Nate walked over, smoothing his singlet down over his exposed stomach. “Hey, Liz.” His brow creased. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, per se. It’s just that I’m afraid that I missed one of the forms when you signed off yesterday. And the head of the SCP is positivelyanalabout his paperwork.”
Cooper choked on a mouthful of air and Liz sent him a wicked grin.
Nate shrugged. “Well, can we get it fixed up? Because I gotta say, I’m having the time of my life right now, and I don’t want anything to get in the way. Right, Coop?” Nate settled his hand on Cooper’s hip.
Cooper couldn’t help himself. He leaned in towards Nate and pressed a kiss to his temple, the tang of ocean salt fresh against his lips. “Right, baby.” He turned to Liz. “What do we need to sign?”
Liz turned the clipboard towards them and tapped a spot on the page, a standard NDA that had somehow been missed. “Right here…Coop.”
Cooper signed and passed the clipboard over to Nate, not quite willing to meet Liz’s eye.
Nate signed next, and Liz folded the top copy and handed it to him. Nate stuffed it into the pocket of his boardies. “Thank you, Nathan.” She wrapped a hand around Cooper’s elbow and said, “Now, would you mind if I steal a moment of Cooper’s time? There are one or two admin details that I need to clarify with him, that’s all.”
Nate looked between them, something like jealousy flitting over his face. Cooper shouldn’t have enjoyed seeing it there as much as he did. “Go on up, sweetheart. I’ll just be a minute, and then I’ll be all yours.”
He gave Nate his most charming smile and raised one eyebrow in silent promise, pulling his elbow from Liz’s grip, and was entertained to see Nate’s features relax. So his boywaspossessive. “Sure thing. I’ll see you up there.”
Nate grabbed his backpack and walked into the elevator. Once the doors had closed and there was no chance of Nate hearing them, Liz swung around to face him and prodded him in the chest with an elegant turquoise nail, her voice low so only he could hear. “Cooper Hudson, have you found yourmate?”
Cooper’s eyes widened and he wondered what had given him away. “What?”
“Your mate. It’s obvious. I mean for starters, there’s the way your expression goes all soft and gooey when you look at him. Not to mention the way you lean towards him like you’re a dowsing rod and he’s an underground stream.”
“I—I—”
“You’re doing it right now. You’re staring at the lift doors like that will make him reappear. I remember the signs from when I met Brad.”
Cooper considered denying it, before dismissing the idea. Liz wasn’t stupid. He swallowed. “Yes. He’s my mate.”
Liz’s smile stretched from ear to ear. “Oh, I’m so happy for you! There’s no feeling like it in the world, is there? What did he say when you told him?”
“Um.”
Liz gave him a stern glare. “Youhavetold him, right?”
“I’mgoingto. But I only just figured it out myself last night. I’ll tell him before the end of the contract, though, I swear. I just…” He sighed and ran a hand through his tousled hair. “How am I meant to drop that on him aswellas the fact I’m the CEO of Shiftercorp? What if he doesn’t believe me when I tell him we’re mates?”
Liz fixed him with a look that said she thought he was an idiot. “If he’s really your mate—”
“Heis.” Cooper growled. He’d never been more sure of anything in his life.
Liz gave a firm nod, as if she’d expected nothing less. “Then it’s a once-in-a-lifetime bond. There will never be anyone else for you, as long as he’s alive.”
“Iknowthat,” Cooper interrupted. “Why do you think I’m so worried about fucking this up?”
Liz folded her arms across her chest, and Cooper knew what she was going to say before she opened her mouth. “Do you remember when you decided that you weren’t going to tell Nate who you were when you chose him as your Companion, in case he thought you’d rorted the system? Which you did, but that’s by the by.”
Cooper’s shoulders slumped and he made a non-committal sound.
“And do you remember how I said, ‘You know, Cooper, maybe youshouldtell Nathan who you are and what you do, so this doesn’t come back to bite you in the arse later’?”
“Uh huh,” he said wearily. He’d hoped Liz had forgotten that particular conversation.
“How are those teeth feeling in that derriere right now, Mr Hudson?”
Cooper stared at his feet, noting the traces of sand still clinging to the tops of his toes, and sighed. “You were right,” he admitted, “and I should have listened. But it doesn’t answer the question of what I’m going to tell him, and how. I don’t even know if he’s aware that mates are a thing. What if he’s one of those people who thinks it’s a bullshit myth and accuses me of trying to enslave him?”
