Page 79 of Save the Drama for your Mama
Cooper shrugged, his bottom lip curling up. “Maybe.”
I gasped and grabbed my waist. “So, that helmet in the library . . . You wore it while you wroteThe Daredevil’s Redemption?”
He grimaced, then nodded. “If you tell anyone, you’re dead.”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “How can you even type with that thing on?”
“It wasn’t easy.” Luckily, Cooper thought it was amusing because he started laughing with me. “Go ahead. Get it out of your system.”
“Sorry . . .” I wiped my eyes. “Hey, it’s not like anyone can give you a hard time about it because it worked. You sold over a million copies of that book. I hope you have the same luck with the beret and your next one.”
“You are way too kind.” A smile formed on his face as he eyed the ring, then rubbed his thumb across my fingers. “Your fiancé is a lucky guy, whoever he is.”
I smirked. “You got that right. And speaking of weddings, where are your brother and Marilyn getting married again? I can't remember if you told me.”
Cooper sat back in his chair. “At Bellagio in Las Vegas. They have a balcony reserved right in front of the fountains. They will say ‘I do’ just as the water display begins.”
“That sounds lovely,” I said. “And you’ll be the best man?”
Cooper nodded and grinned. “Complete with the speech, awkward dancing, and everything else.”
“I’m sure you’ll do a great job.” I hesitated, swirling the linguini around my fork, but curiosity nudged me forward. “If you don't mind me asking, how did you and Marilyn meet?”
Cooper raised his eyebrows, but didn't seem bothered by the question. “Oddly enough, I had met Marilyn at a Halloween party in San Francisco. She had bleached out her hair and dressed up like Marilyn Monroe, winning first place in the costume contest.”
“What were you dressed up as?” I asked.
Cooper hesitated. “A corn dog.”
That visual made me laugh hysterically.
Soon, Cooper joined in, obviously entertained by my guffawing.
“What?” he said. “Corn dogs are sexy!”
“If you say so,” I said, wiping my eyes with glee. “And how did Marilyn go from dressing up as Marilyn Monroe at a Halloween party to impersonating her full-time?”
“It’s a cool story, actually. The countless compliments she’d received at the party had motivated her to audition and score the lead inThe Seven Year Itch,at the Castro Theater in San Francisco. She had gotten rave reviews for her performance, and before she knew it, she had gotten an offer to work in Las Vegas so she could perform as Marilyn full-time.”
“And you never considered moving to Vegas with her when she got the offer?” I asked.
Cooper shook his head as he finished his bite of food. “We wanted different things, so that was never even a consideration. Luckily, my brother Chad came to visit and saw one of Marilyn’s shows, and they hit it off. The rest is history.”
“And San Francisco?” I said. “How did you end up there?”
“My job, actually,” Cooper replied. “I worked for a marketing firm in San Diego that opened a new office in the Bay Area. They needed someone to help launch it, so I volunteered to transfer up there. Then a couple of years ago, I followed in my mom’s footsteps and wrote that book that had always been inside of me. I got lucky with the sales and was fortunate to quit and start writing full time.”
“I’m not so sure about the luck,” I said. “Your book blew me away. You are seriously talented.”
“Thank you.” Cooper studied me for a moment. “That means you read the whole thing?”
I nodded. “Cover to cover.”
He grinned. “You keep surprising me, Melody.”
“Just like you did with that rescue today,” I said.
Cooper waved it off. “That was nothing.”
