Find Me (8 page)

Coop
. She didn’t have to see him to know he stood there. She felt his heat penetrating her.

He stopped, his shoulder brushing her back ever so slightly. “What did Yaci do?”

What they said came back ten-fold: he used his sex appeal to tempt her to sell Mom’s store. He used her. Him of all people. “How dare you?” She whipped around, the contents of her drink splashing over the rim of her glass onto him.

He snatched a napkin from the table, dabbed his sleeve.

She might be mad, but didn’t mean to spill her drink on him. “Sorry.”

He shoved the napkin in his pants pocket as if he expected it to happen again. “Catch me up to speed, Lyse. You vanished for a few days, and I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Fire lit into her and heat rose from her belly. “Don’t you dare speak to me about vanishing, you son of a bitch,” she snarled as if she’d taken lessons from her dog.

An announcement came over the loud speaker in the blaring way it had in high school. She didn’t understand what it said then and she didn’t now.

“You tricked me into coming here,” she said, not missing a beat. Someone stuck a box in her hand then put one in Coop’s. “To convince me to sell my mom’s store.”

“I did. I wish I hadn’t, but I don’t regret it. I won’t even apologize, but I will tell you I stopped all proceedings to purchase the store today. For the record, I had no idea that store belonged to your mother.”

Not good. He avoided fighting when she wanted to have a go at it. A mixture of reactions pinged around her like a pinball game. Her heart smacked the ball preventing it from hitting the desired mark while the dreaded “out hole” waved it in. She had to do something. If she didn’t argue, she’d end up in a puddle at his feet. It was his darn suit’s fault. He wore it extremely well, so well, she whimpered. She wanted to lick him like an ice cream cone. The “Lyse Find Me” flavor. “Why?”

“Simple. You’re it. You’re the one.” He shrugged. “I’ve been in some sort of love with you my entire life and I’ll never stop.”

Hell’s bells!
The way he stuck simple sentences together turned her on. The geek!

“True, he has,” Felicia said and poured a glass of juice for a classmate, completely ignoring Coop’s glare.

“Will you dance with me?” he asked so sweetly, so full of compassion, she had no choice. “I would like to talk to you in private.” He held out a hand.

Close to him—her body against his—she wouldn’t be able to cling onto her well-earned mad. Why did she want to exactly? This was Coop, her friend, buddy, the person who knew all her secrets and crazy dreams. He held her when she missed her mother or whenever she was sad. Suddenly, the years that had separated them,
poof
, disappeared into thin air.

She slipped her hand into his, knowing the gesture meant more than a simple act for them to walk to the dance floor together. It meant acceptance.

His fingers closed over hers, and he nudged gently. He waited for her to move as if afraid she wouldn’t follow.

They stepped onto the dance floor as the band started a slow melody. He slid his hand around her waist and touched the cutout in the back of her dress. The low-level hum of arousal continuously surrounding them took a giant step forward, going from look-at-me to got-to-have-it faster than she could blink.

He must have felt it too since he rested his forehead to hers. His throat moved, indicating the chemistry snapping the air wasn’t one-sided. “I heard someone say, there’s no better feeling when a woman loves a man for who he is.” His breath passed over her face as he spoke. The scent so uniquely Coop urged her to want more, but he jumped to conclusions. “I haven’t said I love you,” she whispered, lying, because oh boy she did. She loved him when he wore his glasses, and she couldn’t see his eyes. When he wore high water jeans and looked like a goof. Now, his eyes boring into hers and him wearing a suit, looking like the best thing she’d ever seen, she was a goner. Completely and utterly gone.

He moved, and she almost fell. His arm tightened around her.
Oh jeez.
She’s on a dance floor, supposedly dancing, and her mind had left the stratosphere, much like her father did when he looked at her mother’s picture.

“You don’t have to,” he said. “I see it in your eyes when you look at me. I see it in your face when you understand my intentions. I see it when you’re pissed. I reached for the stars to get my family out of debt, to get them on their own feet, but in here,” he pointed at his chest, “I always had the moon. The light behind everything I’ve done. You. You’re the moon who has always shown me the way. You made me the man I am today.”

Tears spilled onto her cheeks.

An irritating-screech came from the intercom, and the band stopped playing.

“Since the previous batch of candy was tainted,” someone, dressed like a teacher with a collar buttoned up to her neck, said from the stage where the band played. “Each single guest has received a new box. It’s time to open them.”

She glanced at the box in her hand, vaguely remembering someone putting it there.

“Don’t think,” Coop said. “Act. Do what your heart wants. If you believe your box holds the answer to your soul mate then by all means open it. But if you think you found your soul mate as a child, as I know I did, then…”

“Are you opening your boxes?” Felicia interrupted as she joined them.

In her soul, part of her always had known she’d found that someone special. Maybe that’s why whenever she thought of Coop her chest ached. It missed her other half. “I don’t need to see FIND ME on the candy to know who is meant for me.” She handed Felicia her box.

“No. We don’t.” He handed his box to his sister, too. Wrapping his arms around Lyse, he drew her closer until no space existed between them. “The candy is alive and well. Because of it, we’re together.” He spoke against her mouth and kissed her. Urgent, yet gentle his lips rubbed hers, his tongue slipping in and out of her mouth. He mimicked the act she couldn’t wait for them to do with other parts of their bodies. She moaned. The kiss picked up momentum. He deepened it by kissing her hard and long, until the got-to-have-it-now sensation tossed heat, lust, and desire over her body demanding she act or embarrass herself by humping his leg on the dance floor.

“I want you so badly,” she whispered against his mouth.

His groan vibrated her chest, pebbling her nipples. “Come on.” Hands intertwined, he led her into the low-lit hallway at the rear of the gymnasium and crowded her against the hall wall to kiss some more.

“Where to?” she managed to ask when he sucked in air to gain control. “Seriously, I’ll bust.” The ache low in her belly grew tighter. If he touched her, she’d explode. She’d rather them be alone and in a compromising position when she did.

“I have an idea,” he said. “Remove your shoes.”

“What? Why?”

“You can’t run in them.”

True. She did as he asked and picked up her heels by their straps. Again, he grabbed her hand and ran through the halls they’d walked in as teens doing the unthinkable, running, and heading for a make out spot. She giggled. Who cared, but it was fun. Sweet, actually. She’d done everything expected of her, earned good grades, helped her dad out at the travel agency. And now, she ran, planned to make out in school, and talk to Coop about Heathercream. She loved the idea of running one of his stores. The popular ice cream was sure to be a hit and would help her father with his financial situations.

They stopped in front of double doors leading to the weight room. He pushed on the lever, and it didn’t open. “Damn, it’s locked.”

“Don’t you have the school keys?” She stuck her hands into both of his pockets.

“I have a spare set, yes.” He shifted. “Careful. You think you’re gonna bust, try running with a hard on. It isn’t easy.”

She wanted to drop to her knees and stroke his long, hard length, but pushed the urge aside and tugged out a set of keys. “Is it on here?”

“Ah, yes.” He sighed, stuck it in the lock, and opened the door.

She squinted through the dimly lit room at the line of weight benches, and spotted a pile of mats on one side. “There.”

He pulled the door shut and locked it.

They raced to the mats. She tossed her shoes to the ground, tugged his suit jacket and tie to the floor, and latched onto the buttons of his shirt.

He managed to unzip the zipper at her side with one hand before she could get her suddenly clumsy fingers to cooperate. “Rip it.”

“You can’t go back to the reunion with a torn shirt.”

He chuckled. “The class nerd reappears in torn clothing with the woman of his dreams. The hell I can’t!” He grabbed the sides of his shirts and yanked. Buttons flew.

“Oh my God, I’ve created a monster.” She laughed.

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” He removed her dress and staggered.

Wearing a low cut dress and forgetting to pack a strapless bra, she went braless. She stood before him in a black, lace g-string panty.

“You’re absolutely spectacular.”

His words turned her into a puddle of goo. “You, nerd-boy, need to strip.”

With a quirk of his lips and his magnificent honey-whiskey eyes directed on her, he unbuckled his belt and lowered his zipper as he toed off his shoes. His shirt and socks fell to the floor.

His well-honed body didn’t portray a guy who sat in a lab or kept his nose in books. When he’d cuddled her in his arms, his hard torso couldn’t be missed, but this amazing specimen she didn’t expect. “Wow! You’ve been hiding behind your messy clothes.”

“I don’t have messy clothes,” he said, sounding offended. He dropped his briefs and slid his hands around her hips until he cupped her naked butt cheeks. “Clothes are the last thing I want to talk about.” He dropped a kiss to her mouth, lowered to her neck.

His chest slid across her hardened nipples and she melted, moaning and arching her back. Her breasts craved his attention. He obliged, slid his tongue over a nipple, and kissed it. Loving each breast until her legs went slack. He raised her so she straddled his waist, his length against her core. She groaned at the contact.

He lowered her to the stack of mats and kissed her lips, her neck, breasts, and moved lower, sliding her panties down and off as he went. His tongue flicked her nub before diving into her.

“Oh, wow, fucking wow!” She grabbed his hair and hung on. His tongue kept pace with each thrust of her hips. She exploded, and he stayed with her, right there, until her body stopped quivering.

He picked up his pants and snatched a condom packet out of his wallet.

She lifted onto her elbows. “For emergency?” Jealousy knocked at the idea of him carrying the protection to be with any woman.

“I put it in my wallet for luck this morning.”

“Good answer,” she cooed.

As confident a man as she’d ever seen, he stood in front of her and rolled the condom over his impressive erection. So comfortable, as if they’d seen each other in these positions a million times.

“Nah, you’re the one that’s good.” He slid up her body the way he went down, kissing and licking until his lips reached her mouth and the tip of him touched her core. Bracing his elbows on either side of her head, he slid his fingers through her hair. “Ready?”

She panted. Anticipating him inside her was a whole new type of foreplay. “Are you serious? I’ve been ready.”

“Are you sure? Cause I can take the leisurely route.”

“Stop, and get inside me!”

He chuckled. “Now, you’re talking.” Their laugher dissipated with him entering her ever so slowly.

Exquisite sensations filled every feminine nerve cell. “Oh, my God!” She bucked and grabbed his butt.

“No, just Coop,” he whispered beside her ear then kissed the tip of her nose. “Okay.”

She got it. He wanted his name on her lips. “Coop, yeah.”

After a wonderful, blissful second, he moved, pulling almost out of her before thrusting forward. The act not fast, but purposeful; he wasn’t having sex, but making love. Tears surfaced. How had she not paid attention to this gorgeous, smart man who made her feel alive in every way? How had she even thought to look elsewhere? Moisture slid down her cheek. Easy, as teens he didn’t act interested in anything more from her than friendship. But holy moly in a hand basket, he was her heart and soul. He made her tick.

“Hey, no crying during sex,” he said tenderly, wiping his thumb over her cheek.

“I love you. I really, really love you.”

He locked his eyes on hers. The intensity so strong an orgasm threatened, but she refused to let it release. Their first time, they should explode together. “Lyse,” he said with such desperation he sounded like he needed her more than air.

Her body quivered, tightened, clenching hard around him. “Coop!”

“Lyse.” He growled her name. His body trembled as she took the whole weight of him on top of her. His face buried into her neck. She loved the feeling, his heart thundering against hers, but she didn’t get to encounter the full effect of him. With him, she wanted to feel it all.

Their breathing steadied and pulses resumed an easier pace.

“Marry me,” he said, shocking and exciting her. “We’ve been around each other for only few days, but you know me, inside and out.”

Physically they’d been apart, but her feelings for him had grown every day. She touched her chest, but it wasn’t to suppress the ache of pain rather to feel the ache of happiness. Amazing. Flat out amazing. “If I do, do I get to open up a Heathercream in my mom’s store? It’s the only way I’ll agree to marry you.”

He laughed and shifted until he met her eyes, his expression turning serious.

“We’re both saying yes?”

“Yes,” she said, never feeling more positive about anything.

****

Coop’s mind reeled at the turn of events. He arrived at the reunion, thinking he’d lost Lyse then asked her to marry him. Could life get any sweeter?

He helped her dress, slipping on her barely-there panties and zipping her dress. For good measure, he adjusted her breasts under the material to make sure it cupped her perfectly.