Crashing the Net

by Jami Davenport

  Cooper’s broad chest.

  Chapter 8—Scoring Drive

  “Whoa, going somewhere?” Cooper said, gripping Izzy’s shoulders. Not that he minded her sweet face buried in his neck, but the woman had obviously been on a mission to parts unknown, and he hoped like hell he was that mission.

  Izzy stared up at him and blinked those big, gorgeous brown eyes of hers several times as if trying to get her bearings.

  “What are you doing here?” She clutched his upper arms and stared into his eyes. For a moment they were the only two people in the world. He was a fucking goner when she stared at him like that. He’d slay any dragon, climb any castle wall, or swim any moat for her. Anything. Everything. Whatever she asked for, even what she didn’t, he’d do it. Hell, he’d even sit through two hours of a sappy chick flick. Now that was pretty far gone.

  Betheni cleared her throat and Riley coughed, bringing Izzy and Cooper back from wherever it was they’d both gone and breaking the spell between them.

  Izzy backed away slowly, her eyes still locked with his. Cooper ran his fingers through his hair.

  Riley pushed past Cooper. After shooting him a withering glare, he focused his full attention on Izzy. “We were worried about you.”

  Riley’s words prodded Cooper out of his trance. “Yeah, we wanted to make sure everything was all right.”

  “It’s not, but we’ll manage.” Izzy looked like she was going to cry, and Betheni stared at her feet at a rare loss for words.

  “Could we help?” Cooper said a little too eagerly for a guy still trying to figure out where he fit in her life outside of the bedroom.

  Izzy shook her head. “It’s just family drama.”

  Cooper noted the coat Izzy was wearing and the purse slung over her arm. “You were just leaving.”

  Izzy glanced at Betheni. “Yes, we were. Thanks for stopping by, but we have an errand to run.”

  “This late?”

  “Speaking of late, shouldn’t Riley be in bed? Tomorrow’s a school day.” Izzy’s observation properly dressed him down and drove home the point once again that he was a crappy uncle.

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Well, then, that settles it. We’ll catch up with you later.” Izzy gave Cooper a gentle shove out of her way.

  His pride already wounded, Cooper forced a smile. “Good night, ladies,” he said as if being pushed aside wasn’t any big deal.

  Riley hung back until Cooper tersely spoke to him. “Let’s go, Riley. You need to be in bed.”

  Riley’s eyes narrowed with animosity and resentment toward his uncle. He turned his back on Cooper. “Bye, Izzy. I’m here if you need me.”

  Cooper sighed. Being an uncle to a teenager definitely sucked hind tit, especially when the teenager blamed Cooper to some extent for his mother’s problems. Cooper knew at a basic level he wasn’t to blame, the drugs were, but he still felt guilt, felt he hadn’t done enough to save her. Even worse, he carried around a good dose of guilt for being oblivious to Riley’s existence. Maybe he could’ve done a few things to make the kid’s childhood a little better. For now, he was doing the best he could by providing Riley with material things he’d never had before and by giving his PI a blank check to pull out all the stops to find his sister Julie. Once he did, he’d get her some help and set her up in a nice apartment, and he’d make sure Riley was taken care of properly.

  Izzy patted Riley’s shoulder, her expression softening to one of fondness. “I know, honey.”

  Unwelcome jealousy surged through Cooper, which irritated him. Jealous of a fourteen year old? What bullshit. He needed to get a hand on his jealousy. After all, that’s what got him into this mess in the first place. If he’d behaved like a man who trusted his woman, they’d be enjoying each other’s company in and out of bed right now.

  But no, he had to behave like the Neanderthal he was.

  If the insult fits, own it.

  Then do something about it, Coop.

  Even though it might take a while for stuff to sink into his thick head, he’d finally figured out he wanted Izzy around. He just had to prove to her he could change.

  And admitting he’d been wrong was easier said than done for a stubborn, arrogant ass like him.

  * * * *

  With Betheni in tow, Izzy stomped down the apartment stairs and walked to her car. Looking way too much alike, Cooper and Riley stood several feet away next to his monstrous SUV. She knew what Cooper was doing. He was protecting her, waiting until she sat safely in the driver’s seat. How could such a simple act of kindness both irritate and give her a warm fuzzy?

  Izzy snapped on her seatbelt. “Betheni,” she chastised her sister. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Betheni buckled her own seatbelt. Her wild-child sister hated being forced to do anything, especially when it was for her own good.

  Izzy turned the key in the ignition. Her temperamental old car spit and sputtered. A puff of black smoke escaped the muffler. The car gasped and shrieked then went ominously quiet. No amount of coaxing, cussing, and pounding her fists on the steering brought the car back to life.

  She’d known the poor little car lived on borrowed time but hoped to borrow a lot more time because she sure as hell didn’t have the money to buy a new used car.

  Izzy stared straight ahead, beyond frustrated and close to tears. Someone tapped on the driver’s window, and she jumped. It was Cooper, of course.

  Izzy rolled down her window. “Yes?” she said calmly as if her current world wasn’t crumbling before her very eyes.

  “Trouble?” Cooper stared down at her, his blue eyes full of concern. Riley stood a little behind him.

  “No, not at all. Right, Betheni?” She looked to Betheni for confirmation, expecting her sister to have her back. She didn’t.

  Betheni snorted. “Where do you want me to start?”

  Izzy shot her one of those shut-your-mouth glares, but since when did her rebellious sister ever listen to anyone, not even whatever voice of reason she might possess?

  Cooper leaned down so he could see Betheni. “What’s going on? Could I give you a ride somewhere?”

  “No, we’re fine,” Izzy said.

  “Yes, you can give her a ride,” Betheni countered. “But brace yourself, this isn’t going to be pretty.” Betheni jerked open the door and got out. She gestured to Izzy to follow her. “Coop, you can drop me off at your house first, and I’ll watch Riley to make sure he gets to bed.”

  “I don’t need a babysitter,” Riley groused.

  Cooper ignored him and directed his answer to Betheni. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  Several minutes later, Izzy stared out the passenger window as they drove to Cooper’s in silence. Riley and Betheni hopped out before the SUV came to a halt in his driveway. Izzy didn’t blame them. The tension between her and Cooper was thicker than a pea soup fog on Puget Sound.

  Cooper pulled back onto the street and glanced at her. “So, where to?”

  Izzy sighed. The last thing she wanted was Cooper involved in this mess with her parents. No one but her sisters knew what lousy parents they were, and she’d intended on keeping it that way. “Turn left at the next light and stay on that street for a few miles.”

  “Okay.” He nodded and met her gaze briefly. Her heart thumped happily in her chest. The man might be sex on skates when he was on the ice, but even walking around like a mere mortal, he was so much more than that. If circumstances tonight were different— She briefly toyed with suggesting they pull into a deserted parking garage and finally get the deed done.

  But she couldn’t. Her sisters came first, paying the bills came second, and screwing Cooper’s brains out had to be farther down that list. At least it was tonight. If they didn’t hustle, Fawn and Rock would have every penny spent before she could get there.

  Cooper reached over and took her hand in his big, calloused one. “You okay, Isabelle?” The sexy, gentle way he said her full name wet her panties with desire and need and something even stron
ger, yet elusive. Yet, she wouldn’t go there.

  He traced little circles on her palm with his thumb. Oh, dear Lord, that felt so crazy good. And that’s what she wished they were doing right now—getting crazy. But she couldn’t. Not until she completed her mission like the older, more responsible sister that she was. She’d embraced her role for so long, she didn’t know how to be anything else. Yet for one night, she just wanted to be Izzy, a woman needing a man to hold her, support her, protect her, and make her feel like a desirable female and convince her that just once everything would be okay.

  Cooper was that man.

  But she was a woman on a mission, and until that mission was finished, she’d control her most basic urges. There was always later.

  “Are you sure you have to do this tonight?” Cooper asked, hope and lust brightening his deep blue eyes.

  “I’m certain.” She ran a finger along his strong jaw. “But afterward, I might be able to squeeze you into my busy schedule.”

  “Honey, you can squeeze me all you want, anywhere, anytime, anyhow.” He stared straight ahead, but his one hand held the steering wheel in a death-grip, and his other hand tightened around hers.

  Izzy swallowed, as images of a partially clothed Cooper with his incomparable abs, broad shoulders, and powerful thighs crowded out worries over confronting her parents.

  “I’ll bet you’re wet for me right now.” If she hadn’t already been—which she was—the sound of his deep, husky voice would’ve done the deed. She squirmed as her panties graduated from wet to plain drenched.

  “I am, big boy.” Izzy lowered her voice to a sultry, seductive tone she reserved to get her point across when she wanted to get dirty and naked with a guy.

  Cooper picked up on it right away. “I’ve been waiting for this ever since we met at the party.”

  “So have I,” Izzy said breathlessly. “Turn here. It’s the bar on the right. To the Max plays here on Tuesday nights and weekends.”

  Cooper nodded and raised an eyebrow as he took in the somewhat sleazy bar in a not-so-great neighborhood. She might not admit it, but she was grateful for his support. The Overtime happened to be one of her parents’ hangouts. They often played there in exchange for drinks and dinner.

  Izzy removed her hand from his, closed her eyes, and tried to pull herself together, no easy task considering the proximity of Mr. Sex on Skates, soon to be sex on his back because she planned to have him every way she could, including a few ways she hadn’t tried yet.

  Cooper stared at her but kept his thoughts to himself.

  Izzy took a deep breath and opened the car door. Cooper immediately got out, rushed to her side, and fell into step with her. She paused in the doorway, taking stock of the situation.

  Fawn and Rock stood at the bar, talking with the bartender, while the other three members of their band set up the sound system and drank beer. None of them seemed to be in a hurry to do much of anything.

  Steve, the bartender and a long-time friend of her parents, waved her over. Walking ramrod straight, Izzy avoided eye contact with her parents and slid onto a barstool a few feet from where they were standing.

  Her father, Rock, grinned at her. “Hey, honey, we bought the bar a round. What would you like?” Rock loved to be the big man, portraying himself as a guy with deep pockets. He was still a handsome man, tall and lean, with long, thick black hair tied in a ponytail and handsome face lined with the ravages of age and drug abuse.

  Cooper stiffened beside her, his hands on her shoulders in a show of support she found comforting.

  “You bought the bar a round?” Izzy spoke through gritted teeth. Close to sixty patrons sat at tables throughout the large bar.

  “Sure did.” Rock seemed oblivious as usual. Fawn glanced at her, looking her up and down. Her mother’s eyes settled on Cooper and widened. Izzy always knew her parents practiced an open marriage. It worked for them. It didn’t work so well for Izzy, especially years ago when Izzy had caught her mom sleeping with her high school boyfriend. It hadn’t been a good moment in their mother-daughter relationship, and things had gone downhill from there.

  Her parents embraced that rock-star party mentality even though their star had long fizzled out and burned up in the atmosphere of drinking, drugs, and a once-lavish lifestyle. She’d seen enough of their tumultuous relationship over the years to swear off marriage and committed relationships, especially if said relationship gave her partner any power over her.

  She glanced at Cooper, who was taking it all in. His keen gaze dissected the situation the same way he evaluated the opposing team as he raced down the ice with the puck.

  Izzy leaned back against him, drawing courage from his quiet strength. Izzy drew in a long breath and let if out slowly. Bracing herself for the debacle to come, she jumped in with both feet.

  “You bought the bar a round?” she repeated.

  Her father winked at her. “Sure did. What would you like?”

  “I’d like the money back you manipulated my sisters into giving to you.”

  Rock’s smile slipped a bit, and his gaze flicked to Fawn, who wore the pants in the family.

  Fawn feigned deafness, which she often did when her oldest daughter said stuff she didn’t want to hear. Instead she focused her full attention on Cooper. His hands tightened on Izzy’s shoulders.

  “And who are you?” Fawn purred. Izzy’s mother had done some modeling back in the day, along with partially nude shots for magazine covers and one very famous skin shot that graced their second album cover. No longer a young, super sexy bombshell, her hard-partying lifestyle had taken its toll, but Fawn still turned heads and attracted mostly older men.

  “I’m Cooper Black.” Cooper’s chest vibrated against her back as he spoke with steely, don’t-mess-with-me-or-her tone laced with just enough attitude to say he meant business.

  “Ah, you’re that sexy hockey player.” Izzy could almost hear her mother’s wheels turning.

  “Cooper’s not interested.” Izzy kept a tight lid on her control. She needed that money and angering her mother wouldn’t help her get it. She turned in the barstool and wrapped her arm around Cooper’s waist. He grinned down at her and draped an arm across her shoulders, his pose deceptively casual and blatantly possessive.

  Fawn continued her leisurely appraisal of Cooper, not seeming to care that her daughter watched her every move.

  “The money, Fawn,” Izzy repeated.

  Fawn waved her off, completely unconcerned. “You’ll get it back once our gamble pays off. Don’t be so hung up on money, Izz. Just enjoy life.”

  “I want the money now, and I’m not leaving until I get it.” Izzy’s control stretched to the point of breaking. She wanted to yell at her mother, shake some sense into her, force her to act like a parent for once, instead of a badly-behaving teenager.

  Fawn frowned, and her hackles raised. “I don’t have it. It’s gone.”

  “Gone? Already? How could it possibly be gone?” Izzy’s voice rose to a high-pitched squeak. Heads turned in the room to watch the altercation like bystanders staring at a crime scene.

  Fawn just smiled, as if the missing money were of no importance to her. “Yes, Lou met us here. We used it to pay for a recording studio for our next album. Money well invested, if you ask me.”

  “And the remainder you’re spending here, buying a round for everyone.” Izzy ground her teeth together until her jaw hurt. Trying to reason with her mother was more difficult than reasoning with all of her sisters combined.

  Fawn shrugged, already bored with the conversation.

  “I need that money to pay for my sisters’ tuition. Remember them? Your daughters?”

  “Really, Izzy. You don’t need an education. If the four of you would use your musical talent like I’ve counselled you to do multiple times, you wouldn’t be concerned with wasting your time on a piece of paper that costs tens of thousands of dollars and takes at least four years.”

  “Neither of you have an education
, so you’re reduced to stealing money from your daughters. How’s that working for you, Mom?” Izzy said the last word with as much distaste as she could. Her body shook with anger and frustration, as she recalled the times she’d been left with three younger sisters to care for when she was only a kid herself, little money, no food in the pantry, while Rock and Fawn chased the next big break, treating their responsibilities as if they didn’t exist.

  Fawn’s laid-back attitude disappeared, as she morphed into the ruthless bitch who’d been a rock star diva at one time. “You’re delusional. You need to go before I have Steve call the police, which would be so unfortunate, considering you’re my ungrateful daughter.” Fawn’s eyes glittered as if she’d just realized the publicity her has-been band would receive. After all, there was no bad publicity in her mother’s eyes. Take a drama-filled altercation with her daughter and throw in an NHL player, and she’d have a recipe for some front-page coverage and prime-time viral attention.

  Cooper leaned in close to Fawn, and Izzy froze, not certain what he was up to but suspecting her mother may have met her match. Misinterpreting Cooper’s move, Fawn batted her eyes at him and fingered his collar.

  “We’re leaving,” Cooper growled in a low voice only Fawn and Izzy could hear. “And if you so much as borrow one more penny from Izzy or any of her sisters, I will personally see to it that you never make it again in the music business. If you don’t believe I have that kind of clout, just try me.”

  On that note, he tucked Izzy’s arm in his and together they ambled out of the hushed bar into the rainy Seattle evening. Once outside, they ran for the car as the rained drenched them. Cooper opened the passenger door for Izzy and sprinted for the other side, jumping in the SUV, and revving the engine. He cranked the heat and sat back against the seat, his head angled toward the ceiling.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drag you into the mess that is my family.”

  “You don’t need to apologize to me. After all, I dragged you into my own family mess.”

  “Thank you,” Izzy said simply.