Page 65 of Save the Drama for your Mama
Cooper chuckled. “Melody’s right—we only just met when she started working on the house. I don’t know why everyone thinks we’re together. We just drive each other crazy all day, don’t we?”
My mouth was full of my drink, so I just nodded, then wiped my chin.
Under the table, like it had a mind of its own, my right leg was bouncing up and down like a jackhammer.
Cooper reached over, slid his hand down my thigh to my knee, then applied gentle pressure, settling it down before I pulverized the pier plank.
With his hand still on my leg, he leaned closer and whispered in a low voice, “Relax, Melly Mel. Why are you so flustered?”
His nose touched my ear with the F in flustered.
I swallowed hard as a tingle shot straight to my—
“Mango Booby!” the server called out with enthusiasm as he set the popular tequila rum drink down in front of the customer at the table next to us.
“You two had me fooled,” James said, glancing at Cooper, then back at me. “I thought for sure you were a couple after I saw your long embrace through the gallery window this morning. I just assumed, well, you know.”
Still flustered from Cooper’s touch, I removed his hand from my leg and placed it on his lap. “I was just congratulating him about finding you after all these years, that’s all.”
And enjoying the way his arms felt around me.
James looked skeptical, but dropped the subject.
Now, I just needed Cooper to stop eyeing me like I was an item on the dessert menu. And why was his leg still touching mine?
Somebody must have spiked my drinks for sure. I was embarrassing myself so much I felt it would be the perfect time to jump off the pier.
Luckily, the server approached and left the check on the table, a much-needed distraction to give me time to regain my composure.
James grabbed the check before Cooper could get his hand on it. “Please, allow me. It’s the least I can do after you went to so much trouble to track me down.”
“Thank you,” Cooper and I said simultaneously.
Before we said our goodbyes, I snapped a few pictures of Cooper with James before his father walked back to his gallery. Cooper suggested we take a walk to the end of the pier, then grab a cup of coffee before heading back to Coronado.
“Hold on,” I said, pulling him to a stop, then gesturing back to the restaurant. “What exactly was that in there?”
“What was what?” Cooper asked, his bottom lip curling up.
“You know what,” I said. “Melly Mel? Where did you get that from?”
“Oh! I meant Smelly Mel! Cute, huh? Do you like it?”
“That’s not the point,Loopy Coop.”
He grimaced. “Yeah, I’m going to veto that nickname.”
I crossed my arms. “Poopy Coopy?”
“Okay, you’re going in the wrong direction,” he said.
“Sure, you can dish it out, but you can’t—”
“I can take anything you throw my way,” Cooper said, then chuckled. “Anyway, I was just messing with you, some good, clean, innocent fun. Did it bug you that much?”
I thought about it. “Okay, maybe not, it’s just, you keep surprising me. I might’ve lowered the guard a tad since I’m a little tipsy.”
“Well then, I’ll make a grand announcement ahead of any shenanigans in the future. That way, you’ll have plenty of time to prepare your defensive strategy.”
