Lost Chances (22 page)

"That would've made sense, but it's not him. He made a nasty comment before I punched him about how she never gave it up." Sophia wasn't the type to just sleep around. "Could it really be Ryan?"

"Hell, I don't know. If it's true, then it was some sort of experiment or they were both wasted. He's definitely gay even if he doesn't want to tell anyone."

"I'm coming home tomorrow." He didn't know what he’d do just yet, but Jacob was right about som
ething being off.

"Don't leave if it's going to mess something up with your contract."

"My flight was already set. It wouldn't matter. I love Sophia and I can't just leave things like this without finding out what's really going on."

"See you tomorrow then."

****

Cooper was running off no sleep by the time he walked through his front door.
Back home.
Funny how less than eight weeks had gone by and he won back the love of his life, lost her again, recorded an album, and changed his mind about selling the house. Even if things didn't work with Sophia, he’d keep this place.

If she really loved him, then he didn't give a damn who the father was. It would be hard to make her unde
rstand that and believe he could love her child just like his own. She had to be far enough along that it happened before they got together. At least he hoped so. Cheating wasn't something he could forgive.

He took his bag up to his room and went through the clothes. The doorbell rang, causing him to drop the guitar pick he'd just fished out of his jean pocket. He got down onto his knees to reach under his bed for it. What he saw there had him pausing. Forgetting about the pick, he grabbed the small bundle of black lace.

When he lifted them up, the erotic dream he'd been having since the night they all got together came back. The tiny panties were the same ones from his dream. He fell back onto his ass and just stared.

"Shit."

Things from dreams didn't just appear out of nowhere, which meant he’d screwed up royally. The whole time he thought it was a fantasy in his head, and he'd lived the whole night. The next day—when she poured the tea on him—made absolute sense. He’d walked in there without a single memory of what they’d done.

Why didn't she tell him? At least once they started se
eing each other.

He forgot about someone being there until the bell rang again, followed by a knock. When he started dow
nstairs, he looked at the panties and shook his head. He tossed them onto his bed and hurried to see who was at the door.

Jacob stood there. "About time. Did I interrupt you?"

He had no clue what to say. They’d just talked on the phone and he had lied to him. Not that he knew he was lying at the time, but still… "Umm, no. How far along is Sophia?"

"She said around six weeks. Not far at all. The sickness she was getting started quickly, which apparently is poss
ible."

"Is she still sick?" The thought of her going through it alone bothered him. He stepped back and let Jacob enter the house.

"Not like she was. The doctor gave her some nausea pills. I think she's down to throwing up every morning, but is doing better during the day." Jacob shook his head. "I know this can't be easy for you. After everything between you two."

Shit. The man felt bad for him and the whole mess was his fault in the first place. "Let me say something, before you feel sorry for me."

Jacob stiffened, but didn't speak.

"The night you all came over, which was around six weeks ago, I was pretty drunk and everything took place in a fog. I didn't remember what happened after y'all left." He paused when Jacob stepped closer. "I just found something in my room and it made me realize that what I'd been thinking was a mere dream, actually happened. I'm pretty sure I'm the father."

It wasn't really a surprise, but the pain in his jaw still shocked him when Jacob’s fist connected with it.

"You said you didn't sleep with my sister. You're both grown adults and I knew it would happen, but you lied."

"I didn't know. I just found her underwear in my room under my bed."

"So you were drunk enough to forget what ha
ppened. And she was wasted, too." Another shot to the jaw.

Cooper grabbed his mouth and ran his tongue around to make sure his teeth were still intact. The taste of copper in his mouth must have come from his throbbing lip since his teeth seemed to be all there.

"You took advantage of her."

That was not the way he remembered the night. "I d
eserved that. I'm not going into details about the night, but it's Sophia who's lying. She was keeping a baby from me. My child—and she wasn't going to tell me. And Ryan, too."

"He knew the whole time," Jacob murmured as he pulled out his phone and made a call. "Hey, Ryan. Can you swing by Cooper's house?" He paused. "No, I just need to get some stuff together for him, and if you had time, I'd like a little help."

It wasn't long before Ryan pulled in and sat in his truck. Cooper stood with Jacob on the porch and obviously, he didn't want to get out after seeing them. It probably didn't look promising when the two men stood there with their arms crossed—waiting.

He finally climbed out and headed their way. "I thought you said he wasn't here."

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't show if I told you the truth. You seem to be good at lying yourself, so I just thought it was okay to do the same." Jacob dropped his arms and stepped off the porch to where Ryan stopped. "I don't appreciate being lied to about my sister and her baby."

"And I sure as hell don't like finding out that I'm g
oing to be a father and that Sophia hid it from me." The more he said it or thought about it, the more pissed off he got. "I heard you were saying the baby is yours. Not to be an ass, but I'm pretty sure that's definitely not true."

"I know it isn't," Jacob added.

"I guess that means you remember?" Ryan actually narrowed his gaze on Cooper. "Have you been acting as if you didn't know what happened this whole time?"

Cooper fisted his hands to keep from grabbing Ryan by the collar of his shirt. "I didn't know anything until I got home. I have no reason to explain myself to you anyways. Why did Sophia keep this from me?"

Ryan let out a deep breath. "She came to tell you the day you left, but when you told her your news, she freaked out. Just so you know, it was all because of how much she loves you."

"If she loved me, then she would've told me the truth."

"You're wrong. She would've picked up and left with you, but she can't very well do that while she's pregnant or once the baby is here. She also knew you'd stay with her if you knew the truth and she wanted you to go for your dreams." He shook his head. "Stupid as it is, I understood her problem. She was going to tell you when you were either done with your tour or before the baby came. She wouldn't have kept it from you forever; she just wanted you to be sufficiently established in the music industry that you wouldn't back out."

Cooper sank on the porch steps. It was stupid. "I have to tell her it's okay. I'd give up everything to be with her and my child."

"That's why she kept it from you. If you do that, then you’d make all her worries come true. You can be a husband and father while also pursuing your career in music."

"I knew there was something." Jacob sat down b
eside Cooper. "What do you want to do?"

"I need to see her." More than anything, he
wanted
to see her. "First, I have to talk to your father."

"Oh, he's going to love this. I'll head over to his house first and tell him what's going on. Then I'll call and let you know when he can come. It will probably be tomorrow. At least if he wants to kill you, he can't use trespassing as an excuse like he could if you went to his home." Jacob just slapped his shoulder and left. "Come on, Ryan. You're going with me to tell him that you're not actually the father. I think he'd actually be relieved to hear that part."

"Hey, am I really that bad?"

Cooper didn't hear any more of their bickering as he started planning everything in his head. If Sophia loved him as much as he did her, then there was no reason to wait to propose to her. He was old fashioned and had to get her father's and then her brother's permission. Refusing to let the thought of them not agreeing, he went upstairs to get his grandmother’s ring. It would need to be sized for Sophia, or if she wanted anything different, he'd get it for her.

It had to be the best damn proposal ever, so he had a lot of work to do to make it so.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"You've been working since yesterday. How did you get so many orchids planted?" Jacob stood beside his father who didn't seem to care about the flowers and was more interested in staring down Cooper.

That look was one that could surely kill. He cleared his throat. "It took a lot of bribing and money to get it done. I wanted the whole front of the house surrounded before Sophia sees it."

"What do you have planned for my daughter that you need all this?"

"It's really good to see you again, Mr. Johnson. I wish I came to visit you sooner than now." Mr. Johnson had always been sort of like a father to him too, which made it harder to be on the other side of his anger. "I know Jacob told you the truth about Sophia's pregnancy and I can't ask Sophia to marry me until I get your permission. And the permission of her brothers."

He stood there quiet for what seemed like a lifetime, then he began to worry.

"Why do you want to marry my daughter?"

The question was easy to answer. "I love her and can't see my life without her in it. She's there with me when I picture the future and I want to spend the rest of my days showing her how much I love her and how much she deserves to be loved. Yes, she's pregnant with my child, but if I knew she wouldn't run from me, I could've told you a lot sooner that I wanted her hand in marriage. Our baby is just a bonus and I'm going to spend every day protecting and loving that child, too."

The older man stared at him for the longest time, u
ntil a smile lit up some of the harsh lines on his face. "Then I give you permission to ask my daughter to marry you. She's my little girl and always will be. All I've ever wanted for her or all of my kids was for them to be happy, and meet the one they were meant to be with. Their mother was all I could think about until she was taken from us way too soon. She was my world along with the children she gave me. I didn't think I'd fall in love again, but I did. I'll always love my late wife and think of her daily. Those flowers there bring back a lot of memories and remind me of how I proposed to her."

Cooper smiled. "I've heard of your proposal and know how much she loved hearing that as a child. Sophia is my everything. I'm glad you've given me permission to see if she'll be mine."

Completely concentrated on her father, he only just realized Nick and Mike stood there, too. The golf-cart sat beside Jacob's truck. He looked at them and didn't have to ask as they all three nodded at once.

"I think I speak for us all when I say we'll be happy to call you brother. And I think you know just how much she means to us and how you will die if you hurt her." Jacob held his hand out to him.

"Oh, I know." He used his free hand to rub his mouth where it still hurt from Jacob's punch. "I like my teeth well enough."

They all started to laugh and then one by one hea
ded inside to help with the planning. Ryan agreed to be the one to get Sophia to the house without her knowing.

Getting her to say yes was left up to him.

****

Sophia was sure the look on her face showed just how she felt. "You have a surprise and want me to wear that bandana over my eyes?"

"Yes, for the thousandth time. I promise it's exactly what you need. Trust me." Ryan said, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Come on."

"Fine. Put it on." He tied it around her head just tight enough for it to stay up and where she couldn't see a thing. As he drove she tried hard to pay attention how long they'd been driving and which ways he was turning, but she would've been a crappy investigator, because it seemed like he went in circles a couple times. The ride was a little bumpy at the end. "Are we off-roading?"

"Not exactly." The truck came to a stop and she heard him get out.

She sat there and managed to not pull the bandana off, before her door opened and he helped her out. "This better be really good after blindfolding me. That kind of made me nauseous."

He didn't say anything while holding onto her arm and guiding her wherever they were going. Something about his grip and the smell of him wasn't right. She stopped moving. "Ryan?"

"No."

Cooper's deep voice filled her with as much relief as fear. Why was he back and what the heck was going on?

"I'm sorry to do it this way, but I know you woul
dn't have come if I'd asked you here." His calloused fingers touched her mouth and cheeks before he removed the bandana.