“You don’t need to fuss over me,” Cooper said for the tenth time as Aria plumped the cushion behind him and Donna placed a plate of chocolate chip cookies, fresh from the oven, on his lap. “On second thought…”
Donna grinned. “I thought that might change your mind. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
“Are these all for me?” Cooper asked as he munched on one, savoring the gooey melted chocolate.
“That plate is,” Donna said. “The rest are for your sister. If you get between a pregnant lady and what she’s craving, you might lose an arm.”
“You reckon?” He eyed the plate of cookies on the table, which Aria was digging into.
She twisted around and glared at him. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Okay.” He held his right hand up to fend her off. “I won’t.”
Geoff’s laughter boomed from the couch on the other side of the room. “Accept it, son. The women are in charge in this family.”
“And I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Cooper replied, afraid his mother might decide to confiscate the cookies if he answered differently. “You know, you don’t all need to babysit me. It’s only a wounded shoulder. I’ve had worse. I’ll be fine.”
Their expressions darkened. In moments like this, Cooper always wished he had a camera to snap a photo and show Aria how much she resembled Donna.
“We know you’ve had worse,” Aria said. “But we weren’t there to see it, and we’d rather not think about it.” She slipped an arm around their mother’s shoulders protectively, as if she were the one who needed comforting, rather than Cooper, who’d been stabbed and then deserted by the woman he loved.
Sophie’s words from yesterday played through his mind: What would your parents have done if you’d been killed? Did you think about that? Cooper studied Donna’s face, stripped of color, and glanced over at Geoff, who looked older than his sixty years. Had he taken his family for granted this whole time?
“I love you all,” he told them. “You know that, right?”
Donna smiled tentatively, Aria’s gaze softened, and Geoff—never one to discuss feelings—cleared his throat.
“Oh, honey,” Donna said, coming over to gather him in a gentle hug. “Of course we do. And we love you. That’s why we all wish we could have done more to help you when you came back. But you had to figure things out for yourself.”
He remembered those first few months after Ben’s death. He’d felt terrible for surviving when his best friend—a partner and father—hadn’t. While Cooper had been thrilled to see his family, he’d also been riddled with guilt because Ben would never see his family again, so he’d pushed them away. It had taken a lot of therapy and time alone before he’d accepted the way things had turned out. He’d never escaped the subconscious guilt, though. The dreams had haunted him. Until Sophie came along.
“I wish it could have gone differently,” he said.
“So do we.” Aria said sympathetically. “But you can’t change the past.”
He inclined his head in acknowledgment. “If wishes were horses, huh?” He paused. “That’s a stupid saying. Where does it even come from?”
Aria opened her mouth as if to explain. He glared at her, not really wanting a lesson on old British proverbs. She closed her mouth. No one said a word. He sighed.
“Sophie told me off. Said I was being reckless. I think she was really mad. I’m not too sure why, or how I’m supposed to fix it.”
Geoff turned up the volume on the TV. No surprise there. Cooper looked to Aria just in time to catch her rolling her eyes.
“What is it?” he demanded.
She swatted his arm—the uninjured one, thank God. “You are so thick. Sophie was worried sick about you.”
“She was?”
“Absolutely! When she found out you’d been hurt, she ran straight over to find you.”
The thought of Sophie panicked about his welfare pleased him, although the pleasure was accompanied by a pinch of guilt. “She yelled at me.”
“Because she was frightened stiff, idiot.”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal.” A line he’d repeated a dozen times.
Aria looked meaningfully at his freshly dressed stab wound. “My guess is, it would be a big deal to someone who lost her dad in the line of duty.”
Of course. Finally, everything clicked into place. They’d been so young when it happened that he sometimes forgot Sophie’s father, Mike, had died in a car crash during a high-speed police chase.
He cursed. “No wonder she didn’t want me joining the manhunt.”
“It probably felt a little too much like the past repeating itself,” Donna said. “The poor dear is terrified of losing the men in her life. You saw how hard she clung to Evan, who clearly wasn’t worth her time.”
“You think that’s because of what happened to Mike?”
“I think,” Donna began, selecting her words carefully, “that Evan would never have lasted as long if Mike were alive.”
Cooper frowned. “Hang on a minute. If she’s afraid of losing me, then how come she left? It seemed more like she was angry.”
Aria huffed in annoyance. “There’s no point asking Mum and me these questions. We can only guess. Why don’t you go ask Sophie?”
“Because she doesn’t want to see me.”
Donna smirked. “You’ve gotten lazy.” She raised an eyebrow knowingly at Aria. “He’s not used to having to work to win a woman over.”
“I win women over all the time,” he protested.
“Yes,” Donna agreed. “With minimum effort, and as soon as they want more, you run for it.” When he made a noise of disagreement, she shushed him. “I love you, but if you want a woman like Sophie Delaware, you have to be willing to compromise sometimes.” She came over and patted his cheek. “You’re a charmer, Cooper. Go show Sophie how charming you can be.”
“I will.” He stood, ignoring the way his head spun and his vision blurred. “Can you drive me, Ri?”
“Sure.” She steadied him, and they left the house.
Cooper smiled to himself. Only a couple of months ago, he’d helped Aria get the man of her dreams. Hopefully, she could return the favor.
Sophie didn’t care that half the world had seen her in her pajamas, or that she’d been mentioned on the front page of today’s newspaper. That paled in comparison to the fact Cooper had been stabbed, and he hadn’t seemed even remotely concerned.
She poured herself a glass of wine with shaky hands, replaying everything that had happened yesterday for the millionth time. Then she grabbed a fistful of Doritos and savored the crunchy texture in her mouth. Chasing the Doritos down with a slurp of wine, she leaned against the kitchen counter, petting Cletus, who’d taken up residence on a pile of newspapers. She didn’t have the heart to scold him for being on the counter.
Closing her eyes, she recalled the scent of disinfectant in the ambulance, the cloying warmth and the stale air. The panic that had surged through her veins, propelling her forward when she saw the bandage over Cooper’s wound and realized he could have died. Then where would she have been? She couldn’t lose the man she—no, she wouldn’t even think the word. She couldn’t feel that way about him. Not after a couple of weeks.
But you’ve known him your whole life.
She ignored the voice in her head. She’d never really known Cooper, not until now, just as he’d never really known her. Maybe if they’d gotten together years ago, he wouldn’t have gone away to war and ended up with a guilt complex. But then he wouldn’t have become the man she loved, either.
There, she’d admitted it. She loved him. She didn’t want to. Loving Cooper could end poorly—but Sophie would protect herself. She was beginning to realize she was stronger than she’d ever given herself credit for.
“Screw him.” She downed the rest of her wine, feeling it burn the back of her throat.
She needed a friend. Not Aria; that would be awkward. Avery’s tough love would be better. Avery had gotten her through the situation with Evan only a few weeks ago. She could sure as hell tell Sophie to toughen up now.
She called.
“Hey,” Avery answered. “I heard about what happened. How’s Coop?”
“Okay, I think,” Sophie replied. Tears threatened, making her tongue seem thick as she tried to shape it around some words. “Can you tell me to toughen up?”
Avery didn’t hesitate. “Take a concrete pill and harden up, Soph.”
Sophie smiled tremulously. “You’re the best.”
Avery snorted. “Of course I am. What’s this about?”
But Sophie didn’t answer, because she heard the click of the front door opening and heavy steps rushing up the hall. She knew the sound of those footfalls, since they’d come up the hall a number of times over the past few weeks. But what was Cooper doing here when he should be at home, being pampered by his parents?
She walked towards the hall as Cooper shoved the door open with his good arm.
“What are you—?”
She didn’t get a chance to finish, because his lips covered hers and his arm came around her, his hand splaying across her lower back and pressing her closer to him. She should have resisted, but his kiss was too sweet, and the press of his hard chest and the possessive way his hand rested on her back were too tempting.
She ended the call and dropped the phone. Heat pooled in her belly, and she kissed him back, winding her arms around his neck, careful not to bump his shoulder.
The kiss went on, neither of them willing to break it. Finally, she pulled away to catch her breath, resting her face in the crook of his neck and panting. The rapid rise and fall of his shoulders told her he was as breathless as she.
“What was that?” she asked when she had enough presence of mind to string together a sentence.
“I was an idiot,” he puffed, his chin digging into the top of her head.
“Yeah, you were,” she agreed, feeling somewhat mollified.
“I didn’t see how scared you were,” he continued, stepping back to meet her gaze. Sophie stared into his beautiful blue eyes, wishing she could interpret the pool of emotion swirling in them. “No wonder you were upset, considering how you lost your father. I didn’t realize you cared about me enough to be scared.”
“Petrified,” Sophie corrected him, her tongue thick again. “I can’t lose another man I care about like that. Do you know what it would do to me?”
His gaze softened, and he took her hand, his thumb sweeping gently over her knuckles. “You’re stronger than you think, Soph. You could get through anything.”
He’d echoed her earlier thoughts. She turned away, breaking eye contact. “That’s not the point.”
“Hey, look at me,” he said, but she ignored him. “Come on, look at me. Hey. I know you, Sophie Delaware, and I’m telling you that you’re much stronger than you could even imagine.”
“So? Maybe I could handle losing you, but I don’t want to. It would hurt, Coop. Even worrying about you hurt.”
“I’ll do my best not to worry you like that again. I promise.”
“Haven’t I already asked you not to make promises you can’t keep?”
Cooper let her hand go and lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. “What if I promise not to pull another stupid stunt unless I have your approval?”
She scoffed. “You love danger. You can’t help it.”
“Maybe. But I’ll do whatever it takes if it means I get to come home to you. I’m not going to lie; I don’t know much about love, but I think I’m in love with you.”
Sophie gasped. “You what?” She studied his face for any sign of uncertainty and found none. “I think I love you too.”
“Oh, thank God.” He exhaled roughly. “In that case, I don’t just think I love you. I know I do.” She cocked her head quizzically, and he admitted, “I didn’t want to scare you away. I love you, Sophie. I’m sorry for being an idiot. Please say you want me in your life.”
“I do.” The words came out softly, so she repeated them more firmly. “I do. But no more feeling guilty for being alive, okay? Because if you weren’t alive, then I’d never have gotten the chance to be with you, and I’m so grateful you’re the one who came back from the war.”
“So am I,” he said for the first time. “No more guilt. Cross my heart.”
“Good.” She smiled smugly. “Say the ‘L’ word again.”
“I love you,” he said, grinning. “You’re so lovable, Shorty.”
She laughed. “So are you. Now, shut up and kiss me.”