Forgetting Jack Cooper: The Stuntman Edition

by Erin McCarthy

  Her lips were so swollen she missed her mouth.

  “Damn it,” she said to her cat, Bologna. “I missed.”

  He jumped up onto the countertop, which he wasn’t supposed to do, and licked the ice cream lid.

  Toni sighed and wiped her mouth as her phone dinged. It was a text from Jack.

  WTF??

  That about summed up her life in general.

  Chapter Five

  Chance’s week felt endless. He was filming water stunts, which generally speaking he hated. He didn’t like the lack of force he had in his movements when he was underwater and usually he said no to jobs like this. He preferred falling, weaponry, and mixed martial arts. But the director was a friend of his and when his stunt guy fell through, Rick had called Chance and asked him to fill in.

  So by Friday, he felt waterlogged and tired.

  But really, really looking forward to grabbing a drink with Toni. He had been thinking about her all week long since the debacle at the barbeque on Sunday. She was just so damn cute. With no idea whatsoever that she was. He knew she had been very embarrassed by her mouth swelling and the hives breaking out around her lips but he had just felt bad for her. Plus guilty.

  He wanted an opportunity to just sit and talk to her and see what she was really about because right now he had no clue who the real Toni was. He shouldn’t care. He shouldn’t even be interested because she was so not his type. Yet he was.

  Chance was a risk taker in his career. He had played it safe dating. And look what that had gotten him. An empty bed.

  He knocked on the door of her contemporary-style apartment. It was a nice complex in a trendy neighborhood so the funny girl was clearly doing alright for herself financially. She opened the door rapidly and gave him a smile.

  Chance eyed her up and down. “Wow,” he said. “You look amazing.” The swelling and hives were gone. But more to the point, she was wearing a tight red dress with beige heels and her breasts looked like they were attempting to leap out of the neckline. There was so much creamy pale flesh, all round and soft and begging for his touch. He swallowed hard.

  She had done nothing to tame her hair and he liked that. There was something so damn sexy about that wild mass of curls. In L.A., especially in the film industry, a lot of women worked hard to tame and control or change what they had. Toni owned her curls and he thought that was so hot.

  “That dress looks fantastic on you,” he added.

  “This old thing?” she said, giving him a smile. “I’ve had it forever. Since yesterday actually when I realized that a Metallica T-shirt can’t be considered a date night outfit, even if it is bedazzled.”

  “I appreciate the effort.” He meant that most sincerely. “I’m glad to see the swelling has gone down. I promise not to order any shrimp for an appetizer.”

  “Why, are you going to kiss me? That’s a little presumptuous for a first date.” She winked at him.

  Maybe he was starting to figure out Toni because he had no doubt she was giving him a hard time. “Yes, I’m going to kiss you.” He closed the distance between them. “Right now, as a matter of fact.”

  He cupped her cheek, caressing his thumb over her soft skin. Her eyes were a rich, limpid brown, wide and expressive. When he brushed his lips softly over hers, she sighed. He wanted more, but he resisted. It wasn’t the right time.

  “It’s nice to see you again,” he murmured.

  “Indeed.”

  Chance straightened up. “Where do cows go on a first date?”

  “Where?”

  “To the moooovies.” It was the worst joke ever but that was the point. He wanted her to understand he could poke fun at his lack of jokes.

  Her jaw dropped and she started laughing. “Oh my God, you did not just say that. I’m dying.”

  “Don’t die. I’d hate to kill you with my awesome sense of humor. Especially after I almost killed you with my lust.”

  She shook her head, still chuckling. “You’re killing me alright. And I think I’m on to you now. You have a dry sense of humor. You can’t fool me. It’s there. Now where are we going?” She pulled her door shut behind her.

  “It’s too hot to be outside, agreed? So I saw there’s a nice wine bar a couple of blocks from here.”

  “Perfect.”

  Chance opened the door for her and indulged himself in the view of her legs disappearing into the car, her dress rising high on her thighs. They chatted easily on the drive and he managed to find a parking spot quickly, which was a miracle. Once they were seated in a dark corner of the wine bar, she put her purse on the table, then pulled it off again and shook it a little.

  “What am I supposed to do with this? It seems kind of gross to have it on the table but if I leave it on the bench next to me I’ll probably forget it.”

  That amused him. “How the hell do I know? I’ve never carried a purse.”

  “I usually don’t either. But I was trying to be girlie and there are no pockets in this dress.”

  “Here, give it to me. I won’t forget it.” He held his hand out.

  She eyed him. “Are you going to steal my wallet?”

  He knew she was joking. “Yes. And when you’re not looking I’m going to use your credit card to pay the bill.”

  Toni laughed. “Hey, I think we’re figuring each other out.”

  The waitress arrived and she ordered a glass of white wine and he ordered a bourbon. He liked to sip it slowly.

  “Very James Bond,” she said, eyeing him in approval. “So tell me about yourself, Mr. Ashton.”

  He shrugged. “It’s a simple story. I have one sister, she lives here, and so does my mom. My father passed away when I was twelve. I joined the marines right after high school. Got out and became a stuntman. You?”

  “I’m sorry about your dad,” she said, her expression sincere. “Me? I was born in New Jersey, grew up in South Carolina. Four older brothers, which is most likely the root of my comedic nature. I couldn’t beat them with brute strength so I had to mess with them another way. Pranks became my specialty.”

  Chance could see that. “What was your best prank on your brothers?”

  “I traded their shampoo for hair remover. It was falling out in chunks. Best day of my life after the one where I got my cat.” She looked downright gleeful.

  “That’s kind of mean, don’t you think?”

  She sipped her wine. “I was tortured for years. At three, they told me I had been abandoned by gypsies and Mom and Dad felt sorry for me and kept me. At five, when babysitting me, they grabbed the towel off after my shower and threw me in the front yard and locked the door. At seven, they hung all my American Girl dolls from doorframes with suicide notes pinned to their dresses. And at eleven, they told my crush I slept with his picture under my pillow. I feel justified in retaliating.”

  “Wow. That is kind of brutal.”

  “That was just the tip of the iceberg. I could talk for hours and never run out of lousy things they did to me. But I won’t.”

  Chance imagined little Toni falling for the lie that the gypsies brought her. That was so sad he felt bad for her three-year-old self. “Did you really sleep with the picture of your crush under your pillow?”

  She looked so sheepish he knew it was true. Toni grabbed a grape off the cheese board they had ordered and rolled it in her fingers. “It was a self-actualization thing. Like with the picture there, I could dream about him. And if I dreamed about him with me, it might come true. It was silly but they were jerks to tell him. The kid stopped coming over our house to hang out with them. I think he was afraid I would go stalker on him.”

  “That is a dick move. Crushes are secrets at that age. My first crush was my fifth-grade teacher. She was straight out of college and I thought she was so beautiful.” He would have died if she had found out he had the grade school hots for her.

  Chance cut himself a piece of brie cheese.

  “So you like older women?”

  “Are you older than me?”<
br />
  She laughed. “Oh, wow, getting slick. I’m twenty-eight.”

  “I’m thirty, so I guess I don’t like older women.” He was being cheesy and he knew it. It wasn’t his usual style but something about Toni made him feel looser. “But no, seriously, I don’t know. She was just a cute teacher and I was a kid. As for me as an adult, age doesn’t matter much to me. It’s more about attraction and chemistry.” Which they had. “What’s your type?”

  “I used to think I wanted a guy who was funny, into comedy. But I realized a while ago that you just end up competing with each other to be the funniest person in the room and that leads to tension.”

  He could definitely see that. “My bad cow jokes aside, I have no interest in trying to compete with you. Just a heads-up.”

  “That’s good to know, because I was a little worried. You totally seem like an attention whore. Not.” She rolled her eyes. “So what a cool job you have. You get to kick ass all day and get paid for it.”

  Chance laughed. “That’s one way to put it.” Then he shrugged. “I don’t know. I just always had a lot of physical energy as a kid and a teenager. It’s a good career for me.” He always knew he had some control issues because of losing his dad but that was not first-date conversation. “I feel lucky I get to do what I do.”

  “Me too. I mean, who would have thought I would make a living out of being a goofball? Not my parents, that’s for sure.” Toni raised her wine glass. “To doing what you love.”

  Chance raised his own glass. “Cheers.” Maybe he and Toni had more in common than he had initially thought.

  He did know that he enjoyed her company and wanted to know more. And see more. That dress was destroying his so-called control. If they weren’t in public he would have kissed her again. Her knee bumped his leg.

  Even that little brush of her body against his had him reaching for his drink.

  If anything was a joke, that was it.

  Toni couldn’t believe how easy it was to talk to Chance. He wasn’t the stoic guy he had been on set. He was more relaxed, displaying that dry sense of humor more than once. So maybe at work he was just intense, professional. Unlike her. Because while he was just what she would consider serious, he was entertaining, and she liked that. She liked him.

  It wasn’t just that he was so damn good-looking, which he was, it was that she genuinely was attracted to him as a person. So she wasn’t surprised when two hours flew by and it felt like twenty minutes. Determined not to make an ass out of herself any more than she already had, she limited herself to just the one glass of wine and then switched to sparkling water. Chance had two fingers of bourbon but sipped it slowly and didn’t appear to be in any way intoxicated.

  So she had no booze to blame on her suggestion that he come in when he took her home. Her motivation was simple—she wanted to make out with him on her couch like they were in high school and she’d found herself with the hot quarterback. “I don’t have bourbon but I do have craft beer,” she said. “My brother was in town two weeks ago and left it.”

  Then she realized that sounded sort of lame.

  But he just nodded. “Sure. That would be great.” He followed her inside.

  Toni had cleaned up her apartment knowing he might step inside when he picked her up. Now she was glad she had taken the time to power clean. She wasn’t a slob, but she was also busy and sometimes it got a little away from her. But now she felt confident inviting him in.

  Her tabby came over and rubbed on Chance’s leg. “Oops, sorry,” she said, reaching down to pick him up. “He doesn’t understand personal space.”

  “It’s fine. What’s his name?” Chance reached out and rubbed her cat’s head, winning her heart.

  “Bologna.”

  Chance passed and gave her a look. “Seriously? So you’re Toni and Bologna?”

  She grinned. “It has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it?”

  “I can’t argue with that.”

  Chance put his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans and she was momentarily distracted by the fact that this gorgeous man was standing in her entryway. He had on a navy-blue blazer with a white T-shirt underneath and something about him was so casual cool, L.A. yet not cheesy. He wore this out-for-drinks look as comfortably as he had swim trunks and a three-piece suit. It was clear he had spent a lifetime working out and she imagined that made him at ease in his own skin.

  “Have a seat,” she said. “I’ll get you that beer.” She dropped Bologna down on the floor and he ran away, most likely put out that she had a man over. “My cat tends to get jealous easily. So if he bites you it’s because he’s seeing you as competition.”

  “He should see me as competition. Because if anyone is getting his head rubbed tonight, it’s me.”

  Toni paused on her trek to the kitchen. “Oh, really?” That sounded super sexual. Her mind had gone straight to the gutter and she wanted to laugh.

  But Chance had a frozen expression on his face. “Uh, that didn’t sound quite right.” He gave a nervous laugh that made her laugh out loud. “Sorry. I meant like a cat gets his fur rubbed, ears scratched.”

  “I got it. But hey, you never know where the night will go.” No one could accuse her of being easily embarrassed. She gave him a smile and went into the kitchen, grabbing a beer out of the fridge for Chance.

  She expected him to stay in the living room but when she turned with the bottle, he was right there, filling her small kitchen with his masculine frame. “Oh!” she said, startled.

  “I may not understand personal space either.” He reached out for her hand, lacing his fingers through hers.

  Toni’s breath caught. He was big and hard and right there. The only thing between her body and his was the cold beer bottle, which was pressed into her cleavage. “Here’s your beer,” she murmured, glancing way, way up into his eyes.

  “Thank you.” He wrapped his hand over hers on top of the bottle but made no way to lift it to his lips.

  Now both their hands were touching and Toni felt the way she had at the studio when he had kissed her. The ground beneath her feet seemed to shift. Her heart began to race. Her breath caught. And those traitorous nipples? They beaded right on up for him, along with a very serious case of the tingles between her thighs. She was turned on just from him looking at her. She could only imagine what would happen if she actually had sex with him.

  Which seemed like a really great idea at some point in the near future. Like maybe even now.

  “Should I leave?” Chance asked, his voice low, filled with desire.

  She knew what he was asking. If he should leave in order to ensure they didn’t end up having sex on the first date. Or maybe that was just her wishful thinking. Toni wasn’t normally one to adhere to rules about when you were supposed to have sex with someone you were dating, but generally speaking she stuck to a half a dozen dates or more before she got down and dirty.

  But Chance was like a gift from the sex gods. This was not an opportunity that was going to come along every day.

  “You haven’t even had your beer,” she said. “I took the cap off already.”

  “I wouldn’t want to be rude then.”

  “Nope.” She shook her head. “Unless you have someplace you have to be.”

  Chance was rubbing her thumb. Softly, gently. Erotically. “I don’t need to be anywhere until Monday morning until eight a.m.”

  Hello. “Then don’t go just yet.”

  He nodded. “If you’re sure.”

  Oh, she was sure. Like one hundred percent. No doubts here. “Absolutely.”

  Chance stepped back, pulling the beer bottle out from her chest. He took a sip, then glanced at her cleavage. “You’re all wet.”

  No joke.

  But he was talking about her skin. His hand came out and brushed off droplets of moisture from the bottle’s condensation. Goose bumps rose on her flesh and she shivered, though it wasn’t from cold. He brushed a tad longer than was necessary to dry her skin and she enjo
yed every delicious second of it. The man was charming as hell in that brooding alpha kind of way.

  She had never been more grateful to not be dating another comedian. Chance was building sexual tension effortlessly. Unlike her previous boyfriend who thought it was hilarious to drop jokes like, “I may not be Fred Flintstone but I can make your bed rock,” right when she was on the verge of orgasm. Chasing an orgasm with him had been like watching the numbers fly by on Wheel of Fortune. Slow, slow, maybe, so close. Nope.

  Chance took another sip of the beer and set it down on the counter. Then still holding her left hand, he pulled his phone out and swiped. Music filled her kitchen. It was a sexy R&B song. He put the phone down next to the beer. “Ever since I saw you in this red dress, I’ve wanted to dance with you.”

  Toni had always thought swooning was made up. Like literally no one ever actually swooned. But whatever the hell happened to her right then at his words, she thought it could be classified as a swoon. Because everything inside her just melted, and a hot flush raced over her body. She actually felt almost a little dizzy. Certainly aroused.

  “I can’t dance,” she told him. “Don’t let the dress and the shoes fool you.”

  “I just want to hold you. I’m not expecting a full-blown tango.”

  Right. She vowed to shut up and just enjoy it. He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her close to him. She reached up, finding his shoulders. Those rock solid shoulders.

  “This is like prom, though I’m not drunk, and you are not checking out my best friend when I’m not looking.” So much for shutting up. Toni mentally kicked herself.

  He gave a soft laugh. “Then this is nothing like prom.” He swayed with her, his grip going a little lower.

  “I guess not. I’m actually enjoying myself right now.”

  “Good. Because I am too.”

  Then he kissed her and she forgot all about being seventeen. She felt very much like a woman, and very much looking forward to Chance showing her the rest of his moves.