C
HAPTER
9
With Coop giving her a personal lesson, the afternoon went by quickly. After a few hours of wobbling and crashing into the shallow water, Jane had earned a fondness for Coop’s limitless patience and sense of humor.
He was a tireless teacher, though she had to admit, the body could be distracting. Who knew his crisp, white uniform shirt and loose Hawaiian shirts covered the body of a perfect man?
It made her wonder about her insistence that they were just friends. A niggling voice in the back of her mind kept saying: “You know you want it to be more.”
What she needed was some good girl talk to sort out her feelings. But no ... that wasn’t going to happen. She hadn’t been able to spend much time with any of her friends since the shooting, and now that she was on the run, they were safer if she kept her distance.
“Back to neutral position,” Coop kept telling her. “Say it with me: ‘neutral position is my friend.’ ”
“Neutral position is my favorite thing in the world,” she teased.
“Well. Let’s not go crazy.”
By the time they called it a day, Jane had gotten a few fun rides, and Coop had even managed to snap a few photos of her catching the wind.
“More proof for your brother,” Coop said. “When they see that you’re here at the Hole, you’ll be the envy of all his friends.”
I doubt that,
Jane thought. No one would want to be in her precarious situation. But, thankfully, Coop didn’t know her whole story.
Dinner that night was carryout from Bubba’s, shared on Coop’s deck. It was Jane’s favorite time of the day, watching the sun set with Cooper.
“I think I’ve earned myself some ibuprofen and a hot bath tonight,” she said as she bit into a wedge of watermelon, sending juice dripping down her chin. Something about making a fool of yourself in front of a person broke down all kinds of barriers.
“You’ll definitely want to soak those muscles,” Coop said. “But we can use the hot tub. It’s ready to go.”
Their day at the Hole had shifted things to a new playing field. Now Jane felt comfortable hanging out on Cooper’s deck in her swimsuit. Barefoot, too. Pretty soon, people around here were going to mistake her for a local girl.
“Thanks for the lessons.” She popped a chunk of pork into her mouth and sighed. “And this ... dining al fresco. It’s wonderful. But I hope I’m not keeping you from doing other things. I mean, it’s your day off.”
“Sunset on the deck is my ritual,” he said. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m not a real flashy guy. I keep a low profile.”
“Really. I’m surprised you’re not beating the beach bunnies back with a strand of seaweed.”
Coop laughed. “Funny, but I don’t have that problem. Maybe it’s because I was ‘attached’ for so long.”
“Your girlfriend Leah?”
“So you’ve heard. You really are settling in around here, Miss Jane.”
“Gossip isn’t that discriminating. Besides, I didn’t get any juicy details. Just her name.”
“Leah was my childhood sweetheart. We had talked about getting married one day, after I finished with West Point and the army, but she got restless while I was gone. Can’t say I blame her.”
“So she broke it off while you were off serving your country?” She frowned.
“Yeah. It happens to a lot of guys over there. You feel like that one person is your tie to the good world. You’re hanging on by one tether. And then, snap ... she cuts the cord and leaves you drifting in space. Alone.”
“That must have been rough.”
“I got over it. But after I got home, things really got dicey. I was broken, and Leah was only a small part of it. I was reeling from post-traumatic stress. All the killing and the smoke, the suicide attacks and ambushes ... I couldn’t process the things I’d seen in the war. But at the same time, my life here seemed wrong. It was flat and dull, compared to the adrenaline rush of combat.”
His voice was low and steady but laced with an anguish that made her heart ache for him. She sensed that he still needed to keep some of the memories in check.
“Where were you stationed in Afghanistan?”
“The Kunar Province.”
A deadly area known for its notoriously violent ambushes. “I’ve read some news stories about Afghanistan, but I never knew anyone who was assigned there.”
“Your friends are probably a hell of a lot more functional than that,” he said darkly.
“I’m sorry. I pushed you to talk about something that still hurts.”
He shrugged. “Not your fault. When I first got back, everyone wanted to know what it was like over there. Now ... not so much. Probably because you can see it on the news these days.”
“Maybe we should go back to a safer topic ... like Leah.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t describe Leah as safe.”
“Do you miss her?”
“Not at all. In fact, Leah wanted me back, only on her terms. She wanted me to move to the city with her. She’s done with Avon.”
“So, you couldn’t leave here?” she asked. “Even for love?”
“I guess I wasn’t so much in love anymore. And the more I said no, the more persistent she got. Started hounding me.” He shook his head. “Saw an ugly side of that girl. But all’s well that ends well. She’s getting married soon and I’m relieved to be done with her.”
Thank God the giddy smile on her face was masked by darkness.
It was over between Leah and him. For some reason, that made her heart dance.
“And how about the skeletons in your closet?” he asked, catching her with her guard down.
She looked down at the table, not wanting to lie. She trusted him. Oh, how she’d love to tell him everything.
But she couldn’t.
“Would you believe that my closet is clean?”
“Everyone has something. It’s part of our past, part of who we are. Personal history.”
She swallowed a delicious morsel, thinking of a way around revealing too much. If she went back past the last few months, she could be totally honest.
“I was sixteen when I lost my parents,” she said. “Maybe that’s not a skeleton, but it spun my life in a one-eighty. TJ, too. My brother and I were lucky to have each other.”
The grooves at the edges of his eyes softened. “Sixteen is young.”
“At the time I thought I had it all together, but I was a mess. We didn’t have a close family. Somehow it was decided that our widowed aunt would move in to take care of us. Our great-aunt Minnie.” She smiled. “She turned out to be quite a character. A Broadway actress.”
“Is that right?”
“Small parts. But her life is full of drama. She moved into our house in Buffalo and took good care of us. She’s still there, giving acting lessons in the parlor.”
“But you and TJ moved on?”
“For me, that house will always be haunted by my parents. I was glad to leave it behind for college. I’ve visited since then, but I could never move back.”
“Because you love New York City?”
New York ...
Was she still in love with the city?
“When I first arrived there, it seemed loaded with opportunity and character. It was such an exciting place to be.”
“And then ... ?” he prodded.
And then someone I trusted showed me the ugly side of the city.
As she struggled to find a safe answer, she heard the rising song of frogs in the nearby marshes. The sky overhead was a sheet of stars, and the fresh, salty smell of the sea blew in on the soft breeze.
It was the antithesis of the city she loved and yet ... this town spoke to her heart.
“Miss Jane, you falling asleep on me?”
She slapped at a mosquito and laughed. “Could be, Sheriff. I think I need to get into the hot tub and rest these aching muscles. Escape the mosquitoes, too.”
“Yeah, they’re starting to bite.” He removed the hot tub cover while she brought the remains of their dinner into his kitchen.
He was lighting torches as she slipped into the bubbling water and sighed as warmth pervaded her soul.
When he joined her, he didn’t bother with the stairs, but vaulted over the side. Such a man.
“Your muscles sore?” Coop asked.
“Just my shoulders.”
“Let me see.” He shifted in the water, moving behind her.
A moment later, his fingers pressed into her shoulders and she moaned at that sweet dichotomy of pain and pleasure as he probed the sore areas.
“You will let me know if I’m crossing the respectful boundary between landlord and tenant,” he said.
She laughed. “Shut up and keep massaging.”
“I can do that. I could do this all night.”
“That’s such a guy thing to say.”
“But I mean it.” His hands cupped her shoulders, then slid down to work her upper arms.
Lost in exquisite sensation, Jane still had the presence of mind to know they were at a crucial moment. She could thank him for the fun day and the massage and escape downstairs.
She could.
She should.
But every fiber in her being cried out for her to stay. She wanted to stay right here and be with him, pleasure him, love him.
Reaching her right arm across her body, she took one of his hands and tugged it down to cup her breast. He moaned at the feel of her softness. And suddenly he was pulling her against him, encasing her in his strength.
I’d never let anything bad happen to you.
His words brought tears to her eyes now, tears of relief and love and passion. The feel of his hands on her breasts, massaging her nipples to pleasure, sent a stream of warmth coursing through her, and she drew a deep breath, knowing she had never before felt so secure, so delicate, so loved.
She covered his hands with hers to draw them away, then swirled around in the water, turning to face him.
His eyes sparked with wanting her. His body confirmed it when she pressed against him and lifted her lips to his.
The heat of contact ignited feelings deep inside her, yearnings she had tamped down for years, thinking that she had way too many things to invest in before she could get emotionally or physically involved with a man. Her job, her friends, her condo—those things had been her life.
And now, suddenly, those things were part of her past.
And her present was this man holding her in his arms, their bodies buoyed and buffeted by warm gentle waters.
The kiss deepened, and she moaned, losing herself in the sensation of his body against hers as bubbles effervesced around them. His fingertips trailed along the line of her jaw, touching her shoulders as he ended the kiss.
She nuzzled his wet neck, pressing her lips to the spot just under one ear.
He groaned. “That feels so good. Right now I want nothing more than to take you into my bed and make love to you ... every blessed inch of you.”
She lifted her head, studying his handsome face. “Me, too,” she said. “Do you have ... protection?”
“I do. But I don’t think tonight is going to be our night, Miss Jane.”
She squinted. Had she heard him right?
“Don’t be mad at me. You know I’m disappointed, too.”
She sank back in the warm water, drifting away from him. She had never been rejected by a man before and it stung. “So, tell me. What’s wrong, Coop?”
“I want you in the worst way, but when it happens for us, I want to know that I’ve got you, here and here.” He pointed to her chest, then to her forehead. “Heart and soul, sugar.”
“Heart and soul,” she murmured. She couldn’t argue with his reasoning, but that didn’t take away the sting. “I have to admit, I’ve never heard that from a man before.”
“Because I’m no ordinary man, I’m sure.”
“I’ll give you that.” Crouching on a seat in the tub, she closed her eyes and considered his proposal. “How do you know you don’t already have me, heart and soul?”
“I just know. Call it instinct.”
“And how do you know that my soul is in my head?” she asked, pointing to her forehead.
He laughed. “You got me on that one. But my overall impression is on the money. You’re not a hundred percent in this. Am I right?” His expression was so stern she had to look away. She swished her hands on the surface of the water to create a distraction.
“I’m crazy about you, Coop. That’s the truth. It’s just that ... I’ve got some other things on my mind, too. But they have nothing to do with you.”
He held up a hand to stop her. “Say no more, and please don’t apologize for where you’re at right now.” He settled in the opposite corner of the hot tub, irresistibly handsome now that she couldn’t have him. “I have faith in you, Miss Jane. It may take a while, but I do believe you’ll come around.”