two boxes of pizza were gone, and Abby yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. Her eighth yawn. He knew because he’d been counting. He also noted she’d nursed her one glass of wine. He’d thought she would’ve had several tonight. It was why he drove her.

  “Thank you, guys, for tonight,” Abby said, eyes growing misty. “I know why you did it. And I appreciate it.”

  Rylee set a hand on Abby’s knee. “Of course. Any time.”

  Stef and Mel murmured in agreement, and Abby blinked her eyes a few times.

  Cooper could tell she was having trouble keeping it together, so he stood up. “You ready to go, Abby?”

  “Yes,” she said, rising to her feet, her gaze grateful and less watery.

  “Before you do,” Rylee said, grabbing her wine off the coffee table before she stood. “How about we lift our glasses?”

  Stef and Mel joined her, while Cooper and Abby grabbed their glasses and held them up for a toast.

  “To Mindy,” Rylee said, with him and Stef and Mel echoing her.

  “To Mindy,” Abby repeated, her voice starting to break again, but she clinked glasses with everyone and finished the last little bit of her wine. When done, she carried her empty glass to the open-concept kitchen nearby and set it in the sink.

  Cooper followed and dumped his ice in the sink and set his empty glass next to hers. “Ready?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Thanks for staying tonight and taking me home.”

  “No thanks necessary.” He smiled. “I had fun.”

  The comedian had been funny, but hearing Lex and Marilyn mimic the routine had been hilarious. Even now, as he grabbed their coats off a hook in the hall wall, he could hear Lex saying, “Git yur shit,” while Marilyn repeated, “On a stick,” over and over.

  Chuckling, he waved into the living room at their host. “Thanks for the pizza and iced tea.”

  “Yeah, thanks, Rylee,” Abby said, slipping into the coat he held out for her.

  The drive back to town was short and silent. Pulling up around the back of the Pub, he noted the time on the dashboard clock. Half past nine. He figured it was okay for Abby to be home and have some alone time. Cooper parked his car near the covered stairway, shut off the engine and got out, but before he could get to her side to open the door, she got out and met him in front of the car.

  “There’s another live band tonight.” She smiled. “Can you hear them?”

  He nodded, hearing the muffled sound of a bass.

  She grabbed his hand and tugged him past the stairway and toward the back door to the Pub. “Come inside and dance with me.”

  Shit.

  That wasn’t a good idea. Especially tonight.

  He halted their progress and didn’t move when she tugged.

  Abby turned to him and cocked her head. “I’m going inside with or without you, Cooper.” She released his hand and steppe
d back. “It’s your choice.”

  Shit.

  That wasn’t a good idea, either.

  Especially tonight.

  Some guy would definitely be able to take advantage of her tonight.

  He exhaled and waved toward the door. “Okay. But only for a few minutes.”

  She smiled, a big, beautiful thousand-watt smile that spread warmth through his chest. “Thanks, Cooper.”

  Once again, he found his hand was in hers, and she tugged him inside and didn’t stop until they were in the middle of the crowded dance floor. He wasn’t much of a fast dancer, but he did his best to twirl her around and dip her a few times, loving the sound of her laughter each time they dipped. Just when he started to get into the beat…it changed, slowed down.

  Without prompting, Abby stepped close, slid her hands up his chest, hooked them behind his neck, and settled against him. Damn, he couldn’t find the strength to put her away from him. So he banded his arms around her, tucked her in closer and enjoyed the feel of her sigh washing over his chest.

  For two songs, they swayed slowly to the beat. As they moved, he could feel her soft curves brushing deliciously against him, even through the material of their coats. And the feel of her thumbs lightly caressing the back of his neck set his temperature to simmer and his body to rock-hard. He found the sensations even stronger when he closed his eyes.

  He’d never been so damn turned on and so content in his entire life. To experience both at the same time was amazing. In an attempt to get his bearings, he opened his eyes and some of his control returned when he spotted the sheriff smirking at him from across the floor.

  Damn.

  He stiffened and halted their dance just as the song ended. “Time to go,” he told her, surprised when she didn’t protest or resist when he took her hand and led her off the dance floor, and straight out the back door.

  He needed his head examined. An intervention. A backbone.

  A two-by-four upside his head.

  Knowing he couldn’t take her upstairs, Cooper released her and stood with his arms folded across his chest while she unlocked the stair door and held it open for him to grab.

  He didn’t move.