Cooper frowns and starts to open his mouth, but I continue speaking, “No, seriously, please explain to me why you would come in here toflirtwith me? You’re married. You have achild.Do I have an ‘I’m easy’ sign on my forehead I don’t know about?”
Cooper’s eyes widen and he shakes his head.
Yeah, caught you red-handed asshole.
“I’m not married,” he says.
If the music playing was on a record, it would have scratched so hard you could see a gash in it a mile away.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I ask him.
That confident grin is back on his face, and he leans forward on the counter. “I’m not married. I just happen to have a kid.”
“But how…” I pause, tongue-tied. “Wait, you came all the way in here to …flirtwith me?” I ask him.
He chuckles. “Yes, I did.”
“Why?” I ask him. Partially out of shock because whyme, but also because I’m still processing that he’snot married.
But is he being honest?
“Because I think you’re gorgeous, you seem really nice, and I’d like to get to know you,” he says.
“And you’re seriously not married?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. “No, I’d like to have that chance one day, of course, but if you don’t believe me, text June, she’s my cousin.”
“June Hayes?” I ask him.
He nods. “It’s a small town, Mae.”
“I guess it is,” I whisper, looking into his green eyes that captured me the moment ours first snapped together.
What do I do? Do I apologize? Do I tell him to go stick it where the sun don’t shine?
“Okay then, I guess I’ll give you some space to confirm,” Cooper says.
“What makes you think I want confirmation?” I ask him.
Men have flirted with me, made me think they were actually interested in the past. But not men that look like Cooper, or are as genuine.
Can I trust this? Myself? Am I reading this all wrong? Clearly, I struggle to do that.
He grins. “I’m hoping curiosity will catch the cat.”
“Uh, okay,” I mutter.
His head tilts thoughtfully as if he’s about to say something else, but instead stands up straight and knocks his knuckles on the counter. “Good. You have a good day now, Ms. Mae,” he says, tipping his hat to me.
I watch him leave and release a big breath before whipping out my phone to text June.
Mae: Hey, is Cooper your cousin?
June: Does this Cooper have an adorable little girl named Naomi?
Mae: That’s the one
June: Yep, he might be my cousin, but he’s like a brother to me.
