Page 195 of Vegas Heat

I seethe with anger as I get into the truck, and less than two minutes later, I’m pulling into Cooper’s driveway.

Because of course I run to Cooper when I’m upset. I run to him when I’m happy, or when I’m sad, or when I’m angry. I run to him first because he’s become the most important person in my life.

He’s wearing nothing but basketball shorts when he opens the door, confusion on his handsome face. “What are you doing—”

He doesn’t get the chance to finish his sentence because I burst into tears as I plow into him. He wraps his arms around me for a beat, and then he sweeps my feet out from under me as he lifts me up. He kicks the front door shut as he carries me through the house and into the family room, where he sits on the couch with me still wrapped in his arms.

“Shh,” he soothes, and he presses a kiss to my temple. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re here now, and I’ve got you.”

“I know you do,” I sob, and his arms tighten around me.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?”

I shake my head. No, I don’t want to revisit the conversation where my mother told me yet again how she had to give up her entire life when she got knocked up, how I ruined her life, and what a disappointment I am.

It’s as Cooper holds me in his arms comforting me that I realize this is why I’ve never been totally sure whether I want kids of my own.

I don’t want to make another human feel like they’re nothing but a burden to me. I realize I’m not my mother, and likewise I realize I would not be the same type of mother she is. But I was raised thinking my father didn’t want me only to learn later in life that it was really my mother who never did.

Is it any wonder I’ve spent so much of this relationship questioning whether I’m good enough for Cooper?

“Why are you with me?” I ask, my voice demanding and completely out of left field.

He looks surprised for a beat at my question, but he recovers quickly...and his answer tells me he’s already thought an awful lot about it. “The night at the blackjack table, I’d made a vow to get back into the dating game literally five minutes before we met. You intrigued me the moment you sat down. I didn’tcare about how old you were or whose daughter you were. I was wrestling with whether to take the job offer from Troy, and you simplified it down to what would bring me joy.”

He draws in a fortifying breath before resuming. “I realized the more I talked with you that it wasyouwho would bring me joy. Wherever you were, even though I hardly knew you. And then the next morning in my hotel room, you were standing in this stream of light that surrounded you like a halo, and I knew you were an angel sent to this earth to save me. My Sunshine. The center of this new world I found myself in. That was the moment I fell in love with you.”

He presses his lips to my forehead for a beat, and I brush away a tear.

“Every second I’ve had the privilege of spending with you since, I’ve fallen deeper and deeper into you,” he continues. “You’re smart, and you’re funny, and you’re not afraid to tell me my breath smells like pepperoni even though you secretly love it. You’re brave, and you’re fierce, and you’re creative. You’re passionate, and you’re gorgeous, and you challenge me. Plus you really know your way around my cock.”

I giggle at the last part.

“Why am I with you?” he asks, and the way he says the question makes me wonder why I even had the audacity to ask it. “For all those reasons, Gabriella Rose Grant, but most especially because you make me a better man. You make me want to sacrifice everything to be with you. You make me see what’s important in life in a way I’ve never seen it before. I’ve never been with someone who made me feel like I can conquer the world the way you do. But I don’t want to conquer the world. I just want to conquer this life with your hand in mine.”

By the time he finishes talking, I’m a sobbing mess again, but this time it’s for completely different reasons.

He holds me in his arms, and then he takes me upstairs and holds me while I fall asleep in his bed.

It’s not a night of raunchy sex or hot naked time. Instead, it’s the kind of intimacy that strengthens the bond we’ve started to grow.

I think he might be right. My mother may try her hardest to break me, to breakus…but her being here is only going to drive us even closer together.

CHAPTER 41: GABBY

I detour toward Mia’s on my way back home, in part because I don’t really want to face my mother right now and in part because I haven’t spoken to her in weeks.

Dylan’s there, too, but when he heads toward the bathroom, I strike up a conversation with my best friend as I unload how I’m feeling about continuing to keep Cooper a secret from my dad.

“It’s eating away at you, girl. Just tell him already.” Mia glances over at Dylan as he walks back into the room, his time away woefully too short, and I get the distinct feeling that if I wasn’t here, they’d be naked on the couch where I’m sitting.

I suddenly feel like a third wheel. I came by to visit my best friend, but Dylan was already here, so it’s not like we’ve had the chance to have our girls-only chat.

“Where’s Chelsea?” I ask, changing the subject since Mia just doesn’t seem to get it. I want to tell him, but I’ve already felt plenty rejected by him once in my life. What if he pushes me away again?

I think about mentioning that to Mia to get her take on it, but with Dylan here…I guess I’m just not comfortable bringing it up.

“Didn’t you hear? She’s dating Greg!” Mia says.

---