“I’m not yelling.”
“Yet.”
“My voice is remarkably low right now.”
“We’ll see how long it lasts.”
I finished my wine and had a moment to rue not having more in my glass before he leaned around the table. Saying nothing, he plucked me into his arms and deposited me in his lap like a bag of feed.
“Hi, what are you—oof.” My protest disappeared into his mouth as his lips covered mine, and his hand wound in my hair, still slightly damp from the shower. I didn’t consciously turn into him, but my body had a mind of its own. I wrapped my arms around his neck and moaned softly as he slid his hand under my shirt—his shirt—to toy with my nipples. “You’re wine-flavored now,” I said between kisses. “Delicious.”
“It would be so easy to sweep these plates off and lay you out on this table.” He nuzzled my throat, his voice thick and sexy. “You’d point your toes toward the stars while I open you up and taste you.”
“Mmm, sounds good. Let’s just talk later.”
He lifted my head with his fingers still webbed in my hair and bit down on my lower lip. “Nice try, Daly.”
My eyes flashed open. “Are you trying to seduce the truth out of me? Because I’ll have you know I planned on seducing you not to be angry.”
He didn’t smile. The worry lines around his eyes only dug in deeper. “You’re keeping the truth from me again?”
“What do you mean again?” His raised brows made me shove his shoulder. That his hand was still busy under my shirt didn’t slow down either of us. “If you mean Pat—”
“Don’t say his name while my hands are on you.”
I shifted around on his lap so I could straddle him. Bumping up against his stiff cock outlined by his soft sweats was just a bonus. “I don’t want to say his name anytime. You’re the asshole who said too.” I leaned down to kiss him, drawing out the moment while he palmed my breasts, and I rocked against him to torture us both.
“Fine, okay, yeah, I’m still annoyed you didn’t trust me with him. I get it. I just don’t like it.”
I dragged my teeth over his full lower lip and along his beardy scruff. The rest of my skin that hadn’t been branded already would soon be on fire. But I liked wearing his marks. Including the ones on my wrist when he clamped his fingers there and lifted it to his mouth.
Watching me, he nipped the tender flesh of my inner arm. “You’re distracting me.”
“Ditto.” I blew out a breath and tugged down his shirt, reluctantly nudging away his hands. “I never lied to you. I just didn’t know how to talk about him. Then the more time we spent together, I wasn’t thinking about him anymore.” I searched Cooper’s eyes. “I think deep down, I was scared to think about you.”
He let out a long breath as I curled my hands around the back of his neck. “New technique to distract me?”
“No, it’s called being honest.” I leaned forward and rested my cheek against his. “She called me. Priscilla.”
He gripped my shoulders and drew me back. “We need to get you a new number. New phone.”
I let out an uneasy laugh. “Why a new phone? Think she infected it somehow?”
“I don’t know what any of them are doing, but we’re not taking any chances.” Rather than put me down, he held on to me as he started to rise—only to thunk back down hard in the chair when I pounded on his chest. “What now?”
“Are you just going to carry me everywhere? Maybe lock me in a safe room with no windows?” I would’ve laughed if he hadn’t narrowed his eyes as if he was seriously considering it. “Um, no, you are not. I’m here because I want to be. Not because you’re going to chain me up.”
“If I’m chaining you, it’s not for that, and you’ll be agreeable first.”
I stared at him and tried not to wiggle on his lap like an overeager puppy.
Not the right time, horndog.
“I’m already agreeable. When can we start?”
His quick grin warmed me way down deep. “Yeah, we definitely wasted a lot of time.” He rested his hands on either side of my waist. “Tell me what happened.”
I told him every snippet of conversation I could remember. For these few minutes, he wasn’t just my new lover. He was my best friend, the guy I trusted with my life.
Who I knew cared about me enough to respect my choices even while I watched him swing between concern and annoyance.
“You’re not going alone.” His tone brooked no arguments.
“No, I figured not, and I don’t want to, since I have a preference to not end up tied up in the back of a van.” I shuddered. “Or worse.”
His jaw flexed. “Don’t even joke about it.”
“I have to. I’m really fucking freaked out that she got my number and seems to have a vendetta against me.” Goosebumps formed along my arms despite the warm night, and Cooper rubbed his big, callused hands over my skin. “You’re really good at that.”
“I have a number of uses. Including taking care of a duplicitous fake who got the drop on me once but won’t again. I’m still pissed she managed to drug that drink right under my damn nose.”
“It’s not your fault.” I covered one of his hands with mine. “Right from the start, she felt off to me. I couldn’t understand why. I figured it was the emotional, exhausting day, but it wasn’t. She didn’t know anything I was talking about. Obviously, she’d done some research about our connection but not enough to get the backstory down. Maybe she didn’t think she had to. She probably found out I was a former cheerleader and current rocker and assumed I had the brain power of a block of Swiss.”
“Her mistake,” he said lightly, winding one of my damp curls around his finger. “And that whole
