Sometimes, Forever (Sometimes Moments #2) (8 page)

The smile on Daisy’s face vanished. She turned and shot the bartender an icy stare. Then she let out a huff and faced Cooper once more.

“I hope to see you again,” she said to him. Then she hopped off the barstool and headed towards the other side of the pub.

“Cooper,” Jay said, gaining his attention. His voice was controlled, little emotion in it.

Cooper’s eyes met Jay. A flash in them had him tensing, unsure what Jay would do to him.

“It’s a small town. Rumours fly around here. I’ve made mistakes, and I won’t make them again. She doesn’t need my protection. But you do anything to hurt her, I will come after you,” Jay warned.

He flinched. Jay’s warning had Cooper bunching his brows at him. He wasn’t terrified. There was no reason to be. He was not interested in Daisy at all. Not in the way that warranted a threat.

Cooper got off the barstool and held his hands up at Jay. “You have nothing to worry about. I’ll just go. Have a good night, Jay.”

He had taken several steps back, hands still raised, before he spun around and made his way towards the exit.

It hadn’t taken Cooper long to reach the lake. He had walked slowly through town, nodding and smiling at the locals along the way. They had all known his name. It was nice, but at the same time, he wanted to go incognito. He missed that about living in the suburbs. Not everyone knew his name or business. About thirty thousand people lived in Warren Meadows. It wasn’t as hectic as the city, but it was large enough to get lost in if he wanted to. But here, in Daylesford, it was hard.

People like Jay Preston knew his business.

He wasn’t sure why, but he got weird vibes from the pub owner.

He wasn’t someone Cooper would go out of his way to be friends with.

Unless Peyton liked him. Then that would be another story.

Walking down the hill, he noticed the front lights of the hotel on. He wondered if Peyton was still at work. Digging his phone out of his jeans pocket, he found that it was just after ten p.m. It was late if she were. But then again, he hadn’t seen her in two weeks; she might not want to see him at all after the last time he’d really spent time with her. When he had stupidly asked if she’d ever had a heartbreak.

“Oh, what the hell, Cooper. You have nothing left to lose,” he muttered to himself as he turned towards the hotel.

No alcohol had been consumed tonight.

His impending actions could not be blamed on being intoxicated.

Cooper was going exactly where life was taking him.

And that was to Peyton Spencer.

Life was irrational, and he honestly didn’t care.

Not where she was involved.

It took minutes to make it to the hotel’s front doors. A deep breath later and he was inside. The hotel was quiet, but he saw Jenny behind the desk. Her look of surprise had him grinning at her. As if she had underestimated Cooper or something. Stupid thought, he knew, but he just wanted someone to be on his side, to support his stupidity when it came to Peyton.

Jenny pointed to her left, indicating to him that Peyton was in the Polaroid room. Cooper craned his neck to find Peyton sitting on the floor with frames around her. He shot Jenny an appreciative smile and slowly walked towards Peyton. His steps were soft and calculated. When he made it to the part where the carpet and the hardwood floors met, Cooper stood there and watched her.

He watched as Peyton smiled at the frame she held and got up. She was so lost in her own little bubble that she hadn’t noticed him while she approached a vacant spot on the wall and set the frame on the hook. Peyton straightened it, as the smile on her face grew even wider. She became even more beautiful than he had ever thought possible.

Cooper sucked air through his nostrils and decided that he had absolutely nothing to lose. He would go for it.

“It’s late, Pey. You should go home,” he said in a soft voice.

She went rigid, and Cooper could hear her laboured breathing. She took a sharp inhale and then asked, “Did you just call me
Pey
?”

He clenched his hands into fists, realising that he must have done something wrong.
Again.
“Yeah,” he replied, slightly annoyed at himself. He wasn’t sure how he could possibly do any more harm than he already had.

Peyton didn’t reply.

It had gone quiet around them as he waited.

Finally, after a few long and torturous minutes, she shifted and faced him. Her eyes were glassy. And that hurt expression on her face had his heart throbbing. It felt as if fire consumed his chest.

“Please don’t,” she begged so quietly that he had almost missed it.

She doesn’t like nicknames …

Okay, I can work with that.

Cooper nodded. “All right. I won’t.”

Her lips curved into a small smile. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Peyton?”

“Yes?”

He took a deep breath, deciding that he was definitely going for it. “Can I walk you home?”

She flinched, appearing to be completely thrown by his question.

Cooper took a step forward. “I’d like to take the long way if that’s okay?”

Silence.

She had blinked several times.

Then she nodded.

“Are you sure? You don’t seem sure …” He took a step back and watched the surprise consume her eyes with a bright flash.

“Cooper,” she whispered. Tears filled her eyes. “I’m sure. I promise I’m sure. You do realise that I’m a local, right? The long way home can be a walk around the entire town before we get to my place.”

He grinned at the humour in her voice. “I’d like to take the long way home with you, Peyton.”

“Okay,” she agreed and began to walk out of the room when his hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping her.

“Did you want to finish putting up those frames on the wall? I know how important these sometimes moments are for you. I’ll help,” he offered.

Peyton gazed up at him; the gentleness in her eyes had his heart racing. She shook her head. “No. Not tonight. Jenny can put them away for me. I’d rather you walked me home.”

The long way to Peyton’s house took almost an hour. They barely spoke, and he didn’t push her to talk, as she seemed to enjoy the quietness between them. Someday, when she trusted him, he hoped the long way home would be comfortable for her. Comfortable to the point she could talk openly about her fears and her troubles. But right now, he’d settle for her silence. Because in her silence screamed her need to guard herself. And for Cooper, he’d break through her walls.

Maybe not tonight.

Maybe not tomorrow.

Hopefully someday.

When Peyton had stopped her steps, he halted. Then she said, “This is me.”

Though it was dark, he could just see the weatherboard house. From where he stood and in the blackness of the night, he thought it was cute.

“Thank you for the walk,” Cooper said with all the sincerity he could manage in his voice.

“I should be thanking you. So thank you.”

The moon’s light was just enough to see her blue eyes. To see her cute nose and to see her plump lips. Under the veil of the night, he wanted to kiss her. Where he was sure there were no prying eyes. Kiss her to get her out of his system. Kiss her to confirm his feelings. And to kiss her and hope that he discovered his attraction towards her was conjured by his irrational brain.

“I should go,” Cooper whispered.

“It’s late.”

“I know,” he said with a chuckle. “That’s why I better go.”

“I have a couch you can sleep on,” she offered.

He let out a sigh. “Thank you for offering, but I can’t. Not because I don’t want to, but because you don’t seem very comfortable with me right now. And I’d rather you slept well than have to worry about my intentions or what you believe are my intentions. I don’t ever want my presence in your home to make you feel uncomfortable, Peyton. So if it’s okay with you, I’d like to refuse your couch.”

“Oh,” she breathed.

“I’m gonna take that as a yes. So go inside and I’ll see you tomorrow for a cup of tea … If you’ll join me?”

“Yeah, just find me,” she whispered and then she left him at the bottom of the steps as she climbed them and made her way into her house after she’d unlocked the door.

She had left him alone in the night.

And alone with his thoughts.

Thoughts that wished for her love and trust.

And at that moment, he promised himself that he would try to find a place in Peyton Spencer’s heart.

I want to say that we’ve had the easiest of loves …

T
hat thought of being irrationally in love with Peyton Spencer was now rational. It just took Cooper Hepburn longer than it should have to realise it. He began to fall in love with her from the moment he heard that out-of-the-blue laugh from her. Every day since, he was fighting the inevitable.

He was supposed to be in love with Peyton.

And in the two weeks since he had walked her home, he had spent all his free time with her at the hotel. Always tea and desserts but at various places around her hotel. She had said that this was a slower tour. That there was a lot she wanted to show him, but it was worth the wait. Like all the other days, Cooper sat silently as he watched Peyton pick up the teapot and pour the freshly brewed tea in his cup and then hers. She now spoke freely and comfortably around him. It was slow progress, but he didn’t mind. Each day, she spoke a little more about herself and her family. But not a whole lot. She only gave him the basics. On a raining Tuesday, she had warned him about a black cat, Mr Lucky. If Cooper happened to cross paths, he shouldn’t be afraid. The crazy cat loved the rain, and Mrs West would be looking for him. She had told him which house on her street the crazy one-cat lady lived at.

The beeping from his phone had Cooper glancing down at it. It was his sister, Megan, messaging him. He let out a sigh.

“Sorry, Peyton, it’s my sister. If I don’t message her back, trust me, war will be waged,” he said.

She set down the teapot and gave him a smile. “No, go for it.”

Megan:
Will you be coming back to Warren Meadows anytime soon?

Cooper:
It’s a three-hour drive. Don’t really want to if I don’t have to.