Page 36 of Rebels and Roses

“You’re being nicer than I deserve.”

“I don’t think I am,” Jane argued. “If I thought this was all your fault, I wouldn’t hesitate to call you out.”

“You would, wouldn’t you?” he laughed, a real smile on his face this time. “You’d give me shit in a heartbeat. That’s why I like you. You take no crap from me or anyone. I respect that.”

“Thank you.”

“I knew tonight was going to be a shitshow, but I didn’t realize how bad it would be. If I’d known?—”

He broke off then, shaking his head.

“I was just about to lie,” he went on. “I was going to say that I would have told you not to be there, but that’s not true. I wanted you to be there. I like it when you’re around.”

That pain in her heart was back again, letting her know in no uncertain terms that she was in far too deep.

“I like it when you’re around, too.”

“Except tonight. Fiona was hanging all over me in front of you. I know we don’t have any expectations of one another, but we do expect that we’re not screwing around with anyone else. Believe me, I’m not getting with my ex.”

“It looked like she wants you back,” Jane confessed.

“She just wants me to want her. It’s not any deeper than that. She likes to play games.”

They were silent again for a long moment. Jane didn’t say anything, understanding without words that he needed to work things over in his mind.

“I feel guilty for more than just dropping Fiona off at the inn tonight.”

His confession broke the silence between them, but she still didn’t respond. She wasn’t sure she was even supposed to, to be honest. Some instinct inside of her was whispering in her ear that Cooper needed to be heard. He needed a kind and patient friend.

“Since seeing her again—Shit, I don’t know. It feels like she’s still frozen in time, back where we left off. I think I’ve moved on, but she keeps bringing up the past. We had good times; I won’t deny that. We traveled and had adventures together. But I don’t live there anymore. I’m in the here and now. I don’t think that she is.”

“Cooper,” Jane said softly, placing her hand on his. “That’s not your fault. If she hasn’t moved on from the past, that’s on her.”

“Why does it feel like it’s my fault that she never grew up?”

“Because you’re a nice man.”

He was shaking his head, but she wasn’t going to let him deny it.

“You’re a good person,” Jane pressed. “You’re the type of man who wants to do good in the world and help people. Even though you don’t love your ex-wife anymore, you want to help her because you think she’s stuck. That’s a normal response. Listen, I don’t know Fiona at all, but I do know others that have the same issue. You can’t help them. They have to help themselves. Honestly, if she gets comfort from living in hermemories, I’m not sure trying to get her to stop is a wise move. There may be a good reason she doesn’t like the present. Or the future. We don’t always see what someone is going through. You don’t know what’s going on in her life. Be her friend. Treat her kindly.”

“You’re a good person.”

His voice was deep and rich, and her heart tripped as the words wrapped around her like a warm blanket on a chilly night. What was it about this man that made her forget everything she’d learned in her now-defunct marriage? Trusting Cooper would be foolish, but at moments like this, he didn’t make it easy.

He turned his hand so their fingers were laced together. The mere touch of his skin could set her on fire, images of them wrapped together intimately, crowding her brain, making it hard to concentrate.

Down, girl. This is not the time.

“I think you’ve had a tough few days,” she said. “Your past has come visiting, and you weren’t prepared. I think you’ve handled it pretty well, if I’m honest.”

“I haven’t been as nice as I could have.”

“You’ve let Tom stay in your apartment. That’s pretty nice.”

“True, but I’ve been busting his balls about leaving and going back to handle his business.”

“I think most people would have done the same. He can’t hide here forever. Or I guess he can, but it sounds like a lousy idea. Eventually, he’ll have to deal with it all.”

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