Page 58 of Boss Me

I’d stayed in Cooper’s bungalow for two days. Three nights. And when I say in Cooper’s bungalow, I mean inside his bungalow. No trips to the restaurant, no walks on the beach. Not even dinner on the deck.

It was like being in prison. A beautiful prison with a kindly warden who brought me water and guava juice while I lounged on his sofa, who handed me painkillers with the precision of the Queen’s Guard.

And each night after he helped me to bed in his guest room, he patted me on the shoulder, flicked off the lights, and walked out.

Not even as much as a fatherly kiss on the temple.

At least he hadn’t made good on his promise to call HR—yet. And he’d sent the jet away.

I was burning from the inside out from being so close to him and yet…not. It was like being back in the office again, nothing like the closeness we’d shared when we had dinner on his patio or when we went to visit his tía Camelia. Before we’d kissed in his pool. Except for when he accidentally brushed my skin when he wrapped my ankle, our no-touching rule was back in effect.

It was for the best if I was just another Marlee to him, a fleeting bad decision because he couldn’t have Jackson.

When Mateo’s cigarette glowed red again, I eased myself off the couch and limped to the sliding glass door. I slid it open and, just like always, Coco sat inside the gate staring adoringly up at Mateo. He was still pissed off at me for telling him I was leaving him here. He was even more pissed off at Cooper for sending me away that night.

But Cooper’s cousin Mateo was his new favorite. And why shouldn’t he be? Mateo was almost Cooper’s match in every way. They were about the same height, though Mateo was a bit bulkier. His bluer eyes and darker hair were like Cooper turned up a notch. Someone else might think Mateo was more attractive. To me, he looked like an Instagram post with the color saturation turned too high. I preferred Cooper’s more muted good looks. Coco, on the other hand, adored Mateo because he always had a morsel of ham in his pocket.

I limped to the gate. Mateo stubbed out his cigarette against the metal. “You won’t tell Cooper, will you?”

“About the smoking? Depends.” I leaned my shoulder—the one that wasn’t sore—against the gate.

I hadn’t yet figured out the dynamic between the cousins. He’d shown up sometime during the night of my attack. He never came inside the house. Every time Cooper was cold and dismissive toward him, Mateo looked like a kicked puppy. But when Cooper was gone, Mateo flirted in a way Cooper never did.

“Have you seen him? The guy?” I asked.

“Hard to say.” One corner of his mouth twitched up. “There’s a lot of big, bulky guys on this island with American accents.” He gestured at himself.

I bit my lip. “If you’d jumped me, I think I’d know it.”

“Would you, now?” He took a step closer, but then he caught himself and shoved his hands into his pockets.

I sighed. Why couldn’t I fall for someone sweet and flirty like Mateo? He’d never freeze me out. “Where’d Cooper go?”

“Community center.”

Of course he had. Better to toil and sweat at the jobsite than to remain in my presence. Well, fuck that. I was done sitting around like an invalid. My ankle hardly hurt anymore, and it was time to suck it up and do my fucking job.

“Drive me there.”

“Not happening. Cooper said you stay here.”

I raised my eyebrows. “What if I tell him you were smoking on his property?”

His flirty smile disappeared. “You wouldn’t.”

“Not if you take me to him.”

“And I thought you were nice,” he grumbled. He tugged a set of car keys from his pocket. “Lock the slider and meet me at the front door. I’ll pull the car around.”

I hid my grin. “See you out front.”

I limped back inside, locked the back door, and stuffed my slightly swollen foot into my sneaker. The other shoe slid right on. Then I let Coco out the front door and locked it behind me. Mateo held open the back door of a big, black SUV, parked in the circle drive.

It wasn’t far to the community center, but Mateo made me promise three times to tell Cooper I’d forced him to take me. I patted his shoulder. “I’ll take all the blame. He’ll only be mad at me.”

“Mad at you?” he scoffed. “Never. You’re su novio.”

“Novio? I’m not his boyfriend.” But my face heated.

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