AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m doing no such thing. I’m asking you, am. I. Worth. It?”
Before I could reply, she got off her stool and wedged herself between the two seats, sliding until she was standing between my legs with her arms resting on my shoulders.
I should have moved away, not allowing her this close, but it had been too long since I’d put my hands on her waist.
Since I’d gripped her with all my strength.
Since I’d felt her heat beneath my fingertips.
“All you’d have to do is have a conversation with them,” she voiced. “Let the topic simmer and smooth out the bubbles when they arise—if they even do.”
“But you’re a partner. Are you forgetting that?”
“I’ve read over the bylaws. There’s nothing in our corporate paperwork that says we can’t have a relationship. So, please, don’t use that as an excuse.”
She was right.
Every reason I’d ever given her was an excuse.
I was sure there was a way to get my family on board. Hell, there was a chance it might not even be that difficult. I didn’t know. I just knew that work had been the one constant in my life. The one area where I knew what to expect, where I didn’t have to worry about any games or emotions. Where I could lay it all out there. And now, Rowan was part of that space, and with that came pressure and expectations.
What if we didn’t work out?
What if things ended badly?
What if we could no longer work together?
Her hands moved to my face, cupping both cheeks. “You’re spiraling, and you don’t have to. We’re right here, right now—nowhere else.” She pressed her thumbs against the sides of my mouth. “You know what Sky said? The reason you’re so mean to me is because you’re in love with me. Is that true?”
That word hit me like I was driving ninety straight into a brick wall. “Neither of us knows what that word means.”
Her hands dropped from my face. “Cooper?—”
“Two cheeseburgers with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and swiss,” the bartender said, setting the plates on the bar top, “and fries with truffle oil. Is there anything else I can get either of you?”
“Ketchup,” Rowan replied. “Loads of it.” Her eyes stayed on me as she spoke, and once the bartender was off to get her loads of ketchup, she said to me, “Maybe you’re right about not knowing that word. But what I do know is that I want to share many more cheeseburgers like this one with you. And I want to keep coming back to Lake Louise with you. And as much as I hate arguing with you about everything, I would take bickering every single day over silence. I hate your silence, Cooper. Itmeans you don’t have the desire to fight back, and it’s your fight that I crave.”
This wasn’t what I’d expected for tonight.
Shit, I hadn’t expected this conversation at all.
Or to feel affected by her admission.
Or to have my feelings challenged.
“I’ve been holding this in,” she went on. “It’s not getting me anywhere, except more frustrated. I’m tired of going in circles. Not a single one of those loops has brought us closer.” She let out the smallest sigh. “I hope this will.”
“You’re putting it all out there. Unafraid.”
“Don’t mistake this for confidence. That’s not what you’re hearing. I just know that if I don’t tell you how I feel, I’m going to regret it.” One of her hands moved to my chest, the spot right above my heart. “And I think you will too.” Her face was suddenly closer to mine. “If you want this, if you want me, then you have to make this right.”
I took a moment before I said, “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to fight for me, Cooper. The same way I’ve fought for you.”
TWENTY
Rowan
