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“No, they’ve already accepted another offer. It’ll be okay. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up, but once I got approved for the mortgage, I thought I had a good chance. I’m glad I didn’t tell Pops.”
“Are you going to look for another house?”
“I don’t know. Probably not, at least for a while. I’ll keep saving. I’m not unhappy here and neither is Pops, especially now that all these improvements have been made.”
“And now you both have boyfriends right down the street.”
“That too. I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”
Cooper and I haven’t talked about the future again, or what he might decide to do once he’s done here. He said he doesn’t plan to leave me, but that’s not exactly an answer. Things have been so great lately that I’ve been reluctant to think ahead. Ignorance really is bliss sometimes.
Holly and I finish her unpacking and I head home, trying not to be too disappointed. I didn’t get Pop’s house but we’re okay. Better off than we’ve been in a very long time. And happier too.
When I step in my front door, Pops looks up at me from the couch, grinning from ear to ear. A brown puppy, fur fluffy from a recent bath, sleeps on his lap.
I’m going to kick Cara’s ass.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
COOPER
Maren cuddles up to me with a frustrated sigh. “I’m wide awake.”
“Me too.”
“It’s your fault for fucking me to sleep at eight o’clock at night.”
We both crashed hard after a long satisfying evening and woke up after one a.m. “I’m not sorry.”
She sits up and grins down at me. “Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Just come on,” she urges, crawling out of my bed to throw on her shorts and a tee shirt. “You’ll see.”
“If you want tacos, I’m pretty sure they’re closed by now.” There’s not anything open in the middle of the night here other than the bar.
Ignoring me, she takes off while I pull on a pair of shorts. By the time I catch up with her, she’s making her way through the dark office and out the door. Warm, humid air swallows us and she grabs my hand, leading me across the street. We cut through her yard to the next street and end up at the end of it, right outside the pool fence.
“Pool is closed after eight p.m.” I tease.
Her smirk is so damn cute. “Oh no, if the owner catches us, do you think he’ll spank me?”
“You can bet on it.” I swat her on the ass as she unlatches the fence.
It’s a perfect night for a swim. Not a hint of wind, and the moonless sky drapes the area in shadow. She steps to the edge and drags her toes along the water, then glances back at me. Whatever she was going to say is forgotten at the sight of me stripping off my shorts and underwear.
“What are you doing?” she hisses, covering her grin with her hand.
“I know you didn’t bring me out here in the middle of the night not to skinny dip. Why are you still dressed?”
Considering it, she stares at the pool. The underwater lights run on a timer, leaving the water dark at this hour. We’ll be well hidden. After a glance around to double check that no one is outside, she chirps, “Fine.”
Her shirt is tossed aside, and there’s no bra for her to contend with before she kicks off her shorts and panties. Before she can move, I snatch her into my arms and leap into the pool.
“Shit,” she gasps, surfacing at the same time I do. “It’s cold.”
