Faithful (39 page)

As his need grows and I feel him getting harder inside me, he begins to lose control, grunting and exhaling in a fury. Just when I think this goddamn beast is about to cheat me out of an orgasm, his fingers begin caressing my clit, and before I know it, he’s rubbing the perfect spot with the perfect rhythm, making me wetter.

It’s a good thing our brains don’t have to work at this because I’m in a trance. Every nerve is tingling, my inner muscles clenching, trying their mightiest to hold on to him and the intoxicating joy as our bodies slap together. I scream some incoherent gibberish when I reach the pinnacle, and then I’m free falling, happily in a tailspin.

I’m mush; my brain, my muscles. I can’t hold myself up any longer. Cooper leans against my back and wraps one strong arm under my waist and puts the other against the counter so I don’t bang my head. Then he goes to town on my accommodating body, pounding into me and yelling appreciative remarks of satisfaction.

Standing me up, he holds my back against his chest so I feel his heart beating rapidly. He’s still breathing hard, and I’m still in a boneless stupor. Finally, he kisses my neck and rests his chin on my head.

“This is great,” he says. “Pie, boots, and oh, yeah, my favorite naked woman.”

I laugh and turn around in his arms to kiss him again.

“Want to try out my new shower?”

“Actually, I want to try that new soaking tub I saw.”

“Ah, you saw that, did you? I got it because you mentioned how much you like bubble baths. I’ve never seen the appeal of a bath myself.”

“Then let me show you.”

He grins and leads me back to his bedroom to the newly renovated master bath. The thirty-year-old combination shower and tub unit is gone. In its place is a glass-enclosed shower stall for two, and under the window is an enormous half-egg shaped soaking tub. For the next hour, I wash every part of him and show him how spectacular a bathtub can be for slipping, sliding, riding, and coming.

When we make it to the bed, Cooper rewards me by worshipping every part of my body with his mouth and skillful tongue. By the end, I’m another tired mess, ready to sleep, but Cooper has other ideas, more unfinished fantasies he wants to explore.

By three in the morning, we’re falling asleep … on the floor, tangled in the bedding that has been stripped from the mattress. We’re surrounded by handcuffs, a couple of expensive ties, two cans of empty whipped cream, a bottle of honey that was a complete miss, and condom wrappers.

We wake up when a screeching bird smashes into the glass of the bedroom window, and I about piss the sheets. After we have one more round of sex in the shower, I feel like Cinderella—my time is up.

“Can I take you to the diner for breakfast?” Cooper’s damp hair falls forward over his face as he buttons his jeans.

“No,” I reply as I watch him cover up his sexy chest and abs with a clean T-shirt.

“Don’t tell me you’re spending another Saturday working.”

“I’m helping Lauren with the nursery. I think I offered to paint it today.”

“I can help. It will get done faster.” He eyes my solemn face with suspicion, and rightly so.

“Cooper,” I sigh. “We’re back in the same place, and I told you I’m not settling for this. It’s not good enough for me.”

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about this …”

“This is bullshit. You thought that, after a night of sex, you’d skip back into my life and we’d carry on as if that little incident at the wedding never happened. It happened. You said you’re never getting married, and I said I can’t accept it.”

“Last night, you said you weren’t going to mention this—”

“Call me a liar!” I blurt out angrily. “I can’t help it. I saw you with your family. All that stuff about them being unfaithful to their spouses has nothing to do with us. And I’m sick of you hiding behind your excuse that no one can be trusted, that everyone is a liar and a cheater. I don’t buy it and neither do you.”

“Hold on a minute,” he says sternly.

“No, you hold on.” I start crying. The woman who doesn’t cry at weddings or over men is opening the flood gates for Cooper. “You are a good son; I heard it firsthand from your mother. You are a good brother; Greer and your brothers love you and depend on. You love being part of that family, and you gave everyone strength and love during a very sad time. I didn’t think much about marriage before, but since I’ve seen what you want to take off the table, I’m furious about that. I love you, and I want all of that with you. The marriage with the noisy family, the squabbling siblings, and the poopy diapers. And, yes, even the funerals when everyone has to come together.”

“You love me?” He jumps forward to take my hand, but I slap his hand away.

“Is that all you heard? Because the rest of it is pretty important.” I glare at him to hide my embarrassment that he can’t return my heartfelt sentiment.

“We can still have that without a marriage certificate.”

“No. What is your problem with paper—notarized certificates? Didn’t you need one for your gun permit? Jesus Kcuffing Christ. Under your loose definition of living together in
your
house, I get a few drawers, we go off to work, and meet up at night for sex. But, if things get tough or even boring, walking away is an easy out.”

“I’m not like that. And you love me.”

“Stop saying that.” I swat my hand blindly in front of me, but he jumps out of the way this time.

“But I’m
not
like that,” he says more loudly.

“You’re setting us up to both be like that. I want to build a life together, while you’d rather live side by side. It’s not the same.”

“If you really believed that, you wouldn’t be with me.”

“I’m not with you, right? We just hooked up for a night.” I dab my eyes with my sleeve and head for the front door.

“Are you leaving me again? Seriously?” Cooper shouts as I stomp through the dirt driveway to my car. “Last time, you left me standing in the street!”

“Yes, I’m leaving. Again. This time, I’m driving off into the sunset!”

As I swing open my car door too hard and it bounces back and hits me in the ass, Cooper stands in his doorway with his arms crossed and that smug expression like the Jolly Green Giant.

“I’ve got news for you!” he shouts. “Sunset doesn’t happen for another eight hours!”

Thirty-One

“Exactly what did you say to him?” Lauren asks two weeks later after she gets tired of seeing Cooper and me giving each other the silent treatment every day in the parking lot.

“That I love him and we’re done. Something like that.”

“You said you don’t want to get married anytime soon, so why are you fighting about this?”

“Because he took it off the table.”

“Oh, you and your stupid table.”

“You know I’m right. If Leo had said that a month or two into dating, you would have dumped him.”

Lauren purses her lips and looks down at the gravy she’s stirring for the pot roast. “You’re right. I would have broken up with Leo if we weren’t on the same page. But I’m kind of sad about you and Cooper because you two are so great together. He went through a really tough time reuniting with his mother, and then he had to watch her die. This isn’t the time to talk about if you’re on the same page. This is the time to be together and let him heal or grieve. Then maybe the other things you want will come later.”

“What if they don’t? What if I fall more in love with him and then face a more devastating rejection later?”

Lauren gives me her sad, puppy dog frown.

“Don’t make me feel worse. I already feel terrible. I would rather be consoling him. I want to be that special person who makes him feel better when he’s grieving, not this whiny woman I’m turning into. But every time we’re together, we want to sleep together. I can’t be his sex friend.”

Lauren pinches her nose and sighs. “You
are
the special person who makes him feel better. He’s crazy about you, Imogene, and it’s not just the sex and pie.”

“Crazy isn’t the same as love.” I take the pot roast out of the oven and uncover it. “I know you think I’m being unreasonable, but I think I’m doing both of us a favor. Cooper doesn’t have to put up with my demands. I’m giving him all the space he needs. We’ll be friends again … eventually. It will be good.” I lift the pot roast out of the pan with two spatulas.

“Great, you keep telling yourself that because you’re going to get to practice being friends when he gets here in about … oh … ten minutes.”

“You invited him for dinner?” I drop the pot roast on the serving platter and broth splatters everywhere.

“Leo did. Today at work.” Lauren gives an apologetic eyebrow raise. “Next to me, Cooper is his best friend, and he wants to have him over. Leo feels like he hasn’t done enough for Cooper.”

“Leo should have his best friend over, and I should start looking for a new place to live so I don’t make things awkward for all of us.”

“No! You’re my built-in babysitter.”

I laugh. “As appealing as that is, you and I have been living together for a long time. It’s time to cut the strings. You and your husband need a home that doesn’t have me invading every room and every meal.”

“Where would you go? Back to your old, My Little Pony bedroom in your parents’ house?” Lauren asks.

“I haven’t slept in that room since I was ten; I turned the basement into the cool room. Besides, my mother turned the pony room into her sewing hideout, and the basement is full of junk. I can find a nice rental. Maybe I could move in with Yadi and Kimberly.”

“I would miss you so much.”

“You see me every day at work.”

“Hello,” we hear Cooper shout from the front hall.

“Hey, Cooper!” Lauren replies.

“Kcuf, kcuf, kcuf, kcuf,” I mutter to myself.

“Did that help? Is it out of your system? We good to go here?” Lauren looks sympathetic at my anxiety over this man.

“No, but I don’t have any choice. He’s my friend, right? We’re all friends.”

“Right.” Lauren takes me by the arm, then we walk out to meet Cooper.

He’s leaning against the balustrade instead of making himself comfortable in the living room, which is what he’d typically do.

“Hi.” My hesitation is obvious, my smile sad.

“Imogene.” There’s a fluid warmth to the way he says my name. I don’t think I could possibly ever get over the way it makes me feel.

“We’re having my awesome pot roast tonight,” Lauren declares.

“Excellent.” Cooper smiles faintly. “Where’s Leo?”

“He ran to the store to get a couple of baguettes. I’m craving bread and gravy,” Lauren explains. “He should be back any min—oh!” Lauren puts her hand on her belly and leans over, her face contorting with pain.

“Lauren?” I put my hand on her back and see small droplets of blood on the floor between Lauren’s bare feet.

“Oh, God, no,” Lauren moans and more blood spurts out.

“Shit!” Cooper bolts to Lauren and picks her up, cradling her in his arms.

“Is she having a—”

Blood seeps through the white apron over her billowing baby-doll style dress, spreading wider.

Holding Lauren with one arm, Cooper pulls his keys out of his pocket. “Imogene, get the truck started. You’re driving us to the hospital!” He tosses the keys at me.

I don’t bother to think, I dash out the front door and race to Cooper’s truck. As I start the engine, Cooper is already opening the passenger door, sliding into the seat with Lauren in his lap. Her eyes are closed tightly as she moans and cries.

“It’s too early,” she says weakly.

“Drive!” Cooper yells at me. “Drive fast.”

Lauren grimaces again. “A cramp,” she moans.

“Don’t push, Lauren,” Cooper orders. “Try to take slow breaths, but don’t push.”

“Do you know what to do?” I ask, stunned that Cooper seems fairly collected despite our panic.

“No. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I think she’s supposed to fight the urge to push.”

Once I speed out of town to the hospital and swing through the emergency room drop off, screeching to a halt in front of an ambulance, Cooper jumps out, holding Lauren’s floppy body against his chest. He runs through the sliding doors of the ER entrance while I park the truck in the visitor lot and run into the waiting room where they are nowhere in sight.

As I’m about to inquire at the admissions desk, Cooper comes through a pair of swinging doors that are locked to the public. His jeans and the bottom of his white T-shirt are covered in blood.

“How is she?” I ask.

“I don’t know. They had me put her in one of the beds and the doctor was there. They told me to leave.” The worry in Cooper’s voice terrifies me. “I’m going to go call Leo. Can you call her parents?”

“I didn’t bring a phone. I didn’t bring my purse. I drove without my license.”

“It’s okay.” Cooper touches my shoulder. “I’ll go outside and call everyone. Why don’t you sit here and wait to see if the nurse or doctor comes out to talk to you.”

I nod then find an unoccupied chair in the waiting room. Sitting anxiously on the edge of the seat, I watch the double doors for any signs of a doctor or nurse.

Cooper returns and takes the chair next to me. “Lauren’s parents and Leo are on their way. I called Carson, too. Sit back and try to relax, Imogene. It could be a while.”

I move back in my chair and take a deep breath, unable to calm down. It’s impossible. My gaze keeps racing back and forth between the clock on the wall and the doors. Someone needs to tell us what’s going on.

“I shouldn’t have let her work so hard.” I shake my head.

“This isn’t your fault.” Cooper stares at me without blinking. “You didn’t cause this. No one did. It happens.” He picks up my hand and holds it against his leg.

“She wouldn’t slow down,” I continue. “I should have made her leave work earlier. I should have done a better job at the wedding. I should have ordered the dresses and prevented that whole fiasco. I shouldn’t have let her cook and clean—”

“Stop it. You didn’t do anything wrong, Imogene.”

He squeezes my hand as we sit in tense silence until Leo comes running through the sliding doors, followed by Lauren’s parents. Leo goes right to the admitting station and they open the double doors for him, a nurse leading him to see his wife. Lauren’s father sits with us while her mother paces the waiting room.