THE HEART TEACHES BEST (REAL ROMANCE COLLECTION Book 2)

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THE HEART TEACHES BEST (REAL ROMANCE COLLECTION Book 2) Page 11

by M. J. Schiller


  “I see what you mean,” he said to Aidan.

  “Oh, no, Coop. Compared to when you weren’t here, she’s lively right now.” He stood with his arms crossed, his anxiety for Laney written on his face. Cooper flinched, thinking she had been worse than her current semi-comatose state.

  “Can I give you my professional opinion?” Jenna asked in a hushed tone.

  “Please.”

  “Okay. Here’s how I see it.” She seemed excited about using her new skills as a grief counselor/victim’s advocate. “Before Mike came out of surgery, her mind had something to do, worry about him. Now that he’s okay, though, her mind has gone back to the hotel room and to her utter terror. Frankly, I don’t know how she’s doing it. If some guy had come after me with a knife and I had been trapped in a hotel bathroom waiting for him to hack his way in, or whatever, I’d be a babbling idiot by now.”

  “Yeah,” Cooper said, distracted by his worry. “So how can I help her?”

  “Well…I suggest getting her to do something normal. You see, her mind is having trouble right now wrapping around the fact that someone was trying to kill her. It’s outside of her norm, she can’t comprehend it, can’t compute.” She tapped the side of her head. “It’s like when a record player gets caught on a scratch. It’s stuck there and it can’t get past it. Her mind’s playing over and over, ‘he was going to kill me!’ and she can’t get around it. But if she could do something normal, or fun, she would be able to see things are okay now. In other words, her reality was altered and we need to get things back on track again. Does that make sense?”

  “Complete sense.”

  They all thought for a few minutes, but it was Jenna who came up with an idea first. “How about we propose a trip to the beach? Get her out of here?”

  “I’m not sure she’ll leave.”

  “Try to convince her.”

  Aidan slapped him on the shoulder. “Yeah. Go on, Coop.”

  He moved over to where she was, staring blankly at the window. He stood behind her and put his hands on her arms. She lifted her head a little in acknowledgement of his presence. “Hey, Lane. How about we all go to the beach? Get out of here for a while? It’s nice out.”

  She turned to look at him with alarm. “I c-can’t go. I’ve got to be here when Mike wakes up. He doesn’t have anyone here.”

  “Actually,” he said, trying to reassure her, “I heard they got a hold of his wife, and she’s in there with him right now.”

  She bit her lip, thinking about this new information. “Can we come back later and check on him?”

  “Sure. If you want to.”

  “Okay.” She smiled, but it seemed forced.

  He was relieved. Without letting Laney see him, he gave Aidan and Jenna the high sign. The four of them strolled down the hall together, Cooper with his arm draped around Laney’s shoulder, as Aidan had his around Jenna’s. They made a point of creating mindless chatter to make things seem as “normal” as possible.

  She interrupted. “But I don’t have a swimming suit!” It was totally out of context, as if that’s what they’d been talking about the whole time. She sounded panicked.

  Jenna answered her slowly. “That’s okay, Laney. You can borrow one of mine.”

  Laney seemed relieved. Maybe she was frightened about the prospect of returning to her place to get a suit, Cooper reasoned.

  They drove to Jenna’s and got changed, then stopped by Cooper and Aidan’s. They decided to take Jenna’s car, as it was roomier. Cooper was surprised when Laney fell asleep on the way over. He ran his hand over her hair as she leaned into his chest.

  “All the work her brain is doing is extremely draining,” Jenna said, catching his eyes in the rearview mirror. He nodded without replying. “I’ll head farther south. Give her an opportunity to rest.”

  When they got to the beach, they found a spot in some light shade and spread out. As late as it was in the afternoon, the beach was fairly deserted. Aidan and Jenna took off to play in the waves, leaving Cooper and Laney alone. She sat with her hands around her knees in a relaxed position, staring out at the waves without speaking. At first, he talked about this and that, ignoring that it was a virtual one-way conversation. After a while, he fell silent, trying to come up with something else to say. He stared out over the waves like she did.

  “Laney. When I went to talk to the chief, I asked him to take me off your case.”

  Her head spun in surprise, but then she seemed to swallow the information with resignation. “I understand. It’s a good decision. It’s not safe to be around me.”

  “No! Oh, no, Laney, you don’t understand.” He turned her so he could look into her eyes and make sure he had her full attention. “I asked him to take me off the case because…I tried to explain before, but I guess I didn’t do a very good job…” He sighed, and then started over. “I didn’t ask to be taken off the case because I’m worried about the danger, I asked to be removed from the case because… Laney, when I’m with you, my thoughts aren’t…very professional.” He saw a glimmer of understanding in her eyes. “In fact,” he took a couple of strands of her hair between his fingers, sliding down all the way, out to the ends, and then released them to touch her face, his eyes flicking back and forth between her eyes, “my thoughts when you’re close to me, like this, are about as far from professional as you can get.” His heart was in his throat. He leaned in and softly kissed her lips, meaning to stop there, but, he felt himself falling deeper and deeper into the kiss.

  There was a point at which Cooper knew the kiss would explode into something else—something so intense it wouldn’t have mattered if every man, woman, and child on the beach had been watching them, he would have had no choice but to force her onto the sand so he could begin to tear off her borrowed swimming suit— and that point was approaching like an express train. The gentleman in him overcame the pure animal lust and he pulled back. As he did, he opened his eyes to take in her reaction and saw, to his great pleasure, she was having trouble resurfacing from some dark place within where her desire swam.

  “Wow!” she breathed, and then, she did the most delightful thing, she giggled.

  He laughed. “I don’t think any woman’s ever reacted to one of my kisses like that.”

  She ducked her head. “I find that hard to believe.”

  “No, it’s true. But I don’t think I’ve ever kissed anyone that way before, nor have I ever wanted to as much.” This was why they called it being a fool for love, he realized; people were filled with an overwhelming desire to share all of themselves with someone else, blurting out anything which came to mind, no matter how private or asinine. But her smile was so lovely, he didn’t care. “Do you want to take a walk?”

  “I’d love to.”

  They strolled along the beach, hand-in-hand or with Cooper’s arm around Laney’s shoulder. Whatever happened to her after Mike’s surgery, the fog that had made him so uneasy had lifted. She smiled and laughed and chatted as if she had no concerns in the world.

  “I like that suit, by the way,” Cooper commented suggestively. It was a simple black bikini with a silver rectangular-shaped metal loop in the middle of her chest connecting the two sides, and identical loops on the bottom half on each hip, connecting the back to the front. She filled it in well.

  “Oh.” She blushed. “Well, I asked Jenna for a cover up, and she gave me this.” She gestured to the sheer blouse she wore over it. “It’s not covering up much,” she added, laughing.

  “And why should it?” he queried, stopping in front of her and reaching under the sheer cloth to run a finger up and down the straps which tied behind her neck.

  She ran her hands up his broad, bare chest. He had abandoned his t-shirt when they first got to the beach, and wore long, solid navy trunks. “You keep doing that, Officer,” she said coyly, “and you’ll have to arrest me for lewd and indecent behavior on a public beach.”

  He grinned, pulling her close. “I’m willing to take my chance
s.”

  This time, she initiated the kiss, running her long fingernails through the back of his hair and sending his system into overdrive. “You keep doing that, ma’am,” he teased, “and they’re going to have to arrest us both.” He bent down and kissed her again, feeling happy to be himself with her, no longer having to consider whether the emotions she stirred up in him were out of bounds for a cop.

  When he pulled back, she commented, “The sun’s going down. You up for a swim?”

  “Sure, if you are.”

  “In that case,” she said, already cheating toward the water, “last one in’s a—whooo!” She was unable to complete her sentence as he surprised her, scooping her up from behind and carrying her toward the water. As he waded in, she seemed to realize his intent. There would be no gradual getting used to the chilly water for her; he was planning on giving her an instant full immersion.

  “Ohhh no! If you take me down, you’re going down with me.” She clung to his neck.

  “Okay. Okay,” he acquiesced. He moved to put her down on her feet, and she loosened her grip. Then, he changed tactics and launched her out into the Pacific before she could readjust.

  She came up sputtering and laughing harder than he had ever seen her laugh. “You! You’re going to get yours. You just wait.” When he got closer, she splashed him until he fought through the froth she was creating and grabbed her wrists.

  “Promises, promises.” He pulled her in by her hips to nip at her bottom lip playfully. The water sparkled on her skin in the sunlight. She pushed her wet hair back, still laughing for a minute, but then she sighed.

  “Cooper…” She squinted up at him, the setting sun getting into her eyes, “Thank you for this. For today. For coming when I called.”

  It was the first time she had mentioned anything related to what had happened earlier. He became serious, too. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she twined her legs around his, her hands crossed loosely behind his neck, buoyed by the water. He spoke with sincerity. “I’ll always be there when you call, Laney.” He watched as her eyes filled with tears. She turned and laid her head down on the front of his shoulder, closing her eyes and seeming to bask in the feeling of being safe here, with him. The simple gesture melted his heart and he held her close, neither moving or speaking for several minutes.

  After a bit, she pulled away. A breeze made her shiver. “It’s getting late.”

  “Yeah.”

  They turned and trudged in together, holding hands. She looked up the beach where Jenna and Aidan were sitting, lip-locked, on the blanket they had spread out.

  “I’m starved. Let’s get those two knuckleheads and go get something to eat.”

  When they got near the blanket, Cooper made a show of clearing his throat loudly. Aidan ignored him and continued to kiss Jenna, until Cooper kicked some sand onto their blanket.

  “That’s it!” Aidan yelled, jumping up and running at him. He chased Cooper back into the waves and tackled him, both of them going down together.

  “And there go a pair of world-class doofuses. Or would that be doofesi? They sure are cute, aren’t they?” Jenna asked with a smile.

  Laney sighed. “Yeah.”

  Jenna put her hand around her shoulder. “You feelin’ better?”

  She nodded, wary, afraid Jenna would ask her to discuss things.

  “Good. Help me shake this blanket out and then we’ll get those bozos to take us out to dinner somewhere.”

  She smiled. “Sounds good.” By the time they were finished, Aidan and Cooper had returned, wearing hang-dog expressions.

  “Sorry,” they said in unison, both wearing contrite expressions. Then they shook the water out of their hair simultaneously, carrying out their evil plan to spray the unsuspecting girls with water.

  “Hey, cut it out!” Jenna laughed, giving Aidan a little shove in the chest. After he wrestled his arms around her, they looked up. Cooper and Laney were watching them, his arms around her, their arms linked in front. She was leaning against his chest, smiling. Jenna and Aidan smiled back. “You boys hungry?” Jenna hinted.

  “I’m not,” Aidan replied. “Are you, Coop?”

  “Nah.”

  “Oh, shut up! You’re always hungry. I need to wash this salt out of my hair first though,” she said, grabbing her beach bag and heading in the direction of a public shower/restroom. “Are you coming, Laney?” She turned back to catch Laney and Cooper kissing. “AHEM!”

  Laney laughed, running to catch up with her. They walked arm-in-arm, as if they’d been best friends forever. The shower room was bright, but deserted. Laney trotted over to the bench nearest the shower stalls and started pulling clothes and a towel out of the bag she had borrowed from Jenna.

  “Oh, shit!” Jenna searched her own bag. “My shampoo must have fallen out in the car. You get the water all warmed up for me and I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Okay.” Laney slipped out of her wet suit, letting it plop to the floor, then, padded into a stall and turned the water on, giving a little shriek when she discovered how cold it was. She bravely ventured into the next stall, turning that one on as well. After a couple of minutes, the water began to get warm. She stepped into the spray, letting it soothe her as it washed over her sand-chafed skin. She threw her head back and let the water flow over her hair with a sigh.

  All of a sudden the lights went out. Laney’s hand went out to the side of the shower stall in the dark.

  “Cooper?” she called out, guessing he inadvertently turned the lights off, thinking she left.

  “Your boyfriend’s not here, Laney.” A voice came out of the shadows, much closer than she would have thought possible, but she realized the sound of the running water had covered his footsteps. It was a voice she had come to recognize. Fear swamped her. She had to get out. Trying to keep her head, she grabbed a towel from the old wooden bench in front of the showers. She wrapped it around her, praying she would be able to make her way in the blackness surrounding her. As she reached the end of the row of showers, some unseen force grabbed her. She was slammed up against the wall, her arm torqued from behind and pressed into her back. Fingers locked into her hair and her face was pushed, a cheek smashed onto the cold cinderblocks of the wall. “What are you doing, Laney? Huh? Huh?” With each question, he jerked on her head and hair. She could feel his hot breath on her face and knew he was inches away.

  Her lips were able to form the words her head had been screaming ever since he had taken hold of her. “P-please don’t kill me!”

  “Please don’t kill me!” He pitched his voice high, mocking her. It seemed familiar now… “I’m not going to kill you, Laney,” he said, laughing. “I’m just going to mess you up real bad.” With that, he threw her across the room. She landed, sprawled on the floor, the towel coming open, but, thankfully, staying over her. The concrete scraped her chest and hands, arms and legs as she slid and crashed into the wooden bench. A blinding light shot through her head. She reached up and felt a warm oozing she didn’t believe was the water, which still ran in the shower stall. She could hear him coming, so her hands searched for a weapon. She found the lower support arm of the bench, which had cracked in two on impact, and she wrenched it free from the base, rolling over and swinging blindly. She was rewarded with a loud thud, but she could tell she hadn’t made solid contact. His reflexes were quick, and he jerked it out of her hands. She could hear it clatter in the dark somewhere far away. “Not a good idea.” He was on top of her, gripping her hair again and pressing her face into the water, which was pooling into a drainage hole nearby. She spit and tried to move her head out of the water, but he forced it back in. He was going to drown her.

  “Laney?” It was Jenna.

  With the kind of strength purchased with adrenaline, she lifted her head and screamed. “Run, Jenna, run! Get out of here!” Belatedly she added, “Get Cooper! Get Aidan!”

  She paid for issuing her warning. Her assailant struck her hard, once, across the face.
/>   She felt intense pain, and then the sensation that everything was slipping away.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cooper and Aidan were leaning against the hood of the car, their feet stretched out in front of them, joking around. When Cooper caught Jenna’s frantic movements as she exited the shower building, which was down a hill and across an expanse of sand, he knew something was wrong. He took off running. It was several seconds before Aidan realized what was happening and followed.

  “Laney’s in trouble!” Jenna was screaming.

  Cooper rushed through the door. He ran his hand along the wall impatiently, searching for a light switch. He called out her name, but heard nothing but the sound of showers running. He inched his way forward.

  “Coop?”

  “Over here.”

  Aidan was by his side in an instant, even in the dark.

  “I couldn’t find a—OOF!” Cooper crumbled to the floor. “He went to the left,” he rasped. He tried to draw in breath to his aching lungs. He had been rammed hard in the stomach and had the wind knocked out of him.

  Aidan’s voice came from close by. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Get going.”

  They felt their way, using a set of lockers as a guide, listening for breathing and footsteps. In seconds the blackness was cut by a ray of light, and for another second or two, they got a glimpse of where they were. Lockers stood to the left and right. Aidan had been about to trip over a bench. The outdoor light came over the top of the lockers to their left and Cooper could see the arc of brightness on the ceiling getting slimmer and slimmer as a door closed and they were immersed in the blackness again.

  “He’s outside now. I’m going for Jenna. You find Laney.”

  “Okay. Good luck.”

  Cooper felt again along the wall, heading toward the sound of the water endlessly pelting the walls and floor. He found a switch and the outer room flooded with light. Aidan must have flipped the power back on. It registered in his mind now that there had been a large power box on the outside of the building. It took a second for his eyes to adjust, but he could make out the wide entry to the shower room, which was still bathed in darkness. He flipped more switches until the whole place lit up, still calling out Laney’s name. When he came around the corner to a shower, he drew in a sharp breath.

 

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