Page 67 of Her Greatest Adventure

“He will. Sooner or later,” he sighs.

With a soft kiss on his nose, I stand and start to put everything away. I hang my head, breathing quickening when he steps behind me and drops his hands to my hips, spinning me around.

“Thank you,” he says, voice gravel.

I tip my head back and meet his stare, the deep brown colour of his eyes so damn beautiful, even in the terrible bathroom lighting. He wets his lips, and I can’t help but be drawn to the motion, unable to look away. My chest moves rapidly with nerves.

Is he going to kiss me?

“You’re welcome,” I breathe.

My lungs struggle to expand on a full breath when he brushes my hair out of my face and drifts his knuckles across my jaw.

“What I said last night . . . I meant it. But I also think it might be too late to—”

A fist thumps against the door, surprising us both. Cooper curses under his breath, a war waging in his intense stare. He drops his hand from my face but doesn’t remove the one gripping my waist. If anything, he holds me tighter. Almost possessively.

“Time’s up. Get out here so we can have a family meeting,” Maddox snaps.

“Cooper isn’t family. Does that mean he gets to leave?” I call, voice sounding as shaky as I feel.

“As long as you’re married, he’s family. We’re waiting for you, so hurry up.”

I swallow. “I’m sorry in advance. If I didn’t think you would fall to your death, I would help you jump out the bathroom window. But we’re far too high up.”

His laugh brushes my lips as he leans forward and presses our foreheads together. “You’d have to push me out before I let you deal with this yourself. I got you.”

“You got me,” I repeat, letting the confirmation settle some anxious part of me.

I freeze when warm, soft lips touch the corner of my mouth. It’s only a brief touch, a ghost of one, really, but it sends me spinning.

Even as he backs up and stares at me with eyes heavy with emotion, I remain frozen until there’s another bang on the door. This time, Cooper yanks it open and glares at Maddox.

“We’re coming.”

“Seemed like it,” Maddox replies, glaring at us as if he knows exactly what was happening behind that door.

“Back up, Maddox. How are we supposed to get out with you blocking the way?” I sass, curving a brow.

“Smart-ass,” he retorts but steps aside.

It takes everything in me not to check to see if Cooper is following as I leave the room, heading straight for probably the most uncomfortable conversation of my life.

25

COOPER

A rough handgrabs my shoulder and jerks me to the side before I can get away from Maddox. One look at him has me swallowing my frustration at being grabbed as Adalyn heads toward her parents.

“I need to talk to you alone first,” he grits out.

“Have at it.”

“Don’t look so guilty. It’s pissing me off.”

I just shrug, unsure how he wants me to reply to that.

“You could at least try to appear confident in your actions. Not like youknowyou fucked up. My sister isn’t anyone’s fuck-up.”

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