Page 10 of Cooped Up for Christmas

I didn’t like the way he eyed me. The way his appreciation burned. “In all the best ways, I see.”

I whirled away from his attention, but I could still feel it searing my back. “What is that supposed to mean?”

His chuckle surrounded me like a hug; he felt close, though he hadn’t moved. “You’re prettier now.”

“Oh!” I whipped back around and crossed my arms over my chest. A mistake, as it happened, because his licking gaze went right there. Egads. Cleavage. The tip of his tongue dabbed out. My breath locked and it took me a sec to remember what, exactly, I was infuriated about. Surely there was something?

“Oh, yes,” I began again, with ample vigor. “So I was ugly then?”

“What? With those cute little freckles over your nose?” His finger snaked a trail, connecting the dots. It was annoying, so I glared him away. I wasn’t a youngling any more. I wasn’t a tasty little virgin caught in the net of an older, more experienced, sexy sexy sexy man. A man who could seduce a nun.

Barbie Malone had been a nun. Or had planned to be one, before she met Coop.

Even back then, he’d been a hottie.

But now?

Mother Mary, help me.

I looked away. Scrambled for something. Anything. “Besides, Rocky is a stupid name.”

“Stupid?” There was a thread of affront in his voice. “You used to like it.”

“I never liked it. I laughed at it.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes. I did. I laughed my ass off. Remember?”

He thought for a bit, then grunted. “Okay then. Well, what are you going to call me? Cameron?”

“As if.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll call you Cooper.”

“Okay.”

“And you call me Ms. Walker.”

“Ms.— What? Why do I have to call you that?”

“Because, technically, I’m your boss.”

He reared back. “You are not my boss.”

“I’m acting as the Visit Manager here because an employee flaked. But I’m really the VP of Hospitality. Ta da!” I flourished my arms like a magician who’d just done a trick. “I’m management. Here incognito.”

“Incognito? Really?”

I hadn’t intended it that way, but now that I was here, it kind of made sense to see how well boots on the ground embodied the company élan. “Substitute. Whatever. Point is, I am your boss. And—and this is a very important point—we will work together on a highly professional, completely platonic level. As the two highest ranking members of the ship, so to speak, the staff will look to us for leadership.”

“So you’re sayin’ we should work together, or sumpin’ like that?” This he said in a hillbilly voice, in a futile attempt to mock me, so I smacked him on the shoulder.

“Quit. This is important.”

He grinned and leaned against the counter. “Okay. I’ll play your game, boss lady—”

“This is not a game, Cam! This is serious.”

“Is it?” I stood my ground as he came toward me. He got close enough that I could smell his minty breath as he breathed. In and out. And then, he came closer still, until his body and mine almost touched, but didn’t. It was then, with his cheek so warm, a finger’s breadth from mine, that he whispered, “I thought you were going to call me Cooper.”