Cooper's Charm

by Lori Foster

  Cooper strode in, his hair damp from his shower, wearing only loose shorts that hung low on his hips, leaving his chest and abdomen utterly bare. “You don’t have to be self-conscious. Your curves are in all the right places.”

  She grinned at him. He said things like that often, as if he truly appreciated her extra pounds. At every opportunity he showed her how much he enjoyed her boobs and behind. Good thing, since she wasn’t into strenuous exercise or crazy diets. “Cooper?”

  “Hmm?” He sat next to her and picked up the TV remote.

  That was standard for them, a comfortable routine that she’d come to cherish: work during the day, dinner after sex, sometimes sex again and if not, a movie on the television.

  She looked forward to those quiet, private moments together.

  He chose an old horror flick, Evil Dead—another of her favorites! He knew her tastes so well, but luckily, they meshed with his. Settling back, he rested his arm over her shoulders and propped his feet on the coffee table, his body relaxed.

  “Where is your wife’s photo?”

  It was slight, but she saw the way he paused before turning to her. Wearing no expression at all, he said, “I put it away.” While answering her, he stroked Sugar’s ear, then went on to say, “Her ear is completely healed now.”

  “I know. And her coat is so shiny. She looks beautiful and healthy, but more importantly, she’s happy.” Like me, Phoenix wanted to say, but first she needed to make things clear to him. “The photo?”

  He hugged her closer so he could kiss her temple, just above the arm of her glasses. “I put it away.”

  That much was clear. “You don’t need to do that.”

  With a short laugh, he shook his head. “You’re the only woman I know who would argue in favor of leaving it out.”

  “She was your wife. You loved her. She loved you.”

  “Yes.” He kissed the end of her nose, then her chin. “But she’s gone.”

  Phoenix turned her head to his big shoulder. So strong, so sturdy. She remembered when she’d first met him, how she’d made note of his size because it reminded her of the men who’d attacked her. Now she knew his strength would only shield her, never hurt her. Cooper wasn’t a man who’d use his strength against another, only if it was in self-defense or to protect someone he cared about.

  She knew he cared about her.

  “You’ll never forget her,” Phoenix said softly. “It doesn’t matter if the picture is there or not.” Her hand moved over his chest until she felt his heartbeat. “She’ll always be here.” And she was okay with that.

  “Yes.” His hand covered hers. “She’ll always be an important memory. But as you said, the photo doesn’t need to be on my bookshelf.”

  She belonged there, though. Phoenix didn’t want to be responsible for her image being tucked away. “You know I’m not the type of woman to be threatened by a memory.”

  “No, you’re special.” He nudged up her face. “Very special.” The kiss he pressed to her mouth was soft and exploring, tender and revealing.

  Sugar climbed up to lick their faces, and Cooper leaned away, laughing. “Cock blocker,” he accused, resettling Sugar between them. The dog’s tail swung wildly, her joyous expression bouncing from Phoenix to Cooper and back again.

  Phoenix couldn’t resist hugging them both. It got her face wet with more licks, but it was worth it.

  Cooper held the remote, but he didn’t start the movie. Instead, he looked down at her until she turned her face up to his.

  The somber concern in his eyes alarmed her. She started to straighten. “What?”

  His arm around her shoulders kept her close. “I realize nothing else has happened in the past week, and I’m willing to agree that dangerous nonsense with the firecrackers could have been no more than a prank.”

  If he thought that, why did he look so grave? “But?”

  “But on top of David being impossible to reach, Harry has gone missing, too.”

  Whoa. “What do you mean he’s gone missing?”

  Cooper shrugged. “Gibb goes by there every so often and he hasn’t seen him, so he asked a couple of his friends, and they all say they haven’t seen him, either.”

  “Weird. Did he check with his grandmother?”

  “He opted not to. He doesn’t really have a reason to be checking up on him.”

  Just as she didn’t really have a reason to check on David. “Try not to worry, okay? I’ll continue to be careful, I promise.” What she couldn’t do was to continue relying on others to escort her around the park. It was getting absurd and was most likely unnecessary. “And since I’ll be careful, I want things to go back to normal.”

  “Meaning what?” He straightened. “If you’re talking about staying the night in the cabin, it’s a lousy idea—”

  “I wasn’t.”

  Cooper visibly relaxed. “Good.” With a crooked smile, he added, “I like having you here.”

  Other than a few overnight necessities, like a toothbrush, hairbrush and her favorite lotion, all her things were still in the cabin. Sometimes she showered with Cooper, sometimes she showered at the cabin. The arrangement was loose, but also convenient, and neither of them had pressed for more; for now, she didn’t need more.

  She loved her job, she loved the environment of the Cooper’s Charm resort and she very much enjoyed sleeping with Cooper. How long that last part would continue, she didn’t know, but she planned to savor every moment of it.

  “I like being here,” she assured him. “What I meant is that I need to take full responsibility for my job—a job I’m good at. A job I enjoy.”

  He waited, patience personified, and she realized that he was actually pretty good at that. He wasn’t a man who pressured or tried to impose his will over everything. Oh, he had his opinions and he wasn’t afraid to share them. But never, not once, had she felt disrespected, as if he discounted her thoughts on things.

  The realization made her smile.

  Which made him suspicious. “Am I missing something?”

  “Only that I think you’re wonderful.” She stroked his face, feeling the rasp of his beard shadow and the warmth of his skin. “Believe me, whenever I go in the maintenance building now, I’ll be on the lookout for shady people. I won’t linger in there—” Even now, with someone always with her, she felt jumpy in the building. “And I’ll make sure to go only during busy times of day, when vacationers are around. But I need to do my job—without a babysitter.”

  For Cooper, she knew the worry was real, especially given how he’d lost his wife. She could only imagine the scenarios that ran through his mind, the old, hurtful memories that intruded. She couldn’t relent. The situations were entirely different, and she wasn’t his wife.

  “Cooper?”

  He flexed his neck, his gaze averted.

  Phoenix could see he didn’t like it, just as she knew he’d agree anyway.

  Finally, he looked at her. “You won’t get distracted?”

  “I’ll be like a hawk.”

  “You won’t text your sister while you’re in there?”

  She crossed her heart.

  Cooper sighed. “That’s all well and good, but I can’t shake a gut feeling that something bad is going to happen.”

  Phoenix didn’t mention that the tragedy with his wife likely caused that gut feeling. What he felt for her wasn’t the same as the deep love he’d had for Anna, but it would still be natural for him to fear losing her.

  “I don’t want you to worry.” She hated the thought that she might cause him any concern at all.

  “Great. Then I’ll add a security camera to the building.”

  “A security camera?”

  “I should have had one anyway,” he explained before she could feel too bad about the expense. “Now we know it’s necessary. And how about we
set up a schedule? If I know when you’ll be in the maintenance building, that’ll help. Do you think you could limit it to two trips a day? Maybe get everything you need in the morning, then return it by five or six at the end of the day?”

  “Entirely doable,” she promised, already thinking ahead to how she’d work it. “And in fact, I could put the tools I use most often in the supply shed instead.” While the maintenance building was at the farthest end of the property, out of the way, the supply shed was situated between there and the lake. Hookup sites for RVs and campers flanked it on two sides, with a playground and the lodge in front across one of the in-park roadways. The creek and woods were behind it, but she’d have no reason to go around to the back anyway.

  Cooper tugged her toward him so he could give her a kiss. “Hell of an idea, and I’ll help you move some things over in the morning.”

  “You have the time tomorrow?”

  “I’ll make the time.”

  Sugar must have gotten tired of all their talking and smooching because she stretched, then gingerly dropped down off the couch. They watched her go down the hall and knew she was going to bed.

  “You know,” Cooper said, “that’s not a bad idea.”

  “Moving some things to the supply shed?”

  Shaking his head and nuzzling against her ear, he whispered, “Heading to bed.” He trailed a hand up her thigh, then over her bottom.

  Teasing, she asked, “Can we watch the movie tomorrow then?”

  “Or the day after.” He opened his mouth on her throat. “Or next week.” She felt the abrasion of his whiskers, the roughness of his tongue. “Or we can save it for Halloween.”

  Meaning she’d be with him months from now?

  That thrilled her almost as much as the way he slipped his hand into her panties.

  But in a very different way.

  15

  Phoenix had just poured the coffee when the knock sounded. Sugar, who’d been sleeping peacefully, launched from the bed like a berserker, yapping furiously while keeping ten feet from the door.

  It stalled her heart for a moment, the way the dog carried on. She hadn’t been that vicious when Gibb visited, but maybe she wasn’t used to visitors until the afternoon.

  Phoenix glanced toward the hall, but she could hear Cooper’s playlist blaring as he did his daily workout in the spare bedroom. Unwilling to disrupt him, she said to the dog, “Shh. It’s okay,” and crossed the kitchen to answer.

  Shock ran through her when, through the window, she saw Harry standing there.

  Their gazes met and he smirked, loads of attitude piled on his scrawny shoulders.

  Fury kicked in. She yanked open the door, saying in accusation, “You.”

  Sugar yelped and jumped back, then snarled again as she crept up to peek through Phoenix’s legs. It dawned on her that the dog, even while terrified of her abuser, wanted to offer her protection.

  In that moment, she could have attacked Harry herself.

  “Hush, baby, you’re okay.” It took a little maneuvering, but she got Sugar off her heels so she could lift the reluctant dog into her arms, soothing her as best she could. With a glare at Harry, she promised, “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  Harry scowled at the dog, then at her before looking beyond her. “Where’s Cochran?”

  For an answer, she demanded, “What do you want?”

  His lip curled. “So you two are sharing sheets, huh? I figured as much.”

  With her impatience deliberately plain to see, Phoenix patted the dog and waited.

  His glower darkened. “Stop sending people to check up on me. It’s fucking harassment and I’m sick of it.”

  The crude language irritated her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Last I heard—” Which was just last night. “—you were nowhere to be found.”

  “That’s bullshit,” he snapped, his demeanor defensive. “My grandma’s been sick and I’ve been staying with her.”

  Phoenix sniffed. “That’s convenient.”

  Heat crept up his neck and turned his bulging eyes red. “It’s convenient that my grandma isn’t feeling well?”

  Phoenix made a face. “If that’s true—and I have my doubts—but if it is, I’m sorry to hear it.” Guilt nudged her. What if it is true? “Is she really?”

  “She’s seventy, so yeah, something is always wrong.” He took a half step into the open doorway.

  She didn’t budge. Maybe her bravery was inspired by Sugar, but Cooper being close enough to be her backup was the more likely explanation. Whatever the reason, Harry didn’t scare her. Not here, not now.

  His voice lowered to a snarl. “My friends are starting to ask questions I can’t fucking answer.”

  Holding Sugar closer, Phoenix thrust up her chin. “You will stop cursing at me, Harry, or you’ll be speaking to a slammed door.”

  He blinked, then narrowed his eyes. “So the little mouse isn’t so jumpy anymore?”

  “I was never jumpy,” she lied. “But I was concerned for the dog—a dog you will never again touch.”

  His hands fisted. “I haven’t been paid.”

  “After what you’ve done?” Incredulous, she accused, “You could have burned down the building!”

  Blank surprise temporarily wiped the anger from his flushed face. “What building?” Suspicion growing, he asked, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “Your little prank with firecrackers?” She gave a mean laugh. “Don’t pretend it wasn’t you.”

  Looking truly bewildered, he shook his head. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

  “Sure you don’t.” Sugar snapped at him, so Phoenix quickly stepped back a few inches. “Someone,” she explained, while watching his expression closely, “locked me in the maintenance building after throwing in a string of firecrackers.”

  Arms spread wide, face tilted in, he growled, “I don’t even know where your maintenance building is!”

  Damn it, she was starting to believe him. “So why have you been hiding from Officer Clark?”

  He grunted. “I don’t hide.”

  “The officer couldn’t find you.”

  “I told you, I was with my grandma a lot, but last night I was at the bar—which you know since you sent that goon to check up on me.”

  It was her turn to be surprised. “I didn’t send anyone.”

  “Then your boyfriend did.”

  Her boyfriend. Was that how people saw Cooper? Would they be wrong?

  True, their relationship was still relatively new, or so it felt to her. She was still thinking in terms of loose and casual—yet something more would be nice.

  Very nice.

  Either way, she didn’t think Cooper would have sent someone after Harry without telling her. She gave it some thought, then suggested, “Maybe Baxter—”

  Harry cut her off with a shake of his head. “No, not him. That other asshole.”

  So he knew Baxter? Curious now, she asked, “What, er, asshole do you mean?”

  “Oh, way to play stupid, honey, but I’m not buying it. You know damn good and well who I mean.”

  “Actually, I don’t.” She eyed him up and down. “Sounds to me like you have a bunch of enemies.”

  “You,” he said, pointing a finger at her, so close that only an inch separated his finger from her nose, “don’t know shit about me, so don’t stand there thinking—”

  Sugar took exception to his theatrics and tried to bite him again!

  For that reason only—or so Phoenix told herself—she backed up a few steps more. “Get out.”

  His lip curled. “I am out.”

  “Good.” She closed the door in his face.

  From outside the kitchen, he said, “You’re blaming me for shit I didn’t do!”

  She leaned c
lose to the window, saying loud enough that he’d hear, but without his edge of anger, “There’s plenty you did do, so deal with it.”

  Throwing his hands in the air, Harry turned and stalked away. She watched until she couldn’t see him anymore, then she sat down on the floor with Sugar in her arms and tried to reason through what he’d said.

  That was where Cooper found her when he walked into the kitchen, showered, freshly shaved and dressed.

  He did a double-take on his way to the coffeepot. “What’s going on? Why are you sitting down there?”

  She idly played with Sugar’s left ear. “Harry was here.”

  Almost in slow motion, Cooper pivoted, an empty mug in his hand, to stare at her. “Why didn’t you come get me?”

  “It was fine,” she said, reassuring him. “But it upset Sugar.” That probably sounded dumb since Sugar was now lounged back in her arms like a baby, ears hanging down and eyes closed.

  Cooper didn’t move. In fact, he seemed glued to the spot. “Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t hear the arguing.”

  At that, he thunked down the cup and came to crouch in front of her. “There was arguing?”

  “A little.” She looked at his face—a face that every day became more dear to her. A weird sort of pride had her mouth quirking. “Know what?”

  He waited.

  “I argued as much as he did. Maybe more. I think that took him by surprise.”

  He searched her face, then his softened. “So you weren’t afraid?”

  “I was cautious,” she promised, not wanting him to worry about her. “But no, I wasn’t afraid. When I first saw him, I was furious. Odd, I know, but Sugar was freaking out and that reminded me of how he’d mistreated the dog. More than anything, I just wanted to smack him.”

  Cooper looked down at the dog, now peacefully asleep. His mouth quirked, too. “She feels safe with you.”

  Just as Phoenix felt safe with Cooper. “I’m glad.”

  “So.” His gaze rose to meet hers. “What did old Harry want?”

  “He was offended that we’re blaming him for things he says he didn’t do. I mentioned the firecrackers to him, and Cooper...he looked honestly confused, like he really hadn’t done it.”