Home Town Hero (Pink Springs 2)

Slowly he pulls his fingers from me and kisses his way up my body before he stands. I scoot back on the bed so I don’t fall off and watch as Cooper pulls his shirt off over his head. My eyes go to the scars on his chest, and then then tattoos.

I get on my knees as he goes for his belt, but he stops when I reach up and touch the places where he was wounded. He plays with my hair while he watches me. This moment feels intimate, and I lean forward, kissing each mark. He must have gotten them when he was deployed, but I don’t know if now is the right time to ask.

Cooper grabs my hand, and when I look at him, he leans down and kisses me with the same fire and passion as earlier. I press my bare chest against him as he takes me down on the bed and covers my body with his. The weight of him on top of me is heavy and perfect.

He jerks back and curses as he looks into the living room. “That’s the station,” he says before letting go of me and getting up. It’s then I realize his phone is going off.

“This better be important,” he snaps into the phone once he grabs it off the floor. I watch as tension starts to fill his body, and he looks back at me. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Everything okay?” I ask when he hangs up.

“I’m not sure.” He walks back to the bed and grabs his shirt. “I can’t believe this is happening now.”

I try to hide my disappointment because this is his job, but the timing couldn’t be worse.

“Can you tell me?”

“There’s an issue out at the Blair house.” I scrunch my nose at the sound of that name. “What?” He waits for me to explain as he puts his shirt on.

“That woman hates me, but her son is nice enough. They both come into the diner a lot.”

“How can anyone hate you?”

“Right?” I agree, and he smiles as I get up from the bed and put on my robe.

Hate is putting it nicely. I once heard her call me a witch. Every time she comes in she’s got a hand pressed to her chest as she watches me like a hawk. It’s like she thinks she’s protecting herself from my witchy ways. Her son isn’t too bad, but he’s always so shy and hardly ever says a word. How could you get a word in edgewise with a mother like Mrs. Blair?

Cooper comes over to where I’m standing and cups my face before his hands dive in my hair and he grabs me there. His hold is tight as he tilts my head back and kisses me again with that same heat. I can still taste myself on his lips, and I moan at the thought of Cooper walking around town doing the same.

“I’ll be back.” I can tell from his hold on me he doesn't want to leave.

I thought I had a giant crush on Cooper, but with the way he’s acting now he’s going to send me head over heels in love. He’s being possessive and sweet, which is something I didn’t know was possible.

He kisses me quickly once more before he smiles. “By the way, I love the nose ring, baby.” He gives my ass a squeeze and then smacks it. “Come lock the door behind me.”

When I follow him out, he stops by the front door and picks up my keys. He shuffles through them and then holds one up.

“Is this for the building?”

“Yeah.” I scratch the back of my calf with my toe, wondering what he’s doing.

“Good.” He takes the key off and then puts it in his pocket.

“Hey! Giving keys is a big step in a relationship.” At least I think it is, unless you're my best friend Lux. She jumped right into having it all instantly. “We’re not even boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Juno, I will never be your fucking boyfriend.” He shakes his head. “Lock the door.”

I stand there for a moment after he walks out, and then I hear him snap at me to close the door on his way out. I stomp over and flip the lock, but out of spite I put the chain on too. Now let’s see how his key works when he tries to come back. If he even tries.

What the heck does that even mean that he won’t be my boyfriend? What the heck are we then? I plop down onto the sofa and think about what happened before we were stopped. I’m pretty sure we were about to go all the way, and I chew on my bottom lip as my mind spins.

After a long moment I decide to get back to work so I can stop obsessing over Cooper’s words. I want to get this place together before all the construction downstairs starts next week. Once I get it all done up here then I’ll let myself finish designing the sign I want put on the front of the building.