Page 27 of Cooper

I grunt, pulling up for the fifth time.

Sandor does three in quick succession and Cooper calls to me. “Come on, babe, don’t let him catch you. Do another.”

I get to six while Sandor does four and five. He’s twice my size with biceps the size of tree trunks. This is totally unfair, but I’m always up for a challenge and I squeeze my eyes shut as I do my seventh.

“Come on, Nat, you got this! Let’s go, three more!” Cooper sounds more like a drill sergeant than a boyfriend, but it works, and I do the eighth pull-up as Sandor does his eighth as well.

“Two more, Natalia,” Sandor teases, pulling himself up easily for number nine.

Jerk.

My arms are on fire and shaking, but I manage one more.

There’s just one left, and Sandor is patiently waiting for me to get there.

“Ready?” he asks.

I grin and dig deep, pulling myself up a fraction of a second before he does. Then I let go and drop to the ground, bending at the waist and resting my hands on my thighs.

“Proud of you, babe.” Cooper puts a gentle hand on my back.

“Good job, Nat!” Sandor gives me a thumb’s up as he heads for the treadmill.

“Tomorrow is weights,” I murmur.

“You look great,” Cooper says.

“I’m hitting the showers,” I say.

“If he’s up to it, I’m going to show Cooper around,” Joe tells me.

“See you at breakfast!” I call to Cooper. “And don’t overdo it!”

* * *

“You didn’t bringhim with you?” Casey demands when I get up to the royal apartment after the morning briefing. “I’m dying to meet him.”

“He was exhausted after walking around and sitting through the briefing. I put him back to bed and came to work.”

“Boo. I wanted to meet the guy who’s stolen your heart.”

“I don’t know about all that,” I laugh. “He’s special, though. Hopefully, he can stay long enough for us to figure it out.”

“Would you leave us, Natalia?” Casey asks softly.

“What? No.” I shake my head thoughtfully. “I mean, I can’t. Not for at least five years.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Beyond teenage crushes and such? No. Not adult love.”

“I don’t think you can know what you’d do until you’ve experienced it. It’s strong, heady stuff. I never thought I’d still love Erik ten years after he supposedly died. I never thought Sandor would get married. Love changes everything.”

“That sounds terrifying,” I admit. “I don’t know that I ever want to have feelings so strong they could make me abandon my post, my duty…”

“Sometimes life takes you in directions you don’t expect, but you’re definitely in a tough position. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t want you to leave. I just wondered how you’re feeling about everything. You’ve had a rough year, and I imagine you’re ready for something good to happen. And true love feels so, so good.”

“Does it?” I have no clue what true love is like. My teenage boyfriends hadn’t been that serious and while I’d liked Logan, I hadn’t been in love with him. I had hopes we might get there, but he died before that came into play.

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