commercial came on and neither one of them moved. He feigned being hypnotized by the screen. Zoe seemed as if she wasn’t even breathing. When the show finally returned, and she relaxed enough to pay attention to the TV again, Cooper began playing with her hair.
Wow. Soft. And wonderfully springy. He glided his fingers through a curl and when he let it go, it rolled back. That made him smile. In fact, it completely stole his focus. This time when he slid his fingers through a thick lock, he watched them ripple through the strands, then watched her hair spring back into place.
“Your hair is amazing.”
Cautious, she peeked at him. “It’s naturally curly.”
“Mine’s straight,” he said, then unwound a long lock to see it bounce back.
“Good for you.”
He heard the slight quiver in her voice and realized that while he had become analytical, she was falling victim to the movement of his hand through her hair. The knowledge that she was responding sent a shiver of arousal through him and reminded him to get back to his mission. This seduction wasn’t supposed to be successful. He was supposed to disgust her. He shifted another few inches closer, let his hand drift from her hair to her shoulder and down her arm.
“What areyou doing?”
He should have known that a talker like her wouldn’t just get angry and tell him to stop. Nope. She wanted a syllabus.
“I’m seducing you. Should I give you the steps or is the broad definition enough?”
She stared at him. “Are you—”
Nuts? he suspected she was about to ask, so he kissed her before she could say anything else.
Her lips were as soft as he remembered, her mouth as yielding. Once again, Cooper felt himself tumble to the edge of reason, but this time he didn’t let himself plummet over the precipice. He could enjoy a kiss, be drawn into a kiss, nibble and suckle and twine his tongue with her in a kiss, but he absolutely refused to lose control.
That was his last coherent thought before reason totally deserted him. Overwhelmed by her softness and the sheer pleasure of kissing her, he couldn’t think of anything else, until suddenly, she jerked away from him and jumped off the sofa.
“You’re not seducing me!”
“Why? Because I ignored you this afternoon? Honey, what’s going on between you and me has nothing to do with getting along, or making a commitment or even exchanging phone numbers. And right now your body’s telling me you feel the same things I do. Do you want to do this or not?”
“You are socrude!”
“I’m certainly not hearts and flowers.” There. It was out. The thing he’d wanted to deny all day. The thing he wanted her to understand. The thing he needed for both of them to get beyond, so they could make these next two days at least passable.
“Well, I’m a hearts and flowers kind of girl.”
“Hey, I didn’t say I wouldn’t be romantic.”
“I don’t want romance. I want love.”
With that, she turned and left the room. Cooper heard her door slam and he reached for the remote, satisfied that any romantic notions she’d entertained had been killed.
But halfway to changing the channel, he realized he felt like scum. He tamped down the guilt by reminding himself that the air had needed clearing between them. But then he heard an odd sound. A click.
He rose from the sofa to see if he could determine the sound’s origin and realized it had come from Zoe’s bedroom. Specifically her bedroom door. He heard the click again. It was a key. Because the house was old, the bedrooms needed keys to lock them. Cooper hadn’t thought to look for his, but apparently Zoe had found hers.
And she’d locked her door.
A foreign sensation gripped him. He felt creepy. She’d just told him she didn’t trust him.
And she shouldn’t. Her not trusting him shouldn’t bother him. He’d set out to make sure she knew what kind of man he was and clearly she now understood.
So why the hell did hecare? And why the hell
Wow. Soft. And wonderfully springy. He glided his fingers through a curl and when he let it go, it rolled back. That made him smile. In fact, it completely stole his focus. This time when he slid his fingers through a thick lock, he watched them ripple through the strands, then watched her hair spring back into place.
“Your hair is amazing.”
Cautious, she peeked at him. “It’s naturally curly.”
“Mine’s straight,” he said, then unwound a long lock to see it bounce back.
“Good for you.”
He heard the slight quiver in her voice and realized that while he had become analytical, she was falling victim to the movement of his hand through her hair. The knowledge that she was responding sent a shiver of arousal through him and reminded him to get back to his mission. This seduction wasn’t supposed to be successful. He was supposed to disgust her. He shifted another few inches closer, let his hand drift from her hair to her shoulder and down her arm.
“What areyou doing?”
He should have known that a talker like her wouldn’t just get angry and tell him to stop. Nope. She wanted a syllabus.
“I’m seducing you. Should I give you the steps or is the broad definition enough?”
She stared at him. “Are you—”
Nuts? he suspected she was about to ask, so he kissed her before she could say anything else.
Her lips were as soft as he remembered, her mouth as yielding. Once again, Cooper felt himself tumble to the edge of reason, but this time he didn’t let himself plummet over the precipice. He could enjoy a kiss, be drawn into a kiss, nibble and suckle and twine his tongue with her in a kiss, but he absolutely refused to lose control.
That was his last coherent thought before reason totally deserted him. Overwhelmed by her softness and the sheer pleasure of kissing her, he couldn’t think of anything else, until suddenly, she jerked away from him and jumped off the sofa.
“You’re not seducing me!”
“Why? Because I ignored you this afternoon? Honey, what’s going on between you and me has nothing to do with getting along, or making a commitment or even exchanging phone numbers. And right now your body’s telling me you feel the same things I do. Do you want to do this or not?”
“You are socrude!”
“I’m certainly not hearts and flowers.” There. It was out. The thing he’d wanted to deny all day. The thing he wanted her to understand. The thing he needed for both of them to get beyond, so they could make these next two days at least passable.
“Well, I’m a hearts and flowers kind of girl.”
“Hey, I didn’t say I wouldn’t be romantic.”
“I don’t want romance. I want love.”
With that, she turned and left the room. Cooper heard her door slam and he reached for the remote, satisfied that any romantic notions she’d entertained had been killed.
But halfway to changing the channel, he realized he felt like scum. He tamped down the guilt by reminding himself that the air had needed clearing between them. But then he heard an odd sound. A click.
He rose from the sofa to see if he could determine the sound’s origin and realized it had come from Zoe’s bedroom. Specifically her bedroom door. He heard the click again. It was a key. Because the house was old, the bedrooms needed keys to lock them. Cooper hadn’t thought to look for his, but apparently Zoe had found hers.
And she’d locked her door.
A foreign sensation gripped him. He felt creepy. She’d just told him she didn’t trust him.
And she shouldn’t. Her not trusting him shouldn’t bother him. He’d set out to make sure she knew what kind of man he was and clearly she now understood.
So why the hell did hecare? And why the hell
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