Page 67 of Broken Heart

I could feel the tension coursing through his body, his agitated tone evident. Okay, so maybe he could be grouchy.

“They’re starting up another game out there, and I was sent to come and find you to see if you wanted to play. I thought you were seriously injured since you hadn’t come back out, but, well, I can see that’s not the case,” he teased, his lips twitching with amusement.

Cooper growled. I’d never heard anything like it in my life and had to press my lips together to stifle my laughter.

A moment later, I pulled myself together and said, “Go out and play.”

“You don’t mind?” he asked, his brows furrowing.

I shook my head. “No. In fact, I was hoping to roam around the property for a bit to look at all the flowers your grandmother planted. Do you think she’d go for the stroll with me?”

“Absolutely.”

A smile spread across my face. “So, go and have fun. Just try not to get injured again.”

Cooper grinned back at me. “I’ll do my best.”

He gave me a quick squeeze, released his hold on me, and turned to look back at the door.

Wyatt was still there, a look of disbelief written all over his features.

“Is everything okay?” I asked him.

Shaking his head, he answered, “I’ve never seen that before. Cooper just went from being ready to rip my head off to grinning like a goof. I think if we knew that all he needed was you, we might have sent him to your store years ago.”

“Oh, fuck off, Wyatt,” Cooper clipped as he placed his hand at the small of my back and urged me out of the bathroom ahead of him.

Wyatt burst out laughing as he ran off and shouted to anyone who would listen. “Coop’s coming. He was… tied up in the bathroom.”

Cooper’s growl returned, and all I could do was laugh. Once we were back outside and he was about to head off to the field to play again, I grabbed his wrist.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

I nodded and brought my hands to either side of his face before pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. “For luck.”

Cooper’s mood instantly improved. “I’m going to win this one for you, sweetheart.”

A moment later, he took off.

I spent the next few minutes watching him, and that’s when I made my official decision.

I was going to do it.

After the kisses I’d shared with Cooper on his birthday and all that I’d gotten since, there was no longer any question about it. Though, if I was honest, it wasn’t just about the kisses. It had been happening ever since I met him.

Of course, it was very slow for me at the start. Mostly, I’d found him to be an intimidating presence then. But once he showed me just how sweet he was, pretending I was the love of his life when Maria showed up and attempted to humiliate me, it had been easier to separate his alarming stature from his gentle nature.

And then he wore me down.

Cooper was patient but determined, even if he had used his desire to help me successfully prove to Simon and Maria that I’d moved on and was happy as his excuse to get to know me better.

Because the truth was that, although tricking them was the catalyst, Cooper’s motivation seemed to shift. It wasn’t long before he made it clear he liked what he learned about me and was eager for more.

If only I hadn’t been so slow on the uptake.

I thought I knew what I was seeing with him, but I was unsure if any of it had been the real deal or if he was just that good at pretending for the sake of saving a scorned woman from additional heartache.

The last few days gave me a clear picture of just where things stood. Not only had Cooper come right out with it and told me he wanted the chance for us to explore something more, but he also followed through. In the few short weeks since I’d met him, Cooper had treated me better than Simon ever had in two years.

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