But he might not have a choice. He’d suspected the news about his knee would be bad, but he’d filed that thought away in his head in the same place the pain was living. And suspecting the worst and acknowledging it were two entirely different things. His body was his career. If it broke down, what the hell would he do next?
‘C’mon, mate,’ Alfie urged in his Cockney twang. ‘You gonna tell me what the medicos said? Are we gonna get you back out there in the water soon, or what?’
Cooper hunched over, staring into the plate of half-eaten burritos on the table between them. He crossed his arms and leaned his elbows on the table. ‘Doc says I need a little more time.’
Alfie waited for his friend to elaborate. ‘Like, how much more time is she talking, Cooper?’
‘She wants to see me in another week,’ he replied, which also had the benefit of being true. Cooper suspected his doctor wanted to see him again to sit him down in that uncomfortable chair in her exam room and ram home once again how serious this was.
He doubted there’d be any miracle cure between now and next Wednesday.
Or between this moment and the rest of his career.
‘You gotta do what the Doc says, Coop,’ Alfie said.
‘Yeah, of course.’ Cooper slipped off his sunglasses, folded them and put them on the table. ‘Trouble is, Alfie, you know that I’ve blown out this fucking knee too many times. The first time I was young and reckless and didn’t want to hear what the doctors told me and look what happened? I’ve been paying for it ever since. I’m thirty-four with a knee that should be living in a condo in Florida.’
Alfie chuckled. ‘Just do what they tell you, okay? For once, take some advice, you stubborn idiot.’ Alfie leaned across the table and patted Cooper on the shoulder in an attempt at reassurance. ‘We’ve always known your career could turn on a dime, Coop. And you’ve been smart about it. We’ve invested and diversified to make sure there’s something for you just in case you can’t—’
Cooper held up a hand. ‘I know.’
Alfie leaned in close, pulled at the label of his designer beer. ‘I’ll cancel Hawaii then.’
It killed Cooper to agree but he reluctantly did. ‘Okay.’
‘And maybe Bell’s.’
‘Yeah, probably a good idea.’
Alfie caught the waitress’s attention and asked for the check. ‘So, how’s Maggie?’
Cooper was relieved to change the subject. And he was surprised at how he felt when he thought about her. ‘She’s great.’
‘Good woman, that Maggie.’ Alfie’s eyebrows shot up into the wrinkles on his forehead. ‘Glad she’s looking after you.’
Cooper straightened his shoulders. ‘What makes you think she’s looking after me?’
‘You think I came down in the last shower?’ Alfie laughed. ‘How old’s her kid now?’
‘Evan’s five,’ Cooper said and he smiled at the thought of hanging out with him when school was done. ‘He’s a great little dude.’ He checked his watch. ‘Speaking of which, Evan will be home from school soon. I promised him an introduction to Daffy Duck.’
When the waitress sidled up to Alfie with the account, he gave her a wink of thanks and handed it directly to Cooper.
‘You’re paying for this one, right son?’
‘Only if you drive me home.’
It wasn’t until he waved Alfie off at Maggie’s place that he realised what he’d said. And how much he was starting to think of Maggie and Evan as home.
*
Maggie closed Evan’s bedroom door, grateful he’d slipped off to sleep so easily. Having Cooper around had been more of a bonus than she’d realised when it came to Evan. As soon as they got home from school, Evan raced to see Cooper and the two men in her life had entertained each other all through dinner and until bedtime. Now, Maggie was back in her study to work some more and Cooper had settled on the sofa with a crime novel. When he’d got home from his meeting with Alfie, he’d settled into hanging out with Evan. She sensed he was keen to put some distance between her and him. There was a shadow in his eyes that only she could see. A heaviness in his steps that she thought the rehab had ironed out. Whatever had happened, they would have to wait until Evan was in bed to discuss it.
But now it was ten p.m. She switched off her computer and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Her instinct was to go by the living room and see what Cooper was up to, but she fought it. She didn’t want to push. She knew how stubborn he could be. Her plan was to simply pop her head in and say a casual goodnight. Tomorrow was another school day for Evan and another work day for her, so hitting the sack sounded like the best plan. Anything more and it would look like she wanted to have sex with him.
And of course she wanted to have sex with him.
That one night may have broken her drought, but now she was so hungry and desperate for more. That one night would never be enough for a woman who’d gone without a man’s touch for so long. That one night would never be enough for a woman who was craving Cooper’s touch, his body, his fingers and his mouth. For a woman who had tried desperately not to be in love with Cooper Malone but had failed miserably.
She couldn’t be rational about him anymore.
The sound of her footsteps in the hall must have roused Cooper because within a moment, he was at the doorway to the bathroom, filling it with his tall frame and his wide shoulders. She shivered with arousal and her sex tingled and sparked. After such great sex, how on earth did she imagine she could ever look at him the same way or not want him again and again and again?
‘Hey,’ he said, looking at her reflection in the mirror in the way she now knew drove her wild. Was he doing that on purpose? Had he just discovered the power of that look, or had her immunity to it been dissolved by sleeping with him?
‘Hey.’ She looked back at him, so much taller than her, so much bigger in every way.
‘Get some work done?’
‘Uh huh.’ She rolled her lips in, willing herself not to speak for fear of saying something she shouldn’t.
‘I’ve just been reading a book,’ he mentioned offhandedly, his eyes fixed on hers.
‘Any good?’
‘It’s all right,’ he shrugged and his eyes darkened. ‘Someone killed someone. Someone else is looking for the killer.’
Maggie braced herself against the basin, her fingers tight on the cool of the ceramic. He was so close behind her, an arms-length away. ‘I didn’t want to ask before in front of Evan, but how did it go with the doctor today?’
He took a step closer. His thighs were pressed against her butt. Her house was small and there was only one bathroom with barely enough room in it for her, much less the man-mountain that was Cooper. There was no point trying to make any space, even if she’d wanted to.
‘Good,’ he replied.
‘And how’s Alfie?’
‘Good.’
‘You don’t want to talk about it, right?’
He lifted a hand to her hair and smoothed it away from the right side of her neck, and whispered in her ear. ‘Nope.’
Maggie tried not to react. She reached across to the small shelf on the wall to the left of the mirror and grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste. She squeezed out a blob and, when he reached for his brush, sitting in the same cup as hers, she squeezed some out for him too. He watched her every move.
She watched him, too. She slowly began brushing her teeth, all the while keeping her eyes on his. His arm brushed her shoulder as he moved. He shifted his weight and he was slightly side-on to her, and that’s when he stopped looking at her in the mirror. His direct gaze on her tingled her skin. Cooper was bare-chested and beautiful, wearing low-slung board shorts and nothing else. Damn him. He’d been taunting her all afternoon and all evening, wandering around the house looking muscled and hot and, somehow, so Australian. She could so vividly remember the feel of his skin on hers and she felt tense and coiled in a totally different way than she had three days ago when she was still a bor
n-again virgin. Now, Maggie felt as if she was teetering on the edge of something, and her toes gripped the floor to stop her from falling backwards into his arms.
She reached for a cup, filled it with water and rinsed. The cool water and the peppermint toothpaste swirled around in her mouth, stinging her tongue. She filled it and handed it to Cooper. He moved next to her, his body pressing against hers, and leaned over the sink to rinse.
There was only so much a woman could bear without exploding, and she was about to. She pressed a palm into the small of his back and smoothed it up, past the strong planes of muscles at his side and up to a shoulder. She moved closer, pressing her hip against his thigh, and she pressed her lips to his back, needing to taste him, kissing him, flicking her tongue against his skin.
And he reacted exactly the way she hoped he would.
Cooper twisted off the tap, put the cup down on the basin and turned to face her, his expression filled with the same desire she’d seen every time he’d kissed her. And when he’d made love to her. It thrilled her to the core to know it was still there, that she wasn’t the only one feeling this attraction, this need, this longing.
‘I want you, Maggie,’ he groaned.
She pressed her lips to his chest and then looked up at him through heavily lidded eyes. ‘I want you, too, Cooper. More than I’ve ever wanted anyone.’
Cooper took a deep breath, slid his arms around her, cupped her butt and lifted her feet off the ground. ‘Once wasn’t enough, you know that.’
‘Not for me, either,’ she replied in a breathless whisper.
And when he crashed his lips against hers, Maggie could feel his hunger and his desire in his mouth and in his tongue.
He took a couple of wobbly steps.
‘Your knee,’ she panted, pushing back against his chest, so taut and strong under her hands. ‘Put me down.’
He kissed her again and scoffed against her lips. ‘You’re like five foot tall. And I have these big strong arms. Just in case you hadn’t noticed.’
‘I noticed,’ Maggie said as she gripped his biceps. ‘But I don’t want you to hurt yourself.’
He pushed himself against her, hard and strong. ‘I might if I don’t take you to bed right this second.’
‘Cooper …’ Maggie murmured.
‘Evan asleep?’ His voice was a husky groan.
‘Yeah.’
Chapter Twelve
‡
During the next two days, Maggie and Cooper fell into a routine. They had breakfast with Evan; Cooper stacked the dishwasher while Maggie walked her son to school; there was a pot of coffee brewing when she returned; Cooper did his morning rehab before settling in at the kitchen table with his laptop; and Maggie took her coffee cup into her office and worked.
And after school, Cooper hung out with Evan—they were now playing dino wars—and Maggie prepared dinner. Both of her men were grateful for the simple but delicious meals she prepared, cleaning their plates with hungry smiles.
And then, when Evan was sound asleep, they went to bed, and Cooper made love to Maggie like a desperate man. He’d told her he was good, and he’d more than lived up to that promise. His knee was improving a little each day, but they found imaginative ways to compensate for his lack of mobility. Maggie loved straddling him, was thrilled by the power it gave her over him as she slid and moved on his cock. And when he lay next to her, she loved the press of his chest to her back and the way he found her, wet and warm, moving into her as his fingers found her clit from the front, making her come with his other hand on her breast. They’d always had their friendship but sleeping together had unleashed something in them both: something they still weren’t ready to define or explain to each other. After, they lay together like conspirators, talking in the dark, not wanting to make any more noise than they already had. Maggie loved the intimacy of those moments, the closeness, the whispers, his fingers in her hair, his hands exploring every inch of her body. It was like shedding a skin and finding someone new inside the old, someone alive and free and happy. That was the only explanation for how she felt: happy.
The house was quiet. The moonlight filtered into Maggie’s bedroom through the curtain which wafted in the midnight breeze.
Cooper shifted, kissed Maggie’s swollen mouth, twisted a finger in her hair and played with it. ‘Cal wants me to go home for his wedding at the end of the month.’
‘He’s your twin, right?’
‘Yeah. He’s older by about ten minutes.’
‘So are you identical twins?’
‘Yep.’
‘If I ever saw the both of you together, would I be able to tell you apart?’
He cupped her chin. ‘Only one of us would be looking at you like this, Maggie Mac.’
‘So, your brother’s wedding. You’re the best man, I take it?’ Maggie splayed her fingers through the hair on Cooper’s chest.
‘Aren’t I already?’ he teased. He cupped her breast, tweaked a nipple between his thumb and forefinger and it budded in an instant.
‘Mmmm,’ Maggie moaned and she reached for his face, held it in her hands and kissed him. He was getting to know her body now, how she reacted when he touched her, what she liked, what she hadn’t tried. And she was getting to know every inch of him, too. His soft places and his hard ones. How he liked to watch her come, murmuring in her ear to get her there. Things she’d be embarrassed to hear out loud, but that sent her over the edge like a raft on a waterfall.
When she dragged her lips from his, she looked into his eyes. ‘How long will you be gone?’
A shadow crossed his face. ‘A couple weeks, maybe. Alfie’s going to meet me in Sydney. We’ve got some business to sort out.’
‘Sounds serious.’
Cooper kissed her cheek. ‘It is, but it’s all incredibly boring, and I don’t want to talk about it because I’m in bed with you and we’re naked. And, man,’ his voice dropped lower, softer, huskier as he looked into her eyes and shook his head in disbelief. ‘I really want to fuck you again.’ He reached for her hand and urged it down to his cock, hard and strong.
She gripped him and Cooper flinched and moaned. ‘Maggie …’
She sat up and moved over him, wanting him inside her again. She dropped a hand on either side of his head and leaned down, moving her breasts over his face, dangling one nipple over his mouth until he opened wide for her at the exact moment she opened wide for him. As he sheathed her, he suckled her and Maggie gasped.
He moved his hips to meet her rhythm. ‘You are so fuckable. So hot. So beautiful.’
His words went straight to her heart, and when they came together it was bliss.
*
‘Cooper Cooper Cooper!’
Evan’s voice was coming from somewhere deep inside Maggie’s head. She felt shrouded in a fog so thick she couldn’t move her limbs. Something was nudging her. She blinked open her eyes.
Her son’s face was two inches from hers. ‘Mommy, I’m hungry. Can we have pancakes?’
Slowly, everything clicked into place. Maggie propped herself up on her elbows. It was morning. Saturday morning to be precise. The boy asking for pancakes was her son. And the person in the bed next to her was Cooper.
Holy crap. It was enough that she felt confused about what she and Cooper were doing, but she hated that what they were doing would confuse her son.
‘Hi, sweetie,’ she managed through bleary eyes, reaching an arm out to ruffle Evan’s hair. ‘You hungry, huh?’
Maggie tried to sound as normal as she could, as if there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about waking up with Cooper by her side.
‘I’m starving!’ Evan clambered up on the bed and dived into the space between them. ‘Do you want pancakes, Cooper? I want mine with maple syrup. I like maple syrup. Do you like maple syrup, Cooper? Huh?’
The man in question slowly roused. He peeked one eye open and then the other, and with a quick glance at Maggie, he nodded slightly to indicate he understood what was g
oing on. He made a fist and playfully bumped Evan on the shoulder. ‘I love pancakes. And I’m starving too. Can you help me out, mate?’
Evan nodded, wide-eyed. Maggie knew that Evan would offer to fly to the moon and back if Cooper asked him to.
‘I am the best pancake maker in the whole world. And I need an assistant. Here’s what I need. Milk. A bowl. A wooden spoon and the pancake mix from the cupboard. Do you think you can find all those things and put them on the counter?’
‘Sure can.’ Evan scampered off the bed and ran out of the bedroom.
Cooper closed his eyes. ‘Don’t know where that kid gets all his energy. I’m still tired. Exhausted. You wore me out, Maggie Mac.’ He reached for her hand and she squeezed it back.
Maggie sat up, dragging the sheet with her to cover herself and leaned down to give him a quick kiss. ‘While I would normally love to make a joke about what we got up to last night, I can’t right now. I can’t believe I didn’t wake up. I wake up every damn night at 3 a.m. Like clockwork. And I would have gone back to the sofa bed. I didn’t want Evan to see us like this. It’ll confuse him.’
‘He didn’t seem that confused to me. He’s a man in the making, Maggie. He was thinking about breakfast.’
She turned to him. ‘You are such a guy, sometimes. One of us here has to think like a parent. And it looks like it has to be me.’
Cooper sat up. ‘Wait a damn minute.’
‘I don’t have a minute right now.’ Maggie got out of bed and tugged hard at the sheet to drape it around herself. Her guilt at her own behaviour gnawed at her. She was a parent, and parents didn’t have men over for sleepovers unless … well, unless it was serious. And no matter how much she wanted it to be, it could never be serious with Cooper. She’d already been careless enough to let her son see her and Cooper in bed together. She’d been reckless. And it hurt.
The Rebel (The Millionaire Malones Book 3) Page 11