She pursed her lips. “Like I might find something about him that will turn me off?” At Emily’s nod, she considered the idea. “Maybe he chews food with his mouth open?”
“Ahh…sorry to burst your bubble. Devlin and I have been to dinner with Cooper a couple of times and I can tell you, he does not chew with his mouth open. He had perfect table manners. And more importantly, he didn’t bring along a date on either occasion,” she finished with a wink. “Which disproves your statement that he always has arm candy.”
“He probably was in between girlfriends at the time,” she grumbled. Taylor put her hands on her hips. “Maybe he has bad breath?” she asked in desperation.
“Definitely not.”
“What then?”
“I don’t know.”
She threw her hands up. “I’m stumped. How do I stop lusting after the man and conduct this interview like a true professional?”
“I wish I knew what to tell you.”
“I’ve got to figure this out, Em. Interviewing Cooper is a big deal.”
“What are you saying?”
“First of all, I need to get laid. I’ve spent way too much time daydreaming about Cooper. It’s been a year, Emily. Twelve months of celibacy. Do you know how hard that is?”
“Wow.”
“Twelve months, Em. Twelve long freaking months.”
“I get it. A long time, I know,” Emily said dryly. “What are you going to do?”
“Go the friends-with-benefits route. I’m on a mission to find a sex buddy. And in the meantime, if I do meet a guy I’m even somewhat attracted to, I’ll give it a hundred and ten percent effort and put Cooper out of my mind.”
“Sure. Do that.”
She frowned. “You’re my best friend. You’re supposed to help me.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Help me find the perfect candidate to be my sex buddy. And this weekend is the best time to start.”
“At my family’s Memorial Day party?”
“Yes,” Taylor said with a grin. “Your brothers will be there.”
Emily made a face. “You want to hook up with one of my brothers?”
“Ew, no. They’re like my brothers too. I meant every year they always have a lot of their guy friends come over. Most of them I already know. So this is my chance to pick a sex buddy. You can help me with the pros and cons of the guys there.”
“I think it’s crazy,” Emily muttered. “But okay, I’ll help you.”
“And please, don’t tell Devlin. This is just between you and me.” She took Emily’s hands in hers. “This is my chance to put Cooper out of my mind. I have to do this.”
Chapter Three
The Memorial Day party was in full swing. It was always a big affair, with lots of food and guests. And every year, the Sinclair boys played touch football with the McKay boys and other friends at the park across the street.
Taylor glanced at the guys congregating across the yard, getting ready for the game. This was the perfect chance for her to build her sex buddy candidate list and weed out the improbables.
Emily appeared at her side. “I know that look on your face.”
“What look?”
“The you’re-on-a-mission look.”
“I’m looking at all possible candidates.” She glanced at the men again as they made their way to the park. “I see some possibilities.” A couple of them, if she was honest. The rest just didn’t interest her. Damn Cooper.
Determined to put him out of her mind, she tugged Emily to follow the men across the street. “Come on. Devlin will be happy to see you watching him.”
Emily grinned. “Now that’s a real incentive.”
“You’re hopelessly in love with him.”
“Good thing, since we’re getting married soon. I’d hate to marry somebody I don’t love,” Emily quipped.
“Yeah, yeah. Keep in mind the purpose here, Em. You’re here to help me find a sex buddy.”
“Keep your voice down, will you? The last thing we need is for any of my brothers to overhear this crazy idea of yours.”
Taylor stopped short. “Do you think it’s a crazy idea?”
Emily paused before speaking. “Listen, I would love nothing more for you than to find a man you’ll have a real, meaningful relationship with. Not just a sex buddy. That’s my honest to God opinion. You know I’ll never lie to you.”
“I know.”
“I get it that you’re scared of this attraction to Cooper, and that you think that finding a man to have regular sex with will put him out of your mind, but I want you to be happy.”
Taylor bit her lip. “Please understand that this thing I feel for Cooper is hopeless. Nothing can ever come of it, so I’m not even going to go there.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Positive.”
“All right,” Emily agreed reluctantly. “Let’s go find you a sex buddy.”
Taylor grinned and hugged her. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to jump into bed at the first opportunity. I’d have to at least be physically attracted to this man, and he must pass certain qualifications.”
By the time they sat down on the grass to watch, the game was already in progress. A shade tree kept the glare of the afternoon sun away from them. Taylor admired the physique of the men who’d discarded their shirts.
Devlin’s brothers in particular were fine specimens. Their muscles rippled as they ran the plays, their skin glistening with sweat. Riley, the middle brother, was certainly a possibility. Tall, muscled and he looked very much like a man’s man. She knew him already and although he dated a lot of women, he wasn’t a philanderer. He wasn’t bad-looking either. He was actually very attractive, with a thick shock of dark hair and a smile that could melt a woman’s heart. Definitely a possibility.
“Uh-oh,” Emily muttered under her breath.
“What’s wrong?” Emily cocked her head toward the right side of the field. Taylor followed her gaze and froze.
Cooper Hathaway stood on the sidelines and was in the process of taking off his shirt.
“Oh. My. God.” She grasped Emily’s hand. “What is he doing here? Today, of all days.”
“I’m so sorry, Tay. I completely forgot that Devlin invited him.”
She bit her lip, unable to look away from the smooth expanse of muscled chest now exposed to her hungry gaze. “Shouldn’t he be somewhere else with a supermodel or something? Like some exotic location? St. Barts? The Hamptons at the very least?”
Her eyes were glued to him as Cooper ran down the field and caught the football with athletic grace that told her he must have played the sport at one time. The man was simply mouthwateringly delicious. She couldn’t look away. “This is so not good. Not good at all, Em.”
“Okay, let’s not panic. Don’t forget your mission here.”
“You don’t understand,” Taylor said in low, panicked tones. “I can’t stop staring at him. He’s so…so…” She groaned. “Just looking at him makes me warm all over.”’
“Oh-kay. Clearly you have it bad.”
Taylor turned to her. “Now do you see what I mean? It’s imperative that I find something else—someone else—to occupy my thoughts and…” She trailed off as the football dropped right next to her. She gulped as the object of her thoughts and fantasies sauntered over and leaned down to pick up the pigskin.
“Hi,” Cooper murmured, looking directly at her.
The smell of man assaulted her senses, rendering her incapable of coherent speech. Taylor just stared back at him, dumbstruck. Tongue-tied. Her gaze wandered over his face, to the grin pulling at his sensuous lips and down to his broad, muscled chest and flat stomach. He looked fit, healthy and, damn it, so sexy. Her blood thickened and turned to syrup. Her pulse accelerated madly. “H-Hello.”
Their gazes stayed connected for a moment, surely no more than a minute, but long enough for Emily to finally speak up. “Hello, Cooper.”
That broke the spell an
d he flashed a grin and murmured a greeting to Emily before he straightened. With one last glance at Taylor, he ran back toward the game.
“See what I mean?” Taylor whispered. “He’s trouble.”
“You’re right,” Emily agreed with a naughty grin. “He’s all kinds of sexy.”
“Em!”
Emily laughed. “Oh Taylor. If any woman is brave enough to take Cooper on, it’s you.”
“No I’m not.”
“I think anybody you’ll find to be your sex buddy will be a poor substitute.”
“I need to stop fantasizing about him.” She moaned softly. “It’s been a year and I’m tired of it. This is a hopeless infatuation. Lust. Plain and simple.”
“So slake the lust with him.”
Taylor swung her gaze to her best friend. “I can’t do that. I already told you my reasons why. Besides, I’m hardly his type. You’ve seen the women he goes out with, they’re all glamorous and gorgeous.”
“I think you underestimate yourself,” Emily said dryly. “For as long as I’ve known you, guys have been coming on to you. So why not turn the tables this time and come on to him?”
She bit her lip and shook her head.
“Clearly he’s attracted to you. Why not him as a sex buddy?”
The thought of Cooper as her friend with benefits was like being zapped by lightning in her pussy. “Too complicated.”
“Somebody once told me that I should have the guts to go after what I want.”
“I know I said that, but we were talking about you and Devlin. Not me and Cooper.”
“Same difference.”
“Way different,” she disagreed. “He’s scary.”
“And you think Devlin wasn’t scary to me? I had no experience compared to him but at least I had the guts to go after what I want. And look,” she held up her left hand, where a gorgeous ring sparkled on her finger. “I’m getting married.”
“You and Dev were meant to be.”
“That’s why I think you should hold out for the real thing instead of finding a Band-Aid to take care of what’s troubling you now.”
“What about Riley?”
Emily sighed at the clear change of subject. “Devlin’s brother? He’s okay, I suppose. He’s single. He’s not a stranger. That’s a check on two requirements.”
Taylor sought Riley out in the crowd of men on the field, but her gaze kept sliding back to Cooper. God, he looked good without a shirt on. Muscled, but not bulky. Lean. Defined and toned. Glistening skin…such a sexy specimen of man.
With a frustrated sigh, she tore her gaze away from him and determinedly checked out Riley. He was just as tall and certainly easy on the eyes, so why didn’t she get butterflies in her stomach when she looked at him? What made Cooper so special that he could induce the weak-at-the-knees, fluttering feeling in her chest every single time she saw him?
It just wasn’t fair that the object of her lust was someone who was untouchable. One who spelled disaster in every single way she could imagine. Again her gaze slid over to Cooper, who was laughing at a comment someone made. With her eyes she traced the corded muscles at his throat, the strong, wide shoulders and the muscled pecs. Oh those sexy pecs…
“You’re gonna start drooling any second.”
At Emily’s amused comment, Taylor flushed. “Pathetic, aren’t I? And it’s got to stop. Right now.”
“Just admit it. No one else will do but him.”
“We have nothing in common. I rarely ever see him smile, much less laugh. Today, right now, this is the most human he’s seemed to me.”
“That’s why you have to get to know him,” Emily argued gently.
“I’m more of a spur-of-the-moment kind of person. He probably knows what he’s doing six months from now. I don’t even know what I’m doing tomorrow.”
Emily laughed. “Any other objections aside from him giving the perception of being organized and his life scheduled to the minute? Which, I have to point out, you might be wrong about.”
“His life is way too public. I’m a very private person. I would hate for my personal life to be plastered in tabloids and magazines.”
“Okay, good point,” Emily reluctantly agreed, “but that is something you can talk about with him. A compromise maybe?”
“He has a very public persona, what with the legal matter he’s got going with his stepmother. It’s a mess.” She stood up and smoothed the skirt of her dress. “I don’t know, Em.”
Emily followed suit. “Bottom line?”
She bit her lip and turned away from the game. Regret mixed with determination. “Bottom line? Cooper Hathaway is not qualified to be my friend with benefits.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Emily’s eyes widened. The hairs on the back of Taylor’s neck rose. Her skin prickled in sudden awareness. “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?” she whispered.
At Emily’s strangled nod, Taylor nearly groaned out loud. Why oh why does this happen to me? She turned around and met Cooper’s enigmatic gaze. Refusing to be cowed, she lifted her chin. Their eyes clashed, and her breath got stuck in her throat. His gaze dropped to her lips, and she actually felt them tingle. From a mere look. Her nipples tightened painfully under her bra. Any minute now, she was going to melt into a puddle…
“Come on, Coop!”
The spell broke. He picked up the football, which she hadn’t even noticed had been lying next to her feet, before he turned and ran back to the game.
Taylor nearly drooped in relief. “I need to get away from here.”
All the way back to the house, she had the oddest feeling of being watched but refused to turn around to confirm her suspicions. She was not going to look. Cooper Hathaway was off limits. Period.
* * * * *
A light breeze cooled the night and saved it from being oppressively hot. It seemed that summer had decided to come early. With the aid of the bright moonlight, Taylor made her way next door to the McKays’ house. She had asked Teresa McKay for some of her delicious, homemade salad dressing and the older woman had generously told her that she could find it in the refrigerator. The back door was unlocked, and she let herself in. The kitchen was large, with a breakfast nook located off to one side. She’d been invited to a couple of family dinners here, ever since Emily had gotten engaged to Devlin. The McKays were a fun, loud, boisterous family, a perfect match for the Sinclairs and their kids.
She stuck her head in the fridge and quickly located the tall bottle of dressing. She’d once suggested to Teresa that she sell it, sure that it would move like hotcakes. But the other woman had simply laughed and said no, that it was a revered, secret family recipe. One that she’d be loathe to mass market.
“Hiding?”
With a start, Taylor turned around and found Cooper leaning against the center island, watching her. She flushed at the amusement lurking in his eyes. This man liked to fluster her. But no more. Not this time. Pulling in a deep breath, Taylor met his stare bravely and raised an eyebrow.
“Not at all.” She indicated the bottle she held. “I came to get this. What’s your excuse?”
“I followed you.”
Damn. He had balls to admit that. Taylor ignored the curl of heat that began to swirl deep in her abdomen. “Well, you found me,” she replied lightly.
“Why am I not qualified to be a friend with benefits?”
There was no pussyfooting with this man. He just came right out and said what was on his mind. Full on and in your face. “You don’t mince words, do you?”
“It’d be a waste of time.”
She lifted her chin. “I didn’t know you wanted to be in the running.” There. Answer that, Cooper Hathaway.
“Let’s just say for the sake of argument that I want to be in the running.”
He did? No way. Taylor clamped down on the excitement that rushed her senses. “Now that would be a waste of time. It’s a moot point.”
“A moot point that you found necessary to verbaliz
e earlier?”
Out of her element, Taylor managed a shrug. The large kitchen seemed to have shrunk to cocoon the two of them in hushed intimacy. She was very conscious of the fact that the house was empty save for her and Cooper. “It was a conversation between two girlfriends that you were not meant to hear.”
He stepped closer. “But I did hear it. And it doesn’t seem fair to me that you would disqualify me without telling me why.”
“What does it matter?” God, it was so hard to keep her tone even, when all she wanted to do was run out of there and get away.
“Why not me?” he countered, taking another step.
Damn it. Taylor managed to retreat half a step, her back touching the cold surface of the fridge. “What kind of music do you like?” she asked instead.
He blinked. “I like variety. Classical, for instance.”
She groaned inwardly. “Opera?”
“Occasionally. What’s your point?”
“Clubs?”
“Health clubs? No. I have my own gym at home.”
She rolled her eyes. “Clubs, as in dancing.”
He grimaced in distaste. “Ear-splitting music? Crowded dance floor with hundreds of gyrating people? No thanks.”
“It’s fun to go sometimes. Not every weekend, of course. I like to dance,” she said defensively.
“Taylor—”
“Do you know what you’re doing at 2:30 next Thursday?”
“I’m a busy man with a full calendar. I’m sure there’s something scheduled—”
“I don’t know what I’m doing tomorrow,” she interrupted. “There are times when I like to do spur-of-the-moment things. I’m not the type to plan my life down to the last minute. Which only proves my point.”
“And that is?” he asked patiently.
“We have absolutely nothing in common. Nothing,” she emphasized. “I like to listen to Foo Fighters, Justin Timberlake, even Katy Perry.”
His brow wrinkled. “Foo who?”
She smirked. “I rest my case.”
“Aside from the fact that our taste in music doesn’t exactly converge and I like my life organized—believe me, not all of us have the luxury of free time—all of that could of course be solved by compromise.”
Tempting Taylor Page 4