Dangerous Attraction Romantic Suspense Boxed Set (157 page)

She’d done a paper in high school on the SEALs, and brought several items to class that had belonged to her uncle Will. She’d read about the training. She missed never knowing her dad’s only brother and best friend.

Her father had acted ambivalent about her paper and had refused to let her take the medals and the folded flag her dad got when her grandparents passed on. But her mother secreted the mementos, placing them in Tupperware containers, disguised in paper towels. Libby had gotten an A+ on the paper, and cemented what was already a very solid A in the class.

She found she had more of a taste for history than she had imagined, and considered a minor in it at Santa Clara. But she rationalized her interest was because she never knew much about her uncle Will, as if there was some big dark secret there her parents, especially her father, would never let her in on.

Gradually, her studies in psychology took over, and she became as disinterested in the military as her father was.

Until now.

Yes. No doubt about it. Her world had been rocked. And she needed to get over it very quickly. Maybe it was time to start thinking about either returning to Santa Clara or applying to some other graduate program. A friend of hers loved the University of Hawaii, and she made a mental note to check online for their Masters programs.

She took a seat in the sand and watched from behind orange plastic netted barriers as the teams of men worked their muscles, worked their attitudes, and made all the necessary adjustments. She wondered what it would take to become someone like that. To think with a quick mind of a killer, but to love with the intensity she knew Cooper had. That capacity for loyalty, honor, courage, no matter what the cost. Nothing in her life until now had even come close to the adversity he’d seen.

Her childhood had been so different from Cooper’s. He was a hard-working son of a farmer. Libby had grown up in a beautiful house, with two successful parents who provided her with everything monetarily a child could ever want. And yet, as she looked at the faces of the young recruits, she realized something had been missing.

Cooper lived a simple life. How could she ever have considered staying with him in his tiny motor home that was half bed? Well, the bed part, and the shower was okay—actually it was fantastic—but the rest of it, no. Water hooked up by green garden hose to some guy’s house next door, and power from a long yellow extension cord. It was set up for a single guy with simple needs. There was no room in Cooper’s life for her. And she knew her needs were far from simple.

But something else was there that she’d always wanted. Some singleness of focus, of deep determination—a calling. Did she have that kind of calling to be a psychologist or family counselor? She knew she could help people. Was it enough?

Could she do this? Could she face her fears? Could she heal herself and go on, determined to prove to everyone, but mostly herself, that she was self-reliant, strong and capable of handling anything life would throw at her?

And do it without a man?

One of the wet and sandy boys from the surf tipped his helmet, painted with his name and class number on it, and gave her a big toothy grin. He was a handsome guy, and she pictured him in his dress whites, his cap under his left arm. She could see him bowing before her at a dance. The two-story doors of the arched ballroom were opened to the sea breeze, golden sheers bellowing inward while the two of them danced the night away. Just the two of them. She’d feel the white gabardine, rub her fingers over the medals on his chest, smell the light lemon aftershave and mint toothpaste as he’d bring his face close to hers, and…

It was Cooper’s face that kissed her in the ballroom. Cooper’s arms around her waist, lifting her up and against him, pressing her to him, and then setting her down and twirling her around like she was made of tissue paper. His smoldering gaze would never leave her as she turned this way, and then that, feeling her lips and cheeks flush red, smiling at the knowledge that he was thinking about doing all manner of things to her when he could peel off her dress. When they would be alone and naked.

The young recruit got yelled at by someone and he shrugged and joined the line of men jogging to sit atop an overturned boat.

* * *

She made her way back to the hotel lobby, dawdling along the promenade of little shops. She entered one that contained an array of stuffed animals, mostly whales and seals. Eco toys about the oceans and climate change done in bright colors for little hands and minds to wrap around were interspersed with coloring books. There were mechanical frogs and windup helicopters that buzzed and tweeted with flashing red lights overhead.

One drone replica swooped down and almost hit her in the head, and she turned to give a good dose of her mood to the operator, and stood face to face with Cooper. His eyebrows rose as he gently put down the white remote control device and stuck his hands in his pockets, raising his shoulders.

“You checking up on me?” she asked. Suddenly her stomach was boiling and her heart started pounding.

“No, not at all. I came to look at the toys,” he said, looking down at the ground.

“Sure.” She turned and began to walk out of the store. The urge to leave and go up to her room was overwhelming. She needed to get out of the tiny store.

“Libby wait. Honest. I wasn’t checking up on you. I didn’t even know you were here.”

She turned sideways and spoke into the doorframe. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters anymore.” Her words fell like lead weights. She hoped her attempt at lying worked just a little. She waited for him to say something, deciding not to run again. After all, she had every right to be here, too.

“This must be hard for you,” he said softly.

As in it isn’t hard for you? God damn it.

“Not really. I’m hoping this creep will be caught and then I can get on with the rest of my life. You gotta admit, I picked a hell of a time to drop out of school.” She felt better about those words, and so looked up at him with what she hoped was a smart smile, hoping not to reveal anything.

It wasn’t any use. He could see it, all the way to her soul. She was sure he could see her worry, her hurt, and her confusion. In that moment she wanted to run to him, collapse in his arms. Have him whisk her away to an island somewhere where they could dance in the breeze at sunset and make love all night long. Another world. Another life.

But not my life.

He cut the distance between them in three long strides and stood before her, slowly bringing his arms to her shoulders and rubbing down all the way to her elbows. It was a tender touch that set her skin on fire, filled her belly with need.

Two fingers lifted her chin as he spoke to her. “You know that if I could, I would be there, watching out for you.”

She was disappointed he didn’t bend to kiss her. Was that really what she wanted, though? Was he giving her what she needed or wanted? He
cared
about her. Wasn’t that enough?

Libby felt her emotions swell so she stepped back, and out of reach of his gentle fingers. “So you’ve told me. Yes. I understand, I think.” It was all she could say. Confusion was making her dizzy. The pain in her chest was increasing.

“I wish we’d taken it more slowly,” he said.

“Really? Because you sure seemed to be enjoying yourself,” she said through clenched teeth.

There was that little smile at the corner of his upper lip, and the crease that formed there.

Damn. Would you quit with the being in control? A part of her hated him for it.

But then she stood up straight. She was going to demonstrate the reign she had over her own emotions. She took a long pause before speaking up.

“What if we call a truce and concentrate on what works and forget the rest?” she asked.

His puzzled expression showed her he was interested, but wasn’t sure.

“What if we just stick to the mind-numbing sex?” She saw him frown. “Oh, come on, Coop, you know that part of ‘us’ is great.”

A father and teenage daughter looked up from a rack of tee shirts and then exited the store. Libby realized perhaps the conversation wasn’t entirely appropriate for this location.

Cooper grabbed her arm and pulled her outside. The warm evening air was sweet with the smells of the ocean. He drew her into an alcove beyond the protruding storefront window, where it was dark. Hope began to kindle inside her and she could feel her cheeks begin to flush. Her arousal was delicious. She softened her gaze and turned on the sultry voice she’d practiced so many times in the mirror to herself when she was a teenager. She needed all the ammunition she could get her hands on right now. And she needed to hold it all together. She wasn’t going to be the one to actually make the move. She wasn’t going to throw herself at him.

His eyes turned from smoldering to pure liquid fire as he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was examining her all over, her hair, her mouth, the V down the front of her white ruffled blouse, let his eyes wander down to her pink toes and then back up again slowly.

“Just a little harmless sex. That’s all, Coop,” she said as she twisted herself from side to side, looking down, feigning innocence.

She felt the shift in his body. Without looking up, she could see that first his hands bunched up in fists, then one hand went up, probably combing through his hair, which he usually ended with a neck squeeze. Whatever he’d done, it set his other hand into a fist again. He changed his stance. A quick peek had reassured her that he had a huge erection. She knew that was going to be a problem for him, because she suspected that brain was bigger and stronger than the one in his skull.

But she waited for him. She wasn’t going to do anything but talk, and wiggle a bit, twirl her hair between her fingers, look out to the lights glittering on the water. Her hormones were raging and her pheromones had to be hitting him right across the face, sending instructions to a certain body part that was screaming right about now. But she wouldn’t fall at his feet. She couldn’t do that.

“Just sex,” he said as his voice broke on the second word.

“That’s right. Uncomplicated. No strings. As much sex as either of us wants. And then we’ll go our separate ways.”

He stepped to her and she could feel the heat from his trembling body. He was less than an inch away from her flesh. “What if I don’t want just sex. What if I want more?” His husky voice pulled at her heartstrings. She wanted to shout for joy at the possibility. But she had to be smarter about it.

“Then you’ll miss me, Cooper, because I’m not agreeing to that. I’m not ready for that.”

She let him put his arm around her waist and felt his trembling hesitancy. She watched him do it, watched him pull her to him so slowly she thought she would faint. She felt the tendons in his forearm under the frog tats tense, and pull her, as his hand made its way down her backside to approach her rear in an all too familiar way. With very little pressure, his hand guided her lower belly into his groin and she received confirmation of his need for her. Huge confirmation.

Smiling, she raised her arms to his neck, tracing the outline of his mouth. She still avoided his eyes. She let him come to her, bend to her, cover her lips with his. She let him slip his tongue into her mouth and find hers. She couldn’t help the little moan she gave him, which earned another squeeze of his hand, sending her closer, rubbing her against him.

She was glad the room upstairs had a separate entrance.

Chapter Twenty-two

It didn’t take them long to make it back through the narrow hallways, brushing past tourists, sports teams and retirees in walkers and wheelchairs, past the espresso stand, the valet parking desk and the housekeeping station to the large green, dented doors of the staff elevator. Protected by bumpers of cotton-stuffed canvas, Cooper and Libby were finally alone. It was not a logical place to make love, but their urgency for each other was so great it almost happened anyway.

Cooper had hitched up her top, and peeled her pants down nearly to her knees, his hands roaming over Libby’s smooth, satiny backside. He would have hesitated, but there wasn’t anything from her that indicated she wanted to wait even one minute before getting him to mount her.

But then the doors opened. He was standing there in his shorts, with his lady wrapped around his groin, his tee shirt hanging off one shoulder as she pressed herself against him, showing breasts bursting out from the top of her white lace bra. And a trio of Mexican housekeepers, each holding a red Hoover vacuum cleaner in one hand and a feather duster in the other, dressed in grey uniforms complete with white frilly aprons stared back at them.

There was more than a language problem going on here. One lady, the eldest, covered her eyes and cowered. Cooper turned back to face Libby and he almost came on the spot. Clearly she was ready to let him fuck her right there in front of everyone, but he just couldn’t do that. The woman had absolutely no control, and it made his package turn to granite.

He lowered her to standing position, picked up his pants, and, taking her hand, led them out and down the hall, even though he had no idea what floor they were on or which direction would lead to her room.

Libby was giggling as they heard the doors to the elevator close.

“You’re going to be the death of me yet, Miss Libby Brownlee.”

“Counting on it.”

“Where the hell are we?”

Libby looked at the room numbers at a corner before they turned. “Looks like seventh floor. I’m on ten.”

He stopped in front of the regular elevator and slipped on his cargo pants. She reached the button to push the up arrow and he stopped her.

“You sure about this?”

“Does it matter?” she asked as she avoided looking him in the eyes, instead backing up against the wall and pushing the button with her hand behind her back. “Come here, “ she said as she crooked her index finger. Of course he obeyed. He couldn’t help himself.

A family of four stood at the back of the elevator, the children being barely grade school age. Cooper waved to indicate they’d catch the next elevator. Before the doors closed they heard the little girl giggle and be reprimanded by her mother.