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He hopped into the loft, bundled the bag under his arm and strolled toward her until the light of the lantern caught her face.
Finally, his smile wavered and his steps slowed. She wanted to cry for putting that defeated expression on his face.
But it was too late now. He already knew. “You changed your mind.” His voice sounded empty, hollow.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I feel like such an awful tease, but I just…I live in Dallas, Cooper.” Yeah, that sounded good. She went that route instead of being honest. “I have my own business, and I’ve finally gotten it off the ground. I’m where I’ve wanted to be since starting my work—”
He shook his head. “No, you don’t have to explain anything to me, Jo Ellen. I understand.”
He brushed past her, and her heart clenched, because she didn’t understand it herself. Why did she have to be so weak and run; why couldn’t she be brave and take a risk?
Probably because in the end, it hurt too much.
Trailing him back to the hayloft doors, she tried again, hoping she sounded more reasonable to her own ears this time. “If we started something here tonight, then—”
“I know,” he cut her off abruptly. “You’re not the type of woman for a one-time deal or even a week-long fling.”
She cringed because a weeklong fling was exactly what she’d been contemplating.
“I understand completely. I do. It’s probably for the best anyway.” He sent her a forced smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Though now that I’m out here,” he mused, almost to himself, “sleeping under the stars sounds good. I think I’ll camp out anyway.”
He unrolled his sleeping bag in front of the opened loft doors where a huge moon gawked in at them as if waiting for her next move. After Cooper settled down on the blanket and stretched his feet out in front of him, he glanced at her over his shoulder only to wince. “I’m sorry. Where are my manners? I’ll carry the lantern and walk you back to your car so you can see where you’re going?”
When he began to scramble up, she shook her head, and motioned him back down. “No, no. Don’t get up. I’ll be fine.”
He paused and studied her before offering, “You can stick around for a while if you like. Nothing says we can’t keep talking. I can explain old-time tractors and reapers to you. I’m an almost direct descendent of Cyrus McCormick who invented the reaper, you know.”
She smiled but shook her head again. “I can’t. If I stay, I won’t leave.”
Then don’t leave, his eyes clearly conveyed.
Her resistance weakening under the hypnotic trance of his whiskey gaze, Jo Ellen sucked in a big breath and stepped toward him; this might not end up as it had with Travis, she tried to remind herself. Cooper was nothing like Travis. When she took another step, he simply watched her. She kept moving, walking closer, unable to stop. And when she reached his side, she knelt down next to him and settled herself on the blanket.
He turned away abruptly and looked out at the moon. A heavy sigh shuddered from his lungs.
She closed her eyes. This was a mistake. There were too many emotions involved, too much history. Too many broken hearts. Too much fear. She should go. She should stand up and leave; except she didn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.
As if sensing her indecision, he said, “Don’t leave.”
Whether he meant don’t leave that second, or that night, or don’t leave at all, not at the end of the week, not ever, she didn’t know.
But she figured she could at least give him the night. With a nod, she whispered, “Okay.”
A comfortable silence passed as they sat beside each other. Jo Ellen let out a silent sigh, glad he hadn’t pressured her for more, yet pleased he’d talked her into staying. Just being around him made her feel…nice, alive with the thrill of his intoxicating presence yet comfortable and safe. The mixture was like a drug, overwhelming her senses.
“So,” he said, blowing out a long breath. Sitting a good two feet away from her, he picked up a strand of straw off the floor. “How crazy is it that Em’s married off?” He chuckled lightly and sent her a smile.
Jo Ellen knew he was just trying to think up a conversation starter, but she took the question to heart. “It is, but it really isn’t.”
He sent her a confused look. “Okay, you’re going to have to explain that one.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain it really. Yeah, it’s strange Emma Leigh, who never acted interested in boys at all, got married straight out of high school.”
“Straight out of high school?” Cooper’s brows lifted until they disappeared beneath his shaggy, blond bangs. “I didn’t know that part. Wow, they act like newlyweds.”
“I know. That’s why it’s also not so strange. If you’d been there when they first met, you would’ve known it was going to happen too. Just like that. They wanted to dislike each other so much, but they couldn’t.”
