Get a Clue(91)
She lifted the light and stepped closer, her boot heel catching on an icy patch. The next thing she knew, her feet slid out from beneath her and she was down, the flashlight bouncing twice before going out.
In the dark above her, Cooper sighed at the loss. “You okay? Anything broken?”
“Just my butt, and possibly my pride.”
In the pitch darkness, a hand slipped beneath her elbow and lifted her up. Another hand slid over the butt in question. “Feels good to me. Your pride’ll heal, too.”
“But the flashlight won’t.”
“No.” The disconcerting darkness reigned, and that eerie, utter silence of the woods all around them.
Except for the very distant call of a coyote.
Breanne shifted closer to Cooper, hating the weakness, but hating even more the thought of facing a wild animal out here.
“Did you see?” he asked quietly. “Before you slipped?”
“I saw,” she said, and hugged herself. “I saw the BB gun in the backseat. Oh, my God, Cooper. This is insane. Bloody towels, bloody gloves. Edward’s shoe . . . What does it all mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Blind as a bat and disoriented with it, she shivered. Cooper pulled her closer. “Come on,” he said, and nudged her around toward the house. “Back inside.”
“It’s just as cold in there.”
“I’ll warm you up.”
“It’s also just as dark in there.”
“I’ll be your light.”
She managed to find a laugh. “That was hopelessly corny.”
“Yeah,” he said in disgust. “I’m not that great at romance.”
Breanne set her head on his capable, sturdy shoulder as he led her inside. “I think you’re better at this than you think you are.”
Breanne woke at the crack of dawn and opened one eye. She was sprawled facedown over most of the bed with all of the covers.
There was a big, warm hand on her butt.
Lifting her head, she turned and found Cooper on his side, head propped on his hand, watching her.#p#分页标题#e#
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey, back.” Leaning in, he kissed her. “Time to rise and shine, Princess. Today is the day we get the hell out of Dodge.”
Sounded good.
And yet . . . She looked into his see-all blue eyes and pictured her life back home. Searching for a new job. A new place to live. Seeing her friends and family.
Would Cooper really be interested in that life? He’d said so.
Could she trust him enough to believe it?
“I can see the wheels spinning,” he said. “Want to share?”
She looked at him, trying to find the words to express her fears, her worry, but none came. “It’s nothing.”
If he was disappointed, he didn’t let it show. He just kissed her, then rolled out of bed and took his fantastic body into the bathroom.
Breanne stretched, rolling to her back, eyeing her Palm Pilot, which was on the nightstand. She reached for it, figuring she had a new entry to make, something along the lines of enjoying the moment because that moment was about to be over.
Only there was already an entry for today. It read: Keep Cooper.
Keep Cooper? “What does that mean?” she murmured out loud.
“Just that,” Cooper said from the bathroom doorway, one hand propping up the jamb. “Or better yet . . .” He pushed away and came closer. Naked. “Take a chance on me.”
“Cooper.” Her heart lodged in her throat.
“Come on, Bree. I’m falling hard here. Fall with me.”
Lodged in her throat and swelled. “It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m bad at it.” She let out a low laugh, inviting him to laugh with her, but he didn’t. He wasn’t kidding. “You know my track record,” she said. “I fail at these things, with a regularity you could take to a bookie and make millions.”
“If you never try, you’ve failed before you’ve begun.”
“I have tried.”
“No, you went through the motions, but you’ve never really put yourself out there. Not like you did with me.”
“Cooper.” Words failed. She shook her head. “You scare me, you know that? All the way to the bone.”
“You either want to see me outside of here, or you don’t.”
“This is about more than that, and you know it,” she said. “We already know we’re sexually compatible. Now you’re asking me if it can be more.”
“Why can’t it?” he asked. “I like you. You like me. Let’s take it where it goes.”
“But how will we know if it’s right? How will we ever know?”