Page 67 of The Rebel

About what I wanted to do.

Something I shouldn’t even care enough to do.

But I wanted answers.

No, I needed answers.

Damn it.

I rushed down the hallway, dropping my phone into my pocket. As I approached the ladies’ restroom, I didn’t stop to knock, nor did I give a shit if anyone aside from Rowan was inside. I just opened the door and walked in.

“Cooper …” Rowan whispered, looking at me through the mirror above the sink, holding the porcelain like it was a toilet bowl and she was about to be sick. When I didn’t immediately answer, her hands dropped to her sides, and she turned to face me. “You shouldn’t be in here.”

I practically laughed. “How can you even say that to me after what you did?”

Her arms went around her stomach. “I told you I needed to talk to you.” Her throat moved as she swallowed. “This was why.”

“You also told me you shouldn’t want me. Because you knew the whole fucking time who I was, who my family was … didn’t you?”

She nodded. “If I’d told you the truth, I don’t know what would have happened at the bar.”

“I do.” I glared down her body, wishing the situation were different. That I could have just one more taste. But, goddamn it, everything was different now. “I would have walked the fuck away and stopped talking to you.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t want that to happen.”

“That wasn’t your choice to make!” My voice was full of rage. I forced myself to calm down and ran my hand over my scruff, whiskers I hadn’t bothered to shave off even though I’d been up all night, unable to sleep, and I had plenty of time to. “But instead, you manipulated me. Lied to me. You spent the entire fucking holiday in my arms, goading me into?—”

“Let’s not be ridiculous, Cooper.” She mashed her lips together. “In that bar, it wouldn’t have mattered if I were a Cole or an electrical outlet, you were cranked up and ready to fuck.”

When my mouth opened, only air came out.

“Did I omit my last name? Yes,” she continued. “I’m sorry for that. Because of it, I’ve been sick to my stomach since I left Canada. I wanted to tell you tomorrow night during our date, and that had been my plan all along. But then I returned from my work trip, and my father threw the merger on us, and there was no way I could tell you in time.”

“That doesn’t make the situation any better.”

“I know. I just want you to know that I had good intentions about tomorrow.” Her voice turned soft. “And I just want to be honest with you.”

This time, I did chuckle. “Now, you feel like being honest. Isn’t that ironic?”

Her arm left her stomach, like she wanted to reach toward me, but she let it drop to her side. “I want to talk about this. I want to break it all down, and I want you to give me a chance toexplain myself, but I don’t want to do that here, in the restroom, at the Daltons’ law firm.”

Was that what I wanted?

Did I even care enough to hear her side?

She was a fucking Cole, a soon-to-be partner. Why did what happened between us even matter when it could never happen again?

I gave her body one final visual swoop, remembering the tightness, the wetness, as though I wanted to torture myself again. Fuck me, she was a good one. “Nah, there’s nothing to talk about. I’ll see you around, Rowan?—”

“Don’t do this.” She grabbed my arm just as I began to turn, and she took a few steps around my side until she was facing me. “Hear me out, Cooper. Give me that opportunity.” She shook my arm. “Please.”

“Why?” I paused. “And for what?”

“Because I care.” Her other hand touched my abs. “Because I know you care.” Her fingers pressed down harder. “Because I felt it in your touch every time we were together and I heard it in your voice each time you spoke. And that alone is a reason to discuss this.”

It didn’t matter if she was right.

It didn’t matter how good her hand felt.

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