Guilty Pleasures (The Ladies of The Burling School Book 3)

by Eilzabeth Lennox

  Willow sniffed, determined to move on with her life. Cooper was in her past. She was done. It had been a wonderful affair and she’d look back on this time in her life fondly.

  Well, it might be a while before she’d look back on her time with him with any sort of affection. Right now, it just hurt too much.

  Cooper walked up the meandering pathway of his house, feeling every minute of his day. It hadn’t been difficult, just…long. Willow wasn’t going to be here, he remembered. She was gone.

  “Damn it!” he growled, furious with himself for thinking of her. She’d popped into his head maybe ten or twelve thousand times today. “Enough!”

  And yet, as he rounded the last corner of his house, he saw the package. It was big. With no return address, just his own.

  It could be a bomb, he thought. But Cooper lifted it into his arms. It was too light to be a bomb, he realized. This was…he felt around the edges. It felt like a painting.

  He pressed the code on his house, thinking that he needed to change the code. Willow was gone, he should change it just to be safe. He carried the package inside and leaned it against the white couch, thinking to look at it later. Right now, he needed a scotch.

  As he poured the amber liquid into a glass, he sighed heavily. Willow was gone. He’d never have dinner with her sitting across from him. He’d never pull her into his arms. He’d never bury his face into her silky red hair again.

  Turning away, he decided to make dinner. Something complicated that would occupy his mind. Maybe he’d head back into his office and get some more work done. Over the past few weeks, he’d spent too much time with Willow and had neglected work issues.

  But just as he turned away, he noticed a flash of color. Turning back, he looked at his couch. Pillows? Where the hell had…?

  “Willow!” he growled as he glared at the colorful pillows on his couch. He had no idea when she’d snuck them into his house, but there they were. Bright, colorful patches of color glowing against the stark white of his couch. For a long moment, he stood there, glaring at the pillows, unaware of his jaw clenching and his fists tightening. But instead of tossing them into the trash, Cooper…stared at them as if his eyes could banish them from his house.

  Turning away, he rubbed a hand over his face. “I’ll get rid of them later,” he decided aloud and headed into the kitchen. Peering into the fridge, he contemplated what he could make for dinner. He wasn’t especially hungry, even though he’d skipped lunch. He hadn’t had much for breakfast either, come to think of it.

  Pulling something out, he realized that his housekeeper had bought chicken. For the next thirty minutes, he pounded out chicken, tossed seasonings on it, and made a salad while the chicken broiled. After eating, he brought his scotch back into the great room, eyeing the colorful pillows with irritation. That’s when his eyes landed on the package again. Walking over to it, he ripped the brown paper away. Sure enough, a colorful painting was revealed.

  The images on the canvas were…interesting. They didn’t make a lot of sense. It had a dark background. Numbers floating around. In one corner, there appeared to be a nose but…

  “I don’t like it,” he snapped and turned it so that the canvas faced the couch. He stalked into his home office to get some work done.

  It was after midnight before he stopped, but if anyone had asked, Cooper couldn’t explain what he’d accomplished over the past several hours. Walking into his bedroom, he stopped, glaring at the bed. The bed where he’d made love to Willow too many times to count.

  With a muttered curse, he turned around and walked into the guest room. “Just one night,” he told the empty room as he stripped off his clothes.

  For the next two weeks, Cooper went to work and pushed himself until he was too exhausted to think. But even as he fell onto the bed in the guest room, he knew that as soon as sleep took over, he’d dream of Willow. Damn her!

  Chapter 19

  “Your house is almost inviting now,” his grandmother called out to him.

  Cooper lifted his head up from the pillow and looked around. It was morning and the sun was streaming in through the windows. He’d finally fallen asleep around two this morning, but…checking his watch, he realized that he’d slept for more than six hours. That was a record since Willow had left for the United States.

  A wet, cold nose nuzzled his cheek and he jumped. Buddy blinked back at him and…damn he’d grown!

  “Hey little fellow,” he said, rubbing the puppy’s ears affectionately. Buddy climbed higher onto his chest and he chuckled, remembering how he’d snuck into the bed each night to sleep with them. By morning, he’d jumped down before Willow had woken up.

  Not that Willow would have admonished the dog for sneaking into their bed. But…well, hell! Where had that thought come from?

  Sighing, he rubbed the rough texture of his face. “I need to shave.”

  “You need to do a whole lot more than that,” his grandmother exclaimed, stepping into the bedroom. “Why are you sleeping in here instead of your own bedroom?” she asked.

  Cooper didn’t answer her. Instead, he petted the dog and sat up. “What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting for lunch today.”

  Bonnie brought him a pair of sweatpants and Cooper chuckled. His grandmother was a smart lady and knew that he slept in the nude. “Thanks.”

  “I’m here because Buddy has received all of his shots. He’s ready to go back to Willow and she’s waiting for him.”

  That was startling news. “He can’t be ready yet,” Cooper grumbled, pulling on the sweatpants before standing up. He rubbed his jaw again, but figured it was Saturday. He didn’t need to shave today.

  “Your house looks nice. I’m surprised that you kept all of the stuff that Willow left for you. I would have thought you’d toss it all when you let her leave two weeks ago.”

  He grumbled as he walked into the kitchen. Grabbing two cups, he poured coffee for them, adding sugar to one before handing it to his grandmother. “I didn’t ‘let’ Willow leave. She had to get back to her job.”

  His grandmother snorted before she took a sip of the steaming coffee. “That’s ridiculous,” she snapped. “She could do her videos right here in London. Or for that matter, you could move your operation to Wyoming. There’s absolutely no reason why you two couldn’t have figured out a way to make your relationship work other than stubborn pride.”

  He wanted to snap at her, but Cooper fought it back. Not to his grandmother. She was the only woman, besides Willow, that he allowed to speak to him like that.

  “Willow didn’t love me.”

  Bonnie’s cup froze halfway to her mouth as she stared at him. “I’m sorry, but what did you say?”

  Cooper sighed. “She cared for me,” he grumbled, “but she wasn’t in love with me. There needs to be a stronger connection before two people can figure out a future together.”

  Bonnie snorted again. “Honey, you’re a brilliant man, but…” she shook her head. “Oh Cooper, that woman is head over heels in love with you!” she snapped at him. “And you are in love with her!”

  “She wasn’t…!”

  “Don’t you dare tell me she wasn’t in love you!” Bonnie interrupted with a soft, firm voice. “Willow lit up whenever you stepped into the room. And you!” she laughed softly. “Cooper, my boy, your eyes would follow her around no matter where she went. So no, don’t you dare try and convince me there wasn’t a massive amount of love between you two.” She looked around and her eyes began to sparkle with that teasing glint. “Besides, why else would you have left these small pieces of her around your house?” She chuckled. “You’re not exactly a throw pillow or blanket kind of guy, Cooper.” She walked over to him and cupped his cheek. “You love her. And she’s madly in love with you.”

  “How do you know that?” he asked, his voice more than slightly gravely.

  She smiled up at him. “Dear, even her friend knew that. It’s in the picture behind you.”

  Coope
r turned and looked at the painting that he’d finally hung on the wall. It was in a prominent position where he could see it from the great room or his kitchen. He didn’t understand the images, but the painting made him feel good whenever he looked at it.

  “Her friend painted that.”

  Bonnie wrapped her arms around his waist, laying her head against his chest. “Dear, the images are all about the love Willow feels for you.”

  Cooper’s eyes narrowed on the painting. Love? All he saw was a bunch of numbers and…could the numbers represent him? And that blob down in the corner…? Was that…? Buddy barked at his feet. Now that he thought about it, the dark blob looked like the nose of a dog. What the hell?! How could he have missed a damned dog’s nose?

  Then he looked closer, his arms falling away from around his grandmother as he peered at the painting. “Is that a beating heart?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.

  “That would be my guess, but I suspect with this artist, the interpretation is up to the person viewing the painting. It’s very abstract but…still cohesive somehow.”

  She loved him? Cooper moved closer, feeling a sensation of…something…hitting him. A beating heart was cleverly disguised in the background, but now that he saw it, Cooper wondered how he’d missed it before now. The dog, the heart, the numbers, the craft tools…his heart began to pound as he analyzed the images and their placement on the canvas. Damn, the artist was a genius.

  “No wonder I like this painting so much,” he muttered.

  “It’s you and Willow, isn’t it?” Bonnie asked softly.

  Cooper stared at the images for another long moment. Slowly, he nodded in agreement, although his head was still spinning. “Yeah. I think it is.”

  She clapped her hands. “Well, now that that’s resolved, and you know that you love her back or you wouldn’t be this miserable two weeks after her departure, why don’t we figure out how to get Willow’s dog back to her?”

  Cooper glanced down at Buddy who immediately began wagging his tail, happy to have his human’s attention again. “You want to see Willow, little guy?” Cooper asked, bending down to pet the growing puppy. “I think we should make that happen.”

  Chapter 20

  Willow braced her chin on her fist, staring blankly at her screen. There was a commotion outside, but Willow didn’t have the energy to figure out what was going on. She didn’t really care, actually. Unless it was…and that wasn’t going to happen so…!

  A dog’s bark caused her to stiffen. Barking? Slowly, Willow turned around in her chair, simply because the sound was so out of the norm for her studio. And because she missed Buddy so much. Bonnie had mentioned that she was arranging for her puppy to fly here to Wyoming, but she hadn’t given Willow any details. Willow didn’t want Buddy to have to fly in a cage in the cargo hold, but she hadn’t figured out an alternative. Maybe she could ask Tamara to fly her dog out here? Even as Willow thought about that option, she dismissed it. She couldn’t ask her friend to use her husband’s private plane to fly a puppy halfway across the world. That was just…ridiculous!

  Another bark pulled her out of her chair and she stepped to the door of her office. There were five offices that surrounded a big, open area. Half of the area was filled with craft projects and a conference table where she and her team brainstormed ideas for her company’s craft videos. The other half of the area was used as her filming studio, so there were lots of lights in strategic places and filming equipment, wires, microphones, and the rest of the gear needed to create the videos.

  But she didn’t see any of that when she peered out through her door. What she saw took her breath away.

  “Cooper!” she whispered staring at the tall, amazingly handsome man standing there with…a leash! At the end of that leash was a small golden dog that was wagging his stubby tail so hard that his whole body was wiggling. “And Buddy!” she sighed.

  But she also saw her entire team of five brilliant, wonderful people standing in a line, not allowing Cooper to step into the studio.

  “Are you the guy who hurt her in London?” Jake demanded shifting his weight belligerently as the crew glared at Cooper. Jake was her carpenter, but there was also Milly, her marketing guru, Alice, her crafts expert, George, the cameraman and sound expert, and Debbie, the assistant for the entire team. All five of them were defending her, protecting her! How sweet and…completely unnecessary!

  “I’m the man that…” Cooper glanced at Willow as she stood in her doorway, trembling with the need to throw herself into his arms. “I’m the idiot who let her leave London. I should have asked her to stay.”

  “Why would I have stayed?” she asked, unaware of the hope glowing in her eyes.

  “Because…Buddy loves you,” he replied, unaware of her staff looking from her to him and then back again. The whole scene would be comical if she thought about it. But, Willow had eyes just for Cooper. He looked amazing. A little tired, but still the most amazing man she’d ever seen!

  “Buddy is a dog. He loves anyone who will pet him and feed him,” she argued.

  His eyes smiled for a brief moment. He looked down for a long moment and Willow wasn’t sure what was going through his mind. But then he seemed to take a deep breath, lift his head and looked straight at her. “Okay, then you should have stayed because I love you,” he said.

  Willow’s heart felt as if it might burst out of her chest. “You do?” she whispered, taking a step closer.

  “Yes. I love you and…I should have told you that I wanted a wife, but that wife needed to be you. If you’ll have me. If you will risk it with me, I think we could make it, Willow.” He paused and shook his head. “No, I know we can make it work! With you, I know we could make it. I promise I’m not fickle like your father, Willow. I won’t leave you! I won’t let anything…oomph!” She threw herself into his arms.

  Cooper held her tightly, burying his face in her soft, red hair. “I love you, Willow! I want you in my future. I’ll move here or move your entire studio to London, whichever you’d prefer!”

  “I love you so much!” she sobbed, tightening her arms around his neck.

  His arms tightened around her and Cooper lifted her right off the floor. “I love you too. Please don’t ever leave me again. I’ve only been half alive without you.”

  She pressed closer, her eyes squeezed tight. She’d thought she’d never feel his arms around her again and now…now she didn’t want to let him go.

  “Will you marry me, Willow? Will you risk marriage with me?”

  “Yes!” she replied, hiccupping as a sob slipped out.

  He pulled back, looking down into her eyes. “I love you. I should have said that weeks ago, but I didn’t think that you would ever risk marriage after everything you went through with your father.”

  Willow looked around, but her entire staff had snuck away, leaving them alone. “Before I met you, I wouldn’t even consider marriage,” she admitted. “Marriage wasn’t real to me. It was just a temporary piece of paper that could be dismissed. But with you,” she whispered as she looked up into his wonderful features, “with you, I wanted to risk it. I want forever, Cooper. I want to work through all the arguments, figure out how to make it with you. You have to promise to want that too.”

  “I do, love,” he vowed. “I’m not letting you go. I don’t delude myself into thinking it will be smooth sailing for the next fifty or sixty years,” he teased, “but we’re going to make it last.”

  Willow wanted to say more, but he kissed her. At that point, she didn’t want anything else. This was enough.

  Buddy barked and she pulled back. Okay, maybe she wanted more. She wanted a home. Family. Kids!

  Epilogue

  “You let him out in the mornings, Cooper,” Willow growled as she stomped back into the bedroom.

  Cooper pushed another pillow behind his head, watching Willow pad barefoot across the bedroom. He loved those white nightgowns she wore. Especially when the morning sunlight filtered through
them and he could see the outline of her body. It was hot! Especially when he could see the protruding stomach and…well, all the rest. Damn, he loved being married. He loved waking up every morning with her in his arms, feeling their child move inside of her belly. Yes, he was looking forward to the day when he could meet their baby, but for now, he was just loving every part of it.

  “I’m sorry?” he asked.

  Willow turned and glared at him, rubbing her belly. “You let Buddy outside and he found another rabbit!”

  Cooper chuckled. “Ah! So he made another friend, eh?” he asked. Most dogs would terrorize rabbits. Not Buddy! He wanted to make friends with the bouncy creatures. “Did he find the rabbit hole?”

  “Yes!” she sighed, slipping into bed. “And he whined for five minutes because the very smart rabbit didn’t come out to play.”

  Cooper wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close. They couldn’t make love any longer, but he didn’t mind. He enjoyed holding her like this. “Well, maybe we could get him another toy.”

  She sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Right. The last toy we got him ended up in pieces all over the house. And whatever parts we didn’t find, he pooped out over the next several weeks!”

  Cooper laughed, remembering the horror. “Okay, no toys. What would you like me to do about Buddy’s obsession with rabbits?”

  She shifted, trying to get comfortable. “I don’t know. I think I just want to grumble a bit.”

  He moved his hands over her stomach. “Baby kicking a lot?” he asked, rubbing her sore back muscles the way she liked.

  “No. I just…I don’t know. I’ve been achy all day. Now I’m tired, but I don’t think I will be able to sleep.”

  “Achy how?” he asked, his mind racing to consider every possibility. And he didn’t like what he came up with. Not one little bit!

  “Just…achy,” she sighed, shifting against him as if she couldn’t quite get comfortable.