Page 35 of Take Me Now

I also missed Humpty. I was going to have to get my own cat. This whole “situationship” with Cooper had gotten far too comfortable.

Glancing at the clock, I thought I should order some takeout. Just as I was about to call for pizza, I heard footsteps turning into the hallway from the stairs. I listened way too carefully. I wanted to think they were stopping outside my door, but Cooper’s door was directly across the hallway from mine, so that didn’t mean much.

My pulse lunged when there was a light knock on my door. I was shameless. I practically ran across the room to answer. When I swung the door open, Cooper stood there. He had one hand curled around the edge of the doorframe and the other with his thumb hooked in his pocket. I simply stood there for a long moment, soaking him in. His lips were curled at one corner and his eyes dark as his gaze locked on mine.

“Hey there, Farrah.” His subtle Southern drawl slid over me, sending my belly into a spinning flip.

“Hey, Cooper.”

“Can I come in?” he asked.

I took a shallow breath, stepping back as I opened the door wider. “Of course.”

“How’s Humpty?” I asked as he walked inside.

“He misses you. Can I let him come over?”

“Of course.” I was smiling, my cheeks almost aching from it.

“Just a sec.” He crossed the hall and opened his door.

Humpty dashed across the hallway into my apartment, twining around my ankles and then Cooper’s. I lifted him, scratching under his chin while he purred madly. When I lowered him to the floor, he ran over to check the food and water bowl that I had here just for him.

“Should we close the doors?” I asked as I added some fresh water to his bowl.

“Probably. My mom is out with her friend tonight, but I wouldn’t put it past her to stop by unexpectedly.”

He closed his door and returned to my apartment, also closing the door. Humpty had made himself comfortable on the windowsill looking out over Main Street.

I was unaccountably nervous. I stood by the kitchen counter, tracing my fingertips along the curved edge. Cooper walked over, stopping in front of me.

“It was nice to meet your mom,” I offered.

He nodded. “She’ll be here another few days. She’s with Rowan Coles’s mom. He’s also from Stolen Hearts Valley.”

“It’s nice they could travel together.”

He smiled slowly. Butterflies spun inside my belly, sending tingles throughout my body.

“I love seeing my mom, but this way, she has company, and it makes it a little easier for me to host.”

We studied each other. My heartbeat picked up its pace, stumbling faster and faster. Cooper stepped closer to me, his hand falling to the counter to curl over mine. His next words startled me.

“I’ve missed you.”

My heart tumbled in my chest. “I’ve missed you too.” Those words rushed out in a whisper.

“You seem nervous.” He lifted my hand, turning it over as he dipped his head and pressed a kiss in the center of my palm. That kiss felt like a warm stone, sending ripples of heat in its wake.

I took a breath, willing my nerves to settle. There was all that chemistry that we shared lighting up like a firecracker inside. But, at this moment, it wasn’t just chemistry. It was that sense of intimacy that kept building between us, spinning like gossamer threads and weaving tighter and tighter together.

“I don’t think we’re supposed to miss each other,” I said softly, trying to ignore the tangle of emotion and need inside.

Cooper lowered my hand, still holding it in his as he stepped closer and brushed my hair away from my face. “Maybe not, but I still missed you.”

My heart tripped and stumbled in my chest. I felt raw and unguarded. I felt the brush of his fingers as he tucked my hair behind my ear, and goose bumps prickled over my skin.

When he bent low and brushed his lips over mine, liquid heat spun through my veins, pooling low in my belly. I let out a little whimper as I leaned closer. For the first time in days, I felt that sense of coming home, a feeling I hadn’t put words to and had purposely shied away from.

---