Cooper’s mouth bunches to the side. “My mother…”
“Amy. Yes.”
“She wants you to join us at the aquarium. To meet my Aunt Beverley. Tomorrow morning.”
I grimace. “Sorry, no can do. I need to go to the park again to find Jonah.”
“You still haven’t found him?”
I huff. “It’s…complicated.”
Cooper tilts his head to the side and crosses one leg over the other. “Have you considered that he may be actively avoiding you?”
I make a face. “Jonah isn’t like that.”
“And yet…”
“Are we done here, Cooper? I have things to do.”
Cooper leans forward. “Surely it would only take you a few minutes to inform Jonah of the…issue? And then you’d be free, right?”
I sigh. If only it were as simple as that. But it’s not. Not only do I have to locate a man who seems never to stay in one place for long enough, I then have to get him to kiss me with barely any preamble. I can’t be dallying around an aquarium in the middle of all this.
“Maybe another time, eh?” I puzzle for a moment, curiosity getting the better of me. “Anyway, why on earth would your mum want me to meet your aunt?”
Cooper looks at his feet, which are booted as usual, though one of the laces is now undone. “She, well, she, uh, she liked you. For some unknown reason, she liked you very much.”
“Heaven forbid anyone could possibly enjoy my company.”
Cooper sighs. “My Auntie Bev is flying out to trek across Nepal tomorrow night. A soon as Mum told her how ‘nice’ you are, she insisted on meeting you before she goes…She’s very pushy—Mum’s a little terrified of her. We all are, frankly.”
My heart warms at hearing that Amy liked me very much. I liked her very much too. I liked how it felt when she patted the back of my head. I swallow, and a weird sensation tugs at my chest.
“Why the aquarium?”
“Bev loves all that touristy stuff,” he says vaguely. “And, you know. Tropical fish are cool.”
I nod. Tropical fisharecool. And seeing Amy again does sound nice. Really nice, in fact. But I can’t. I’m in a life-or-death scenario right now and luck does not appear to be on my side. I can’t waste time gawking at sea creatures. “I’m sorry,” I say with a small shrug. “I really can’t.”
Cooper nods quickly. “Of course. Yes, of course. Mum asked me to ask, so I, you know, asked. We’ll be meeting for coffee at Laurents café beforehand, if you change your mind.”
I nod. “You need to deal with that,” I say, pointing at his undone lace.
He speedily ties the lace, double knotting it and pulling so hard I wonder how on earth he’ll be able to undo it again.
“So,” I say once he’s standing back up, “all this time, I’ve been living above the best crime writer of our generation?”
“Oh, I was never that. I’m not a writer at all anymore.”
“Seems like a pretty cool job to dump in favour of becoming a computer programmer.”
Cooper gestures towards the door. “I should get going.”
On his way out he stops by the kitchen table, glancing down at my nude sketches. Shit.
“They’re private!” I say sharply, hurrying over.
“They’re beautiful,” he murmurs, bending his knees to get a closer look, tilting his head to the side.
