Hold Me Until Morning

by Christina Phillips

  “Right.” She nodded and shuffled a couple of steps back from him. “That…that’s good. I, uh, was worried about that.”

  Guilt snaked through him. “I’m sorry.” More than she’d ever know, and for more reasons than he would ever admit. “You want to get back home?”

  “Mm.” She nodded again and jammed the helmet over her head. He got on his bike, and she swung her leg over but didn’t cling to him like she had before.

  He told himself that was a good thing.

  They passed nothing suspicious on the way back. At least he’d lost their tail. He attempted to whip up some anger against the bastard but couldn’t, because if not for him, the mind blowing hookup with Paris would never have happened. No way would she have wrapped herself around him otherwise—and no matter what he told her, the truth was he couldn’t regret a second of it.

  Shit, this week was going to kill him.

  By the time they arrived at the cabin, Cooper had convinced himself he’d dodged a bullet. She hadn’t gone crazy, which meant she was willing to overlook his unprofessional behavior. He sure as shit couldn’t—not only because he was supposed to be watching out for her this week, but because she was Scott’s little sister.

  Before they’d even gotten off the bike, Scott’s Kawasaki roared along the dirt road and into the front yard. Cooper stared in disbelief as Paris’s brother dismounted and strolled toward them. Of all the times he had to turn up. It was like he knew Cooper had crossed the line.

  “Hey.” Scott pulled off his helmet and grinned. “How’s it going?”

  Fucking great. Cooper turned to give Paris a hand, but she managed without any help.

  “Fine.” She pulled off her own helmet and a sprinkle of leaves on the back of her wig drew his attention like a great big neon sign. “What’re you doing here?”

  “First, I wanted to make sure you hadn’t trashed my car.” Scott shot his SUV a pointed look. “And second, why haven’t you answered any of my calls? I don’t mean with text messages. You’ve been avoiding talking to me.”

  “That’s right.” She strolled to the front door as though nothing had happened between them. Some of Cooper’s tension eased. Obviously heavy make out sessions in the forest weren’t that big a deal to her. Strangely, that bugged him.

  Paris continued, “What makes you think I want to talk to you when I’m having a week off from everything?”

  “If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t even have taken this week off.”

  She opened the door and pulled a face at her brother. “Yes, I would. I’m not completely helpless.”

  Scott wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a rough hug. He looked back at Cooper and grimaced. “My baby sister. Try not to kill her this week, won’t you? I know she’d drive a saint mad.”

  “Good thing I’m no saint, then.”

  She had pulled off her shades, and for a second he caught her glance. The ghost of a smile touched her lips as though she was remembering what he’d said to her. Before he got his shit together and smiled back, she’d disappeared inside the cabin.

  Chapter Six

  Paris hooked her thumbs into the pockets of her jeans and watched Scott as he filled the coffeemaker in the kitchen. She loved her brother, but his timing sucked. All she wanted to do was avoid Cooper for the next five days, but he was standing right behind her as though nothing had happened.

  Maybe to him nothing had happened. That kind of pissed her off.

  “You got anything to eat?” Scott frowned as he opened the fridge and saw the contents. “Fuck me, Cooper. You don’t eat this shit as well, do you?”

  “We went shopping but had to cut it short,” Cooper said. “There was some guy taking too much notice of Paris.”

  Scott slammed the fridge door shut without taking any of her salad. “Didn’t take them long to track you down. Are you sure you haven’t told Mom about this place?”

  She forgot about Cooper breathing down her neck and glared at her brother. “Of course I’m sure. If she knew where I was she’d be here already.” Then his comment fully penetrated—and it didn’t make sense. “What does Mom knowing where I am have to do with the paparazzi?”

  For a second Scott didn’t answer. Then he glanced behind her at Cooper, and that really irritated her. “Well?” Her voice was sharp. She didn’t like where her imagination was taking her.

  Scott sighed. “Haven’t you ever thought it strange the way the paparazzi always turn up when you have a night out?”

  Strange wasn’t the word she’d use, but what he was implying was horrible. Her mom knew how much she hated having her every little move scrutinized. She wouldn’t believe her own mother was selling her out.

  She stalked across the kitchen and leaned against the sink. The more distance she put between her and Cooper the better. Before she could tell her brother what she thought of his accusations, Cooper spoke.

  “That’s harsh.”

  Yes, it was harsh. She slung him a grateful glance, and he gave her a faint smile. It wasn’t quite enough to show off his dimple, but her stomach dipped regardless.

  “It keeps you in the tabloids. She dreads the day when no one wants to splash you across their front page.”

  Her brother was crazy. Except, deep inside, she knew he was right. She was living her mother’s dream, and her mom had no intention of waking up any time soon.

  If only he hadn’t felt the need to share all that in front of Cooper. She’d shared enough personal stuff with him today to last her a lifetime.

  “We lost the guy.” Cooper leaned against the sink next to her and folded his arms. He wasn’t quite touching her, but she still found it hard to breathe properly. “Looked random to me. There’s no way he could’ve known which town we were going to.”

  She couldn’t remember a single time over the last year when she’d gone out for a private evening and hadn’t ended up trying to evade at least one paparazzo. At least her tightly guarded secret of having been accepted to Brown wasn’t out. Surely if it was her mom leaking stories to the press, that juicy piece of gossip would have slipped out.

  Scott appeared to concede that point. “I guess that makes sense. It’d be different if you’d found one of them up the road from here.”

  “If I found anyone stalking her, I’d soon make sure they backed off.”

  Scott poured himself a coffee. “I know. There’s not many I’d trust with Paris out here in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake.” She didn’t know whether she wanted to hit her brother or just disappear through the floor. “I’m standing right here.”

  Scott grinned at her. He was only a couple of years older than her but sometimes he acted like the father she’d never known. “You know I’m right,” he said, which at least made her mind up for her. She definitely wanted to hit him. “Cooper’s the best bodyguard you’ve ever had. Admit it.”

  She had a vivid flashback to the forest. Technically she might not have actually had Cooper, but in her experience it came close enough. To her intense mortification her face went hot.

  “Your sister’s in safe hands.”

  She rounded on him, but there wasn’t a hint of a smile on his face. In fact, he looked kind of grim. Her snarky response died on her tongue. At least she had an answer now. Whatever had happened between them in the forest wasn’t going to happen again.

  Good. She ignored the ache in her chest because seriously, hooking up with her bodyguard was the last thing she wanted. That was the kind of thing her mom did. I sure as hell don’t want to get caught up in that kind of mess.

  Except Cooper was nothing like Anson, and what they’d done in the forest didn’t even come close to her mom’s performance.

  I should’ve just kept my hands off him. No way was she going to touch him again. Especially when he made it so clear he considered it a mistake.

  At least that means he won’t tell anyone about it. Doesn’t it?

  “Can’t be any worse than the las
t jerk she had.” Scott took a long swallow of his black coffee and she stared at him in disbelief. Surely he hadn’t told Cooper the real reason why she’d fired Anson’s ass?

  “Do I need to know what went down there?” Cooper asked.

  She let out a relieved breath. Some things just shouldn’t be repeated. “No,” she said quickly, before Scott could interfere anymore. “He had no sense of boundaries.” Before she could stop herself she waved her hand in a circle to demonstrate what she meant. “I just really needed to get away from it all.”

  “So you didn’t collapse on set?”

  Belatedly she remembered the story they’d put out as a cover for her taking off on such short notice. Luckily the network had played along, since it gave them additional Lola publicity.

  “No. It was just something to keep the tabloids happy.” And to throw them off her trail.

  Cooper frowned. He obviously didn’t understand why anyone would want to do that, but then he didn’t know what it was like, living under a spotlight all the time.

  I don’t like not telling him the truth. But she’d signed the nondisclosure as well. If she broke it, the network could break her.

  Thank God her final episode was airing next week.

  “Since I’m here,” Scott said to Cooper, “you can shoot off and get some supplies. Damned if I’m going to eat the crap Paris does.”

  “Oh, staying are you?” She knew she sounded cranky. She was cranky, and she couldn’t quite figure out why. It wasn’t as though she was desperate for time alone with Cooper. Not after what had happened earlier. It was too embarrassing.

  The only problem was she did want to be alone with him. It was driving her crazy.

  “I’ll stay for a while,” said her blindly insensitive brother. Although did she really want him to guess what she’d done with his best friend? Since that was a massive no fucking way she bit her tongue and gave him a mocking smile instead.

  “Sure,” Cooper said, in that easy way he had. “What’ll it be? Steak and beer?”

  Later that afternoon Paris abandoned her tablet, where she’d been checking her Facebook account, and peered through her bedroom window. After a huge lunch, Cooper had managed to persuade her brother to give him a hand in clearing the back yard. He’d found a surprising variety of tools in the old garden shed, and Scott’s horrified protests at getting his hands dirty hadn’t cut it with Cooper.

  It was amazing how much better the yard looked now that it wasn’t a jungle of weeds. She repeated that thought a couple of times as an excuse to keep on peeking out through the window, behind the cover of the drapes. But the truth was the sight of Cooper wearing nothing but boots, jeans, and a battered old cowboy hat was mesmeric. Is it hot in here or what?

  She took a deep breath. She’d never spied on a guy like this before. Maybe she’d take them out a cold drink. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer and a couple of cans from the fridge.

  Cooper took the bottle of beer from her with a grin that sent her stomach into a free fall. Scott scowled at the can of soda she offered him. “What the hell?”

  “You’ve had enough,” she said, trying not to stare at the way Cooper’s muscles rippled as he tipped his head back and swallowed his beer. “You’re driving later.”

  Scott muttered something under his breath, but took the soda. That was one thing she’d say for her brother. He never argued with her when it came to alcohol. She guessed her problems when she was younger had affected him more than he’d admit. “You could invite me to stay over.”

  She popped the tab on her own soda. “You want to sleep with Cooper tonight? Be my guest.” Then she took a quick drink so her brother wouldn’t guess where her thoughts had instantly leaped.

  Sleeping with Cooper wasn’t going to happen.

  “I don’t share my bed with anyone.” Cooper wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and appeared to be avoiding looking her way. “Not even you, Scott.”

  “When you spend the whole night with someone let me know, and we’ll get wasted to celebrate.” Scott turned to her. “You’re a girl,” he said, which was amazingly observant of him. “Would you give a guy a second chance if he loved you and left you as soon as he could?”

  She had the crazy urge to giggle. She coughed and mock frowned at Cooper, who looked as though he’d like to break Scott’s neck. “Is that what you do, then?”

  “No.” He ground the word between his teeth.

  “Don’t give me that bullshit.” Scott punched him on the arm. “This is only Paris.”

  This is only Paris. That kind of annoyed her. “I don’t know why you want my opinion. You seem pretty sure you know what girls like. You’re such a man whore.”

  Scott toasted her with his soda. He obviously took her insult as a compliment. “I never leave before morning—and the ladies love it.”

  She made a gagging sound. “You’re disgusting.”

  “He’s always been disgusting,” Cooper said. “You’ve only just noticed?”

  “Don’t change the subject,” Scott said. “We were talking about you and the service you offer.”

  “I’ve never had any complaints.”

  She really didn’t mean to, but couldn’t help glancing at him. Their gazes clashed.

  What would Scott do if she backed up Cooper’s claim?

  She hastily tore her gaze from him and took a long drink to cool herself down. She had no idea what Scott would do, and it didn’t matter because he was never going to find out that she, at least, would give him a five star rating when it came to being serviced by Cooper.

  “You haven’t had any complaints because you don’t hang around long enough afterwards to hear any.”

  “That’s not the reason I don’t get complaints.”

  Too right it wasn’t. Although, now that she came to think about it, his reaction afterwards had kind of sucked. Maybe that’s what Scott was getting at. Not that she was going to agree with him.

  Or maybe it’s only with me that he acted so weird? If she hadn’t thrown herself in his arms and practically begged for it, would he even have kissed her?

  Had it just been some kind of downgraded pity fuck?

  Scott laughed. “When this week’s done I’m taking you to Thirteen. The chicks there’ll blow your fucking mind.”

  She gritted her teeth. Thirteen was a newly opened nightclub in Hollywood that had quickly become the place to be seen. Everyone who wanted to be anyone hung out there hoping to be discovered by… someone. She’d visited the club a couple of times, and every guy who’d hit on her had been more interested in Lola and the business than in getting to know Paris O’Connell.

  Which wasn’t why she was pissed with Scott for suggesting the place to Cooper. It was because Scott had only one thing on his mind when he went to Thirteen, and it wasn’t dancing.

  Cooper grunted in a non-committal kind of way. “I don’t need to go to clubs for that.”

  Right, and what exactly did he mean by that? She finished off her soda. It didn’t matter what he meant. It was none of her business. As long as he isn’t thinking about what’d happened in the forest earlier.

  Of course he wasn’t. He wouldn’t.

  “You haven’t seen the girls that go there, Coop. I’m telling you, it’s un-fucking-real.”

  She couldn’t stop herself. “Yeah, if you like plastic boobs and Botox.”

  Cooper’s dimple flashed as though he found her comment hilarious. She wasn’t sure whether to grin back at him or not, but before she could make up her mind Scott pulled a length of her hair. She wished he wouldn’t. It made her feel about ten years old.

  “You won that fight. Even Mom wouldn’t have the balls to bring that up again.”

  “What fight?” Cooper’s dimple was still very much in evidence. She had the greatest desire to kill her brother, slowly and agonizingly, but unfortunately that would have to wait.

  “It was nothing,” she began.

  “The dipshits at Sunset Heights want
ed her to get a boob job.”

  She let out a furious hiss. “Scott!”

  “A boob job?” Cooper’s glance slid to her chest, and she had a hard time not folding her arms and hiding the assets that had caused such a stink eighteen months ago. “What the hell for?”

  Okay, as responses went that wasn’t so bad. Except now he appeared unable to tear his gaze from her boobs. She resisted the overwhelming urge to squirm.

  “They wanted…more.” Scott used his hands to cup an invisible pair of D-cups and then froze mid-gesture as he remembered just who he was talking about. “Uh, Paris told them to go fuck themselves.”

  “Can we stop talking about this now?” She glared at her brother, who at least had the grace to look uncomfortable. If not for the fact he’d backed her up in the face of her mom’s suggestion that she at least think about it for the sake of her career, she would happily have given him a black eye.

  “Too damn right.” Cooper was no longer staring at her chest. He wasn’t laughing, either. “You don’t need to change a thing about your body.”

  She gave a strangled sound and hoped she wasn’t going red. While it was thrilling to know he thought that, it was mortifying that her brother was standing right next to him.

  “Change the subject, man.” Scott scowled at Cooper. “That’s my sister.”

  “Yeah, and I wouldn’t want my sister getting a boob job just because of some sleazy producer.”

  Paris was hunching her shoulders in an effort to make her chest disappear. She gingerly straightened her spine and pretended to take another sip of her soda.

  “All right then.” Scott cast her a glance that told her he knew he’d crossed the line, but had no intention of apologizing for it. Just wait till she got him alone, though. He turned back to Cooper. “Next week, you and me—Thirteen.”

  Chapter Seven

  A couple of hours later Cooper watched Scott roar off on his bike. Paris let out a sigh and pushed the front door shut. She’d avoided looking at him since the boob job conversation, and he was still pissed that anyone thought she needed to make her tits bigger in any case.