“Uh-huh,” I say, sounding like Elvis from last night.
“What about Alexa and Julie?”
“They both know. It’s going to be a big change for all of us, you know. Luckily, I haven't found a job yet, so I don’t have any commitments down there.”
“Do you think you’ll find something for you to do in L.A.? It might seem like an easy place to get a job, but it’s harder than you think.”
“I’ll start looking when I get there. I got lucky and found a guy that can support me ‘till I do,” I joke. He shakes his head with a smile and pulls me back into his lap.
“I’ll always support you, baby,” he whispers in my ear.
I know it’s true. He wouldn’t care if I worked or not, as long as he was being sexed all the time. Also, I’m sure he’ll still do everything to talk me into working with him. It’s what I used to want to do, but it makes me nervous. I don’t want to mess anything up when it comes to what Brody has done or Coop’s career.
“Alright, as long as you're happy, Vi. Does your mom know?”
“Probably, but I’m not going to call her. I have nothing to say to her,” I snip much harsher then I intended to. But I’m pissed because no matter how many times I try with my mother she always does something else to disappointment again. I don’t think there’s any coming back now after what I learned last night.
“What did she do now?” My dad groans and I picture him pitching his nose.
“She sent Cooper letters and pictures for him to stay away from me”
“She did what?” he roars, and I think he’s more upset then I was by the news of my mother’s deceit. I’m sure the man wants any reason to burn the woman at the stake.
Much like my husband now.
“She’s the one that kept us apart all these years. She told him I was with someone else.” I brush away the sudden loose tear that has slipped from my eye. “I’m so mad at her, dad. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to forgive her.”
“I don’t blame you. I guess it’ll get better now since you’re getting away from her and finally fully venturing out on your own. Now let me talk to that boy.”
“Daddy…” I stretch out his name, coming out more as a whine.
“I have to give him my speech,” he argues, and I roll my eyes.
“I think he knows your speech. You gave it to him every time you talked to him for two years.”
“Well, it’s been a while and he needs a good reminder. It’ll be a little bit different now that he’s your husband.”
Do all dads with daughters do this? Maybe I should make a questionnaire.
I pull the phone away and hold my hand over the mouthpiece. “My dad wants to talk to you and threaten you with his gun…again.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything else from Ron Spencer.”
Cooper takes the phone from me and removes me from his lap. “Hello, Mr. Spencer…uh-huh.” He laughs with a shake of his head. “Yes, Ron.”
Standing from the bed, Cooper’s grin reassures me he’ll be fine, and I decide to join the others and give them some privacy.
When I sit back down at the table, they all look at me as if I just left the gallows.
“So, how did your dad take it?” Alexa asks.
“He was fine. Supposedly Cooper asked him to marry me back when we were seventeen.” I can’t contain the smile that breaks out on my face.
Can we say swoon?
“Really? Wow!” Julie exclaims. “That’s like the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I know, right?”
Another brownie point to Cooper Reid
“I knew he did. He was sweating like crazy for a week, and I caught him talking in his mirror preparing the words to say,” Brody chirps in. “Where is he now?”
“Getting his ‘If you ever hurt my daughter, I’ll hunt you down and you’ll wish you never lived,’ speech.” I smile, thinking back to all the times my husband has had to endure that speech.
“Oh, boy. I wonder if the speech is any more detailed now, something like ‘I’ll rip you apart limb by limb if you hurt my little jellybean.” Brody imitates my father’s voice, wiggling his finger.
“Jellybean?” Alexa chirps. “I didn’t know your dad called you jellybean.”
“He doesn’t. Brody calls me that to drive Coop crazy,” I tell her before taking a bite of a ripe strawberry.
“Oh,” Alexa’s mouth makes a little ‘o’ and her eyes light up.
“Don’t even think about it…”
She puts up her hands defensively but mutters the word jellybean under her breath.
Her and Brody might actually be perfect for one another.
The bedroom door creaks open and I look over as Cooper walks out with a smile on his face. He gives me a kiss on the cheek and sits back down beside me.
“You survived?” I tease.
“Of course I did. The man adores me. But this time, instead of the gun, it was doing ‘unspeakable things to my vocal cords and hands,’ if I ever hurt his little Violet Harper.” Cooper throws his arm around me and nuzzles his face in my neck. I giggle, the prickles from his light stubble tickling me.
“He’s always so over dramatic for someone that he likes.” I shove Cooper’s head away, and he puts his hand on my cheek.
“I know where he’s coming from. When we have a daughter, I’ll be saying the same things to her boyfriend.” He swings his arm over my shoulder and pops a blueberry into his mouth. He laughs at something Brody says, but I don’t hear it, thinking of the words he just uttered.
When we have a daughter?
My heart beats erratically in my chest and I nervously pick at the food on my plate. He seems so sure we will have one and if I’m honest, getting pregnant again scares the shit out of me. The miscarriage we suffered in high school is a burden I continue to carry around every day. Though as the years went by, I didn’t think of it as much as before, but it lingers in my mind when I would see pregnant women or even children around the age our baby would’ve been. It still hurts and I know now that we’re married he’s going to want a family. I do too, but I just don’t know if I could handle another loss.
“We’re leaving tomorrow,” Cooper tells me, pulling me from my darkening thoughts. I turn to look up at him and he brushes my hair off my shoulder. “You okay?” his eyebrows knit together as he looks me over curiously.
“Yeah…yeah…” I give him a small smile.
“You sure? You seemed kind of zoned out there”
“I’m fine. So, how are we getting back?”
“I chartered a jet, it'll take us to Arizona, and we can stay for however long you need before heading home to L.A.”
I nod. My new home. Exciting, scary, and nerve-wracking as shit.
“Oh, Violet you get to go home on a private jet? Nice. You’ll have to join the mile high club on your honeymoon. Hope you got one with a bed, Coop. Just don't rock the plane too much or stain the sheets. Not that you can’t afford to have them replaced,” Brody rambles on and the girls laugh. Alexa’s laugh much louder, as her eyes flutter and she touches his arm flirtatiously.
“Shut up, Brody!” Cooper tells him, throwing a roll at his head. Cooper then leans down to whisper in my ear. “He’s right though, I do want to join the mile-high club with you.”
“Have you ever been a part of that club?” I choke out.
I don’t want to think about some other dirty whore sharing something special like that. Maybe I’m being selfish, hoping I’m all still all of his firsts, no matter how many he’s had after me.
Let’s not think in numbers, Violet.
“Never, I only want that milestone with you.” He kisses me gently on the lips.
Thank god.
“How about we go to the Stratosphere and go ride the rides? I always wanted to do that,” I say changing the topic so I can stop thinking about the midflight hors d'oeuvre I’m going to make out of my husband.
“Are you nuts?” Julie exclaims. “What's
fun about Rollercoasters eighty million feet in the air?” She shakes her head, terror written all over her pretty face, while her hands wave around like an air traffic controller. “No way.”
“Come on, you only live once. They’re safe.”
“Yeah, okay. No. I’ll keep my feet on the ground while you crazy people do that and probably fall to your untimely deaths.”
“Well, I’m down.” Brody claps his hands and Alexa nods her head with a smile. She’s the most like me and will try about anything once.
Tucker clears his throat. “I’ll need to make some arrangements and talk to Collin before you guys do that. I’m sure you remember the crowds’ downstairs. Also, we need to make sure the area is secure.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot.” I take a deep breath, knowing this is my life now and it’s going to take a lot of getting used too.
Cooper’s fingers trace around my ear as he sticks a piece of hair behind it. His warm breath tickles as he leans in to whisper in my ear. “When we get back, I’m going to make good on my promise about re-doing our wedding night.”
His delicious threat heats my belly and makes my skin prickle.
I turn to him, so our noses touch. “Bring in on, Mr. Reid. But if I can walk in the morning I’ll be disappointed.”
His eyes darken and they’re primal looking. I can only wonder what he has in store for me.
“Oh, I like the challenge, Mrs. Reid.”
May 21st, 2006
Violet
W alking up to the porch of my house in Tucson, I feel like we arrived on horseback and not by private jet. Cooper made good on his promise, recreating our wedding night, and making sure I couldn’t walk straight. Then we joined the mile high club together. There was no bed, but we made good use of the leather lounge chairs. My core is sore, but the good kind because I’m aching for more.
Alexa and Julie stayed behind in Vegas for an extra day and so did Brody. He and Alexa seemed to have hit it off while Julie made her mark with Tucker.
I’m glad I’m not the only one to have a love connection in Vegas.
“So, this is home?” Cooper asks looking around the outside of the townhouse with blue siding.
“This is it.” It’s going to be weird not living here anymore with Alexa and Jules. Now, instead of them jumping in my bed to harass me, it’s going to be Cooper.
I smile and remember all the good times we had here. “I’m going to miss it; lots of good memories here.”
With my house key gripped in my hand, I line it up to the keyhole when Cooper stops me, putting his hand over mine. I look at him curiously and his free hand brushes down my face.
“I promise to make new memories with you in L.A., and we can come back and visit whenever you want.”
“I would like that. Thank you.” I reach up and peck a kiss on his lips. I’m about to open the door when it swings open and my mother is standing on the other side. With her hands on her hips, she glares at us through the narrow slits of her eyes.
Well, I guess there’s no denying she heard the news.
“Mother, what are you doing here?” I ask, annoyed as hell because I was seconds away from showing Cooper how bouncy my bed is.
Why did I ever give this woman a key? Oh, that’s right I didn’t have a choice if I wanted help with the deposit. The anger I felt towards my mother after she made me move always lingered. Even still, I did my best to want to try and repair our broken relationship. She’s my mother; I was born to love her. I wanted to love her the way I was supposed to. Yet, all the energy I put into trying to dispel the anger and the hurt I felt just never worked. She didn’t give back the same effort and never became the mother I needed. Now as she stands in front of me, knowing she’s the cause of so much of our extra heartache only fuels my temper. I’m not sure I want to keep trying with her. Mother or not.
“Waiting for you to come home. We need to talk.” She addresses only me, not even looking at Cooper.
“Hello, Ms. I have no idea what your last name is now…” Cooper greets her in his best smart-ass voice. I can’t help but giggle.
“It’s Ms. Winston,” she hisses harshly, her evil eyes now glowering at him. I see him bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
“My mistake. Hello, Ms. Winston, it’s been a long time.”
“Not long enough,” she snaps, and glares back at me, “How could you, Vi?”
“How could I what?” I put my hands on my hips, imitating her.
“Cut the crap, Violet. How could you marry this boy? I thought I took care of that problem years ago. And aren’t you dating Darren?”
“Ugh, Darren and I broke up weeks ago. He was an arrogant asshole. I just happened to get very lucky running into Cooper in Vegas…” My hands roam over Cooper’s firm chest, his right dimple well defined in the cocky grin spreading across his face, “and well, one thing led to another. So, if you don’t mind. I need to pack up a few things so I can go move in with my husband.”
I shoulder past her and walk into my house, pulling Cooper along with me.
“You can’t do this, Violet. Your life is here.”
The cackle rises in my throat and escapes, making me sound like the wicked witch the west.
“You’re one to talk, mother. You of all people know about sudden marriages and uprooting lives,” I growl. “I only had a life here because I was forced to. I grew into it, but now the only place for me is with Cooper. I'm twenty-one now and thank the lord you have no control over what I do.”
“Violet, I'm still your mother. I know what’s best for you.”
I snort, “Best for me? You wouldn’t know what that was if it bit you in the ass! I would've married him a long time ago if you hadn’t interfered. I know all about the letters and photos you sent him at the end of senior year.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She places her hand on her chest, pretending to act put out. Cooper snorts at her blatant lie.
“You know exactly what you did. Don’t try to lie to me now, mother,” I spit out. The harshness in my voice hits her like a slap in the face.
“I did what I did for your own wellbeing. He was going to drag you down. You wouldn’t have gone to college. What would you have done? Followed him on the road, while he cheated on you night after night!”
“I can assure you, Ms. Winston, that would have never happened then, and it’s not going to happen now,” Cooper says.
“Oh, please.” She rolls her eyes.
“It doesn’t matter what you think. You can’t assume what would have happened. Did you think just because Jeremy cheated on you and left you, Cooper would too?” Like a light bulb turning on, the timeline of that jerkoff leaving suddenly fits the same timeline when she sent Coop the pictures. “Is that why you sent the pictures, mom? Because the bastard cheated on you, you thought it would be fair for me to be unhappy as well? Because if I ran off with Cooper you would’ve been all alone ‘till number three came along?”
“Don’t be silly, Violet. Cooper has never been any good for you. His own parents agreed. I was trying to help you and now—” I raise my hand to stop her and thankfully her mouth clamps shut.
“Mom, you’re just going to have to accept that Cooper and I are married now and get over it. Now, if you excuse me I have some packing to do.”
I grasp Cooper’s hand and yank him to my room, leaving my mother huffing and puffing in her place. Locking the door behind me, I scream out in frustration. Loud enough it shakes the walls, making the pictures rattle.
I never thought I could hate my own mother, but right now, I do. Hearing her admit in her own words she’s the one who split us apart is like a sword ripping through my heart. Why does she not want me to be happy? Cooper pulls me into his arms, pushing my head to his chest, holding me tight as angry tears roll down my cheeks.
“Why can’t she be happy for me?” My voice croaks and I nuzzle my face into his chest, inhaling his cologne, reminding myself it’s going to be alright n
ow.
I found him again. He’s here with me. It’ll be okay. He’s mine.
“I swear she wants to ruin my life so I’ll end up as miserable as her. It hurts. She’s supposed to love me, let me make my own mistakes sometimes, but she’s out to control me.”
Lifting my head from Cooper’s now wet shirt, I rub my face, pushing away the burning tears, and try to shake it off.
“I know, but you have me now and we’re not going to let her win.” I smile at his words and nod. He’s right. The first thing I need to do is get out of Arizona and away from my mother. Though, when I quickly glance around my room, doing a quick survey of all the things I have to pack, it gives me a headache.
I didn’t think I had this much crap.
My eyes dart back to Cooper, who is looking at me, concerned. A wicked idea pops into my head, sure to piss my mother off.
“Cooper…” I take a step closer to him and rub my hands up and down his chest. “I want you to fuck me. Fuck me hard, so hard, I scream this whole place down.” His lips curl mischievously, and my hand rubs over his hardened dick. “Do you think you can handle such a task, Mr. Reid?” I purr.
“Oh, Mrs. Reid. I think I’m just the person to handle such a task.”
“I hope she got the hint and left,” I mutter as I put on a bra and a lace thong.
“Hopefully. You were insanely loud.” Cooper smirks deviously and slips on a pair of boxers.
“Who, me?” I flutter my eyes innocently. My vocal cords are a little scraped from calling out ‘Oh Cooper’ a lot more than I needed to. I wanted to make sure she heard who was claiming me. The other sounds were all the same, just a pinch or two beyond the normal level.
“Yes, you…” He kisses me lightly on my swollen lips.
“Oops,” I bite my finger, playing innocent. “Well, you enjoyed it and were just as loud as me. Though, yelling, “Oh fuck Ace, your pussy is so tight, I’ve missed how it felt wrapped around my cock,” might have been overkill,” I tease.
He grins widely, looking oh so pleased with himself. “You liked it,” he returns my sentiment.
I reach out my hand. “Come, I’m hungry. Let’s see if we can scrounge something up to eat.”
I Found You Page 10
