No. No. No.
This job was not going to get in the way of my new dress. I zipped through the paperwork like the Lord Himself had come down and filled them out for me. I was done with ten minutes to spare.
Wow. I should do that every day.
I threw my pen on the desk and trudged out without a word to Mr. Rells. No need to give him the chance to bombard me with anyone else's work.
I tried to flag down some cabs as I slogged down Main Street which led down to some smaller shops, but no one would stop. Catching a cab in this town was like trying to find a four-leafed clover in the middle of a lush meadow. Defeated, I decided to hoof it the rest of the way. I found a little boutique nestled between a coffee shop and a deli which I had never seen before.
The shop was filled with every kind of evening gown, and cocktail dress, just the place I needed to be. I only had about an hour before I had to meet Cooper, and I prayed that I would find what I needed on the first rack. Again, not so lucky. I was about forty-five minutes into the hunt when a delicate older woman came out from the back.
"Can I help you, my dear?"
"Yes, I'm looking for a dress to wear to my ten-year-reunion."
"A ten-year-reunion? Oh, my word. Come. Come." She beckoned me toward the back.
"Yes. I need to make an incredible impression."
"Well, you are beautiful enough to do that. Let's find a dress that compliments that beauty, shall we?"
She was fantastic. Like the fairy Godmother every little girl wished for. She eyed my curves, motioning for me to turn.
"A size four?" she asked.
"How'd you know?"
"It's my job to know," she said with a wink.
"Oh my goodness, I love you already."
"Well, I think you're going to love me even more once I show you this dress."
As if she were saving it just for me, she pulled a garment bag out of a hidden closet that doubled as a mirror.
"Here you go, my dear," she said, handing me the long black dress.
My eyes widened, as I pored over the design. It was a shiny, black, sleeveless, mermaid cut dress; that was just flashy enough to be an evening gown but subtle enough to be a cocktail dress.
I ran into the dressing room to try it on, and it fit like a glove. There was no way I wasn't going to turn heads with the dress.
I stepped outside so she could see it as well. Standing in front of the mirror, admiring the cut and the way it fit, I blurted out, "I'll take it."
"I already have it rung up." She chuckled.
I handed her my credit card and headed back to the dressing room to take it off. The saleswoman handed me my credit card back as I stepped out of the room, and a bag to put the dress in.
"You are going to be the belle of the ball, my dear."
I couldn't express to her how happy she had just made me. This was more than I could've ever hoped for, and I couldn't wait to strut my stuff at the party. I left her shop walking on cloud nine, unaware of my surroundings as I rounded the corner onto my street.
"Boo!"
I was startled off my cloud and halfway out of my skin. I whipped around to see who had scared the shit out of me.
"Cooper!" I screamed. "It's New York; you can't be sneaking up on people like that."
So fucking angry, I smacked him on the arm, and then one more time for good measure. "Goddammit, you scared me half to death."
He covered his face with his hands trying to block the shot, lowering them when he realized I was no longer trying to hit him. His eyes widened when he saw the tears streaming from my eyes.
COOPER
I saw the fear in her face and the tears that followed. Quickly, I reached out my hand, laying my palm on her cheek, my thumb wiping away the wetness as I pulled her close, pressing my forehead against hers, feeling her against me.
My hand trailed down her neck, then down her back, feeling the goosebumps on her skin. I felt like an ass, scaring her the way I did, but getting to console her after wasn’t so bad. Who knew?
"Don't be such a baby."
She smiled and pushed against me again, smacking me on the arm. "Don't call me a baby when you're the dick that scared me."
"Oh, I'm a dick now?"
She flipped her hair, then shrugged. "That's what I said."
"Okay, okay, let's head to dinner, I'm starving and you can tell me all about how big of a dick I am."
"Of course."
I pointed to our favorite Indian restaurant, which was right down the street. She chuckled, playfully pushing me off the curb as she turned to walk toward the restaurant. I jumped back onto the sidewalk, jogging to catch up to her.
I could see her face was still a little flushed from the incident, and the guilt from scaring her gnawed at me.
"Hey, I'm sorry, okay? I didn’t think I'd scare you that bad. Where were you coming from this late anyway?" I asked, opening the door for her.
"Keeping tabs on me now?"
"Answer me, woman," I replied in a deep voice, motioning to the waitress there would only be two of us.
I knew she wanted to be tamed, she just didn’t know it yet, but I'd show her.
"Fine, I was coming from buying a dress like I told you this morning," she said with a big smile on her face.
The waitress led us to our usual table in the back corner of the restaurant, where I pulled out the seat for her in a feeble attempt at being chivalrous.
"Why, thank you, kind sir."
She sat down, laying the bag and purse on the chair next to her, taking out a mirror to check her makeup.
"You don't need makeup, you know."
"Pfft! Tell that to my crow's feet."
"I would if you had any."
"Stop trying to kiss up to me," she said, wiping the black smudges away from under her eyes. "I still haven’t forgiven you."
"Lemme see that super sexy dress?" I asked, reaching over the table to grab the bag.
She slapped my hand away. "Stop it."
"Why can't I see it?" I asked innocently.
"I can't show you—bad luck."
I raised an eyebrow. "What bad luck? It's not like we're getting married. Or are we?"
"Huh? Married. Uh—no. I'll tell you what, Cooper, if I'm not married by the time I turn forty-five, I'm all yours," she said jokingly, as she perused the menu.
"Forty-five? I don't wanna marry a forty-five-year-old, Ella Anderson," I said, leaning over, still trying to steal a peek into the bag.
"You're gonna wish you never said that."
"You know I'm joking. Of course I'll marry you at forty-five. What would you ever do without me?"
She let out a short laugh. "Be hungry and homeless is my best guess."
"You'll never have to worry about that as long as I'm around. I'll always take care of you," I replied softly.
"I know." She smiled, looking up from her menu. "You're gonna make some woman very happy one day."
Yeah some woman. Why can't she see it's her I wanna make happy?
I was fucking irritated at how naïve she was being, knowing she felt something for me—but her damn fear never loosened its grip, but I guess the fear had me too, though, but at least I was willing to try, which was more than I could say for her. The only woman I truly wanted to spend the rest of my life with was completely unavailable to me.
Fuckin' fear. What the fuck was I supposed to do with it?
Flagging down the waitress, she made eye contact with one of the ladies who made her way over to our table.
"So have you thought much about the reunion?" I asked.
"Only every second today."
"Thinking about him?"
"Why are you so jealous?" she asked. "It was years ago."
The waitress pulled out her pad to take our order.
"I'm not jealous, I was just asking a question," he replied nonchalantly.
"Whatever you say, Cooper."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Turning to the waitress, she asked,
"Can I get the beef?"
"Rice?"
"Of course," Ella said, closing her menu. "I probably should lay off the carbs if I wanna fit into that dress."
"Let me see the dress. Better yet, let me see you in it."
"Nope."
"Humor me. If you see Jay there, what are you gonna do?"
She paused. "I mean, what can I do? It's not like I'm gonna throw him on the floor and straddle him in the middle of a reunion."
The thought of her with another man pissed me right the fuck off. It's like she knew which buttons to push with me and she didn’t give a shit.
I stood from my chair and threw a twenty on the table. "I'll see you later."
"Where are you going?" she asked in a low whisper, almost embarrassed by my actions.
"I lost my appetite."
"Sit down."
"No. You're not holding all the cards anymore."
"What cards? What are you talking about?"
"If you don't know then you never will. I'll see you later."
I was done watching her float from man to man, hoping each one was the one to sweep her off her feet. Pushing my way out the door, I jogged across the street then up the steps into the lobby of the apartment. It was something I'd done a million times before, but this time was different—this time I was walking into the apartment with a weight lifted off my shoulders. I'd finally said my piece.
Then it happened—the weight washed back over me like a wave. Ella rested her hand on my shoulder, pulling me back from the staircase.
"Cooper. Stop!"
I paused, and looked down at the floor, exhaling a deep breath. "Ella, I can't tonight."
"What did I do?"
"It's not what you've done, it's what we haven’t done."
She lifted her hand from my shoulder, and hugged the plastic bag between her arms. "We're best friends, though. I don't wanna lose that over sex."
"Sex? Is that what you think of me? I'd think you'd know me by now."
"What if it doesn’t work out? It's a gamble."
Shaking my head at her words, I looked up the stairs then back at her. "There comes a point when you have to decide—when I have to decide."
"What's that mean?"
"It means I can't wait around forever, Ella."
Her eyes narrowed. "I've never asked you to wait."
"No, you haven’t. You're right, but I have waited. My life has been on hold for a glimmer of hope."
I turned, and slipped upstairs without another word. I knew the conversation was an awkward one, but it was one we needed to finally have.
ELLA
I didn’t know what to say. I knew it was a conversation that was coming. It'd been a conversation that'd been coming for a long time, but for it to finally happen—in living color—I was speechless.
I'd never asked him to wait, so why was he putting that on me? Why couldn't we stay friends? We made great friends. But I guess that was me trying to have my cake and eat it too.
I waited at the bottom of the steps, listening for the front door to close. I knew he'd go straight to his room, and I didn’t want to have another run in with him. Every step he took felt like an eternity.
Fuck, get upstairs already!
Chapter Five
Ella
It'd been a few days since I'd spoken to Cooper. I tried my hardest to be up and out the door before he even came home in the morning, just so there wouldn't be a repeat performance of the awkward conversation about our relationship.
It was like the elephant in the room, which got bigger and louder as the days went on. Even Monster seemed to feel the tension, staying off in secluded corners when Cooper and I happened to be home at the same time.
I finally decided that I was going to forget the conversation and move on like it'd never happened. Stupid, but it was what I'd decided to do, and as much I would've loved to give into what we both obviously wanted, our friendship meant way more to me. The flirting would definitely need to stop. The mixed messages they were sending, were too confusing, and our situation definitely didn’t need any more confusion.
The morning of the reunion had finally arrived, and I was anxious to have a change of scenery from my normal hum drum life. Not only was I going to get to dress up and see a bunch of people from high school, I could possibly have the chance to see Jay again. Honestly, it was the driving reason toward my decision to show up.
The minute my eyes opened, I pounded my feet on the bed, pulling the white down comforter over my face, screaming wildly into it. I felt like a giddy school girl going on her first date, and I loved it. Getting to see Jay again didn't seem real until the moment I realized that in just a few hours, I could be face to face with the man I'd pined away for all those years ago.
Every cell in my body tingled and I felt like I was going to burst. Monster jumped on the bed and snuggled up to me. I grinned, pressing my nose to his, vigorously scratching his neck. I shot out of bed, dropping him on to the comforter without a second thought. He hissed loudly, then circled the bed, searching for a comfortable place to lie down.
"You enjoy that. I have big plans today, my love," I said before impetuously running into the kitchen for some coffee, completely forgetting that Cooper might've been home.
And there he was, sipping his cup of coffee, pretending I wasn’t even in the room.
"Good morning."
He set down his cup. "You look excited."
"I am!"
"So what do you have on the agenda for the pre-reunion shenanigans?"
He acted like he actually cared. What a crock of shit. "Oh, I dunno. A little of this, a little of that."
"Sounds fun," he said, picking up his cup as he headed out of the kitchen.
"Is that all you have to say?"
Why the fuck did I just bring shit up again?
Calmly, taking another sip, he stood next to me. "What do you want me to say?"
"Something—anything. I miss talking to you."
"What’s there to say? I get it—you aren't interested, and I need to figure out how to get over it."
"It's not that—" I stopped myself. Telling him that it wasn't because I wasn't interested in him would be selfish, and a downright bitch move.
"Not that what?"
I shook my head. "Why don’t we hang out today? Like old times."
"Old times? Like the other day?"
I laughed. "Don't be a dick."
"I don't try to be. It just sorta happens."
"Yeah, isn’t it your day off?" I asked, grinning from ear to ear.
Monster rubbed against his leg, almost urging him to accept my offer. Cooper's shoulder's slumped. "What do you have planned?" he asked in defeat.
COOPER
I still felt awful after the last conversation we'd had. I needed to come to terms with our friendship and maybe hanging out like old times would help out.
"I made an appointment to go to the nail shop and get my toes declawed. Watcha' think?" she asked, looking down at her wiggling toes. "You wanna keep me company?"
I looked down at her toes. "I'll keep you company. Maybe even get a pedicure myself."
She laughed. "You're definitely secure with your manhood."
"If you only knew."
She looked at me then back down at the floor.
Fuck, why'd I have to go there? No more flirting with her.
I backed away. "Sorry, force of habit."
Anxiously, she rubbed the top of her right foot against the back of her left leg. "I'm gonna get ready."
"Okay."
She brushed by me, attempting to slap me on the arm. "Hurry it up."
Without a second thought, the animal in me took over and I grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to me. "What did I tell you about playing games, little girl."
"Little girl? I'm all woman if you haven't noticed."
"Oh, I've noticed," I whispered.
And just like that, we were back to flirting. It's like we couldn't turn it off even
though we knew better.
Jesus, this woman is gonna be the death of me.
She looked away, and I let go.
"Ready in ten minutes?" she asked.
"Ten minutes." I needed a cold shower anyway. Being that close to her always left me tight in the jeans. "Make it fifteen."
She blushed and disappeared into her room. I headed for my room for a shower and a quick reprieve; otherwise my head would be clouded the rest of the day.
A little less than twenty minutes later, she yelled out, "Are you ready?"
"I'm comin', I'm comin'." I walked out of my room, slipping a black cardigan over my white V-neck undershirt.
She eyed me up and down. "Well, don't you clean up nice?"
"Take note," I replied with a wink.
"Noted."
ELLA
We walked down the stairs and around the corner headed for my usual nail shop. As soon as we walked through the door, all the women stopped what they were doing and gawked at Cooper. One lady jumped up, leaving her customer soaking her hands in a bowl, quickly scurrying over to us—well, to Cooper.
"You and your husband want a couple pedicure?"
I quickly looked at Cooper with a smirk on my face. "Husband? No, no, he's not my husband."
COOPER
I looked at Ella, a little hurt by how quickly she dismissed the notion that I could be her husband. "I'm not that bad."
"What?" she asked innocently.
"Nothing," I replied, putting my hands in my pocket as I looked down at my shoes.
ELLA
Lisa, which was the name printed on her name tag, took Cooper by the hand and helped him into a chair—even going as far as pulling his pant legs up for him. All the while, I was left standing at the door waiting for someone to hold my hand and guide me to a chair.
No such luck. After a few moments, I attempted to garner some attention by raising my hand as one does in school, and asked, "Umm, excuse me, where do I sit?"
The woman helping Cooper glared at me, then motioned to the chair next to him. "Here, sit here," she said, rather annoyed.
Addicted To You: A Last Chance Romance (You and Me Series Book 2) Page 3
