AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He pressed his nose against mine, his eyelids closing. “I kept telling myself that once you withheld your identity, there was no turning back, but that was only an excuse. And then I kept telling myself that you’re a partner, and that was an excuse. And then I harped on you being a Cole, which became another excuse.” He pulled away to gaze at me, his hands staying in place. “I was afraid that if we got together, it would add even more tension between the families, and it would jeopardize the future of the company. But then I realized, that kind of weight isn’t on me. You and I, we don’t have that kind of power, and it’s not our responsibility to hold things together. It takes all of us to do that, and if the company implodes, it certainly won’t be because I’m dating one of the partners.” A streak of pain shot across his face, and I knew that was because he cared so much about this business. “Far bigger issues than that will be our breaking point—if we have one.”
A realization that hadn’t come easy for him.
Not when he had given his whole life to Spade Hotels. Not when someone cared as much as he did about what his family thought.
“You know, your father and Walter gave zero fucks when they merged us. What they’ve both repeatedly said is that it’s going to work out.” His thumbs rubbed around my lips. “You and me, we’re merging as well. Our situation is no different, so we should give zero fucks about what the others think.”
I nodded. “That makes a lot of sense, Cooper.”
“If anyone asks, I’m going to repeat what my uncle keeps saying and tell them it’s all going to work out. But I can tell you right now, we’re not going to take the blame for anything that happens. I don’t care what any of them say, if something goes down, we’re not at fault.”
“Nothing is going to happen.” Except for falling in love—a word that smacked me so hard that my lips pursed while my lungs exhaled. “But you’re right—again.”
“I don’t know if this is going to be easy, Rowan. I don’t know how they’re going to react when they all find out and see us together or how much shit we’re going to have to navigate—if any. But I don’t care. I’m in this. All the way.” He held me tighter. “And if it takes a fight beyond fighting for you, then I’m fucking ready.”
TWENTY-THREE
Cooper
Ihadn’t planned on spending the night at Rowan’s. I’d intended to just go over and cook us dinner, clean up, and hang out for a little while. But as we lay on her couch with a movie playing in the background, the bourbon and wine kicking in, we got to talking about work and Lake Louise, our individual goals for the merger and the future, and we ended up falling asleep. It was sometime in the middle of the night that we both woke at the same exact moment, and I lifted her off the couch and carried her into her bedroom, crawling in next to her.
My mental alarm had me rising a little after six. Since Rowan was still sleeping, I went into the kitchen and got some breakfast ready. Another meal I never typically cooked for myself. Klark always had something prepared that I just had to stick in the microwave.
But at her house, I fried up some eggs and toasted a few slices of bread and cut up the strawberries and pineapple I’d found in the fridge. I was just plating it all when I heard the sound of her bare feet stepping across the hardwood floor. When she roundedthe corner of the kitchen, I noticed she’d added a cardigan to the outfit she’d fallen asleep in, and as she stopped at the base of the island, she pulled both sides of the sweater around her.
God, she was fucking beautiful in the morning. There was no makeup left on her face, and her hair was a little rowdy. Her eyes big and curious.
“I thought you’d left … like last time.”
Last time.
It had been an asshole move to rush out of her house after I fucked her.
Not my proudest moment, especially considering where we were now.
I slid the egg onto her toast and set the frying pan in the sink, freeing up my hands so when I turned to her, I could pull her into my arms. “I wouldn’t leave without kissing you goodbye.”
Her face warmed with a smile. “I love that. But also, you’d better not.” She wrapped her arms around my waist and gazed up at me. “I see that you cooked. Again. And given that last night’s dinner was one of the best meals I’d ever had, I’m pretty excited to taste whatever you whipped up.”
I held the sides of her face and gave her a gentle peck. “It was good, for sure, but you might be giving me a little too much credit.”
“Stop. It was excellent.”
I gave her another kiss, but I moved carefully. Putting my lips anywhere on Rowan triggered every fucking feeling in my body. There had been moments last night when I had to do everything in my power not to try to take things further. The only reason I hadn’t was because I wanted her to know we could spend time together without me tearing her clothes off.
But, damn it, I’d wanted to.
And I was having a hell of a time fighting that want right now.
I needed to get my mind off how gorgeous she looked, how tight her pussy would feel on my dick, how wet she would be after I licked her.
Fuck.
So, I asked, “What’s your day look like?”
“I’m going to check in again with the Alberta officials and see if I can do some buttering up, like you suggested last night, and then I want to start going over some of the designs the architect sent. They look good, but I want to really dig in and add my own spin.” She traced her fingers up my lower back. “I can’t believe he threw together two options so quickly. It’s one thing to have the full build-out ready since that was our original idea, but to have already put together something for the half-size project? Now, that’s impressive.”
“Well, you had an impressive, badass pitch.”
