Page 6 of Swiped By My Dad's Best Friend
I’d fallen into an old fence, and it’d torn me to hell. I’d had to get stitches, and the scar never entirely faded.
He inhaled sharply. “Cooper?”
I answered on reflex. “Yeah, who—”
“Rutledge?”
He lifted his hands off me as if I’d burned him, taking a quick step back, his voice full of a horror that disoriented me. One moment everything was finally going right, and the next, he was leaping away from me.
I turned, taking a closer look at him. Dark hair, gorgeous beard, but those eyes…
My heart lurched, then skipped with an excited flutter. It couldn’t be, could it? But it was. I saw it written all over his face. Before me, looking like the daddy of my wet dreams, was a man I hadn’t seen in over ten years—my father’s best friend from our hometown.
“Trace?”
* * *
TRACE
No, no, no.
Fuck no.
“Cooper fucking Rutledge?” I growled again, suddenly angry.
I didnotjust have my hands all over Matthew Rutledge’s son. No. This was some sort of fucked-up dream. Or maybe I’d crashed my pickup on the way here, and I was really dying on the side of a road.
I wasn’t sure that wouldn’t be preferable to Matthew finding out that, after he suspected me of making moves on his wife, I had, in fact, fondled his son.
Cooper turned to face me, his body still far too exposed, and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Nice to see you too, Trace fucking Laurie.” His tone was irreverent, but his eyes gleamed with emotion. “That sounds as if you’re fucking a woman. Which, incidentally, I always assumed you did. Was I wrong about you, or are you an equal-opportunity hookup like me?”
I blinked, barely able to process what he was saying. My head had filled with white noise, my pulse rushing in my ears. “Fuck. Put your dick away. I can’t look at that.”
Cooper dropped a hand to his dick, starting to follow my command without question. But halfway through the motion, he paused. “Not so fast. You almost lulled me with those Daddy vibes of yours, but we’re a good match. Why shouldn’t we hook up?”
I shook my head, taking another step back. “Oh, hell no. Not happening, kid.”
“Oh, so I’m a kid now?”
Spotting a T-shirt on the floor that wasn’t mine, I scooped it up and tossed it in his direction. “Get dressed.”
Fearing he wouldn’t comply, I turned my back, deciding I should do the same. I rifled through my duffel, grabbing a T-shirt and boxer briefs. Cooper whistled as I dropped my towel to tug on the underwear.
“Your ass isn’t bad either.”
I clenched my fists at my side, my body more affected by his approval than I wanted. In a strangled voice, I reiterated, “Cooper, this can’t happen. Your dad…”
“He doesn’t have to know.”
“I’d know,” I said firmly, finally turning. Relief washed through me to see that he’d finally re-dressed, though he was still exactly my type, damn it. His dirty-blond hair was a little ruffled from tugging on his shirt, and his smile was far too sinful to belong to the boy I’d once known. “And I’m seeing him tomorrow, so no. I won’t fuck around with his son, then lie to his face.”
“What are you doing here anyway? If you’re staying for a while, maybe I can wear you down.” He grinned shamelessly at me.
“Just business. Not here long.”
“Too bad. You could have made my teenage wet dreams come true.”
