Never Falling Again: An opposites attract, Navy SEAL on vacation romantic comedy (Falling in Maui Book 3)

by Mercer Scott

Ladies had it rough in the eighties. Crimping takes time, people. After an hour and a half in which I think we drain at least half of Maui’s supply of hairspray, eyeliner, and blue eyeshadow we’re finally ready.

  “Ready?” I ask, eying the three of us in the bathroom mirror. I barely recognize us. We look crazy hot, emphasis on the crazy. “Because I don’t think I can take any more hairspray, or I’ll be spending the next three weeks trying to get my hair to move again.”

  “Oh, we are definitely ready. This eighties dance has no idea about what’s going to go down tonight. Let’s go see what the guys are wearing.”

  “Where’s Deacon anyways?”

  “On his way back from London. He’s going to meet us at the dance.”

  “In costume, hopefully?”

  “His costume is waiting for him at the airport, and he had better be wearing it or he’ll be sleeping out by the pool tonight.” Lara grins back at us in the mirror, looking garishly beautiful in the neon orange and green snakeskin dress.

  “But first, let’s take a selfie!” Veronica says, and picks up her phone to take a bathroom mirror picture of the three of us. Veronica ended up in the metallic purple that Lara picked out for her, and she looks gorgeous.

  “I love you, friends. Thanks for putting up with me.”

  “You’re going through a rough patch. We’ve all been there. And of course, we’re here for you, Nit-Nat Bar. Always.” Veronica gives me a quick hug, then Lara reaches around both of us to get in on it.

  After a final mirror check, we’re on our way downstairs. I have no idea exactly what I’m going to find. Especially since Ty and Cooper don’t really know each other… and Cooper never actually said that he was going to wear a costume. But now that I’m fully decked out in this ridiculous shiny, frothy, pink dress, I really hope he’s not all classy and handsome in a modern suit or something. Although, I’m pretty sure that I’d like to see Cooper in a suit. Or just about anything else.

  Cooper Hamilton does not disappoint. When we get down to enormous, open living room in the middle of the house, Cooper and Ty are milling around with beers in their hands.

  “Nice suit.” I can’t wipe the smile off of my face. He’s dressed up like Ducky from Pretty in Pink, so we look like we match. At least until the end when she chooses Blaine over Ducky. I was always team Ducky. Maybe most men couldn’t pull off a blue, paisley suit with a bolo tie and pointy, white shoes, but Cooper definitely can. His hair is even gelled up into some kind of a faux-hawk.

  “You like?”

  “Maybe...”

  “And all I had to do was dress up like a total dork. Should have thought of that sooner, I guess.”

  “Guess you should have.” My lips tug into a huge smile.

  “You look hot.”

  “Who knew you were into blue eyeshadow and crimped hair?”

  “I’m into you.”

  There’s a long pause and no one says anything.

  “What about me?” Ty asks, stepping forward. We all look over at him, but he’s only looking at Veronica. He’s wearing baggy jogging pants, a trench coat, and he’s carrying a cardboard boombox. The quintessential Say Anything costume.

  “You look super sexy, honey.”

  “Oh, really?” Ty steps forward and wraps his arms around Veronica. “Maybe we should try dressing up more often?”

  Lara smirks at them. “You two can explore role playing on your own time. Deacon and I highly recommend it. But we need to get going to the dance.”

  “Where is Deacon?” Ty asks, glancing around and obviously not finding Deacon because he’s not here.

  “On his way back from London. He’s meeting us there. Let’s go everyone.”

  “And Deacon is?”

  Lara looks surprised. “My fiancé, Deacon Park.”

  “Oh. You heard the woman. Let’s go,” Cooper finishes his beer and sets the glass down on a table. Then he walks over to me and takes my hand. In front of everyone. For a second, I’m frozen. “Let’s go, Natalia.”

  Cooper gives my hand a squeeze, and then I’m following him to the front door.

  “Wait until you see our ride!” Lara announces excitedly.

  “What did you do?” I ask, turning back to look at her.

  “Just wait!”

  As soon as we set foot outside the front door, there is the biggest, tackiest, white stretch party bus I’ve ever seen. The kind we always make fun of in Vegas. The kind that always has a stripper pole in it.

  “This is absolutely horrible,” Veronica says with a laugh. “I love it!”

  The short one, however, doesn’t look too impressed to be driving it.

  Cooper holds my hand as we climb onto the ridiculous party bus and sit down as far as we can from the stripper pole in the middle of it. He holds my hand while Lara pours us all tequila shots. And he holds my hand while we climb off the party bus and make our way into the dance.

  I have the feeling that some of whatever money Lara donated to get everyone invited to the dance was earmarked for décor. Because this place is decked out like the over-the-top high school dance from a teen movie, and there’s no way the veterans’ hospital had the budget for this.

  Marcus walks over to us as soon as we step into the dance. He looks adorable and ridiculous dressed up as an eighties hair band rocker. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t notice all the burly muscles on display under that open leather jacket. The giant, curly wig makes the entire outfit.

  “Classic Ducky, Coop. Looking good.”

  “Thanks, man. You, too. Love the rocker costume. Thinking we need to start a band.”

  “Can you sing? Play an instrument?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Idiot,” Marcus says with a laugh.

  When Cooper doesn’t introduce anyone, I step in. “Everyone, this is Marcus. Marcus these are my friends, Lara, Veronica, and Ty. You already have the misfortune of knowing Cooper. Now I have some important ZaZaFamz business to take care of. I need to go talk to the DJ.”

  Cooper rolls his eyes at me, but he doesn’t let go of my hand as he follows me over to the DJ booth. The DJ seems confused by my request, but agrees to slip in as much Zariah as he can.

  “Happy?” Cooper is staring down at me.

  “Actually, yes.” Happy? That’s something I never thought I was going to be ever again.

  “Want to dance?” Cooper grins down at me.

  “Are you sure? What about your hip? We probably shouldn’t…” In this moment, I don’t want anything more than I want to dance with Cooper. And that scares the crap out of me.

  “You’re right. We should only slow dance. It’s safer.” Cooper smiles, and leads me out into the middle of the dance floor. Tainted Love isn’t really a slow song, but somehow Cooper makes it work. I’ve tried not to let myself think about what it would be like to be in Cooper’s arms again. Probably because I knew how good it would feel. He hasn’t held me in his arms since the first day we met and it feels better than anything I could have imagined or remembered. His arms are wrapped around me, strong and firm. Every muscular inch of his body is pressed against mine. And it’s making me want one thing. More.

  And he gives me more. We spend the whole night slow-dancing in the middle of the dance floor. I never went to a high school dance because of the whole growing up on a hippie commune thing. But if I had, I know that this night would have topped it a thousand times over.

  “I’m guess I’m going to kiss you now.” Cooper’s words scare me almost as much as they excite me. As many times as I’ve said that this isn’t happening, it’s been happening since the moment Cooper ran right into my life and literally swept me off my feet.

  “What took you so long?” As I smile up at him, I can’t take my eyes off of his lips. I’ve thought about kissing Cooper so many times, but I never quite pictured it like this. Me wearing blue eyeshadow and a glorified, pink tutu. Cooper wearing a blue paisley suit. But it’s perfect. This whole night has been perfect, drinking, dancing
, and laughing with our friends. And now we’re in the middle of the dance floor as Zariah Ferré sings, Always Yours Forever.

  “What took me so damn long is that you’re absolutely impossible.” Cooper smiles down at me. Then he presses his hand against the small of my back, hitting me right at the curve of my butt. I want him to run his hand over my butt, but I guess I’ll settle almost my butt on a first kiss.

  Cooper leans down, taking his damn time. “I’m going to kiss you, Natalia.”

  “You keep saying that-”

  And then he does. His lips are warm on mine. And at first, I’m in shock that this is actually happening because I swore so many times that this day would never come. I was done with men. All men. And then Cooper Hamilton marched into my life. And now here I am, loving every single second of being kissed by him.

  Cooper’s lips are firm and soft. Just like him. He’s funny and always smiling. But there’s steel beneath that joking exterior. His tongue reaches for me to deepen the kiss, forcing my lips to part for him. And I do. I’m lost in this kiss. Lost in him. I can hear Zariah turn to an eighties song, but it sounds a million miles away in another world. Because right now, my world has a population of two. Cooper and me.

  Reaching up, I wrap my arms around Cooper’s neck, clinging to him, so I don’t float away into space. Into the Milky Way. I feel this kiss everywhere in my body, from my fingers to my toes and everywhere in between – and definitely one particular place in between. My pulse is racing, my breaths are coming hard and fast. If I was the nurse examining me, I’d be very concerned right now. But I’m not concerned about anything. The whole world and all my problems fell away the second his lips touched mine.

  Cooper slides his hands down my butt now and squeezes me through my tutu skirt. I should probably feel ridiculous. But I don’t. I feel happy and light as Cooper’s tongue dives into my mouth again and again. I don’t want this to stop. I’m not sure that I ever want this to stop.

  “We’ve got to stop,” Cooper says, pulling his lips away from mine. “If we don’t stop now, we’re both going to be naked in the DJ booth in thirty seconds with a very upset DJ next to us. That’s not the way I want our first time to be.”

  “What makes you think there’s going to be a first time?” I demand, trying to pick a fight. Without his lips on mine anymore, things seem more confusing. He’s been chasing after me for weeks. Why did he stop? “Maybe it was just a one-time, one-kiss thing?”

  “It wasn’t. There’s nothing one-time about us.” Cooper smiles down at me.

  Something in me is still fighting it. Or fighting me. I know that I want him, but I’ve been fighting my feelings since the moment I met him. And that kiss just released the dam I carefully built brick by brick to hold my feelings in check. And now my feelings are flooding out, rushing over me. Scaring me.

  “I want to go home… or back to Lara’s. Whatever. Please, just take me home, okay?”

  “Hey, what happened? What’s wrong?” Cooper looks down at me with concern in his eyes, his arms still wrapped around me.

  “Nothing. Just take me home. Please.” I can feel the tears in my eyes, and I know that I don’t have long before I’m a complete mess. It’s going to happen. I can’t stop it. And I don’t want him to see it.

  “I just need to go. I need to find Lara and Veronica.”

  “I feel like I’m missing something here? What just happened?”

  I paste a blank smile on my face. “Nothing. Everything’s fine. It’s just been a long night. I’m ready to go home. Okay?”

  “Okay. Then let’s get you home.”

  Pulling away, I walk ahead of him to the side of the room. I don’t know how long I can go without crying all over him. And sobbing on a man after finally kissing him for the first time is not exactly what I’m going for. I just need to find my friends.

  After grabbing my phone out of my hot pink, satin clutch, I’m about to call them, when I spot Lara and Veronica over by the bar. I can’t help but smile, even though I’m on the verge of tears. Of course, they’re over at the bar. Where else would they be?

  I race over to them without looking back. I know that Cooper’s trailing after me, but I can’t stand to look at him. If I do, I’ll burst into tears right here and now.

  “Hey, I’m ready to go. Now.”

  “What’s wrong?” Veronica demands.

  Of course, they know something is wrong. My face tells them everything they need to know. Crap.

  “Nothing, I’m just tired. I want to go home now. Please.”

  Lara turns from me to Cooper standing behind me, and advances on him. “What did you do to her?”

  “He didn’t do anything!” I say, holding up my hands to stop Lara.

  “I honestly don’t know what happened. I mean, we kissed. And everything was fine… and then it wasn’t.” Cooper’s voice sounds confused. And hurt. And I hate myself for it.

  “Look, I just need to get out of here. Can we please just go? Please!” Tears start to spill, and I’m about to turn into a sobbing mess in exactly thirty seconds or less.

  “Not until I kick this guy’s ass. I’m going to find out exactly what he did to you, and then I’m going to make him pay.” Lara starts advancing menacingly towards Cooper.

  “Look, if I knew what I did, I’d let you. Hell, I’d let you beat me up if I thought that was going to help one single bit. But she just got upset. I don’t know what’s going on. Can you just get her out of here? Please.”

  “Let’s go, Lara. We can deal with him later.” Veronica wraps her arms around me. “And there will be a later.”

  “What’s going on?” Oh crap, Ty’s here now.

  “Nothing. We’re just leaving. Let’s go, everyone. Now.”

  “Did something happen?” Ty asks, his voice suspicious.

  “This asshole did something to Natalia. And I’m going to find out what!” Lara shouts.

  She picks up a bottle of wine off the bar and starts waving it around at Cooper.

  “Lara, stop. Put the bottle down. Please, let’s just go.” I beg. Everyone’s fighting, and it’s all my fault.

  “Not until I make this asshole pay for hurting you.”

  “He didn’t mean to. I mean, he didn’t. Let’s just go!”

  Of course, Lara doesn’t listen to me. Lara never listens to anyone. She advances on Cooper, but he refuses to walk away, even for his own safety.

  Lara raises the bottle, and Cooper stands his ground. This is not going to end well. Like really, really not well.

  Lara starts to swing the bottle, and someone grabs her arm. Deacon grabs the bottle from her and scoops her up into his arms.

  “What the hell? Why can’t I leave you alone for five minutes without you getting into a street fight?” Deacon is frowning at all of us, surveying the situation.

  “It’s not a street fight. We’re inside!” Lara shouts angrily at him.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Deacon demands.

  “He hurt Nat, and I’m going to make him pay!” Lara shouts, struggling against Deacon’s arms.

  “Will you all stop saying that? I didn’t hurt her. I didn’t to anything. Please just take her home and make sure that she’s okay.”

  “He didn’t do anything. He didn’t hurt me. Look, I’m fine.” I’m not sure how believable that is, when tears are streaming down my face, but this is what’s happening. “I swear, nothing happened. Please, I just want to go home.”

  Deacon nods, and his security team swoop in out of nowhere. The tall one. The short one. And the one in charge. They rush forward and usher us all out to the parking lot.

  I sneak one last look at Cooper as we rush out of the dance. And I instantly wish I that I didn’t. He’s standing at the edge of the dance floor looking confused, and hurt, and sad. Because of me. I did that to him.

  I fell head over heels for a man who didn’t care about me at all. A man who cheated on me like I meant nothing. And then a really good guy kisses me. A guy
that maybe I really like. And I start crying and have a total meltdown?

  Everyone is silent on the drive back to Lara and Deacon’s. Lara is mad at Deacon. Deacon is mad at Lara. And it’s all my fault. This is all my fault.

  I don’t know what happened to the party bus, but we all left the dance in Deacon’s fleet of black Range Rovers. When the SUV pulls to a stop outside Lara and Deacon’s house, I push the door open and race back inside.

  “Let her go. We need to talk.” I hear Deacon say behind me as I flee into the house. My friends are fighting and it’s all my fault.

  I don’t hear anything else because I find my way to the floor of the marble shower off my bedroom, and I down sit under the stream of warm water. Blue and black streaks slide down my face onto my ruined dress. And I don’t care about any of it.

  I don’t know how long I sit there like that, but when I finally emerge from the shower, my skin is red and my fingers are wrinkled. When I crawl into bed, I can hear angry shouting. I hate that I caused problems between Lara and Deacon. Then that angry shouting stops, and I hear them having loud, angry sex instead.

  At least someone is. At least they’re not so seriously messed up that a nice guy kissing them causes them to have a total breakdown. How am I ever going to be able to face Cooper again?

  When I wake up the next morning, I don’t feel any better. I still have no idea how I’m ever going to be able to face Cooper again after how I behaved last night.

  And I still don’t know what really happened. The kiss was great. Cooper is great. It’s me that’s not great. But I have no idea how to fix me.

  Chapter Eleven

  Cooper

  Exactly how much time is enough time before I call the woman that I made cry when I kissed her for the first time, last night? Because I have no damn idea.

  I was up all night long thinking about the look on her face as tears rolled down her cheeks. She was beautiful, like always. But she looked so sad it nearly killed me. And it’s killing me that I’m the one who did that to her, even though I have no damn idea what exactly I did. Everything was fine. Everything was better than fine. Until it wasn’t.