Mr. Peters surveyed us both for a moment and then flashed a tight lipped smile. “Excellent.” He rubbed his hands together like some cartoon movie villian, and if he’d had a mustache, I was fairly certain he would’ve twirled it before diving into his very detailed plan on the particulars of all the charges we’d be filing against Clay and Bryce.
The more he and Cooper talked—the farther and farther away I began to feel. Eventually, I shut down completely and sat back in my chair, their words nothing more than a droning hum in my ears. When the meeting came to a close, we stood up, shook Mr. Peters hand and then let him escort us back to the elaborate lobby area where Cooper set a follow up appointment with his assistant.
We were halfway across the parking lot before Cooper asked, “What did you think?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what to think of any of it. I thought by now I’d know what to do, but I don’t. Although, it doesn’t really feel like it matters what I think anyways. You basically told him to let the dogs loose. He’s probably up there making phone calls and filing paperwork right now!”
“Allie, you heard what he said, right? If we don’t press charges, it leaves us wide open for this kind of attack to happen again. I think you’re forgetting what could’ve happened if you hadn’t caught the virus in time. Think of the damage that could have been done.”
“I know that, Cooper, but what about me? What about my wrongdoing? I might not have been planting viruses, but the last time I checked, stealing proprietary information was illegal too,” I hissed under my breath.
Cooper threw a startled glance around the lot, making sure no one was close enough to overhear. “I know that, but you heard what he said, since you weren’t hacking into anything even remotely connected with Clay and his company, there’s no reason it has to be brought up at the trial. You’re safe, Allie. We’re safe.”
I knew there was no point in arguing with him, so I shut my mouth and followed him to where he’d parked the giant SUV. He opened the passenger door and ushered me inside. When he was in the driver’s seat, we were stuck in an awkward silence for a few minutes, neither of us quite sure what to say or do next. I could feel his frustration rolling off of him, but didn’t know what to say to make it stop—even if I’d wanted too.
“Allie, baby, I don’t want to fight with you on this. I told you when all of this started, it would be your call. So, you do have the final say, okay?” He pulled me across the center console and my head naturally rested on his chest.
I sighed. “I don’t want Clay and Bryce to get away with what they did to you, to Brighton Enterprises, to me—us. It’s horrible. But, these last few months have been pure chaos and I don’t know if I can take much more. Going to court is only going to amp everything up. More questions, more stress, more sleepless nights. And what if they get vindictive and try to hurt us? I mean, this could go wrong in about a thousand different ways. Have you even thought about that?”
Cooper tipped my chin up, “Of course, babe. But, I won’t let anything happen
to you. I promise.” He brought his lips down to mine and just before he kissed me, it was like all the air had been sucked from the cab of the SUV, and I couldn’t breathe. I pulled back and wiggled out of his reach and pushed his hands back down my thighs, forcing them to rest on my knees.
“What’s wrong? Are you all right?” He asked, his eyes flashing with concern.
I shoved away from him, pressing back into the passenger seat. I lay my head back, closed my eyes, and took a long, deep breath. “No, I’m not. I just need to go home. I’m tired and don’t feel very good.” I glanced over at him—waiting for the series of questions I knew would follow. Cooper searched my eyes for a moment, and although I knew he wasn’t buying my story, he shifted the car in gear and took off in the direction of my apartment without another word.
Chapter Three — Allie
The next morning, I did my best to keep my head held high and my shoulders rolled back as I strode into Cooper’s office. I’d already admitted to myself that my behavior the afternoon before hadn’t been ideal, but I’d decided there was no reason to act like a dog with her tail between her legs, either. I smiled at Laura—the replacement I’d insisted Cooper hire as soon as we were officially a couple. As far as I knew, Kimberly had been sent down to the mail room, which was more than fine with me.
I pushed into Cooper’s office and stopped a few feet inside, pausing to shut the door behind me. His high back office chair was rotated to face me, and he was jibber jabbering on about some business deal. His voice had a hostile undertone to it and I was totally relieved to not be the target of his wrath.
Or, I was, until he spun around to face me at the sound of the door shutting, and it was apparent that, in fact, I was the source of his frustration and as soon as the call ended he’d be directing it my way. I sighed and crossed the room to sink into one of the chairs across from him, waiting for him to finish his business call. As I picked at the hem of my skirt, I found myself wishing I’d thought ahead and worn something a little sexier. In the few months we’d been together, I’d learned the only spot of weakness in his armor was that he found it nearly impossible to stay mad at me when I got him thinking about all the other…more entertaining…things we could be doing together instead of arguing.
“—that’s it, Chuck, end of story. Either get me some better numbers, or I’ll take my business elsewhere.”
I winced as he ended the call with a firm banging of the headset against the sleek phone base. “Bad time?” I asked.
Cooper stared at me, his eyes dark and dangerous, before he cut away and leaned over his desk top to massage a knot at the base of his neck. “Bad day.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, hoping it was understood as more of an apology for lashing out the night before. A little pit of guilt bubbled in my stomach as I realized that his bad day probably had more to do with a restless night—thanks to our verbal tussle—than it did with unfavorable sales data.
Cooped stopped rubbing his neck and braced his elbows on the desk, clasping his hands together. “Are you ready to talk about it?”
My heart stuttered at the direct question and the piercing look in his eyes. It was something I should have been used to, Cooper wasn’t one to drag things out, and for whatever reason, when he got that determined look in his eye, I couldn’t help but feel off-kilter. I’d become so used to keeping things to myself and tamping my secrets down into little tiny boxes in the back of my mind. It was hard to release it all now, even though I’d learned the hard way, it was essential if I wanted to share my life with Cooper. He wasn’t content to let me keep my heart tucked away. “Not really,” I answered, picking up one of the picture frames from the corner of his desk. It held a picture of a Santa Monica sunset, taken when Cooper had whisked me away for a romantic weekend a couple of weeks into our relationship. He’d originally planned a trip to Mexico, but when I told him I hated flying, he changed it to Santa Monica instead.
When I looked up from the picture, he was still fixed on me, not letting me off so easily. I sighed. “I know, I know. I was a total crazy lady last night.”
“No argument here,” he quipped.
I set the frame down roughly. “I’m trying to fix this, Cooper.”
He sucked in a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “All right, Allie. Tell me what you want? You heard what the lawyer said, so what do you want me to do?”
“I want to drop it.”
Cooper’s eyes went wide. My answer was the last one he’d probably been expecting. “Drop it?”