Mel shrugged. “Why not? It’s not like it’s banned here yet. Might as well enjoy it while I can.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
“Stop being so fed up and go get your girl,” she said as she pointed at me. “I know that’s what you’re thinking about.”
“What are you saying?” I growled.
“Ivy. You know, the one that lets you and no one else call her Jo?”
“What about her?”
“You miss her, you big dumb ass.” She laughed. “Why don’t you go by her place and check on her?”
I snorted. “Yes, because your boss that you still pretty much hate, showing up at your door is a total turn on. I mean—”
“Too late now, cowboy,” she drawled. “You said what you said. I’ll let it go, though, because I’m not stupid and neither are you. You can always say you came to check on her. She did cut herself after all.”
“I guess that’s true,” I muttered as I wiped the same spot for the hundredth time. “She’ll probably throw me out though. She’s always had a temper on her.”
“And I bet you love it.” She grinned.
I frowned. “You know what? I don’t pay you to flap your mouth.”
“You pay me because I am an enigmatic and amazing human being who can call out your bullshit from a mile away. Now…” She sucked in smoke and exhaled in my direction. “Get the fuck outta here and go get your woman. We aren’t creatures that should be allowed to stew on our own, you know. She’ll come up with every reason why she should leave you alone if you let her.”
I waved a hand in front of my face and scowled. “I’m supposed to be working.”
“On what? You’re going to wipe a hole in the counter if you do it one more time. Anyway, we’re closing in an-hour. You go talk to her and I’ll hold down the fort. If things magically get too crazy, I can always call you and tell you to haul your ass back here. Besides…” She frowned. “There’s something up with her and I really am worried. She seems so nice, but I’ve seen that look before. Something’s going on with her. Make sure she’s really okay.”
I leaned forward. “She won’t tell me what’s going on.”
“She will, if you keep being there for her and giving her time. I mean kissing her may not have helped…”
“How the fuck do you know about that?” I growled.
“I came back to check on you guys and saw it through the crack in the office door.” She chuckled. “I will never follow you two back there again.”
I wiped a hand down my face. “You’re gonna be the death of me.”
She laughed heartlessly. “Live with it. Now, go check on Ivy and makes sure that she’s okay.”
I glanced around the bar. It was practically a ghost town anyway. The only people left were a couple of out of towners, two truck drivers on layover and a table of regulars who showed up every day no matter the time. It was only a handful of folks and they all looked content just sitting at the bar smoking and drinking.
“I do want to go see her,” I muttered.
It was more than that though. Much more. I wanted Jo with the kind of passion most people wouldn’t understand. She was the perfect person for me and as far as I was concerned, we needed each other. Or maybe I just really wanted her to want me too.
I had every intention of convincing her that she was meant for me.
I’d stood back when I found out she had found her dream job and was trying to make it in the city, but now that she was back. I had no intention of losing her for a second time. I couldn’t. I’d walked away from her once, but I couldn’t do that again. Jo was special and she was going to be mine.
“That’s more like it,” Mel cheered.
“What?”
“That look of grim determination.”
I stared at her. “You can see that in my face?”
“Hell yes! Go get your girl, Tiger. You both deserve to be happy. I’ve watched you run this place for too long and you haven’t been with anyone. You need to go back to enjoying life and having fun.”
“I guess you’re right about that. I haven’t gone out and enjoyed myself in a long time. It’s always bar, home, sleep, repeat.”
“Well now, you have a reason to shake that up. Get out of here. I’m telling you, I can handle the bar. I’ve done it for you in the past, haven’t I?”
“You always come through, Mel. Don’t forget to lock up if I’m not back by tonight. Well, you know what to do. I don’t need to explain it to you.”
“Thank you very much,” she called as I jogged around the bar. “I’m calling my boyfriend to come hang out with me though.”
“Tell him I said hi. Don’t let him drink the whole bar.”
Melanie chuckled. “Yes, boss. Good luck!”
I headed for my truck with a spring to my step. Everything was quiet, calm and I liked the change of pace. I climbed into my truck and drove to her place. I still remembered the times I used to sneak into her bedroom back at her parents’ home late at night. More than once, I’d climbed into her bedroom window and spent the night there. That was before we’d ever fooled around but I’d gone from sleeping on her floor to holding her in her bed. I wanted to get back to that.
When I arrived at her door, I double-checked to make sure I was still presentable. The button up shirt was still passable, but the jeans had a streak of blood, her blood around the knee. It wasn’t my finest attire, but she’d seen me in worse back in school.
Was I trying to impress her?
Hell, yeah.
It was so deeply buried in my subconscious I didn’t fully realize it. I shook my head at how infatuated I was. But who could help themselves? Jo’s curvy body, silky hair and warm eyes would make any man lose his head.
And there was nothing wrong with that.
I knocked on her door and waited. My hands felt restless. I should have grabbed some flowers from someones garden or something, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her.
I wondered if she would even answer the door after the second knock. Maybe she was already in bed.
Then the door creaked open and she peered out of the crack. She was wrapped up in a pink robe. She clutched the edged tightly to her body and frowned. “Cooper? What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see how you were doing.”
“Oh,” she said before she opened the door fully. “You can come in.”
I followed her into her apartment. It was the same as it had been that one time I came up here with her to pick up a rent check for her father. The same faint blue and white wallpaper on the walls. The same tidy little dining room and quaint kitchen painted sunny yellow and trimmed in white. I doubted it had changed since the times I’d sat at the kitchen counter with her and studied. Well, she studied as I teased and prodded at her until she giggled and shoved me away.
“This place brings back memories,” I said looking around. There were still photos everywhere of Ivy with her parents. One with her father in front of the Thunderbird that they’d died in later. Another, with her mother when she was just a little girl. I knew how painful it had to be for her to lose everything. She had no family and that must have been a difficult thing to deal with, especially when she was still so young.
“Yes, it does,” she said quietly.
I turned back to her. “I’m sorry about your parents.”
“So am I.” For a second there was a heavy silence, then she forced a smile. “Coffee?”
“That would be nice.”
I watched as she strolled into the kitchen, her robe fluttering around her curvy legs.
Ivy poured a mug for me and one for her before she brought them over and set them on the counter. She placed cream and sugar beside the mugs. Then she looked up at me with a small grin tugging at her lips. “Remember when my dad caught you touching me and yelled at you for a solid twenty minutes?”
I groaned. “Oh, god. There are things I do want you to remember, but that isn’t one of them. I almost pissed my pant
s! No one scared me, but that man. He was terrifying. I don’t blame him. If I had a daughter that looked like you, I’d be walking around with a shotgun all the time.”
She laughed, but a little sadly. “My dad was a sweetheart. He just wanted the best for me. I’m pretty sure that one day, I’ll be the same way with my kids.”
“You know? Me too.” I laughed. “I can’t imagine anyone getting away with the things that we got away with, but my child is not going to be so lucky.”
Ivy grinned. “And yet, we always complained when our parents were the same way.”
We smiled at each other for a minute, quiet as we sipped our coffee together. In the soft yellow light from the lamp, she looked like an angel. The dark shadows under her eyes were still visible, but she still looked... entirely fuckable. Like a stunning woman who deserved all the love in the world with her hair loose down her shoulders, her eyes misty with memories.
“Let me see your hand.”
She held it out toward me.
I took off the compression binding I’d put on and looked at the wound. It had already closed nicely and I was glad. “Tomorrow, I’ll re-bandage it in something less restrictive.” I laid her hand down on the table top carefully. “I wanted to apologize for… the kiss. You were distraught and shocked. It wasn’t appropriate and I shouldn’t have done it.”
Ivy peered at me before she slowly nodded. “I don’t think either of us were thinking straight.” She put her mug down and toyed with her fingers. “Let’s just forget about it, okay?”
I nodded. “Well, in honor of forgetting it, could I take you out to dinner Monday night? The bar is closed and we could kill our day off together.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t think we should go out together.”
“It’s not going out,” I said quickly. “It’s just the two of us grabbing a bite to eat and mending all the shit that happened in the past. Think about it, there’s so many good memories that we shared. They shouldn’t all go up in smoke because of one dumb thing I did when I was a kid. I want to fix it.”
Jo glanced at me and fidgeted with the hem of her robe.
I knew she was on the fence. I just had to give her one thing that would push her over the edge into saying yes and giving me a chance. “Maybe I don’t deserve forgiveness,” I said as I took her hand. “But I’d like to try and earn it if that’s alright with you. What do you say?”
She sighed and her shoulders relaxed. “Fine,” she finally said with a smile. “But this doesn’t mean anything.”
“Nothing,” I said with a big, happy grin. “Just us going out for a nice meal.”
“Ok.” Suddenly, she looked worried. “Uh, where are you taking me? I have nothing here to wear.”
“Nothing fancy,” I assured her quickly. “Just a good meal. You can wear whatever is comfortable for you.”
Ivy smiled.
I wanted to reach out and pull her body to mine, but I took a step back. “Right then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
When the door closed behind me, I felt a smile that lit up my face. And it was a big fucking grin too.
Chapter Seventeen
Cooper
I sucked in a breath.
Jesus.
Nothing to wear!
She wore a little black dress that hugged her curvy figure and showed off her cleavage. Strappy black shoes completed her outfit. She’d done her long hair in big, loose curls that spilled all over her shoulders and made her look like a Botticelli painting.
“Wow,” I breathed.
“What?” She laughed. “It’s nothing special, but I figured no matter where we go, you can’t go wrong with a little black dress.”
“You’re right about that,” I muttered as I told my boner to calm the fuck down.
Ivy grinned. “Stop staring at me like that! You’re making me feel shy.”
“Why? I think you look awesome, that’s all.” I laughed and reached out for her arm. “Let’s go get dinner.”
“I should warn you. This is not going to be a cheap date. I’m starving.”
I laughed but my head was spinning. Date! She said date. I also loved that she let me touch her. She slipped her hand into the crook of my arm as we walked down to my truck. I opened the door for her and helped her inside before I closed the door and jogged to my own.
“Where are we going?” she asked when I slid in and the truck roared to life.
“A little steak house not far from here. The food is good and they have soft music and candlelight. Women like that sort of thing, don’t they?”
Ivy smiled softly. “I don’t know about other women, but it sounds divine. I can’t wait to check it out.”
Something had changed in her. It felt like the confusion from our encounter in my office had slid away. I turned on the radio. Bruce Springsteen was singing Born in the USA. We both looked at each other and laughed. It used to be our favorite song. As if on cue, we both started singing along. Suddenly, it felt as if I was with my best friend, as if the long painful years of yearning for her hadn’t passed.
Soon, we pulled up to the restaurant.
“Jordan’s!” she cried out happily. “Oh, my God! I haven’t thought about this place in so long. Not since you brought me here.”
I smiled. “We snuck in a bottle of wine and I kept pouring you glasses of it, and the waiter couldn’t tell if we were old enough to be drinking or not. And when he asked for your ID, you deserted me and ran like a lunatic.”
“What was I supposed to do?” She laughed. “I was so scared we were going to get into trouble!”
“So you left me high and dry,” I scoffed.
Ivy’s shoulders bounced up and down as she slapped a hand over her mouth and laughed heartily.
Damn. I’d never seen anything as beautiful as her laughing.
When she collected herself, she swiped her finger underneath her eyes and shook her head. “My father was right, you were such a bad influence on me.”
I laughed. “You’re so full of shit, Jo! You got me into trouble more than once and then laughed when I got caught. I might have been a bad boy, but you were the enabler.”
“Maybe I was a bit wild back then,” she replied as she smiled at me. “But you were the catalyst. I was as good as gold until you showed up.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“You calling me a liar, Cooper Bradley?”
We stared at each other for a while and the urge to grab her and kiss her was so fucking strong I had to throw myself out of the truck. If I stayed that close to her, with her beautiful eyes on me, and the sexy scent of her soft perfume all around me, I would lose it.
I opened her door and extended a hand. She slipped her hand into mine, but pulled it away as we reached the doors.
We slipped inside and were seated somewhere in the back. I felt glad for that. It was quiet, warm, with a perfect view of the setting sun outside. “What do you want to eat,” I asked as I picked up the menu and stared at it to keep from staring at her.
“I don’t know about you, but I’d kill for a good steak and a side of potatoes. I haven’t had that in so long.”
I frowned. “How? I’m sure plenty of places in New York have that.”
For a second, a strange look crossed her face.
I just got a feeling I had touched a raw nerve. Then it was gone.
“Well, they do, but…everyone’s so caught up in being healthy. I was sucked into it too. For the past few years, I’ve eaten mostly salads and kale.”
I wondered why there was a pause before she said everyone. Was it some man that had shamed her into living on rabbit food? I pushed down jealousy. Well, whoever he was, he was gone now. It was me sitting in front of her. And this time, I wasn’t letting go. “Did you just say kale?” I asked as I scrunched up my face.
Ivy burst out laughing. “Don’t judge! I wanted to fit in with everyone else, so I gave up the good food and settled for the healthy. Stop making that face at me. Stop it.”
“I can't help it. I’m really bothered you haven’t had a real meal.” I reached over, snatched up her menu and put it with mine.
“What are you doing?” she asked with a laugh.
“We’re getting ribs. Potatoes. Mac and cheese. And not a vegetable in sight.”
Ivy grinned. “That’s disgusting. Come on. We’re going to get sauce everywhere.”
“That’s the way you’re supposed look after you’ve eaten ribs. Anyway, they hand out bibs here.”
“Forget it. I’m not wearing a bib.”
“Suit yourself,” I said as I flagged down the waiter and ordered just that.
By the time it arrived and was placed in front of us, Jo looked like she was ready to be self-conscious. So I picked up a big bone and bit into it like a wolf.
There was nothing left for her to do but pick up one of her own and dig in too. I grinned as she buried her face in it and I stifled a chuckle. She would think I was laughing at her and that would be the last thing I wanted to do. I thought she looked gorgeous just being herself. The girl I’d known all those years ago.
You have to fucking stop staring at her like this.
But I couldn't tear my eyes away from her. I literally devoured her with my eyes.
Ivy finished up her food and glanced up at me as if she suddenly realized that I even existed. She licked her fingers, then picked up her napkin, and dabbed at her mouth daintily.
After the way she had eaten, the effect was deliciously funny.
"What are you grinning about?" she asked.
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone put away food that quickly."
Jo groaned. "Shut up. I know I must have looked like a pig, but I haven't had food this good in a long time. It was amazing." She sighed as she held up a hand.
"What are you doing now? Ordering more?"
She glared at me. "No. I want a beer."
I chuckled. "I love seeing this side of you. I know you think I'm being a smart ass, but I'm not. I really do like seeing that you're enjoying yourself."
"I have to admit, it feels good to indulge a little. I was so wound up in New York."
Let’s Start Over Page 7