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He doesn’t answer but I know where he’s heading. The office is on the opposite side of the trailer park from Row’s place which means I’m being carried past almost every neighbor we have.
“Put me down! This is embarrassing!”
He lets out a loud snort. “Did you honestly just say that to me?”
My chest shakes because there will probably never be a time that I think about what just happened without giggling.
He slaps my ass and keeps going. “You had your fun. Time to pay the penalty.” When we arrive, he jogs up the steps, locks the office door behind us and deposits me in his room.
Apparently, the penalty for laughing at your boss slash landlord slash fuck buddy for being stuck in a wall is to be banged hard and repeatedly against another bedroom wall. Needless to say, I’d do it again.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
COOPER
“Cooper!” Louise calls, stepping out onto her porch as I walk past. “Are you going out with us tonight?”
“Going out?” I’m not sure what she’s talking about. The bird on her shoulder flaps its wings, and I take a step back. The little bastard flew at me and pecked me right on the forehead last time I got close, so I’ll be heeding that warning.
“It’s my birthday. Maren and Lila are taking me out to celebrate. Row will be there too. Didn’t Maren tell you?”
“It must’ve slipped her mind. Happy Birthday. I’d love to join you. Where and when?”
“Patty’s Bar. We’re leaving in about an hour.”
“I’ll see you there.”
Maren didn’t forget. Compartmentalize, that’s what she said, and she’s stuck to it. For nearly six weeks, I’ve bent her over every surface in the office, had her in my bedroom, her place, my truck. We go at it like we’ll never have another chance, but afterward, she either goes home or back to work and pretends things are only professional between us.
I’ve never gotten an answer to why she’s on a “dating hiatus” as she calls it, but I’ve respected her decision and given her space to figure out whatever she’s working through. The sex between us is explosive and the best I’ve ever had but I’m coming to realize more by the day that it isn’t all there is between us.
We spend a lot of time together, but it’s always work and sex. Am I going to miss an opportunity tonight to see her outside of that? Absolutely not.
An hour gives me time to head back to the trailer, take a shower and get ready.
Patty’s Bar seems to hold half the town when I enter. It makes sense. There’s not much else to do on a Saturday night. The dance floor that takes up half the space is sparsely populated, but the bar, tables, and booths are all full. It takes me a moment to spot the group I’m looking for at a corner table. Louise waves, drawing Lila and Cara’s attention in my direction.
“What are you doing here?” Maren demands, turning in her chair.
“I invited him,” Louise chirps.
“Yeah, Louise invited me, and do you really think I’d turn down an invitation on someone’s birthday? What kind of monster do you think I am?”
“One who’s pushing his luck,” she mumbles, returning to her oversized margarita.
There’s an empty chair at a table a few feet away, where a group of women sit who barely look old enough to be in here. “Can I borrow this?” I ask one of them.
“Sure.”
As soon as I touch it, the woman beside her lays her palm over my hand. Her eyes flick up to mine and she smiles, tucking a lock of strawberry blond hair behind her ear. “Or you could sit with us.”
“Thanks, but I’m here with someone,” I reply, and she grins when I give her a wink.
Row scoots over so I can slide the chair between him and Maren. “Thank god, I was drowning in estrogen over here,” he says, and Cara rolls her eyes at him.
There’s only one person I don’t know at the table and Maren gestures toward her. “This is my friend, Holly.”
