Page 20 of Cooper

I kiss her on the mouth quickly. “Listen, darlin’. I’ve got to go the men’s room and then I’ve got to make a quick call. Wade’s going to be back in five minutes, so I have to go now.”

“Well, only if I get another one of them kisses.”

I kiss her on the mouth again, letting it linger for a second. “That’s a deal I can live with.”

The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I bite them back, fearing the worst. London is not ready to hear how I feel about her. Not by a longshot. So I give her one last one in replacement of the words, and leave her with a wink. I take a quick leak and go into Blake’s office, closing the door. The message is a quick one, just asking for a return call. After adding his number to my list, I dial it. Jenkins answers on the first ring.

“Cooper. Nice to hear from you.”

“Thanks for calling so quickly.”

“No problem. Listen, Colton told me what I need to get started. I just want to let you know that I’m on the case.”

“Perfect. That’s great. Call me anytime, night or day. I’m in a band, so I’m up all hours.”

“Yeah, same here.” He chuckles. “Hey, if there’s anything odd going on, let me know about it and I’ll check it out. Colton said that there was a shot fired in her old neighborhood a couple of nights ago?”

“That’s right. Not sure if they were for her or what, but I got her the fuck out of there immediately.”

“Good call. And up by Colton’s place, she’s safe. Horses are natural security systems. I’ve got one myself.”

“No shit? You live on a ranch?”

“A much smaller one, but, yes. And not nearly as swanky as Colton’s.”

“Hey, man, a horse is a horse.”

“I’ve got two of them. They’re my life. Anyway, I’ll be in touch.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” He says and clicks off.

I can’t help feeling like a heal when I walk back towards the stage and see London serving a table. Is this betrayal? I really doubt it. But I can only hope that if she ever finds out about it, that she won’t see it that way. It seems so odd doing something like this, worrying about someone’s safety, worrying about a gunshot, when we’ve got rocking Christmas cover tunes playing overhead, a Christmas tree by the bar, garland strewn all over the place, and Blake wearing a goddamn Santa hat. It’s too weird.

Christmas is a month away, and I hope to God that at least some of this mess is sorted out before then. I don’t even think that London has done any Christmas shopping. It makes my gut ache thinking about her leaving as abruptly as it appears that she left, taking with her only necessities, and I suddenly get a great idea in mind. As we pack up our things for the night, I watch her clean the tables, and I call over to her.

“Hey, what do you think about doing some Christmas shopping tomorrow, after I get back from work?”

“Won’t you be exhausted?” She says, and I love her for thinking of me. “I mean, you didn’t get any sleep last night, and it’s late. You have to get up in the morning. Don’t you want to just come home and rest?”

I smile at her. “I told you I hardly sleep. Sometimes I binge sleep, though. But I’m not there yet.”

“How about we take one step at a time? We still have to clean up the house. My stuff is all over the place, and we haven’t even moved down to the basement yet.”

She’s right. If this is going to work, then London has to have her space. I know that she doesn’t want to screw up Bean by confusing her with us sleeping together. “Sure. We can do that first then. Maybe we’ll go shopping the night after that.”

“We’ll see.” She says, and I don’t like the look on her face. She’s afraid. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, and my heart aches. This girl is not going anywhere if I can help it. I’ll protect her as much as I can. I don’t care about the cost. I’m sure, if push comes to shove, depending on what this Jenkins guy comes up with, if it calls for it, Colton will insist on hiring police to watch over her. That’s fine by me. I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it.

“But, mommy, I like it up here.” Bean argues once I get home, bringing her with me. I figure there’s no point in her taking the bus, when I come home from the school, anyway.

“Well, Cooper needs his space.” London argues back kindly.

I look at her and smile. “London, I’d love it if you stayed up here with me. But it’s up to you. You’re not cramping my style. I love the company.”

Bean sticks her hand out, giving her mama healthy attitude. “See, mommy? I want to stay up here!”

“Now, Bean, we already discussed this.” London reasons.

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