Page 188 of Vegas Heat

He beelines for the couch when he sees her sitting there, and he kneels beside her. “I don’t want to see anyone else.”

She bursts into fresh tears again as he takes her cheeks between his palms.

“I love you, Mia Delgado. Come home with me for the holiday. Meet my family. Meet my friend who I swear is nothing more than a friend.” He’s begging, and Mia starts to calm down.

I take that as my cue to slip out the door.

I try calling Cooper on my way back to my dad’s place, but he doesn’t answer. He’s busy, though, and he’s probablywithmy dad, and he can’t exactly answer when they’re together. I call Joanie next.

“Hi honey,” she answers, and in the last few weeks, we’ve grown closer and closer as we’ve been spending more and more time together. She’s sort of become like the mother that my own mother never was. In fact, I haven’t even spoken to my actual mother in months. She called the day before my birthday to wish me a happy birthday and to remind me how she was in labor with me for a full sixteen hours before I came out, as if she still blamesmefor the hard labor that happened twenty-one years ago.

On the other hand, Joanie is supportive and kind, and she’s a good boss, too. She praises me for a job well done, and she’s never critical when she shows me where I can improve.

I feel like I’m a lock for the social media manager position, and not just because Troy is my father and Joanie is my future stepmother. It’s because I’m putting in longer hours than the other interns. I’m studying the craft of marketing, learning new things every single day, and I’m not afraid to try them out.

Chloe is right beside me for all of it, and in some ways, I’ve gotten closer with her than even Mia. But she still doesn’t know about Cooper and me. Only Justin does, and he’s been discreet—and busy himself as he and Brian embark on a down low relationship, too.

“Do you have any dinner plans tonight?” I ask Joanie.

“I’m all tied up tonight,” she admits. “I’m so sorry.”

“No worries. Maybe another time.”

“Of course. Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I say. “My friend Mia just called me in hysterics because she thought her boyfriend was cheating on her, and he showed up apologizing. I guess it just drove home the fact that the season hasn’t even started yet and I already feel like they’re gone.” Joanie and I don’t talk much about my relationship with Cooper, mostly so it doesn’t get awkward for her where my dad is concerned. But on the rare occasion I bring him up, she’s alwaysthere with good advice. And she’s an especially good person to talk to on this topic considering she’s in the same boat with my father where time is concerned.

“It’s going to get worse before it gets better. I suspect you already know that, though, and only you can decide if that’s a sacrifice you’re willing to make.”

I think about how good things are between Cooper and me. “Of course it’s worth the sacrifice. But it doesn’t make it any easier going through it.”

“Then it’s a good thing you have me since I’m going through the exact same thing.”

“Thanks, Joanie. You really are the best,” I say.

“Right back at you, sweetheart. Oh, and if you see your dad when you get home, can you tell him I’m done with the task he gave me?”

“Sure thing. Talk to you soon.” I wonder for a beat what that task is all about, but I’m sure it has something to do with the marketing department.

But then the thoughts filter in about the club my father supposedly owns, and I can’t help but wonder what his relationship with Joanie is really like.

I don’t think I want to know.

CHAPTER 37: COOPER

Troy asked me to stop by to review some more film with him, and I decide to run over since it’s only a mile away. By the time I get to his house, I’m sweating and panting as I spot a little red Toyota in the circular drive and a woman standing by the front door.

I run up toward the door. Troy probably gets random fans stopping by all the time, but the gate at the front of the community seems to help with the majority of onlookers.

Somehow this one got through, I guess. “Can I help you?”

“Hello, yes,” the woman says, turning around to look at me. “I’m looking for Gabby Grant.”

“May I ask who you are?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Who areyou?”

“I’m Cooper,” I say, leaving it at that. She doesn’t need to know more, but the fact that she doesn’t know me tells me a lot about who she is. She must be a Troy fan, not a baseball fan. “Your turn to tell me who you are now.”

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