Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Lifting my glass, I chugged it dry. My nose prickled, and I sniffed. Shit, why was this bothering me so much? It wasn’t like I really even knew him.
“Thanks for telling me,” I said. “Guess that’s one fantasy man I can cross off the list.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied. “But it’s for the best. If he’s a bad guy, it’s better to find out now so you can evict his ass. That club has gotten worse and worse, everyone knows it.”
“I can’t evict someone for getting arrested. That’s illegal.”
“It’s a month-to-month lease, right?” she asked. “You don’t need a reason. Just give him thirty days’ notice and get rid of him. You don’t want that kind of trash around your place, Tinker. You’ve got enough on your plate already.”
Carrie was a great friend, but she’d always been bossy, ever since kindergarten. She’d given me the information, which I appreciated, but I also wanted to process it on my own.
“I have to go, Carrie. There’s someone coming, one of the other tenants. I’ll talk to you later.”
Hanging up the phone, I looked across the empty porch toward the equally empty sidewalk, wondering why the news about Cooper bothered me so much.
Had I really been stupid enough to actually fall for him?
Maybe a little bit.
Crap.
Reaching for the wine bottle, I refilled my glass. Should I evict him? It seemed like common sense to get rid of a potential troublemaker, but one of the main reasons I’d left Hallies Falls all of ten minutes after my high school graduation was to get away from the gossips. This town was full of small-minded, judgmental people who wouldn’t hesitate to brand someone for life for one stupid mistake.
No, I wouldn’t evict him.
Cooper had been arrested, but he hadn’t been convicted. Innocent until proven guilty—that’s how I’d approach this. I’d give him the same respect that I wished people had given me.
• • •
It was just after ten that night. I leaned forward into my mirror, rubbing moisturizer on my face and wondering if the tiny lines at the edges of my eyes were bigger than they were yesterday. Of course not, that was ridiculous . . . but I was definitely getting older, no question.
Thirty-six.
Only four years from forty, which meant I’d be officially middle-aged soon. I wasn’t ready to be middle-aged—half the time I hardly felt like an adult. It wasn’t fair. The roar of a motorcycle outside caught my attention, and I walked over to my bedroom’s second-story window to look outside.
There he was—Cooper.
I watched as he backed the bike into the curb, then swung his leg over, glancing toward my house. The outdoor lights he’d installed for me less than a week earlier cast long shadows in the darkness, and I cocked my head. Something was different. I studied him, trying to figure out what it was. He wore his usual leather boots and faded jeans. Dark hair pulled back in a braid, leather vest with . . . Wait. This wasn’t the one he’d been wearing every other time I’d seen him. That one had a Harley Davidson patch on the back, but this looked more like what the Nighthawk Raiders MC wore. Not the same as theirs, but the same style.
I waited for him to walk over to his apartment entrance, a small doorway off the ground floor not far from where he’d parked. Instead he started around the side of the building toward my porch. Crap, he was obviously coming to talk to me, and here I was without any makeup, my hair pulled back in a ponytail, and wearing jammies. Not sexy jammies, either, just a pair of boy shorts and an old T-shirt that’d been washed so many times I’d forgotten its original design.
Downstairs, my doorbell rang.
For an instant, I considered pretending I wasn’t home. Brilliant, Tinker. Your car is parked outside and your lights are on, but I’m sure he won’t notice that you’re hiding. Instead, I grabbed a long, flowing satin robe and pulled it on over my jammies before tying the belt around my waist—it’d always reminded me of something a 1940s movie star would wear. Hopefully it would give me confidence as I faced him.
Would he mention the arrest? Should I? God, how awkward. The bell rang again, and I ran down the stairs, opening the door in a rush.
“Sorry,” I said breathlessly. “I was upstairs, and . . .”
My voice trailed off as I realized something was wrong. Really wrong. Cooper’s face was hard, and his eyes burned with strange intensity. He also seemed bigger somehow, like I was seeing him stand up straight for the first time. This was the man I knew, only different. Still sexy as hell, but with an edge of danger I’d never felt before.
I stared at him, wondering why he was here and hoping to hell he wouldn’t notice that my nipples had just gotten hard. I’d had to start investing in a whole new set of padded T-shirt bras since he’d moved in . . . too bad I wasn’t wearing one right now.