Page 24 of Rebels and Roses

He’d forgotten this feeling of walking on eggshells. He’d done it while married to Fiona, but over the last few years the memories of worrying about the next huge explosion had faded. Tom’s appearance had brought it all back.

He just wanted the Kemp family out of his life. For good. If it meant dealing with Tom for a day or two more, then he could do it. Anything more than that, though, and he would forcibly put Tom in the car and drop him at the airport.

Frankly, the Kemp family was trouble. And Cooper didn’t want any more of their brand of chaos in his life. He’d happily left that behind, and now his life was quiet and uneventful. Just the way he liked it.

“What was the moment? Shit, that was too personal a question. Forget I asked it.”

For almost anyone else, Cooper would have told them to shove off. He wasn’t answering it. But for Jane he didn’t mind. She’d been through the mill with her ex as well. She’d…get it.

“I don’t even remember exactly what it was,” Cooper confessed, his mind back to that day in their London flat. “I just remember knowing deep inside of me that this wasn’t going to work. We weren’t going to get any sort of happily ever after. Things were only going to get worse.”

“Yes, I know that feeling.”

“To be fair, it wasn’t all Fiona,” he replied quickly. There was blame enough to go around. “I’m not an easy man to live with. I always said that she liked her way with things, but hell, I’m probably the same. We were both a little spoiled and stubborn. Neither one of us knew shit about compromise or healthyrelationships. We didn’t have anyone to look up to when it came to being married and what that took to make it successful. Looking back, it’s a miracle that we lasted as long as we did. I put it down to both of us being too damned stubborn to admit that we made a mistake.”

“Was the divorce ugly?”

That had been the surprising thing. He’d expected it to be nasty, but it had been far from it.

“Actually, no. I suggested that we go to therapy, like a marriage counselor. Fiona laughed at the idea, but she could see that I was serious. The next morning, she said that she didn’t think it was going to work out. That we needed to separate. I didn’t argue because I was going to say the same thing. She just beat me to it. I think once the writing was on the wall, and she saw that I wasn’t going to change, she tapped out. Like I said, I don’t blame her. I wasn’t what she truly wanted. I hope she’s happier now. I don’t wish anything ill to happen to her. We decided that we’d stay out of each other’s lives after the divorce. That’s why I was so shocked to get a text from her.”

“Is she remarried?”

“Not that I know of. We have some mutual friends that I still talk to from time to time, and they said that she’s been in some relationships. I don’t ask, they just volunteer the information. I try not to make it my business. It’s the past.”

He’d thought more about the past in the last two days than he had in the last five years combined.

“What about your ex?” Cooper asked. “Is he remarried?”

“Yes, and I pity her. She’s young and naive like I was. I think he likes them that way.”

“Get ‘em young, train ‘em right,” Cooper said. “My uncle used to say dumb shit like that.”

“I think Peter agrees with your uncle.”

Cooper would love just fifteen minutes alone with Jane’s ex-husband. The guy needed a lesson on how to treat a woman. She’d deserved better. Much better.

Better than Cooper, too. He didn’t have any delusions about what kind of partner he’d make in a real relationship. He’d already screwed up once. It was better to keep it all casual. Then no one would get hurt.

He wasn’t a man that liked to dwell on the past. He couldn’t change it, for better or worse. He wanted to concentrate on the present - the here and now.

Right at this moment, he wanted to do that with this particular woman. He was done with this stroll down memory lane. Her bastard of an ex didn’t deserve even five minutes of her time. Cooper could take that melancholy expression off of her face and remind her that she was too good for that asshole.

Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against hers. Softly at first, but then more urgently as the passion quickly flared between them. It had always been like this since their very first intimate encounter. They’d almost set fire to the room as they’d pawed at each other like rabid animals. She’d even popped a few buttons from his shirt in her haste to get him naked. He hadn’t minded in the least. He’d been in the same hurry to shed their clothes and be pressed together as quickly as possible.

He was fascinated at her beauty - the silkiness of her long hair, the satin glide to her golden skin. He loved hearing the catch of her breath when he nibbled at an earlobe or a sensitive shoulder, or when his fingertips grazed the pebble-hard tips of her full breasts. She was so naturally gorgeous that he could have simply gazed at her for hours, drinking in all her lush womanhood.

But such inaction would be a waste. Action was what was called for tonight. The kind that could get sweaty and sticky. The sex between them was never the polite and tidy type.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Her hands had crept around his neck, pulling him closer so that not a whisper of air could get between their bodies. It still wasn’t close enough, and they tugged at each other’s clothing while giggling like two teenagers trying to make love in the back seat of a compact car.

At his age, he far preferred the comfort of a firm mattress and crisp, freshly washed sheets, but in their haste, they might not get any farther than the living room floor. He was nothing if not flexible, though, grabbing a couple of large pillows from the couch to cushion their lustful activities.

By the time they were both naked, he hovered above her simply taking in all the beauty that was before him. His body pushed him to hurry, but his brain told him to take his time. Savor the moment.

“Are you waiting for an engraved invitation?” Jane taunted, her fingernails sliding down his bare chest, sending a frisson of pleasure through his entire body. The room was beginning to get uncomfortably hot, the temperature rising with each passing minute. “Fuck me, Cooper. I need you now.”

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