“Wow,” I croak out, my mind still in a daze as my eyes flutter back open. Cooper’s thumb rubs tenderly across my now swollen bottom lip as his eyes come up to reach mine again. Flicking down to my mouth and then quickly back to my eyes, he looks torn between kissing me again and saying something.
“See, that wasn’t so hard,” he rasps, one side of his mouth tilting upward into a sexy half grin. “And that, Kate, won’t be the last time that happens. I promise you that.”
My wobbly legs carry me up the stairs, but I feel Cooper’s eyes on me every step as they lead me away. When I reach the top, I make the mistake of looking back. He’s leaning against his car, arms folded over his chest, watching me intensely with those piercing green eyes. Eyes that tell me he’s a man that keeps his promises.
Inside my apartment, I lean my head against the door for a few minutes as the haze of lust clears and my knees find their strength. Replaying Cooper’s vow in my mind, I reach up to feel my still swollen lips. And all I can think of is Oh shit.
chapter five
Cooper
“Mr. Montgomery?” Helen peeks her head in the door hesitantly. “The division heads are all in the boardroom for your weekly pitch meeting.”
I look at my watch and back to Helen. “Tell them I’ll be a few minutes.”
Helen looks confused. I’m never late and she’s no doubt wondering why I am today, since I’ve been sitting at my desk for the last hour doing absolutely nothing. I just can’t seem to concentrate this morning. She nods without saying anything else.
“Helen?” I call after her before she heads back out to her desk. “What time is Miles’s production meeting this morning?”
“I’m not sure. Let me make a quick call.”
A few minutes later she returns and hands me a few papers. “This is the schedule for the next week. Looks like the production meeting started a few minutes ago.”
I stand.
“You forgot your jacket,” Helen points out as I make my way to the door.
“Reschedule the pitch meeting to this afternoon.”
“Really?” She sounds shocked. I rarely go off schedule, especially with weekly meetings. Another trait inherited from my dad. Don’t cancel meetings, it tells people there is something more important than them. Today, that’s exactly the case.
“Make it late afternoon. I might be a while.”
Miles’s production meeting is already in full swing when I slip in unnoticed. I pick up a pad and pencil from the pile on the table in the back of the room, as if I might really take notes on anything he’s saying. He’s rambling on about the art of sexuality, but I don’t really hear a word. My brother notices me and waves, his already robust delivery of his lecture becoming even more animated for my benefit. He’s always been the showman of the family. I’m surprised he never wanted to be in front of the camera.
I nod and quickly scan the room, my eyes landing immediately on her. Unlike the other attentive women clinging to Miles’s every word, Kate is doodling something on the pad in front of her, not paying a lick of attention. It makes me smile.
“Let’s start out with an example of what is not sexy. We have some clips from the show that landed on the editing room floor. This isn’t the first day of shooting, ladies. We need to forget the cameras already.” Miles motions toward his dutiful secretary, and the concealed screen at the front of the room begins to inch down.
The video starts off with a kiss so awkward, it makes me uncomfortable just to watch it. Jenny Clark and I did better than that behind the dumpster in the back of the school in sixth grade. At least the way I remember my first kiss.
A second kiss comes on, this one a little better, but the woman looks right into the camera the second it’s over. Not exactly the voyeuristic feel my brother is going for. A few more roll across the screen, none of which hold my interest for long.
I watch as Kate glances up at the screen on occasion, but her doodling seems to have her rapt. The corner of her mouth quirks up slightly as her pencil swirls around the corner of the page. It makes me curious what she’s drawing. Then suddenly her pencil stops, she raises her head, and our gazes meet. And hold. She blinks a few times, almost as if she’s deciding if I’m really standing here or not, then her eyes widen when she decides I’m really on the other side of the room.
Amused at her reaction, I flaunt a smile and watch as she becomes flustered. Nervously, she looks to see if Miles is watching our exchange, then looks back to me. My brother is oblivious. He’s busy pausing the video so he can berate the poor women who he’s caught uncomfortably sharing a kiss with the moron bachelor.