taking me.”
His brows lifted. “You do?”
“Of course. Tony would talk about this place incessantly and I would be green with envy.”
“Yeah, this was a special place to us,” he said, taking hold of her hand. “Be careful, the land’s uneven here. Lots of roots breaking through the soil.”
They walked a bit, her hand gripped in his, reminding him just how long it’d been since he’d held a soft woman. And Lauren was that and more. He didn’t like noticing her that way, or feeling even remotely attracted to her. She was cute and funny and nice. Emphasis on nice. Any other thoughts about her weren’t going to happen. He had a job to do. Protect Lauren. Stop her wedding if need be. Make sure she didn’t get hurt and pray she didn’t hate him for the rest of her life.
“Just a little bit longer now.”
And then he came upon his childhood fort, a mismatched set of planks built between the lower branches of a thick oak. The place looked the same as he remembered, though a bit more weathered, but the roof was intact and the wood beams were holding strong. A rope ladder, made of thick hemp, scraped against the dark tree bark.
“You’re smiling so wide right now,” Lauren said.
“Am I?” This place always made him happy.
“There’s a twinkle in your eyes, too.”
“Careful, Laurie Loo. I’ve never taken a girl here before. Don’t make me regret it.”
“Never. I’m glad to be here. I guess this is where you and Tony conspired.”
“It is. Mostly we pretended to be looting pirates or badass cowboys. My dad gave us the wood and told us to have at it. I think we were ten at the time.”
“So you built this all by yourselves?”
“Hell, no. After three attempts, my dad intervened. He said he didn’t want us breaking our necks when the whole thing collapsed. But he taught us one important lesson.”
“What was that?”
“That things aren’t always as simple and easy as they initially seem. Your brother and I were so damn eager to do this on our own, certain we could figure it out. But after failing a few times pretty darn badly, we finally realized the project was too big for us. Our pride was bruised and we were embarrassed to ask for help after insisting we could do it all on our own. And Dad was great about it, without rubbing our noses in I-told-you-sos. He was proud of us for not giving up and for finding a way to make it happen.”
“Wow. Your dad was pretty wonderful.”
“He was a good man.”
A sudden chilly breeze blew by and Cooper gazed upward. Clouds were moving in fast, turning the sky gray, and he caught Lauren trembling. “We should go. The weather’s about to change and it can put you in a world of goose bumps. If we’re lucky, we can make it to the lake before the wind gets out of hand.”
“Sounds good,” she said. “And thanks for bringing me here, Cooper.”
“Welcome.” He took her hand again. As they began to forge their way back to the Jeep, the air grew chillier, the clouds completely obscuring any sunlight.
“Damn,” he said. “I think we’re in for it.”
“In for what?”
Suddenly, off in the distance, lightning ignited the sky. Clouds crashed against each other and rain poured down as if a giant water balloon had burst. Caught in a flash storm, they were getting soaked.
“Wow! That came on fast,” Lauren said.
“Sure did.” He gauged his options. “C’mon, let’s make a run for it.”
“Where?”
But he had already changed their direction. The Jeep would provide no protection. There was only one place to go. Still holding her hand, he guided Lauren along the muddied path leading them back to the fort.
Once they arrived, Lauren took a look at the ladder rope. “You’re kidding, right?”
He shrugged. “Either that or get soaked to the bone.” Which she already was. “C’mon. I’ll help you up.”
“Okay,” she said tentatively.
And then she was climbing the rungs as he held the ladder firm, her butt in his line of vision. It was a beautiful sight, one he shouldn’t be noticing. But he had to keep his eyes sharp, just in case she lost her footing. At least, that’s what he told himself as she ascended the ladder.
She threw herself inside the fort and he followed her. They nestled together against the back wall, out of the spray of raindrops. Lauren shivered, her blouse soaked and plastered to the beautiful swells of her breasts. The transparency was hard to miss and, for a moment, Coop couldn’t tear his gaze away. Then sanity rushed in. He began unbuttoning his shirt. “Here you go. Put this on.”
Her face flushed cherry-red. She was aware of the sight she made. She accepted his shirt without argument and he helped her put her arms into the sleeves. “Thanks.”
She hugged her knees to her chest and sighed. “Well, guess I was wrong.”
“About?” He sat next to her, in his undershirt, his legs straight out, his boots just inside the confines of the fort.
“The weather.”
It was too much to hope she’d admit she was wrong about marrying Kelsey. Wishful thinking never got him anywhere. He’d have to tell Loretta his suspicions and start scouring Tony’s computer for hints that Kelsey had been cheating the business. And he’d have to start as soon as possible.
“It’s actually pretty cool to be here, storm and all,” she said. “Tell me more about you and Tony. What did you do when you came here?”
“I already told you,” he said. “Pirates and cowboys.”
She nodded, seeming suddenly sentimental. “Isn’t there more?”
“We’d bring our lunches and eat, and then sometimes just lie back, sort of like we’re doing now, and dream.”
“What did you dream about?”
“Growing up. Racing cars. Dating girls. Boy stuff. I remember one of the last times we ever came here. I think we were fifteen. Samantha Purdue had broken up with Tony. He was crushed. We came up here with a six-pack of beer I’d swiped from home and chugged while he cried his eyes out.”
“Wow. Over Samantha Purdue?”
“Yeah, it was stupid. The very next week, Tony was crushing on another girl.” The memory made Cooper smile. “Your brother was girl-crazy.”
“Maybe that’s why he never married. What about you?”
“Me?” He shook his head. “I wasn’t girl-crazy. More like, girls made me crazy.”
She chuckled and a drop of rain fell from her hair and drizzled down her cheek. He braced her face in his hand and wiped away the rain with the pad of his thumb. Her skin was the softest silk. She smiled sweetly at him then, and something shifted in his chest.
“I meant why didn’t you ever marry,” she said quietly, gazing at him with those pale green eyes.
The impact of her question shook him to the core. He had no right touching her this way. He dropped his hand from her face and looked out at the driving rain. “I had some serious relationships in the past. They didn’t work out. There’s time for me.”
“So you do want to marry eventually?”
“Yeah. One day. In the very, very distant future.” Right now, women were off the table for him. He’d purged his “little black book.” He was officially taking a break.
“And