Cooper's Charm

by Lori Foster

  “Here...in the resort?” Dear God. Knowing he’d been around that long sent shivers up her spine.

  “It was easy to rent a spot in the primitive tent area.” His gaze moved over her and she became painfully aware that she wore only a T-shirt and panties. “Nice of you to welcome me like this.” He used the gun to gesture up and down her body. “Unnecessary, but appreciated all the same.”

  Her breath strangled in her lungs. No, she wouldn’t play his sick game, wouldn’t uselessly attempt to cover herself or even reply to his crude comments. “You’ve been here all along?”

  “In and out.” He stopped about ten feet from her. “Often enough to see the cop coming and going. I followed him when he went to talk to that punk, Harry, who, by the way, will have to go now that he knows what I look like.” In a vague voice, almost as an afterthought, he murmured, “I’ll be visiting that sad excuse for a man later tonight.”

  Phoenix had never thought to feel sorry for Harry, but now she did. “Why did you talk to him?”

  “To feel him out, and let me tell you, he doesn’t like you or your boyfriend. Blamed you both for sending me around.” Amusement entered his tone. “He spilled his guts with little prompting from me, complaining that anyone who could afford this camp setup should damn well be able to pay for a chicken.”

  Phoenix almost groaned.

  “Took me a bit to figure out that nonsense, but knowing your boyfriend owns the park factored into my end game. See, it makes sense that he’d run to greet the firefighters and take responsibility for his guests, right? And since he’s involved with you I figured he’d leave you behind. I wasn’t wrong, was I?” Voice smooth, he said, “You’re here, and he’s not.”

  Phoenix was somewhat thankful for that. At least Cooper was safe.

  A laugh, raw and mean, filled the air as he came closer still, the gun held down at his side. “But don’t delude yourself. I’m here now because I don’t leave loose ends. I’ll get him eventually. Maybe not right away, but—”

  Something inside her snapped. Phoenix didn’t think about it, couldn’t weigh the risk against the blazing anger that gave her strength. She simply reacted, launching herself at the man, her curled fingers aiming for his face.

  Surprise took him backward in an awkward lurch and he almost fell. The gun exploded, shattering a window on the wall behind her, and while she heard it, while she felt bone-deep fear, her body seemed to be on autopilot...set in attack mode.

  She clawed at the mask, half ripping it from his face. Screaming like a banshee, she kicked for his groin—until his fist caught her temple, knocking her to the floor. Her glasses skidded away, stars dancing before her eyes. Panting in pain, she waited for the gunshot that would end her life, but instead she caught sight of a large body charging into the kitchen, taking down the masked man in a vicious tackle. The entire floor shook as the men landed hard.

  Someone crouched in front of her, and when she started to scuttle away, Baxter said, “It’s me, Phoenix. Stay still.”

  She grabbed for his back, offered as a protective shield. If Baxter was here, Cooper must be also.

  Fear choked her.

  She struggled to sit up—then screamed in horror at a second gun blast.

  No, oh God, no.

  Tears spilled from her eyes and sobs burned her throat—until strong, familiar arms folded around her. “Shh, don’t cry.”

  She gasped in great gulps of air. “Cooper.” He was alive, warm and vital, and safe.

  “It’s okay, baby.” His hands stroked her hair. “I’ve got you.” Warm lips brushed her face where she’d been struck. “Are you okay?”

  “Me?” She clutched at him, remnants of terror remaining. “I heard a shot! Are you hurt?”

  “I’m fine. Gibb shot the bastard.”

  From somewhere in the kitchen, Officer Clark muttered, “Better than you beating him to death.”

  She ran her hands up Cooper’s body to his neck, then his face. “Is he dead?”

  Baxter choked on a startled laugh.

  “No.” Cooper gently drew her closer against his chest. “He’s hurt, but not dead.”

  “Oh.” She tried not to sound too disappointed. In rushed explanation, she said, “He set the fire. And he was going to kill Harry and then you.”

  “He won’t hurt anyone else.”

  Beside them, Baxter said, “Here.”

  She felt Cooper reach out, and then he settled her glasses on her, tenderly tucking the arms over her ears, nudging the frames into place on her nose.

  “Cooper.” Finally, she could see him clearly, could see that he wasn’t hurt at all, although worry ravaged his features, making his eyes dark, his jaw tight. She peered past him and saw the man, now without his mask, absolutely demolished. Blood covered his nose and swollen mouth and ran down his throat. His brown hair, matted with more blood, stood on end. He had only one slightly dazed eye open.

  As Phoenix stared at him, he groaned raggedly, attempting to roll to his side. Since he wore handcuffs, Officer Clark helped him to sit up.

  “You, um...” She transferred her attention back to Cooper. “You pulverized him.”

  “I love you,” he said as if the words weren’t life-altering. “The bastard is lucky I didn’t kill him.”

  Her eyes went wide. They sat on the kitchen floor, Baxter, Officer Clark and a near-unconscious evil creep nearby, and Cooper chose that moment to make a major declaration?

  Cooper leaned in to kiss the end of her nose.

  “I love you, too.” Her eyes flared even more. She hadn’t even meant to say that!

  But now that she had... Her voice broke and she reached for him, grasping, needing. “God, Cooper, I love you so much!”

  With his arms around her, his face bent down to hers, she felt surrounded and safe and so happy it almost hurt. She stifled a watery laugh.

  The man who had attacked her at her shop so long ago, the man who’d paralyzed her so badly that she’d spent months hiding in a hotel room, that man was only feet away and she didn’t care. He was nothing now, not a threat, barely a memory.

  “Are you getting hysterical on me?” Cooper asked with mild interest.

  “No.” She clutched him tighter. “I’m just happy.”

  “I’m glad.”

  She lowered her voice. “I hear more sirens, which means more people showing up, and I’m in my panties.”

  A shirt dropped over her. Baxter, his chest and shoulders now bare, discreetly turned away as she wrapped it around herself like a skirt.

  A new flurry of activity drew her attention to the doorway and then Ridley ran in, her face filled with shock and worry as she searched the room, seeing the battered goon, the officer...and finally Phoenix.

  Hanging on to the doorway, she asked, “You’re okay?”

  Phoenix nodded. “Absolutely fine,” she promised.

  “Oh, thank God.” Her relief was so strong, she nearly sank to the floor.

  Baxter caught her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Eyes closing, her sister snarled, “Don’t yell at me.”

  “I wasn’t,” he protested with heat, then asked more softly, “Are you insane? I thought we agreed you would wait in the store.”

  “No, you ordered and I mostly ignored.”

  Baxter glowered even as he wrapped his arms around her. “You shouldn’t be running in your condition.”

  Cooper’s expression went comically blank. “Her condition?”

  Oh, how Phoenix had hoped to tell him in a gentler, more private way. Cooper had lost his own child with the death of his wife. How would he react to Ridley’s pregnancy? Would it dredge up all the heartache and loss, make it fresh and painful again?

  She prayed not, because she loved Cooper, and she loved Ridley, and honest to God, she already loved the baby her sister
carried.

  Baxter had already spilled the beans, so Phoenix quietly explained, “Ridley is having a baby.”

  His brows shot up so high, they disappeared under his disheveled hair. But he didn’t look upset, just surprised.

  Phoenix touched his face. “I’m getting a niece or nephew.”

  Cooper looked at Baxter first, then Ridley.

  Her sister said, “We’re in this together. Auntie is a very important role.”

  Baxter didn’t object to that, but he did add, almost like an afterthought, “We’ll be getting married, too.”

  It was ridiculous under the circumstances, but Phoenix thrust a fist into the air. “Yes!”

  With a strained laugh, Cooper hugged her so tightly she squeaked.

  Ridley cocked open one eye for a lopsided glare aimed at Baxter, but anything she might’ve said got cut short as an ambulance arrived and paramedics hurried in. Maris and Daron showed up with Sugar, who went berserk when reunited with Phoenix and Cooper.

  How odd that there could be so much joy on such an insane, dangerous night. Phoenix had a feeling that as long as she was with Cooper, it would always be that way.

  17

  Several hours later, dawn played along the horizon, reflecting off the placid surface of the lake. A breeze ruffled the tops of the trees. Slowly the stars faded from the sky.

  Beneath the lounge chair where he and Phoenix sat together, Sugar dozed, her soft doggy snores drifting on the quiet air. So far, she’d refused to be more than a few feet away from Phoenix. The pup was incredibly protective.

  Coop knew just how she felt.

  Despite the beautiful, peaceful setting, the scent of smoke lingered in the air. If he thought too much about what had happened, how close he’d come to losing Phoenix...

  Shaken anew, he hugged her closer, her back to his chest, his face against her neck. Luckily, she didn’t seem to mind. She reached back to tangle a hand in his hair, turning her face so that her lips brushed his upper arm.

  The bruise on her cheek would be there for a while. Every time he saw it, rage coursed through him. The man who’d attacked her had a name now—Potts McDonald—and it was attached to a long list of priors. Gibb promised that McDonald, who was wanted in two other states for robberies, wouldn’t be a problem for a very, very long time.

  Across from them on padded lawn chairs, Ridley sat with Baxter. After the long night, they’d all been too wired to sleep. There’d been endless questions and confusion, not only with the attack against Phoenix, but with the fire. After McDonald was taken away, the four of them had worked with Maris and Daron to calm the guests and ensure the safety of the resort. Joy had also wanted to help, but with a young son, they’d all agreed she had more important priorities.

  They’d ended the long night with cold sandwiches, chips and tea, eaten outside.

  Sugar stirred, crawled out from under the chair and peeked at Phoenix. Seeing her, she wagged her butt—not just her tail, but her entire bottom half—then went under the chair again, collapsing with a contented sigh.

  Phoenix gave a tired smile. “Poor baby. She’s still shaken.”

  “We all are,” Ridley said, lounging limply against Baxter. “I swear, my heart about stopped when I realized what had happened.”

  Baxter stroked Ridley’s arm, but he was looking at Phoenix. “How did the dog get out, anyway?”

  “I saw McDonald’s shadow in the hallway before he reached the kitchen. I opened the door to try to get out but he reached me too quickly. Since he had a gun—”

  Coop squeezed her, and she patted his arm.

  “I didn’t dare run. But luckily, Sugar did.” She reached down with her other hand to rub the dog’s head. “I was hoping she’d go down to the store and that someone would figure out that there was a problem.”

  Baxter nodded. “I guess she did, but before that happened, Coop had already realized it was a setup.”

  Coop wanted to stay calm for Phoenix, but thinking about that moment of charged panic wouldn’t help, so he changed the topic, saying to Baxter, “The chapel here at the park would make a nice setting.”

  Ridley frowned. “Setting for what?”

  “For the wedding,” Baxter explained.

  “I haven’t agreed to marry you.”

  Baxter grinned and kissed her temple. “But you will.”

  “I don’t know—”

  “I do,” he insisted. “You love me. I love you. We’re having a baby, so—”

  “You love me?” She twisted to face him, all kinds of doubtful. “That’s the first I’m hearing it and you have to admit, given the timing, it seems suspicious.”

  “I could say the same to you. Recall that you told me you were knocked up and that you loved me almost in the same breath.”

  Ridley drew herself up, glaring. “I recall that you didn’t return the sentiment.”

  He groaned. “Use that sharp brain I admire so much, okay? I didn’t get a chance to reply because Daron interrupted us to say we had a building on fire.”

  “I love you,” she said fast, then cocked a brow. “Huh. That took like, what, two seconds? But you’re saying you didn’t have time to—”

  Baxter kissed her. Not a little kiss, but a long, openmouthed, bend-her-over-his-arm kiss that successfully silenced her.

  Coop chuckled. He’d wanted a switch in topic, and now he had it.

  Soon as Baxter released Ridley’s mouth, he said, “I more than love you. I like your company. I admire your gutsy attitudes. I lust for you nonstop. I relish your arguments as much as I do your laughter. And I’m already anticipating having a baby with you. If I was a little slow to say all that, I promise to make up for it every day for the rest of our lives.”

  “Aww,” Phoenix whispered. “So sweet. Come on, Ridley, cut him a break.”

  Ridley, still draped back over his arm, said, “It can’t be that easy. Nothing is ever that easy for me.”

  “Only because, until now, you didn’t have me.” Baxter kissed her again, softly this time. “Marry me. If not here, then anywhere. But soon. I don’t want to wait for months.”

  After a deep breath, Ridley smiled sleepily. “All right.” She turned to Phoenix. “What about you?”

  “I’m thrilled for you.” To Baxter, she said, “Welcome to the family.”

  Because that wasn’t at all what she’d meant, Ridley aimed an imperious look at Cooper.

  He grinned, happy to take the bait. “I’m sorry, Phoenix.”

  She twisted toward him, her brows pulled together. “Sorry for what?”

  He lightly touched the bruise on her cheek, his heart breaking all over again. “When we heard about the fire, you wanted to go with me.” He had to clear this up before they moved forward. So he admitted, “I thought I knew what was best for you and I was dead wrong. If I hadn’t insisted you stay behind, none of this would have happened.”

  “Oh, Cooper.” She sat up to smile at him. “Don’t you see? If I’d gone with you, that goon would still be loose, still harassing me, still a threat. Yes, it was scary for a few minutes, but because you’re protective, because you were thinking of me, because you’re you, you realized what was happening.” Phoenix put her small hands on either side of his face. “You not only saved me, you ended the threat.”

  He swallowed heavily. “Are you saying that you don’t mind my overprotective tendencies?”

  “I love you, everything about you, especially how much you care.”

  Smiling, so content with life it was almost scary, Coop put his forehead to hers. “I love you the same.”

  “Now it’s my turn.” She gave him a sweet kiss. “I’m sorry for bringing so much trouble here.”

  “Don’t.” He couldn’t bear it.

  Softly, her words a breath of sound, she said, “I love you, Cooper. I’d like to spend
the rest of my life showing you how much.”

  Because he wasn’t sure he could do anything else, he kissed her. Mindful of her hurt cheek, he kept the contact extremely gentle.

  Smiling, Baxter stood and tugged Ridley to her feet. “I think that’s our cue to grab an hour or two of sleep before we get our day started.”

  Coop managed to end the kiss. “Thank you both for your help today.”

  Ridley leaned down to give him a hug. “Thank you for saving my sister.” To Phoenix, she said, “I’m going to be extra clingy for a while and you’re just going to have to put up with it.”

  Phoenix stifled a grin. “I’ll do my best.”

  “Thanks.” Her expression softened. “I love you, sis.”

  Nodding, choking back emotion, Phoenix whispered, “I love you, too.”

  With that settled, Ridley turned to lean on Baxter and together, they walked down the hill.

  Once the other couple was out of sight, Coop kissed Phoenix again. He had to keep touching her, reassuring himself that she was okay, that they were still together.

  As if she understood and maybe felt the same, she burrowed close.

  Feeling as if he had to cement things, he held her face between his hands and stared into her beautiful eyes. “Not to steal anyone’s thunder, but will you marry me?”

  Without any hesitation, she said, “Yes.” Then again, with more excitement, “Yes.” She squeezed him so tightly, he could feel her heartbeat.

  “God, I love you, Phoenix.” It was enough, more than he’d ever expected, but he needed to know, so he tipped up her face yet again. “You and Ridley are content to stay here? At the park, I mean.”

  “Of course.” She smiled so bright, so beautifully, he caught his breath. “Cooper’s Charm is more than a good place to get away. It’s also a perfect place to stay.”

  “And to raise a baby?”

  She touched his face. “Will it bother you?”

  He understood her meaning and appreciated her consideration. “Babies are always a blessing.” Turning his face to kiss her palm, he said, “I’d like it if we had a few of our own.”