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His hands wander down to squeeze my ass as he nods.
“There were too many to remember them all. You bent me over my desk, railed me in your truck, I rode you in places I’ve never even been before.” His eyes gleam and his tongue traces his lips as he gazes down at me. “Do you remember the first night we had sex?”
“When you barged in and rode me like a wild woman? A lobotomy couldn’t make me forget.”
Grinning, I shake my head and plant a kiss on his lips before continuing. “I came in my sleep because of you and knew I had to have you inside of me.”
“Fuck, Maren,” he groans. “This is the second time you’ve got me hard on a dance floor.”
Giggles spill out of me, and I announce, “I’m having the best time!”
His smile travels from ear to ear as he pulls me closer to him. “The night is just beginning, sweetheart.”
He isn’t kidding. We drink and dance and drink some more. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had, and I never want it to end.
The thumping of my head wakes me from a dream where I’m hunting for a painkiller. Brutal sunlight slices through the unfamiliar room, and I groan, burying my face in a pillow. Vegas. I’m in Vegas. And I’m never drinking again.
As much as I want to go back to sleep, my bladder is screaming at me. The bed beside me is empty, but there’s a note on the nightstand. The room wavers a little as I sit up and blink, trying to focus my bleary eyes. The note leans against a bottle of water and a packet of Ibuprofen. “Went to grab breakfast. Be back soon. Love you.”
It puts a smile on my face despite how awful I feel. Cooper always thinks of me. Any other guy I’ve dated would’ve shook me awake to go get breakfast because they’re hungover. I wonder if he drank as much as I did?
Water has never tasted so good, and I nearly finish the bottle after washing down the pills. Ew, I need a shower. I swear I can smell tequila seeping from my pores. I’m not naked or sore so we must not have had sex last night. I’m not surprised. If I don’t remember coming back to the hotel, I’m sure I wasn’t in any condition for that. I hope I wasn’t a disgusting sloppy drunk. How embarrassing.
The hotel has a rainfall shower, and it feels so good I could spend days standing under the hot water. We’ll be heading home tomorrow. Back to the real world where I’m going to have to make a decision about Cooper. The level of despair that washes over me at the thought of letting him go is alarming. I love him. There’s no doubt in my mind about that now. But I don’t think I can do this. It’s not that I can’t get over him buying Pop’s house. I understand that he was trying to do something kind, and he didn’t see it as a huge deal because he won’t miss the money, but that only shows what different lives we lead.
I hate this. For once, I ended up with a genuinely good man, and I may still have to break both our hearts. The thought of losing him is already so painful, but it’ll be much worse down the road, when he gets tired of living at my level of life, because I’m not going to be okay living extravagantly while he pays for everything. Being dependent on someone isn’t who I am. Especially being dependent on someone with the ability to go anywhere in the world on a whim. We’re just too different.
The lump in my throat won’t be denied and I allow myself to shed a few tears. Let the water wash them away. I’m not sure how things are going to go. Pops will have his house back, that much I’m going to make sure of. It’s not right to accept it from Cooper whether we break up or not, but I’ll ask him to sell it to me. I still have a mortgage loan approval. I’m not concerned about my job. Cooper isn’t the petty type who would fire me because we didn’t work out. He’ll go back to his life and forget about me, knowing he did the best thing he could for me and my neighbors—gave us a decent place to live.
After I’m finished showering, I turn the water to cool, and let it rain over my puffy face. The hangover can explain my bloodshot eyes, but I don’t want Cooper to know anything is wrong. We still have another day here to enjoy. We’ll talk once we’re back home.
“Did you drown in here?” Cooper asks, poking his head in the bathroom door as I shut off the shower.
“No, but I might die of tequila toxicity,” I reply, trying my best to sound normal.
He grins at me, running his gaze slowly down my body and up again while I reach for a towel. “Damn my wife is sexy. I’m tempted to rip that towel off, but I should probably feed you first. Come and eat so you’ll feel better.”
A knock at the door is accompanied by someone calling out, “Housekeeping!”
“I forgot to put the do not disturb sign on the knob,” Cooper says, as he rushes out to answer.
It takes a few seconds for what he said to sink in. Am I hallucinating or did he just call me his wife? What was that? A slip of the tongue? A joke? Was he joking? Oh no, he didn’t propose last night, did he? Nah, that’s crazy. We barely know each other. Besides, that would make me his fiancée.
There’s no engagement ring on my finger. I’m being stupid. There’s no way I could forget something like that no matter how drunk I was. I’m overreacting to a bad joke.
It didn’t sound like a joke.
Snatching a robe off the hook, I shove my arms into it and charge through the bathroom door. “You said wife. Why did you call me your wife? Why would you say that?” I demand, stopping short at the sight of the housekeeper. She gapes at me for a full second, eyes wide and jaw hanging. It’s probably because I didn’t wrap the robe around or utilize the belt and now my tits are not the only thing catching a breeze.
Cooper hands her a tip. “No service today, thank you.”
With a quick nod, she flees the room.
I don’t care. The incredulous look on Cooper’s face is all that matters. “Maren?—”
“You said ‘my wife is sexy.’ If it was just a slip of the tongue or a joke, it’s fine. It’s not a big deal but I need to know because last night is spotty and I’m freaking out at why you’d say that.” My heart is racing as fast as my words are falling out.
Cooper looks like he’s been punched in the stomach. His steps toward me are slow and his eyes never leave mine. “You’re messing with me, right?”
