Cooper (The Family Simon 6)

16

Morgan swirled the wine in her glass, contemplating her evening so far. It was, to say the least, turning out to be one hell of a surprise. After coming home from Cooper’s, already confused and feeling a boatload of stuff she had no name for, she’d found her father piss drunk, passed out on the kitchen floor. There’d been several messages on the answering machine. Missed appointments. Canceled contracts. Bill collectors. She’d pretty much lost it.

Morgan had rolled her father over and poured an entire jug of ice-cold water onto his face. Totally out of character for her, but whatever. When he’d come to, sputtering and cursing like a sailor, she ignored him, marched herself upstairs, and decided then and there, no way was she staying home with him.

She’d showered, changed, and had no idea where she was going until she’d walked out of her house and straight into Cooper’s truck.

And now…now she was ensconced in a private alcove, drinking expensive red wine, actually looking forward to her meal, and all of it was because of the man sitting across from her.

She peeked at him from beneath lowered lids and wondered for at least the tenth time, why he was so hell-bent on spending time with her. So far they’d chitchatted about nothing important, and she was kind of done with that. Maybe it was the wine that loosened her tongue. Or the delicious fresh bread in her belly. Whatever it was didn’t matter, and as they waited for their appetizers—bruschetta and stuffed artichokes—Morgan set down her glass. Her fingers caressed the stem as she

gazed across the table at him.

“So what do you do out there?”

Cooper took a moment, a slow smile spreading across his face, and stirring an answering heat in the pit of her belly, but she wasn’t going to think about that right now.

“Out where?”

“Come on,” she replied. “We’re not going to play that game again, are we?” She paused. “You said you wanted to get to know me. Well, there are a few things I’m curious about as well.”

“You ever hear of an amazing little thing called Google?”

“Google doesn’t know everything,” she retorted, brows furrowing as a new thought occurred to her. “Have you googled me?” She waited for his answer and didn’t realize she held her breath until he spoke and she let it out in a long, slow roll.

“I thought about it, but decided not to.”

Surprised at his candor, she sat a little straighter. “Why not?”

“I know what it’s like to see things about myself on the Internet. And I’ll be the first to admit most of it is true, or at least they hold a grain of truth. But words on a computer screen don’t tell the whole story. They don’t dig deep and offer up something real. I didn’t google you, even though you intrigue the hell out of me, because I thought I could find out the answers to my questions the old-fashioned way.” He paused, that wicked smile of his making her heart speed up. “I thought I’d take a chance and just ask.”

“What if I don’t want to answer?”

He chuckled softly, the light from the candles around the room enhancing the devilish glint in his eyes. “That would be a shame.”

“Why’s that?”

He leaned toward her. “Because I think you’re going to surprise me, and it’s been a long time since that’s happened.”

Again she felt her cheeks heat. It was the tone of his voice, the look on his face, and the intimacy of the moment. She wasn’t sure what this was between them. The only thing she did know was that it excited and scared the crap out of her—both in equal measure.

“Let’s play a game,” Cooper said.

That got her attention. “What kind of game?”

“I ask a question, and you answer it. Then you can do the same.”

She considered his request, waiting until the server placed their appetizers on the table and left, to reply.

“Is anything off-limits?” she asked.

“No.” His gaze was direct, and she wiped damp palms across the tops of her thighs, before unwrapping her napkin and reaching for a piece of bruschetta.

“Can I go first?” Morgan waited for his answer, but all he did was shoot her that damn smile of his (honestly, it should be illegal) and raise his glass in a mock toast.

She exhaled slowly, took another sip of wine, munched on a piece of bread, and then decided to go for it. What the hell did she have to lose?

“What do you do in the shop?”