Stolen Breaths (3 page)

“You would be correct.” He grinned and I saw that little dimple, and it made my knees weak. Amazingly, I managed to keep my feet planted on the ground. As long as I didn’t forget to breathe, I should be okay.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.”

His expression was genuine and I saw a grin escape the corner of his mouth like he
was
glad to actually see me.

“I’m meeting your grandmother for lunch today. I guess she didn’t mention it to you.”

“No, she didn’t. That’s why I’m here as well. She asked me to have lunch with her.” He raised one eyebrow and looked around the room. “I guess that means you and I are also having lunch together.”

I suddenly felt like I’d swallowed a rock, because there was a knot in the pit of my stomach. I forced a smile. “Yes, I suppose we are.”

“Shall we?” He bent his elbow to allow me to slip my hand around the inside of his arm and he led me across the room to the entry of the dining room. Across the way I could see Ms. Sophie sitting in the back corner. As we walked toward her she looked up, her bright blue eyes dancing. I also noticed that every other lady in the room was watching us as we passed by. All eyes were on Cooper and I suddenly felt invisible.

“There y’all are. I was beginning to think I was going to have to eat lunch alone.” The tone in her voice was sweet, but I could also sense a bit of sneakiness in there somewhere.

“Yes, Grams, we’re here,” he said, giving her a look that said
well-played.
“I didn’t realize that Lily would be joining us for lunch, but it’s a pleasant surprise.” He took my hand and helped me take my seat at the table next to Mrs. Sophie. Before taking his seat across from me he gave me one of his devilish grins and my stomach did another flip. If I had known Ms. Sophie had invited Cooper to our lunch date then I might have declined her invitation. He made me so nervous, and he made my head feel all swoony. Those feelings would not mix well with food. That much I knew.

“I took the liberty of having the waiter bring us all a mimosa. I hope that’s alright.” She looked at me first and then Cooper, anticipating a response.

“Actually, I could use a drink right about now.” I picked my glass up and took what was more of a gulp than a sip. They both looked at me with amusement.

Cooper picked up his drink, smiled into his glass, and softly said, “Indeed,” before taking a sip.

Ms. Sophie’s purse started vibrating across the table. She looked down at it and let out a sigh. “Darn stinkin’ technology. I have to take this call. Will you excuse me?”

Cooper stood up and pulled out his grandmother’s chair. “Certainly, take your time. Would you like for me to order for you?”

“No, I’ll be right back. I’ll only be gone a minute,” she said as she scurried off.

She may be a grandmother to a twenty-something year old grandson but that woman could move across a room in no time flat. That got me to thinking…I didn’t know how old Cooper was. He looked to be late twenties, although he could be early thirties. He had laugh lines around his mouth, which made me take notice of that one dimple again. He looked mature and young at the same time. Would it be rude to ask him how old he was?

“Do I have something on my face?”

“Huh?”

“You’re staring at me, so I figure I either have something on my face or…”

I could feel the heat rising and my cheeks turning about twelve shades of red. “I… um, sorry,” I said nervously. “I didn’t realize I was staring. I was… uh… thinking about something and …”
CRAP!
If I could have crawled under the table just then I would have.

“And what?”

“Nothing. I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I didn’t mean to.”

He leaned forward, folding his arms on the table. “I don’t mind a beautiful woman staring at me as long as she doesn’t mind me staring back.” His lips curled into a grin that was so incredibly sexy that I felt disoriented for the briefest moment. The thing about it, though, was that I didn’t think he was trying to be sexy. He just
was
. He held my gaze for a second before dropping his eyes to my mouth and then looked me in the eyes again, but he kept the sexy grin in place. His eyes flittered back down to my lips and he held his gaze there for an untold amount of time. Watching him watch me was unnerving, and yet I couldn’t make myself look away. My heart was pounding in my chest and my stomach felt like it was taking summersault lessons. His eyes scanned down to my neck and back up to my mouth, and I had the sudden urge to lick my lips. I heard a groan release from somewhere in the back of his throat.

Have. Mercy
.

“How old are you?” I blurted without even a thought.
Oh my God, I have completely lost all control. Kill me.

His eyes reengaged mine and he paused before answering. I saw a smirk move across his face like he knew he’d gotten to me and he answered. “Thirty-one. Why, is that important?”

“No, just curious. Ms. Sophie and I discuss a lot of things, but I’ve never asked her questions about you.” I never knew how to bring Cooper up in our conversations without it looking obvious that I was attracted to him.

“Oh and why is that?”

“Why is what?”

“Why is it that you’ve never asked my grandmother about me?”

“I don’t know. I guess your name never came up.” Looking down at my mimosa I decided I should take another drink.

“Ah, well your name
has
come up. Quite a bit, actually.”

“Really? Why?”

“At first I would ask her how you were doing. I knew you were going through a tough time after losing your father. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He looked down thoughtfully for a brief moment. “And I admit that I’ve asked about you recently, in an innocent, non-stalker kind of way of course.” He might have actually blushed, but if he did he recovered quickly, because he was flashing that grin of his right after the words left his mouth.

“Thank you for being concerned. I hope she told you I was fine.”

“She did. She thinks a lot of you and if you haven’t noticed, she makes it her mission to—”

“My mission to what?” Ms. Sophie said playfully as she sat back down at the table.

“Your mission to watch over the people you care about, of course,” Cooper said, looking at his grandmother respectfully. He placed his hand over hers and smiled.

“Hold that smile, hon, because I can’t stay for lunch.” She looked back over towards me and very apologetically said that she had some business to take care of and it couldn’t wait. “We’ll reschedule lunch again. I promise. Why don’t the two of you go ahead and eat? I mean, you’re here. My treat.” She first gave me a kiss on the cheek and then Cooper, and she scurried off again. She didn’t even wait for a response.

“Um, I don’t know,” I said, looking at Cooper across the table.

“I don’t see any reason why we can’t sit here and have lunch. We’re hungry…and they serve food. Seems like the obvious answer is to say yes, Lily.”

“Okay, yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Huh?”

“Say it.”

“Say what?”

“Say you would like to have lunch with me.”

“I thought I just did.”

“I want you to
say
you would like to have lunch with me.”

Fine
. “Yes, I would like to have lunch with you.”

“Thank you. Was that so hard?”

“Yes, actually it was,” I said, although I couldn’t resist smiling at him.

Freak.

Lunch went surprising well. I was able to loosen up a bit more and I wasn’t as uncomfortable around Cooper, although, that may have something to do with the second mimosa I ordered. When we got up to leave he asked me for my number, saying that this way he wouldn’t have to go through his grandmother the next time he wanted to see how I was doing. Then of course he flashed his mischievous smile at me. It was kind of hard to say no to that. I typed my number into his cell phone and he waited with me for the attendant to bring my car around.

I felt good about my afternoon with Cooper. I couldn’t help wondering, though, if Ms. Sophie had set the whole thing up. I was going to have to ask her about that the next time we talked. She’d never had to leave in such a rush before.

I hadn’t been home long when I got a text message on my phone.

Making sure you made it home safely. ~ Cooper

Yes, I’m home all safe and sound. ~ Lily

Good. By the way, thank you for staying ~ Cooper

Thank you for wanting me to stay. ~Lily

Oh I definitely wanted you. To stay of course. ~ Cooper

Of course. I can also picture that grin of yours through the phone. ~ Lily

What grin? ~ Cooper

You know what grin. ~ Lily

No, I don’t. Tell me. ~ Cooper

Just then I heard a knock at the door. Still smiling, I put my phone down a minute to answer it.

“So, what grin?”

“Cooper?” A smile escaped me and even though I had just left him, I was happy to see him standing at my front door.

“What grin? You have me curious.”

“That one right there. The one you’re wearing…and…”

He stepped inside the door and moved toward me. “And, what?”

“And it drives me crazy.” Feeling embarrassed, I looked away. And although I have already noticed how tall he is, I am just now noticing how small I feel next to him.

“Really? My grin drives you crazy? I’ll have to keep that in mind.” He lingered over me for a few more seconds, minutes, hours, days— I don’t know really— and finally he moved past me. “Is it okay that I stopped by? I mean, I didn’t have anywhere I needed to be today and I thought maybe we could get to know each other better. Is it okay?”

“Um, yeah, I mean, yes. That would be…” I glanced around the room to avoid eye contact. “That would be fine, I mean good.” Sighing and looking down at my feet I breathed out. “I would like that.”

Whatever progress I had made during lunch was gone. It must have just been the alcohol. My stomach was back to summersaults.

“Listen, would you mind if I change clothes? I’m more comfortable in jeans, and I was about to change when you knocked on the door.”

“No problem. Take your time.”

“Okay, I will only be a minute. Make yourself comfortable.”

As soon as I stepped inside my bedroom and closed the door I tried breathing exercises.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out
. My heart rate slowed to a normal rhythm and could feel myself relax a bit. I chose an old, faded, worn pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt. Feeling more like myself, maybe I could walk into my own living room and not feel like I was going to have a heart attack.

“Cooper, would you like a beer?”

“Sure. Thank you.” He followed me into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

“What did you do out in Colorado before moving back here?”

“I was a Project Manager for a website design company.”

“Did you like doing that? Are you sad you’re not there anymore?”

“I liked it a lot at first. I liked having the creative edge to my work and I liked that I could make my clients happy with what I helped create for them and their businesses. But, no, I’m not sad I’m not there anymore. I do miss Maggie, though. She’s my best friend and we shared an apartment together. When I got the news about my daddy I pretty much dropped everything and came running back. I realized, I guess, that life is short and the things that seemed important then no longer seem all that important. I hate that I left in such a rush and no time really to say goodbye, but Maggie and I talk all the time. She came in for the funeral, though, and we’ll visit each other as often as we can and things will work out.” I felt like I was rambling, so I took a sip of my beer and waited for the awkwardness to settle in.

“I’m really sorry about your dad. My grandmother tells me he had a lot of friends and I’m sure he knew how much you loved him.” I could see the compassion in his eyes. It was definitely genuine.

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” I felt that lump trying to take its place again in my throat. “It’s still really hard to talk about him without crying. If you don’t mind, can we change the subject? I don’t want my mascara to run in front of you.” I tried forcing a brave smile, not really sure I was successful.

“Of course.”

“So what about you? What is it that you do?”

“I’m a software consultant. I took over for my grandfather after he died. He had started Hudson Corp several years ago and it was his wish that I run his company someday.” He looked down, choking back a memory. “It’s why I moved here. Like you, the death of a loved one brought me to this place.”

Noticing the emotion in his face and the change in his mood, I wanted to reach out and hug him, but I merely laid my hand over his and said softly, “I’m sorry about your grandfather. I know how it feels to lose a loved one.”

Looking down at me with warm eyes he replied, “I know you do, Lily.” He took his other hand and laid it across mine and we remained silent for a while. For the first time it didn’t feel awkward being so close to him, although his scent was intoxicating and that didn’t go unnoticed. God, he smelled good.

Breaking the silence, I said, “Let’s play a game.”

“What kind of game?” he said, raising one eyebrow and looking intrigued.

“Fortunately , Unfortunately. It’s a game my daddy and I used to play. Someone starts a sentence and then the next person adds to the sentence but it has to start with either ‘fortunately’ or ‘unfortunately’” alternating each time.”

“Okay, you start.”

“Alright. Fortunately, it was a hot summer day.”

“Unfortunately, it was because we were in a desert.”

“Fortunately, we had a pet camel named Lucille to take us out of the desert.”

“Unfortunately, he ran away because he was embarrassed to have a girl’s name.”

“Fortunately, he came back.”

“Unfortunately, he died.”

“Fortunately, we found a way out of the desert anyway.”

“Unfortunately, it was still hot.”

“Fortunately, we found some water.”

“Unfortunately, you spilled yours.”

“Fortunately, you shared your water with me.”