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He sighed. “I’m good. Sorry about last night, by the way.”
“No worries, man. It happens to the best of us.” Cooper rubbed his jaw. “Did you sleep at all last night? Or the night before that?”
“No, not really,” he admitted. He rubbed his eyes. “Why do you ask?”
“Because you look like hell. Gordon does, too .”
Jake chuckled. “Yeah. I know. I heard he went out with the IT guy after we talked to him.”
“That dude can drink. But back on topic—maybe you need a change of scenery.” Cooper tossed an envelope on his desk. “I have a new assignment for you in Florida.”
Great.
An assignment would take his mind off Tara.
He opened the envelope before looking back at Jake. “There’s no intel in here. Only tickets and an address.”
“I know.” Cooper leaned against the door. “This is all my fault. I shoved you and Tara together, and you lost her. I feel like shit about it—Kayla’s pissed, too. I have to fix it.”
“Dude. Don’t worry about it. I never really had her in the first place.” He tossed the tickets on the desk. “We were fucking around. It’s not like she loved me or anything so insane as that.”
Cooper cocked his head. “Do you love her?”
“What?” He scoffed. “No. Fuck no. No.”
“If you say no one more time, we both might believe it.”
Jake stood. “Look. I appreciate you being my friend, and I appreciate the drinks last night, too. But I don’t need you in here asking me—”
“You weren’t around when I met Kayla…and almost lost her. You didn’t see how much of a fucking mess I was when I realized I’d ruined my chances at being happy. I couldn’t concentrate. Couldn’t stop thinking about her and how I had to find a way to get her back.”
“Is there a point to this?” Jake asked drily. “I mean, I like you and all, but I don’t really do the whole love-story crap. Not without a bottle of tequila in me, anyway.”
“You might not do it, but you’re in it right now.” Cooper grinned. “You’re me, a few short months ago. Go get her. Show her how miserable you are, make a grand gesture of some sort, and win her back. I have it on great authority that grand gestures always work.”
Jake frowned at the envelope, his cheeks heating up. Was he so fucking obvious about his feelings that even his boss noticed? Son of a bitch. His fingers twitched in his lap. He wanted to go. Wanted to chase after her. But what would he say? Sorry for fucking you over, but can you maybe forget about that and love me instead of hate me?
He cleared his throat and pushed the tickets away. “I’m sorry if my work ethics have been lacking lately, but I can improve on those. I don’t need to fly to Florida to do that.”
“Yeah, you do.” Cooper crossed the room and slid the envelope back at him with two fingers. “When you find someone who makes you feel like Tara does, you don’t let her go without fighting for her. Know what my biggest fear, besides losing Kayla, is?”
“No, but I have a feeling you’re about to tell me.”
“I’m scared of public speaking. Like, the freezing and pissing my pants while simultaneously vomiting, type of scared. I kid you not,” Cooper said, sitting in the chair in front of Jake’s desk. Despite himself, Jake leaned in. “Know what I did when I thought I couldn’t get Kayla back? I hopped on a stage, grabbed a mic, and spit my heart out in front of her whole family.”
Jake’s lips twitched. “It worked, I take it?”
“It did. Grand fucking gesture, baby.” Cooper grinned. “You need to do that.”
“Get on a microphone and make an ass out of myself?”
Cooper waved dismissively. “Not necessarily. Do something to show her you want her back. Show her you’re serious. Show her how much she means to you. Chicks dig that shit.”
He picked up the airline tickets. He hated flying. It was too high up in the sky for his comfort. If men were supposed to fly, they would have been born with wings, not feet. “Like flying to Florida?”
“Exactly,” Cooper said, standing. “I won’t expect you back until the return flight next week, and it better be with her. There’s a ticket for her, too.”
“I’ll try my best.” When a thought occurred to him, he stood abruptly. “Wait.”
