Champion (Studs in Spurs) by Cat Johnson Page A

remember that the last thing she wanted to do was mother this man. Far from it. If there was anything physical between them, she sure as hell didn’t want it to be of the soothing, comforting variety. The contact she’d longed for with Cooper over the past decade had been more of the sweaty, break-the-bed kind.
    He seemed to have changed over the years. He wasn’t the flirtatious Casanova with the legendary skill at charming the ladies she’d known him to be ten years ago, but that wasn’t a bad thing.
    A little age, a lot of experience, a big change in his life—it must have all worked to calm the wild man he’d been. Hopefully, time had made him older, smarter, maybe even ready to settle down.
    Settle down. Now she was really getting ahead of herself.
    First things first. She washed a spoon and gave the stew a quick stir and then went back to the rest of the dishes. She needed to excavate in this mountain and locate a couple of bowls or they’d have nothing to eat out of when the meal was heated.
    Cooper slumped back into the room, empty garbage pail in hand. He set it on the floor next to the sink and turned back toward the table.
    “Got a bag for that?” Hannah eyed the pail and then glanced over her shoulder at the man who’d starred in her dreams so many nights.
    With every fiber of her being, she hated nagging him. Or worse, treating him like a child and ordering him around, but what choice did she have? She had to straighten this man out so he could get back to being his old self again. At the very least, she had to straighten his place out and hope that started the ball rolling for all the rest. This was the only way she knew how to do it.
    He leveled a gaze at her and moved to stand close behind her at the sink. She’d forgotten how tall he was. How small he made her feel when she stood next to him. He’d have to lift her up and set her on top of this cluttered counter for her to be eye level with him. For her to comfortably reach his mouth and kiss him…
    That image made it hard for Hannah to breathe. Cooper planted one hand on the edge of the sink and leaned lower. Hannah parted her lips as her heart rate sped and she anticipated the touch of their lips.
    “Excuse me.”
    Her gaze dropped to his mouth as he spoke before she dragged her focus up to the multifaceted hues that made up the color of his eyes. “Hmm?”
    “The trash bags. They’re below the sink.” Cooper tipped his head in the direction of the cabinet Hannah was blocking. He hadn’t wanted to kiss her. She was just in his way.
    “Oh, of course. I’m sorry.” Once a fool, always a fool.
    A smile bowed his lips, the first one she’d seen in years. It made him look like he had in the past and made her feel just like she had back then. Her breath caught in her throat as he hovered there. Close. Low.
    “Hannah, I need to get into the cabinet if you want me to get the bag.” He cocked one brow as he said it and she realized she still hadn’t moved so he could open the door beneath the sink.
    She took a step back and then walked all the way around him to the stove. She needed something to do to cover her embarrassment. Concentrating on the meal, even if it was canned stew, seemed the best way to distract herself from this attraction that made her look and act the fool. She wasn’t sure what to do about the overactive hormones that had woken with a vengeance at the mere sight of one of Cooper Holbrook’s smiles aimed in her direction.
    Hannah shot him a sideways glance. “This should be hot enough for us to eat in a minute.”
    “A’ight.” The slight smile remained on his lips, making him look sexy and devilish, just like the old Cooper.
    Her hand stilled on the spoon. “You’re not going to fight me about eating?”
    “Nope.” He whipped the plastic bag open and hung it on the edges of the trash bin.
    “Why not?”
    Still bent over adjusting the bag, he raised his gaze to hers. “Would it help?”
    “Probably