Page 113 of Vegas Heat

I can’t help but wonder if it has to do with the club Cooper insinuated he owns. I don’t know how to research that since it seems like the kind of place that would be off the grid, and I also don’t really want to ask him about it.

I let him leave it at that.

“So this thing between you and Joanie…it’s pretty serious?” I ask.

He nods. “We’ve been together almost a year, and I’ve never met anyone like her. She’s a hard worker, the kind that goes above and beyond for her job, and so she gets that I need to be that way, too. We just have an understanding between us that I’ve never found with another woman.”

“Are you going to marry her?”

He presses his lips together again. “I plan to someday,” he answers honestly. “But it’s complicated.”

“All relationships are,” I murmur.

“Ain’t that the damn truth?”

I laugh, and we clink our glasses together in a toast of understanding.

While I feel like I got some answers about my dad’s love life, I’m left with even more questions after his vague responses. At least he confirmed they’re together, and he loves her, and it’s long-term. Beyond that, I’m not sure if it’s necessary for me to know more.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not as curious as a cat to find out the answers.

He clears his throat. “What’s complicated about yours?”

My cheeks flush, and he smirks.

“You think you can get away with asking about me and not get the same sort of grilling?”

I wrinkle my nose. “I was kind of hoping I could.”

He shakes his head. “No such luck, my girl. Is it Justin?”

I narrow my eyes at him. “What if it was? How would you feel about me dating someone I’m working with?” It’s my way of fishing for whether he’d be okay with a Gabriella-Cooper connection…because if heisokay with it and green lights it, then maybe we actually could be together. Maybe we wouldn’t have to lie about it the way Cooper seems convinced we would.

He lifts a shoulder. “It’d be a little hypocritical of me to say you couldn’t when I just admitted I’m doing that very thing, don’t you think?”

“Good point. But we’re both interns. What if I wanted to date a player?”

His eyes dart to mine, and there’s a little something close to anger there. “Terrible idea. Ballplayers are assholes, and they’re gone eight months out of the year. You deserve better.”

My face must fall because he adds more.

“Why? You got a crush on Danny Brewer or something?”

I grunt out a laugh. Not exactly.

“What if I did?” I tinker with the stem on my wineglass.

He shakes his head as he palms his tumbler of gin. “That would be a hard no. I’ve seen the way Brewer gets around. Besides, he’s way too old for you.”

“How old is he?” It’s a test that has way more to do with Cooper than with Danny Brewer.

“Twenty-six.”

Noted. Twenty-six isway too oldfor me.

I wonder how he’d feel about almost thirty-three.

Which reminds me…Cooper’s birthday is tomorrow. And that’s when it hits me.

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