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Well, that was unexpected, and he laughed. “God, where do I start?”
A slow smile spread across her face, which in turn made those eyes sparkle again. “I somehow doubt you’ve ever done anything really stupid.”
“Well, I’ll share if you do.”
“Deal.”
“You go first.”
She looked surprised at that and took a sip of wine, brows furrowed as if deep in thought. “Well, once at a meet, I stumbled out of the blocks, fell sideways, and took out three competitors.” Her face lit up, and that adorable dimple made his chest tighten. “It wouldn’t have been so bad except it was a major meet.”
“Shit.”
“Shit is right.” She grinned. “And it was televised to boot. After that, everyone called me dippy.”
“Dippy?”
“Because I dipped to the right and, like a domino effect, took out the three runners beside me. In my defense, I’d been fighting the flu and shouldn’t have been competing in the first place, but I was so competitive and wouldn’t listen to anyone. Seriously, Sara had a field day with that, and my mother…”
Her voice softened, her eyes shimmered. “My mom gave me a sweatshirt with Dippy on the front and Domino on the back.”
“You told me you ran track.”
“I did.” She took another sip of wine. “I was a damn good sprinter.” She gave a soft chuckle. “In third grade, I tossed a dead rat at Billy Gleason, and he tried to catch me but couldn’t. That’s when I knew I could outrun anybody. I ran right up until…” Her face fell. “Until I couldn’t.” She was silent for a few moments. “I loved it. I loved the feel of the track beneath my feet. The wind in my face. Nothing before me but an open lane to eat up.”
He watched her carefully, aware they were broaching a subject that was painful. “You must miss it.” It wasn’t a question, and he knew the answer before she spoke.
“Sometimes I wake up out of breath, hot and sweating, my lungs on fire. Because in my dream, I’m still running. I’m running and not thinking about anything other than putting one foot in front of the other. I’m perfect and fast and just…running.”
She turned to him then, her composure in place. That little bit of herself she’d let him see was tucked away somewhere else.
“What about you?”
Still pondering her words, Cooper raised an eyebrow. “Me?”
“Yes. You, Cooper. What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?”
He wasn’t kidding. There was an impressive list to choose from. But which one would put a smile on the face in front of him? Which one would bring on the soft-rain giggle he was coming to adore? He leaned back in his chair.
“When I was seventeen, I had this huge crush on a girl named Danielle. She was tall, blonde, with a rack that didn’t quit.”
“Of course she was.”
There was a hint of a smile there, and Cooper grinned, wondering where Danielle Lockheart had ended up.
“So what was the problem?”
“She was dating my cousin Jack, but I was determined to win her over. There was a whole group of us that hung out, and I waited until Jack headed north with his family for vacation.”
“Sounds serious.”
“I invited her out for dinner and a boat ride, along with most of the gang we hung with. Except a couple of hours before dinner, I told everyone else but Danielle it was canceled. I’d grilled her pals for weeks, so I knew she loved chicken stir-fry and red wine. I arranged for Cook to prepare the best chicken stir-fry on the planet, and of course I took credit for it, and when she arrived alone, I played dumb.”
Cooper finished off his wine, shaking his head at the memory. “I remember her asking me if there were peanuts in the stir-fry and I remember thinking, hell no, who mixes peanuts with peppers and onions?”
“Uh-oh. I can see where this is headed.”
“So she takes me at my word. I’ve just told her I cooked everything myself. We eat down by the dock. The moon is coming out, and I’ve got her on my boat with every intention of seducing her on the water, when she starts complaining that she doesn’t feel good. I think she’s had too much wine. And even though I was pulling a bastard move on my cousin Jack, I’ve never been the guy to take advantage of a girl who’s had too much to drink. We turn around and head back to the dock at about the same time my brother Rick comes strolling up with his girlfriend. I’m tying up the boat while Danielle’s trying to get off the damn thing, and then I hear a scream.”
