She’d already decided yesterday to go out with him, and had planned to let him know today. But now she had everyone in Silver Springs watching to see what she’d do. And thinking they actually had a say in it.
Sitting on a stool, she dropped her head into her hands. The voices on the radio had stopped, and now a song by George Strait was playing. He may be annoying and frustrating, but at least Cooper Levine had good taste in music.
“Hey, Emma. Katie said you were hiding back here. What’s up?” Her cousin Bekah walked in, with her sister Mike trailing behind. She could tell by the grins on their faces, they knew exactly what was up.
“Your sister just mortified me in front of the entire town of Silver Springs, and you guys come back here acting like you know nothing about it. I’ve known you both all my life, and I can tell when you’re lying.”
Her entire family always felt at ease in the coffee shop, and it was normal for them to just come back if she wasn’t out front. Some of them even helped out when she was short-staffed from time to time.
But for once, she wished she had a steel door and a strong lock to keep her family from just invading her space.
“Okay, we may have heard some talk on the radio. We were on our way here to meet Ally after her interview. She should be here any minute.” Mike reached over to the counter and grabbed a muffin, and pulled a piece off to pop into her mouth.
“What are you all doing back here?” The woman in question walked into the back, looking like she was completely innocent.
Bekah looked at her and laughed. “You’re in so much trouble!”
Ally pretended to look surprised as she looked over at Emma. “Why?”
Emma crossed her arms in front of her chest and tipped her head to the side. “Why? Do you realize you’ve helped Cooper Levine completely humiliate me in front of the whole town? Now, thanks to your encouragement, there’s an online poll going on whether or not I should go on a date with him.”
Ally grinned at her. “Oh, that…well, I’ve already cast my vote.”
“You may as well just go out with him, Emma. The voting is already a resounding win for yes.” Bekah looked down at her phone, then held it up as though to show Emma the results from where she was standing.
As she looked around at her cousins standing in front of her, she seriously wondered how she’d been the only sane one born to the family.
Six
“Exactly how many of you Roberts are here in Silver Springs? I swear, everywhere I go, there’s another one.” Cooper watched as the man and woman he’d just been introduced to walked away.
“Sam is another cousin. There are ten of us all together.”
He brought his eyes back to the woman across the table from him. She was pulling a slice of pizza off the platter, using her other hand to try separating the long strings of cheese that were still holding on for dear life.
She was wearing her hair down, and sported just a small amount of makeup. Looking at her, he realized he’d never seen her completely done up. She didn’t have to. There was a glow about her that just showed her beauty. When he thought back to when he’d first come to Silver Springs all those years ago, she’d never tried to outshine anyone else then either.
But she always had. Maybe that’s what had always attracted him to her. The fact that she wasn’t trying so hard. And she wasn’t afraid to just be herself, with no need to put on a show to attract anyone.
“Do I have something on my face?” She was looking at him with her eyes scrunched together as she wiped at her mouth with her hand.
He smiled and shook his head. “No, sorry. I didn’t mean to stare. I was just noticing how you really haven’t changed at all in your looks since you were a teenager. You’re still the prettiest girl in town.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’ve already got me on the date—you don’t need to keep pouring on the charm.”
“To be fair…you really didn’t have any choice on the date. It was decided by the good citizens of Silver Springs. So, I still feel a little bit of charm is in order to make you realize that over eighty percent of the population can’t be wrong.”
She gave a small laugh. “Well, once I got over the initial shock and humiliation, I will admit I may have realized it was just easier to go out with you than to wait and see what you’d do next to embarrass me if I didn’t.”
He shrugged. “Now, if only I could convince you to come for a ride on my bike with me. I’ve been asking for years, and I swore to myself I would get you on the back of that bike if it’s the last thing I do.”
She’d once again insisted they use her vehicle. The weather was getting much cooler now, and he knew it was almost time to put the bike away for the winter. He was determined she’d ride it at least once before he did.
She shook her head. “Not going to happen.” He could get lost in those big brown eyes that were focused on him. He’d always remembered her eyes.
“What do you have against motorcycles?”
“Nothing. I think they’re great for people who enjoy riding on a machine hurtling down the highway on two wheels, with absolutely nothing around them to keep them from becoming roadkill.”
His mouth hung half-open, the slice of pizza still in his hand, inches from taking a bite. Emma calmly picked her own slice up and took a bite, smiling at him angelically as she chewed.
“So, you’re saying you’re scared to ride a motorcycle?” He didn’t think Emma Roberts would be afraid of anything.
“I would rather go bungee jumping while juggling fiery swords than get on a motorbike.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “All those years, when you said no, it was because you were afraid to ride on my bike?”
She swallowed and reached out to take a sip of her water. “Well that, and the fact I really didn’t think you were the kind of guy anyone could get serious with, so why would I put myself through that? Besides, you had enough girls hanging on the back of your leather jacket. I didn’t think you needed any more.”
He leaned back in his chair and studied her face. “And now?” He hadn’t even realized he was going to ask her, but the words were out before he could stop himself.
“Now what?” She looked at him warily.
“Now, do you think I’m the kind of guy you could get serious with?”
He wished he could take the words back as soon as he saw the deer caught in the headlights look on her face.
Why did he care anyway? A serious relationship should be the furthest thing from his mind right now. He had enough going on that he needed to deal with, without throwing a relationship with a woman into the mix.
He needed to focus on the one girl in his life who needed him. He wasn’t prepared to let her get hurt if a relationship with Emma didn’t work out.
He was sure Emma wouldn’t enjoy being involved with a man who was in the situation he was, one that was quite possibly about to get a whole lot messier.
Suddenly, a loud alarm went off on Emma’s phone, and she grabbed it quickly as she stood up. “I have a fire call. We have to leave.”
“Is your coffee shop on fire?” he asked startled.
“No. Probably something else.”
Now what on earth was she talking about? She was already throwing her sweater on, and grabbing her purse from under the table.
“Where are you going? I haven’t even had one piece of pizza.” His stomach grumbled as if to make his point clearer.
She was reaching into her purse for her keys. “I’ll explain on the way. And I promise I’ll buy the next pizza since you didn’t get to finish.” She was already heading to the door, so he had no choice but to follow.
As they climbed into the car, she quickly started the engine and turned her hazard lights on as she threw the car into gear. “I’m a volunteer for the local fire department. The town isn’t big enough to hire full-time fire fighters, so they rely on volunteers.”
He stared at her in astonishment as he clung to the
handle above the passenger door. She was speeding through traffic, barely slowing down as she blew through intersections.
“When a call comes in, we have to answer. And we don’t know until we get to the station if we’re headed to a fire or an accident scene.” She was talking like they were on a Sunday drive, without a care in the world.
Meanwhile, he could only sit there stunned, unable to speak. This was the same woman, who’d just told him she was afraid to get on the back of his motorbike because it wasn’t “safe.” But now she was driving at breakneck speeds, weaving in and out of traffic, on her way to fight a fire or rescue someone from an accident.
Just when he thought there wasn’t possibly anything that could surprise him about a woman, Emma Roberts managed to do just that.
They pulled into the lot of the fire hall and jumped from the car. She ran toward the building, but shouted back over her shoulder, “Just take my vehicle and leave it parked by the shop. Sorry about our date.”
Cooper stood watching her go, as the doors to the fire station opened and men inside rushed around to get into the vehicles. The lights were already flashing, and he noticed Emma grab her gear from a locker then hop into a truck that was ready to pull out.
Still standing and looking over the passenger door where he’d gotten out of the vehicle, he watched the trucks all pull away, sirens blaring and horns blowing. He slowly made his way around to the driver’s seat as they got farther away in the distance.
He could honestly say, in all his life he’d never had a date end quite this dramatically.
But one thing he knew for sure after spending just a short amount of time with her—he was going to somehow convince Emma Roberts they were meant to be together.
Seven
“Slow down, Tank. You’re ripping my arm out of my socket, for crying out loud.” Emma tried to pick up her pace to keep up with the big black lab that was pulling her along behind him.
Whenever her brother and Erin both had to work a day shift, Emma would always make a point of going over to get their dog and take him out for a walk. Since today was an unusually warm fall day, she was taking Tank to his favorite dog park near her coffee shop. The minute he’d gotten out of her vehicle, he’d dragged her in the direction of the park, not even caring if she kept up or not.
She was exhausted after spending hours fighting the house fire she’d been called to last night. The house had been completely gutted, but at least they’d managed to keep it from spreading to any of the neighboring buildings.
By the time she’d arrived home, it was past midnight, and she’d collapsed into her bed. She had all her employees trained well, so when she was called out they always knew how to close or open the shop.
Her mom constantly worried about her being on the fire department, and felt it wasn’t a place for a woman to be. She loved her mother, but she also knew that with some things, the woman was incredibly old-fashioned. To her, fighting fires and rescuing people from mangled vehicles was better left for men to do.
But Emma had never followed the easy path, and a few years ago when the local paper had mentioned that the volunteer department was desperate for help, she’d immediately responded. The guys were a little apprehensive at first, but she’d soon showed them she was just as capable as they were.
She unclipped Tank’s leash from his collar and the dog ran happily into the park, his tail wagging with every leap he took. He immediately spotted a squirrel running past, and he was right on its tail.
Emma had to smile at the pure joy the dog always had for everything he did.
“Hey, Emma, wait up.” Cooper’s voice came from behind, so she stopped and turned. He ran across the street from the radio station carrying a pizza box.
When he caught up to her, he gave her a sheepish smile as he held the box out in front of him. “I was going to come over to the coffee shop and surprise you with lunch, but saw you walking out here with a dog. I grabbed a take-out pizza from the place we’d been last night since we didn’t get to finish. I thought maybe we could continue our date today.”
They walked through the gate and made their way over to a bench under a tree. Tank raced over to see who the new person was.
Cooper reached down, grinning as he scratched the dog behind his ears. Tank had immediately assessed the situation and obviously didn’t feel Cooper posed any threat, and was closing his eyes to enjoy the attention he was receiving. His tongue hung out as he panted, with his tail thumping on the ground.
“You’re a great guard dog, Tank. Thanks for making sure I’m safe.” Emma rolled her eyes at the dog who was now throwing himself on his back to let Cooper lean over and give him a good scratch on his belly.
“Who does he belong to? I’m sure having a big dog around the coffee shop would be a bit of a health code violation.” Cooper was trying to balance the pizza box in one hand and give Tank the attention he demanded.
She laughed and reached out to take the box from his hand so he could pet Tank without dropping the pizza on the ground. “No, he belongs to my brother and his wife. They both had to work today, so I always go and take him out for a walk and a play. He gets lonesome when he’s by himself for too long.”
Cooper raised his head and looked her direction with an eyebrow raised. “I never took you to be such a softie.”
“I’m hardly a softie. I just don’t like to think of him being home alone all day by himself. Besides, Jack says he’d probably destroy everything in his path just to show his displeasure at being left at home, so I’m just helping to make sure nothing gets ruined.”
A German shepherd that was here every day at lunchtime raced by. Tank decided to join his friend, jumping up and running away so fast he almost pulled Cooper off the bench with him.
Cooper laughed and shook his head. “Seriously, why do dogs get all the energy? If I had half his energy I can only imagine the things I’d get done in a day.”
Emma let herself stare at the side of his face as he smiled at the dogs playing. His dark brown hair was short, but still just a bit unruly. The top was wavy, and looked like he’d always just run his fingers through it. He wasn’t completely clean-shaven either, showing just a hint of shadow on his jawline. His eyes were turned away from her, but she knew without seeing them they were the lightest shade of hazel she’d ever seen, and always seemed to be able to look right through her.
He wore a plaid shirt today, with his sleeves rolled halfway up his arm. Her stomach did a little flip as she took in the nice flex and movement of muscle in his forearm.
“I guess it’s my turn to ask if I have something on my face, or my arm perhaps?”
Emma’s cheeks instantly burned as her eyes shot up in horror to see him watching her with a grin covering his face.
Honestly, when she was around this man, her common sense seemed to fly out the window. Nothing like being caught checking a guy out who you’ve pretended to have no interest in whatsoever.
He reached over and took the box back from her, placing it between them on the bench. He opened the lid, and he’d ordered the exact kind they’d had last night. It was a combination he’d never tried before, and had been doubtful about how it would taste when she’d mentioned it was her favorite.
“I hope I remembered everything all right…pepperoni, ham, mushrooms, onions, tomato and pineapple?” He shuddered as he said the last ingredient, just as he had last night. “I’m going on record once more to say that pineapple holds no place on a pizza. But for you, I’m willing to try it.”
She realized he hadn’t even had a chance to eat any of the pizza he’d paid for last night, and now he’d picked up another one to try and continue their date. She had to admit, something about the gesture was charming.
“Thanks for the lunch. I was going to call you today to apologize for having to run off last night, and to thank you for getting my vehicle back to the shop. I had one of the guys drop me off after we got back.” She reached down and grabbed a slice of the pizza and
bit into it. It was still warm, the cheese still gooey and stretchy.
“Well, I’ll admit I was a bit disheartened at how our date ended. It’s not great for a man’s ego to have a woman need to get away so quickly. However, since you had a good reason, I can let it go this time. As long as you promise me it won’t happen every time we try to have a date.”
She cocked her head to the side. “You’re so sure there will be more dates?”
He lifted his shoulders as he grabbed a slice of pizza for himself. “One thing you should know about me, Emma Roberts, is that once I decide on something, it takes an awful lot to make me give up. I’ve spent my life fighting against odds that would have left most people with no hope. But I’ve always gone after what I wanted, and in this case, it’s you.”
Eight
“Who was that guy in the suit I passed on the way in? Something I should know about?” Chuck Levine was a big man, standing a few inches taller than Cooper who was almost six feet tall himself. But Chuck had a gentle soul which seemed to be at odds with his large frame.
He’d been married once years ago, but his wife had been killed in a car accident, and he’d never remarried. He always said his heart belonged with her, and would stay that way until he saw her again.
Chuck had been the only family who had given him any kind of love or stability while growing up, and Cooper thought of him as a father. At least, more of a father than his real dad who was out there somewhere, not caring about the family he had.
Cooper finished cleaning the desk where he sat, knowing his uncle would come in and sit down across from him like he always did. “Just some man from the town, letting me know about the sale of the lot between us and the coffee shop. Wanted to let me know to get my bid in if I wanted to grab it before someone else did. He mentioned there was a developer who wanted it to put another ice cream shop or something like that. I told him I wasn’t interested. For the amount of parking we need here at the station, street parking is more than enough.”
Rocky Mountain Heart Page 3
