Page 20 of Once Upon a Winter
After allowing toomuch time to get ready for her sister’s party, Laura was dressed early and pacing in front of the fireplace, waiting for Cooper to arrive. When she heard his truck pull into her driveway, she smoothed down her tea-length deep-red velvet dress and took a deep breath. She was ready. What she wasn’t ready for was opening the door to the sight of Cooper in a dark suit and tie, completely transformed from the rugged handyman she knew into the elegant banker he once was. Although no one at her bank ever looked anything like that.
She smiled. “You clean up pretty well.”
He responded with a crooked grin. “I could say the same, but it wouldn’t do you justice. You look gorgeous.”
She gave him a mischievous look. “What? This old thing?”
He laughed as he helped her with her coat then offered his arm. “Shall we?”
She took it long enough to step outside and realize she couldn’t locate her door key one-handed. It was a shame that she had to slip her hand from his arm.
After Laura insisted on driving, they headed for her car, and she took the wheel. “I know the way like the back of my hand, as well as all the alternate routes.”
Cooper leaned back in his seat, watching the landscape pass by in a blur. “So, tell me about your family.”
“Well”—she smiled as she used her turn signal—“my dad is an accountant, and my mother’s a nurse. You’ve already met my sister, at least over the phone. That’s pretty much it.”
Cooper nodded. “What about you? I know you’re an accountant.”
“Unfortunately, yes. I come from a long line of accountants, so there was never any question about my career. I don’t hate it exactly, but I’d give it up in a heartbeat if something else came along.”
“That sounds like how I felt about banking. I could do it, but I didn’t love it.”
“Do you love what you’re doing now?”
He didn’t hesitate to answer. “I do. The handyman work is really just a side hustle. It’s satisfying. I enjoy doing a job and seeing it finished. It’s gratifying, and in the end, it helps people. There’s a little of that in my main source of income. I like taking a house that might not be in the best shape and turning it into something special. It adds a little more charm to the town, and it enables me to live here. I might not be changing the world, but I’m making a small piece of my world a little better.”
Laura sighed. “That sounds so nice. I envy you for that. After the new year, I start a new job. I’ll be working from home, so that’s an enormous improvement. But it’s still accounting. Maybe someday, I’ll find something fulfilling like you have.”
He leaned back and stretched his long legs before him. “You deserve to do something you love.”
“Thanks. But everyone does, don’t you think?”
He squinted, considering it. “Not everyone. Most, maybe. But there are people out there who deserve so much worse.” He grinned.
Laura laughed. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid you’ll meet some of those people tonight.”
They arrivedat Delia’s townhome to find a bustling party, the air thick with laughter and music. Delia rushed over to greet them. After Cooper helped Laura out of her coat, Delia led him to the spare room that was serving as a cloakroom. Laura started to follow, but a familiar voice sang out her name, and she cringed.Tessa Fitzgerald.Laura supposed it was best to get the worst over with. And Tessa was that—intelligent, pretty, and caustic.
Laura turned to find Tessa in an emerald-green dress that clung to her slim figure except for the pushed-up cleavage that billowed from her plunging neckline. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with condescension as she smiled at Laura.
Laura donned her most pleasant expression. “Tessa. Hello.”
Tessa cooed. “Oh, look at you in your red dress! How cute! You came dressed as Mrs. Claus! Did you bring a jolly fat man in a red suit?”
Cooper appeared at Laura’s side. “No, she brought me.”
Tessa’s smile vanished as she caught sight of Cooper.
Laura couldn’t fault her for that. It might have been the soft lighting, but Cooper seemed to get hotter each time she looked at him.
Tessa eyed Cooper with remarkable attention to detail then practically purred, “And who are you, one of Santa’s helpers?”
Cooper’s response was polite but unmistakably chilling. “No, I’m Laura’s date.”
Tessa’s friends Courtney and Blair practically tripped over each other to join the group and get Cooper’s attention.
Blair twirled a strand of her long brunette hair. “Where did you say you’re from, Curtis?”
