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Something tickles my cheek. My skin prickles with a chill, and I pull the comforter high to my neck trying to shake off the cold that covers my body. My brain wakes up and I realize I’m naked in my bed—alone.
I sit up and look around the room. Nothing has changed from last night. No, that’s not right. Something has changed. Cooper didn’t come to my room and my heart breaks a little.
On the pillow next to me lies a single sunflower. He was here, but he didn’t ravish me. He brought me a flower and left. I wasn’t sure if I should be pleased or pissed. The flower meant he was thinking of me, but what was he thinking?
The jury is out until I have a cup of coffee and can give the situation more thought.
Mom is at the sink washing dishes when I come down dressed in jeans and boots and a T-shirt with a picture of a donut that says EAT ME.
“That’s an awful shirt, Ellie.” Mom wipes her hand on the terrycloth towel hanging from the oven door handle.
“It’s a funny shirt, Mom.” I reach past her to grab a coffee mug from the cupboard.
“It’s suggestive. Like an invitation.” Mom pours me a cup of coffee all the while shaking her head at my shirt.
I think about the afternoon in the tack room with Cooper. “Men don’t need a formal invitation, Mom.”
She tops off her cup and walks to the end of the island. “About that…”
I laugh. “We are not having a birds and bees talk again. The one you gave me when I was a teen is still stuck in my head.” Truth is, that obligatory conversation happened around the time I was fifteen. Back when I put myself in Cooper’s path every chance I got. Back when I didn’t realize he noticed me too. Back when he knew better than me the wait will be worth it. And here I am, still waiting. Yesterday, he gave me a taste. Actually, he took a taste and left me wanting more.
Mom’s eyes grow as big as saucers. “How far beyond are we?”
I slide into the stool next to her. “Sophomore year of college, I lost my virginity to a boy who didn’t deserve me. He was handsome and charming and on a mission to break a record.”
Mom wraps her arm around my shoulder and pulls me into her ample bosom. “I’m sorry, honey. If it’s any consolation, the first time is rarely satisfying.”
The second time wasn’t either. “Live and learn they say.”
Mom sips her coffee. “Are you still on birth control?” Mom put me on the pill before I left for college.
I turn my body so I face her. “Is there something you want to ask?”
She fidgets in her seat. “No, it’s just that I see the way you look at Cooper.”
I wrap my hands around the cup. “How do I look at Cooper?” I know how I look at him. Like he’s the hot fudge on a sundae, but I didn’t think I was so obvious.
“You’ve always had kind of a crush on him.”
I smile at the kind-of-a-crush comment. I’ve been in love with Cooper Jackson since I was fourteen when he came to work on our ranch.
“Don’t worry about Cooper and me. We aren’t kids, Mom.”
“No, but our ranch works with his, so if something were to happen between you two and it didn’t work out then it could make everything awkward between our families.”
I roll my eyes. “Come on, Mom, we raise cattle. We don't broker world peace.”
Mom shrugs her shoulders. “I love you, and I’m pretty crazy about Cooper. Just be careful. You just got home, he just took over his family ranch. There are a lot of moving pieces.”
I thought about moving pieces, like his hands on my body, his head between my legs, his tongue on my clit. Yep, I like our moving pieces.
“Speaking of moving pieces. What can I help with today?” All talk of Cooper and me ends and Mom rattles off a list that will take me hours to complete.
Six
Cooper
“What do you mean you’re in love with my sister?” Brent rides his horse beside me, but I stay one length back. It’s harder to shoot me if he’s ahead.
