“Too bad,” I say with a pout. “I’m free today.”
“Your car will be ready tomorrow. Swing by and let me take you out to lunch.”
I nod, tamping down my excitement at the offer. “Coop, are you asking me out on a date?”
“Hell, no. I’m telling you that we’re going out tomorrow. Wear something pretty,” he jokes and grabs my arm before I can give him a playful smack. “Short too, while you’re at it.”
“Give a girl a few orgasms, and suddenly he’s telling me what to wear.”
Coop’s deep laugh weaves its way inside of me, wrapping around my heart and sliding slowly down my belly.
“It was more than a few. Hell, I’ll be hearing the sound of you squirting all over me for the rest of the day.”
I shiver at his words. “Fine, I’ll wear a skirt. Tomorrow,” I confirm and press my lips to his because the taste of him, clean and masculine, combines with his heady scent and makes my legs wobble.
“Good girl.” He gives my ass a pat and then a squeeze before settling back on his bike. “Tomorrow.”
“Be safe,” I say before he starts the engine again.
He nods and gives me a wink before taking off, and I turn toward the front door wearing a big-ass grin, legs still shaky as I make my way inside.
“I can’t believe you’re still fucking that dirty biker.” McKenna stands on the last stair with her arms folded, looking like a judgmental bitch.
“Yeah, well, I can totally believe that you have nothing better to do than lurk around the house, digging into other people’s business.”
“I’m trying to look out for you, Kels.”
I let out a harsh, bitter laugh. “Bullshit, Kenna. At least have the balls to be honest. You’re jealous and miserable, and you won’t stop until everyone around you is in the same dark hole.”
She sucks in a shocked breath. “You don’t believe that.”
“Of course, I do. You’re just like Daddy, judging people because they don’t have what we do. But newsflash, Kenna, you don’t have shit. You have Daddy’s money, but that doesn’t make you better than Coop or any of his friends.”
“It’s not about money,” she insists, anger flaring in her eyes. “Those guys are no good. They’re criminals, Kelsey.”
I toss my head back and laugh, remembering what Coop said earlier about being criminal. I didn’t care then, and I don’t care now. “And date-rape Petey isn’t? Only because his father has paid off every single girl who’s made an allegation. What about Sonny Callahan? He’s in prison right now for his Ponzi scheme gone wrong. Or Tisha St. Pierre and her high-class brothel. Do you even know what a brothel is? It’s a fucking whore house! Didn’t she do three years on tax evasion?”
McKenna shakes her head, no argument on the tip of her lips for those wealthy criminals.
“That’s what I thought. When will you learn, Kenna, that having money means one thing? You’re richer than other people, not better than them. Assholes come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and tax brackets. You’ve made your judgments, and they have nothing to do with me, so keep them to yourself in the future. Mind your business, and I’ll do the same.”
“I will,” she shoots back. “After I tell Daddy.”
“Go ahead. Tell Daddy and see if we ever talk again. That’s a promise.” With those words, I brush past her and go upstairs to my room and slam the door.
Bitch.
My thoughts go back to Coop as I fall back on the bed and stare up at the ceiling fan. There’s no doubt in my mind what I feel about Coop.
I know it’s love because he’s always on my mind, and this is the worst possible time in my life to fall in love, especially with a man who is already settled into his life. In Angel Harbor.
I think about him all the time, even when I’m studying, even when I’m double-checking the websites telling me where I’ll be in medical school in the fall.
It’s more than a crush. I’ve had hundreds of crushes in my life, on all kinds of men. Inappropriate men, like my first year in college, Professor Decker. He was hot as fuck and could give a girl an orgasm, but nothing like Coop.
Or Daddy’s friend, old Mr. Shyne. Old, rich fucker. Couldn’t get it up, thank God, but I got those two-karat diamond earrings out of him.
And then there were worse choices, such as the captain of the lacrosse team in high school. He was a three-second man. Poor guy, I hope he got over it. The kid in Bio who hated me until I let him feel me up after school, and even the chick who played Juliet in eleventh grade.
Crushes are my specialty, a fun little indulgence to pass the time, drink some alcohol and have unfettered sex, but what I feel for Coop goes so far beyond just a crush.