by Sabrina York
“Uh, heading back to LA I guess.”
For some reason, everyone looked at Coop. It was almost a challenge. Are you going to let her do that?
Apparently. Because he said, “And I’m heading home as well.” But then he paused, and added, to me, “Unless I get a better offer.”
Oh. So the ball was in my proverbial court.
All right. Fine.
“Do you want to talk?” I asked him. He stood and took my hand before all the words were out.
He led me to the living room, where we could be private. Sort of. I saw Jed leaning over in his chair so he could see what we were doing around the doorjamb.
For some reason, Coop took the single seat, so I sat on the sofa. We kind of looked at each other for a moment. Neither of us knew where to start. A sudden panic rose in my gullet, flooding my mouth with bitterness. What if, after all he’d said and done, he’d decided all those one-night-stands we’d had—as well as a couple in the afternoon and early morning and middle of the night—had been enough for him?
What if he didn’t want this to continue?
The thought of this being over made me want to cry.
Oh, who was I kidding? I had a life in LA and he lived in Seattle. Unless one of us sacrificed a lot, we could never be together. It was over.
“So,” he said at long last.
“So.”
Yeah. I had no idea what to say.
“What are your plans?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I’m heading back home, I guess.” Unless I got a better offer.
His expression went hard and he nodded. “Okay,” he said in a raw voice. “I told you I had to come, when I found out you’d be here. I told you I needed to know if—”
“If there’s anything between us.”
“Right. And there is.”
He looked to me expectantly, so I said, “Yes. There is.” Because there was.
“But that wasn’t the whole truth, Vic.”
Oh. Great. My stomach dove.
He cleared his throat. My pulse thudded. “I wanted even more than that,” he said at long last.
My heart did a little trill, not too hopeful, but a bit. “Why?”
He laughed. “Don’t you know, Vic?”
I shook my head. I was all at sea here.
Someone throw me a floatie.
He stood then, and moved to sit next to me, but not too close, I noticed. He gently took my hands in his. “Vic, you’re the one I could never forget.”
Lordy. This was getting a little uncomfortable for my apprehensive psyche. “Are you trying to tell me there haven’t been any other women since me?”
He gaped at me and then laughed. “No. I’m not saying that. There have been other women. In fact—” He paused, then started again. “Okay. All right. Yes, there have been other women, but my point is, you’re the only one I could never forget.” He shook his head. “I thought about you those hot nights in Iraq, when I was jumping out of airplanes, when I was on boring stakeouts.”
“Did you ever think of me when you were stunt-manning in movies?” I had to ask. You know I did.
“Ah… Yeah. Sure.”
I gave him a look, because that bit, I had trouble believing.
“Hey. I’ve been wanting you for over fifteen years. Do you really think I’m just going to let you waltz out of my life? No.” He pulled me closer. “No.”
His lips were warm and hungry on mine, but questing, as though he were waiting for something. Some tacit invitation.
The tip of my tongue to his served as that. He gave a great groan and yanked me flush against him and opened his mouth.
Heat flared.
I nearly deflated when the kiss ended too soon, even though it probably ended that soon due to the cheering from the kitchen.
“I want to explore this with you,” Coop said. “No matter what it means. No matter where it takes us.” And, when I didn’t respond quickly enough, “How about you?”
“Yes. Yes, please.” He kissed me before I could continue, but it was a quickie. I pulled back so I could see his face when I admitted, “When I first saw you again, I felt…excited and scared—”
He stilled against me. “Wait. What?” I couldn’t even look at his horrified expression. “Scared? Why?”
I grinned. It wobbled. “You broke my heart. I was afraid.”
“You were afraid because you still have feelings for me. That’s why you let me kiss you right off the bat.” There he was, all playful again. I loved when he was playful.
“Your logic is impeccable.”
“And?”
“And?” I knew he was asking for a declaration. I knew I had to tell him how I felt. Hadn’t I given Farley that exact advice? So, even though it still scared me silly, I sucked in a breath, looked him in the eye and said, “I’m crazy about you, Coop. I want to figure out a way we can spend more time…exploring this.”
His smile blossomed and he pulled an object from his pocket. “I have something for you.”
I stared at the small, square box. A ring box. My stomach churned. “Coop…”
“Yeah, Vic?”
“You’re not going to propose to me, are you?”
His eyes got all wide and he clutched at his imaginary pearls. “What are you asking me, Victoria Sue Walker?”
I snorted a laugh. “My middle name is not Sue, and I think you heard the question. Because we’ve just met again.”
“I know we’ve just met…again.” He kind of made fun of that word. “But I bought this ring to give to you, before we had that fight, way back when.” He opened the box to show me the ring.
Oh, hell yeah. He better not be proposing. It was a cute ring, but not an engagement ring. Certainly not the engagement ring of a man who expected a yes.
He chuckled at my expression. “I’m not proposing, Vic, but I do have a very important question to ask you. It’s been delayed a little while, but I think the question applies now, just as much as it did then.”
I was befuddled. What the hell was he talking about? Also, had he been chewing on cloves? His breath smelled yummy. “All right. What’s your question?”
He held out the box and went down on one knee—ignoring the squeals from the staff, who were all now peeping around the doorjamb—and said, with all sincerity, “Victoria Sue Walker, will you go steady with me?”
It was about all I could do to not laugh. He was adorable. Dorky, but really, really adorable. “I would love to go steady with you, Cameron Cooper.”
“Rocky.”
“Cam.” I accepted the ring with grace and helped him stand. He folded me into a hug.
“So will you come with me to Seattle?” he asked.
I made a face. “I have a ton of work to get back to.” Returning from vacation was always a nightmare—what with the hundreds of missed emails—and I hadn’t even had my vacation. “But you’re welcome to come visit me in LA. My condo has a pool.” I added that last bit to sweeten the deal, but I’m not sure it was necessary, because he agreed with alacrity before I even got the word pool out.
“And maybe then you’ll visit me in Seattle and fall in love with it and move there.”
“With Seattle?” I blinked. “Doesn’t it rain there?”
“Hardly ever.” He grinned so I knew he was lying. “Or you could fall in love with me and move there. Either would work. I’m flexible.”
“Mmm,” I murmured as I kissed him. “If memory serves, you are very flexible.”
We kissed. You know, to seal the deal. And also, because we enjoyed kissing.
* * *
When the staff started leaving, I nearly started crying. They took off in fits and starts, and with each departure, I felt a swell of genuine love for each and every one of them. We had developed such a bond. How had that happened so quickly?
I actually teared up when Wren and Olivia hugged me goodbye.
When Coop’s team left, Mungo took Mason, because Coop would be coming with me to LA for
a week and Mason didn’t like to fly—not even in private planes.
I did another check on the house and staff lodge, making sure everything was ready for whatever came next at Mistletoe Lodge, then Coop and I grabbed our luggage and loaded my rental car. It was such a domestic thing to do, it sent a shiver through me. Was I really ready for this kind of domesticity? Was I really ready to settle with one man?
And then, I had to laugh, because it wasn’t settling. It wasn’t settling at all.
As we stood by the car and stared at the beautiful lodge, all noble and silent and bathed in a sprinkling of snow, he put his arms around me and held me, and I realized what this really was.
It was my fairy tale.
And it had come true.
Would we make it this time?
If I had to guess, I’d say, damn straight we would.
Damn fricking straight.
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
Coop woke me up with a big sloppy kiss on Sunday morning. After a couple weeks at my place, I’d come up to visit him in Seattle. I loved his big comfy bed and flannel sheets. Mostly, I liked the way he warmed them.
I knew by now to expect him to wake up early and bring me coffee when he got tired of being alone, so the big sloppy kiss was kind of a surprise, but it was nice.
Except his breath. His breath was terrible.
I was about to tell him to go and brush, when, from the doorway, he bellowed, “Mason, stop that.”
I opened my eyes to see a gaping maw right before my eyes. Big teeth. Lolling tongue. Really bad breath.
Egads.
“Get off the bed.” Coop hauled the great beast to the floor and sat down beside me with my coffee. I took it and sipped. Moaned. It was good.
And then, once my brain kicked in, “I can’t believe your dog just French kissed me.”
He grinned. “At least he likes you.”
I sighed and studied the Rottie. “I think he misses Lola.”
“Maybe I should get a Chihuahua.”
I made a face. “Not if I’m going to live here!” During the past week I’d pitched my ideas for expanded staff training to the Grimm brothers, the owners of Eden Inc., and they’d loved the idea. Since the trainings could take place anywhere, I suggested we set up headquarters in Seattle. They’d agreed.
So, yeah. I was moving.
To Seattle.
And I had a new job!
Before this, the thought would have horrified me. Leaving my home? My job? My world? No way. I was, to be frank, in one hell of a rut. I hadn’t been unhappy, but I sure as hell hadn’t been happy. I’d been with someone, but always felt alone. I’d been marking time, and that’s no way to live a life.
But now I had a reason to make a change.
Now I had Cooper.
We were definitely a thing. A thing that could really last.
Not to mention, the new position had a nicer paycheck…
During the week at my place, when I worked, he lounged around the pool. When I came home, he was there.
I’d never had someone to come home to before.
I liked it.
I liked it a lot.
I especially liked that the two of us chose to stay together.
When I chose him. Chose Seattle.
It wouldn’t be easy and I would have some large adjustments to make…
Most specifically, “No Chihuahua.”
“Okay,” he said with a sly grin. “We’ll see.”
This, I did not dignify with a response.
He leaned back on the pillow and looked at me. Just looked at me, until I said, “What?”
He shrugged. “I’m just happy, Vic.”
“I’m happy too.” Not trite in the least.
Wow. How’d that happen?
“I mean, we’re together again.” He lifted his arm and I cuddled in. “I can’t tell you how freaking…happy that makes me.”
“Me too.”
He held me for a long while. Just held me.
I reveled in every second.
Then he kissed me on the nose and asked, “So, Vic. What did you think about your blast from the past? Being back at Mistletoe Lodge? Being one of the shrubbery people again?”
Egads. What did I think? About all of it?
Herding my staff and sleeping in a crowded bunk for a week? Mason’s farts all night long?
“It was terrible,” I told him. “I loved every minute.”
And it was true.
THE END
About the Author
Her Royal Hotness, Sabrina York, is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of hot, humorous romances. She loves writing in all genres and sub-genres so her books range from sweet & snarky to scorching hot. And occasionally snarky and hot at the same time. Whatevs. You get the point. Thar be snark in them thar books! Consider yourself warned.
Whether your jam is hot Highlanders; suave, urbane (and naughty) Dukes, scorching hot SEALs in action, sexy stripper Cowboys (at the Stud Ranch) or a hot, horny guy trapped for centuries in a magical lamp… Sabrina has something for you! Check out excerpts for all her books at SabrinaYork.Com.
Sabrina’s recent accolades include: 2018 Holt Medallion Winner, 2017 RITA® Nominee for Susana and the Scot, and 2017 National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award.
Visit her webpage at www.sabrinayork.com to check out her books, excerpts and contests. Who knows? You might win a tiara. Represented by Nicole Rescinti with the Seymour Agency.
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BOOKS by Sabrina York
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
James Patterson BookShots
Bedding the Highlander
Noble Passions Series
Friends and enemies tangle in the dark underbelly and High Tea Rooms of Regency London. Och, aye. And Scotland too!
Dark Fancy, Book 1
Dark Duke, Book 2
Brigand, Book 3
Defiant, Book 4
Folly, Book 5
Waterloo Heroes Series
Can Love Heal a Wounded Heart?
Tarnished Honor, Book 1
Call of the Wild Wind, Book 2
Untamed Highlanders Series
Hot Highlanders and Independent Lasses
Hannah and the Highlander, Book 1
Susana and the Scot, Book 2
Lana and the Laird, Book 3
Say Yes to the Scot Anthology
The Highlander Is All That, Book 4
What a Highlander’s Got to Do, Book 5
The Dundragon Time Travel Trilogy
Laird of Her Heart, Book 1
Her Hot Highlander Book 2 (Coming Soon)
His Highland
Lass Book 3 (Coming Soon)
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Wired Series
Office Hijinks are seriously off limits. Seriously!
Adam’s Obsession, Book 1
Tristan’s Temptation, Book 2
Making Over Maris, Book 3
Elite Metal
Action Adventure Romance
Sterling’s Seduction—Elite Metal
Lithium’s Rescue—Elite Ghosts
Cesium’s Capture—Elite Elements
Stone Hard SEALs
Action Adventure Romance
STONE HARD SEALS FULL COLLECTION
Stone Hard SEALs (Action-Packed Military Romance Duet) Book 1 & 2
Guard Dog, Book 3
Herding Cat, Book 4
Hot Rod, Book 5
Gun Shy, Book 6
Whipped (Contemporary Romance)
Stripped Down Cowboys (And Prequel Novellas)
Come visit the Stud Ranch! Yee Haw.
Prequel Novellas
The Real McCoy Prequel Book 1
Come Hell or High Water Prequel Book 2
Protect and Serve Prequel Book 3
Novels
Stud For Hire, Book 1
Cowboy to Command, Book 2
Spurred On, Book 3
Tryst Island Series
Steamy Contemporary Romance Series about friends & lovers
Rebound Book 1
Dragonfly Kisses Book 2
Smoking Holt Book 3
Heart of Ash Book 4
Devlin’s Dare Book 5
Parker’s Passion Book 6
Stand Alone Kickass Romance
Heartbreak on a Stick (Trope-tastic Contemporary Romance)
Pool Man (Sexy Vacation Debacle)
Fierce (One Night Stand Series, Decadent Publishing)
Snow Angels (Calendar Men Series, Publishing)
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Wicked Enchantment
Trickery
COLLECTIONS & ANTHOLOGIES
Say Yes to the Scot (Historical Romance)
