Page 63 of Wrecked

Shane glances at me with a knowing smirk on his face. “Good morning, Sam. I hope you slept well.”

My face turns three shades of pink, and Cooper nearly chokes on a mouthful of coffee.

“Cut it out,” Cooper growls at Shane.

Shane shrugs innocently. “What? I was just being polite.” He gets off his stool and winks at me before he disappears down the hall after Beth.

The moment we’re alone, Cooper backs me into the wall and kisses me. After he manages to steal all the air from my lungs, he dips down and presses his mouth to my throat and starts sucking my skin right over my pulse point.

“I told you not to give me a hickey where everyone can see,” I mutter, shoving him away.

Cooper grins at me. “All right, no more hickeys. At least not where they’re visible.” He brushes his thumb over one of my nipple piercings, making me shiver. Then his palm slides down to my dick. “Maybe one here? Tonight.”

Before I can respond, we hear Beth and Shane’s voices as they head our way. Cooper steps away from me and busies himself with the kitchen cleanup.

“I’m ready,” Beth says, smiling at me as she comes around the corner.

“All right. Let’s go.” With a parting glance at Cooper, I head for the foyer to call the elevator.

Shane rides down with us. When the elevator stops at the ground floor, the doors open. I hold them while Beth and Shane share a goodbye kiss. Envy rears its ugly head because I’d give anything for Cooper to be openly affectionate with me.

As Shane continues on down to the parking garage to his car, Beth and I step out onto the main floor. We grab the next taxi in the queue lined up outside the building.

The ride to Clancy’s is a short one. We walk inside and begin our day. Setting aside my problems with Cooper, I’m feeling pretty lucky these days. This has got to be the easiest job in the world. I get paid a ridiculously good salary for hanging out at a bookstore with my two newest best girlfriends. The three of us—Beth, Erin, and me—have way too much fun here to call it work.

As we approach the stairs, Beth turns to me. “Would you mind grabbing us some coffees from the café?”

Clancy’s has its own little café that serves specialty coffees, soft drinks, sandwiches, soups, and tons of desserts.

“Of course not. I’ll be right up.”

I watch as Beth climbs the stairs and disappears down the hallway that leads to the administrative offices before I duck into the line at the café. I order Beth’s beverage of choice—a chocolate peppermint latte with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. For myself, I get a caramel iced coffee.

I carry the drinks upstairs, and as I near Beth’s new corner office, I hear Erin say, “We are so screwed!” She goes on to mutter about some author’s books not arriving on time. “It’s notfunny, Beth!” Erin cries, sounding truly distressed. “We have four book clubs—count them, four!—coming in Wednesday to pick up their copies, and we havenothingto give them.”

“Why all the drama, sweetie?” I ask Erin as I walk through the open doorway. I hand Beth her chocolate latte.

“Thank you,” she says. She closes her eyes and takes her first sip, moaning in appreciation.

Erin’s now seated on the sofa beneath a long window with an awesome view of N. Michigan Avenue. I join her and lay my arm across her shoulders. “What’s wrong, cupcake? Tell Sammy all about it.”

I just love watching Erin get worked up about the smallest thing.

She lays her head on my shoulder and says, “Our new Nora Roberts books weren’t on the truck this morning. We’re doomed.”

“Don’t worry, cupcake.” I give Erin a squeeze. “The boss will figure something out.”

Beth is amazingly resourceful, and she never takes no for an answer. And she puts people over profits every time. I’m sure she’ll figure out a solution to this dilemma.

Beth takes a quick call from Shane, who tells her he’s taking her out for lunch. Good grief! The man saw her just an hour ago.

After the call ends, she says, “Erin, call the distributor and have them overnight the books to us. We’ll have them here first thing in the morning. Is that suitable?”

Erin practically leaps off the sofa. “Oh, my God, you realize that will cost a fortune, right?”

Smiling, Beth nods. “Yes, I do. Don’t worry about it.”

Erin rushes over to hug Beth. “Oh, thank you!”