And then I spot him.
He’s chatting with that mom who talked to me and her kids, and they’re very, very close to my SUV.
A snarl wells up in my chest.
Should I have told her he’s mine?
Should I have told her to back off?
Should I have been more clear?
Am I overreacting? Is that a wedding ring on her finger?
His gaze slides my way, and the kind smile he’s been aiming at the mom and her kids turns into a full-blown, dimpled, I’m-so-glad-to-see-you, lady-killer Cooper Rock special.
It’s like he’s just stepped onto a stage and had every spotlight in a five-mile radius aimed at him.
He’sglowing.
Kiva shoves me into the back of my car over my squeak of protest.
Cooper nods to the small family around him, casually strolls away like it’s no big deal, and before Scott Two has the engine cranked, my blue-green-eyed heart-stealer is sliding into the back of the SUV beside me.
Kiva’s on my right. Cooper’s on my left. And I’m in the middle, squished right up against him.
“Hey, do I know you—” he starts, but he doesn’t finish.
Mostly because I’ve thrown my arms around him and smashed my face to his, and now I’m kissing him like I’ve been living underwater and kissing him is my first full breath in weeks.
He smells like salt and sunshine and he tastes like joy and he feels like the solid wall between me and every worry I’ve had in the past few weeks. His face is prickly and perfect, setting all the nerves in my lips on fire as his rough beard scratches me while I try to make up for too many weeks of not seeing him in a matter of seconds.
“Cameras.” Kiva pulls me off him and folds me over, pushing my face toward my legs.
Cooper slides a hand to my knee and squeezes.
I’m panting for breath and mad that I’m not kissing Cooper and mad that LA traffic is the worst and mad that I have zero privacy. “I thought you didn’t see me.”
“I knew the minute you climbed out of this car.”
“You didn’t let on.”
“Parents get mad when you pop a boner in front of their kids.”
Scott Two sighs. Kiva doesn’t respond, but she keeps pressure on my back, making me stay low. And then she insists that I put on my seat belt when it’s clear for me to sit back up.
Cooper slings an arm around me, and I lean into him. “Thought you had a meeting,” he says.
“Canceled.”
He presses his lips to my hair, and I close my eyes and sigh.
Not like Scott Two did.
My sigh is heavy on the relief. “I missed you,” I say quietly.
He presses another kiss to my hair. “I’m all yours until break’s over.”
Days. Meredaysuntil his break’s over.
