Games We Play (11 page)

“I understand, and thank you for calling me. She’s fine, her sister’s fine, and they’re both people worthy of your trust. She doesn’t want your money, Myra, I’d stake my life on that. Lark is here, dragging me back to life. I was going through the motions, you know?”

“I do.”

“She’s taking over the business. Have you seen our new website?’ he asked.

“I have. It looks so fresh, so modern.”

“I know. That’s all Lark. She’s taken over the towing part of the business. She’s out now, towing trucks. She has plans, Myra, so many plans it makes my head spin. She wants me to expand, and she’s been taking classes at the community college. My Lark is a whirlwind of activity,” he said, laughing. “Kendall is older and more cautious, but she’s a really sweet young woman, so Vivian must have done something right, despite how she and I ended. I wouldn’t worry about her being there for any reason other than getting to know her aunt.”

“Thank you. I’d come to that conclusion myself, but our conversation has confirmed my initial impressions of your daughter. I can relax and enjoy her, and you’ll have to come and visit me with Lark. It’s been too long.”

“I’d like that, and we will see you both soon,” he said.

“Thought I might catch you before you before I clocked out,” Celeste said, standing at the door of Cooper’s office.

Why?
he wanted to ask. “Sure. Come in, have a seat,” he said instead, watching as she sat down in front of his desk. “What can I do for you?” He wanted to keep things on a strictly business level.

“I felt like I ambushed you earlier today, with me working here and all, and I wanted to explain,” she said, watching him closely. “How do I say this?” She seemed surprised by his control and self-possession.

“Just say it.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, searching his face for a reaction. “I’m sorry for the way things turned out between us. When we met, I was young, and I was looking for the wrong things. I’m not the same person as I was then,” she said.

He was quiet for a minute, not sure what to say.

“I thought you had gotten married,” he said.

“Yes, well, I’m no longer with him. I’m still married, though, until I can save up enough for a divorce anyway. I’m back to my maiden name, Henderson. My husband and I lived in Austin. I tried living there after we broke up, but Austin was way too expensive for me on my own,” she said, gazing into her lap. “I didn’t want to live in a big city like Houston or Dallas, and I didn’t want to go back to my hometown either.

“So I thought about you and Coopersville. I know we didn’t end things on good terms, but I knew you’d be a nice guy, even if you were still angry with me. I took a chance, and Luis hired me and rented me one of the places you own, which is really nice place, by the way. I could not have afforded a place like that in Austin. It felt serendipitous.”

Cooper didn’t speak. He hadn’t expected an apology.

“Are you planning to fire me?” she asked, finally looking up at him.

He sat for a minute, quietly considering her. “No. Not as long as you do your job,” he said.

“Thank you, and I will. I knew I could count on you. I won’t disappoint you this time. I will do my job to the best of my abilities,” she said.

He sat silently watching as she got to her feet.

“Thank you again,” she said.

“Sure,” he said. He leaned back into his chair after she was gone, considering their conversation. He realized two things, two conclusions he’d been working his way toward since seeing her for the first time this morning. For one thing, he had meant what he said to her. He would not be firing her. Yes, he could, and it would be a perfect revenge for the way she’d left him. But revenge would mean he was still invested, and he wasn’t. He’d been caught off guard when he saw her here this morning, yes, but as the day progressed, those feelings had moved off.

Honestly, he was glad that he’d escaped, which brought him to his second realization. She wasn’t the one for him. He’d come to that fact years ago, after the initial hurt of her choices had passed. He wasn’t interested in her anymore, not even a little bit. So if she wanted to work here and live across the street from him, that was fine, just so long as she left him alone.

A little before dusk, Cooper arrived at the golf course. Celeste’s return mixed with the arrival of Houston the ex-boyfriend had put a damper on his anticipation for a night of golf followed by some more adult time with the professor. The parking lot was empty save for the professor’s SUV.

He parked his truck, and shot a quick glance over at the driving range. It sat empty and dark, and she was not where she said she’d be.

He scanned the practice area, also empty. She wasn’t in the clubhouse either. Grabbing his clubs from the back of his truck, he walked over the maintenance shed to get the gator. He wasn’t sure what hole he’d find her on or if he’d find her at all. He hoped so, in spite of his reservations.

She was on hole twelve, which was at the back end of the course, the farthest one from the clubhouse. He sat for a while, watching her. She was dressed in shorts—black, knee-length, and tailored—a perfect fit for her body’s curves, and a pink polo shirt was tucked into them. Legs bare except for those snowy-white golf shoes again, hair pulled back into another ponytail.

He drove over to meet her. She’d just finished tapping her ball into the hole when she looked up at the sound of the gator’s approach. She smiled.

“You’re not where you said you’d be,” Cooper said, pulling out his sexy I’m-happy-to-see-you smile. He’d pulled alongside her golf cart and waited until she walked over to him.

“I decided to hit the course instead. I didn’t get to play as long as I wanted to yesterday, so I came out earlier. I hoped you’d look for me when you noticed I wasn’t at the driving range.”

“I thought you might have changed your mind,” he said.

“Nope,” she said, smiling, looking him over too—dressed in shorts like yesterday; a plain T-shirt this time,
The Coopersville Brewpub
, not tucked; and those old, beat-up golf shoes on his feet.

“You want to play another hole?” she asked. She was standing beside the gator now.

“I was thinking about it.”

“If not golf, what else would you want to do?” she asked, her desire for him on display in her eyes.

He smiled and stuck out his left hand, snagged her wrist, and pulled her closer. He put his hands on her waist and lifted her off her feet, setting her down in between his legs in the gator, and kissed her. No convincing was needed apparently, as she opened her mouth and moved her tongue in to play with his.

“There were four guys here earlier, playing in front of me, and when they left, they told me that I should be careful playing out here in the dark. I was on my way in after this hole,” she said in a break between their kisses.

“Good thing I caught you,” he said, and went back to kissing her. He pulled her into his lap, legs on the outside of his, straddling his hips. She felt good, and he pulled her hips closer to touch him, where it did him the most good, sucking his breath in at the contact.

“I’m glad too. I bet it gets really dark out here,” she said, looking around now, a little nervous.

“It does,” he said, bringing her face back to his to be kissed, his hand moving up to her breasts now, caressing them through her shirt before it moved lower, first to pull her shirt free of her shorts, and then under her shirt and up and under her bra. He squeezed one of her breasts in each hand—nice, soft, and the perfect size—before he tugged their tips softly. She moaned into his mouth. He would stop and ask his questions about Myra in a second, right after this kiss.

“Here?” she asked, pulling away, her mouth inches from his.

“Why not?” he said, and kissed her again.

“Oh,” she said after a moment, gazing into his eyes.

“You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?” he asked, his mouth at her neck now.

“No, I guess not. Aren’t you worried someone might see us?” she asked. His mouth felt nice moving along her chin.

“No. It’ll be totally dark here in a minute, and no one else is here. Yours was the only car in the parking lot when I arrived,” he said, and hit the latch on the seat. It rolled back a few inches, giving him more legroom.

“If you’re sure,” she said.

“I am. But first I need to ask you a few questions. I’ll start by formally introducing myself,” he said, his mouth back on hers, his tongue playing with hers, his hands at the waist of her shorts. He glided his fingers over her hips and moved them smoothly downward to cup her ass, pulling her hips in close to the front of his body, rubbing against her. She moaned.

“My name is Cooper. Barnabus Lee Cooper. The man you think is stealing from your aunt Myra,” he said, his eyes on her, watching her, looking for her reaction. “I don’t steal,” he added. He hadn’t removed his hand from her ass, and he continued to hold her against him, waiting to see how she’d respond.

“But you said your name was LC. And what’s this about my aunt?” she said, eyes closed in pleasure, her lips still at his neck. He was one smooth kisser.

“LC stands for Lee Cooper, a nickname from my childhood,” he said.

“You’re the same Cooper who owns the pub?” she asked, pulling back slightly so that she could gaze into eyes that were the same crazy heated as yesterday, completely at odds with tone.

“I don’t own it. It’s a co-op. I’m just the manager. But you knew that already, didn’t you? I think you knew who I was long before you arrived into town.”

“How would I have known that? And how do you know me?” she asked, still staring into his eyes. What was up with all this talking? It was so not what she came here to do.

“Of course you knew, and your aunt told me…us…warned us about you, and asked us to help her find out what you were up to,” he said.

“What I’m up to? What does that even mean? And who is ‘us’?” she said, sitting back. He had her full attention now, although straddling his lap wasn’t the best position of strength from which to discuss anything.

“By us, I mean a few of her closest friends, those who have her back. Your aunt told us about your planned visit here for the summer. She hadn’t seen you in a very long time, and given her relationship with your mother, she was worried that you might be up to something nefarious,” he said, staring at her, his expression a little hardened.

“‘Nefarious’?” she asked. He nodded. She didn’t know how to respond other than to get to her feet. She pulled herself away, straightened her bra, pulled her shirt down, and tucked it back into her shorts.

“Okay, this is starting to feel strange. What exactly are you accusing me of?” she asked.

“I think you’re here to get your hands on your aunt’s money, a scheme that you and your mother concocted to stop your aunt from spending her money in the way she sees fit. You’re here to make sure she leaves money for you and your sister. Or maybe it’s to try to take it from her now. Maybe that’s your goal. Do you hope to find her incompetent, so you and your mother can swoop in to take what’s left? That old getting-something-for-nothing plan that your mother is famous for, or are both of you famous for it? Apples don’t fall far from the tree usually,” he said, his face becoming more hardened as he spoke.

“So I’m thief? You
are
accusing me a being a thief?” she said, starting to get angry.

“More a gold digger than a thief,” he said, all nonchalant, like this was normal, everyday conversation. “You follow the money. I’m willing to bet that you know who I am, and that you knew well before yesterday, well before you made your trip here. I’m willing to bet you know all there is to know about me. I’ve heard it’s what you do. I believe you are in town for money, mine or your aunt’s or maybe both—hell, who knows? I’ve met women like you before,” he said.

“You don’t know me.”

“I think I do,” he said.

She stared at him for a minute, not sure what to think, except for feeling more than a bit blindsided. It sounded like he didn’t really like her, and how that could be after what had happened last night, after what had happened a few minutes ago?

“So I drove down to a small-assed town like Coopersville, Texas, famous for its intolerance for anything brown,
and
I also somehow engineered to meet you at the gas station and followed you here? Is that what you believe?” she asked, pointing her finger toward him, having found her anger. Her eyes were almost sparking with righteous indignation.

“I’m here to snag you for your money. Oh, and while I’m at it, I might as well steal from my aunt and get into her good graces so she’ll leave me all of her money. You do
know
that her money comes to me anyway. Her will requires it. Is this really what you think of me?” she asked.

“You wouldn’t be the first,” he said, stepping out of the cart now, stretching his arms above his head.

She walked closer to him until she stood in front, her finger pointing at him. She inhaled, taking in a huge gulp of air, and he knew another barrage of words was on its way.

He watched her inhale, anger spilling out of her eyes even as she squared her shoulders. He smiled to himself, losing his irritation, ’cause she was the picture of an angry woman done wrong, and she was preparing to let him have it from both barrels, and so not in the way that he would have preferred. Still, it was a sexy picture.

“I’m a thief,” she said.

“And a gold digger, don’t forget that part,” he added—and was that humor she heard in his voice? Was she some big joke to him?

She looked away, the air leaving her body. She shook her head, dumbfounded and hurt by his accusations, and here she was once again, having to explain herself to someone; this path was so familiar and so very old, all that
like mother, like daughter
bullshit. She laughed and shook her head again.

“What was this?” she asked, pointing to the gator. “What was this and in the trailer yesterday?”

“A good time for me. For you. Who knows?” he said, and shrugged. “A test drive, a tease, a setup—any and all of the above would work,” he said, and watched her flinch.