Page 24 of Broken Heart

My eyes roamed over her, studying every feature for quite some time. Something washed over me, something primal. I wanted nothing more than to give this woman everything she deserved to have. And that was going to start with making sure she didn’t feel so alone in the world. Whatever it was going to take, I’d find a way to give her my family, even if it meant I wouldn’t have her the way I wanted.

“Stick with me, sweetheart. I’ll change your mind.”

At that moment, before she had the opportunity to respond, our server returned with our entrees and picked up our salad plates.

Then, to ease some of the concerns I knew she was feeling, I asked Skye to tell me about her favorite books. Some of that tension was instantly gone, and I started learning what I needed to do to get her to trust me.

7

COOPER

“Hey, where are you going?”

With my phone clutched in my hand, I stopped moving and turned to face Marco. We’d had a problem with one of the conche machines in the chocolate factory. The conche machines played an important role in the chocolate making process, and even if we had more than one of them, having one down disrupted the production and flow.

Marco and I, along with two other guys on the team, came down to the factory to repair the machine. We’d been working on it for the last hour, having diagnosed the problem, and it was well on its way to being fully repaired within the next two hours or so.

I still had a mountain of work to do with Liam over at the amusement park—the expansion was adding another layer of work there—and I had wanted to stop by the hotel to talk to Ivy. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do either of those things yet.

Holding my phone up in front of me, I said, “I just got a call from Wyatt. He’s with my dad and Tate, so I can only assume there’s a meeting happening.”

Marco let out a laugh. “Your favorite.”

My lip curled in disgust as I shook my head. “Yeah, right.” Jerking my head toward the conche machine, I asked, “Do you have this under control?”

“Of course, I do.”

“Alright, good. Because after I see what they need from me, I’ve got a couple other things to take care of,” I told him. “When you’re finished up with this, give me a call, and I’ll let you know where I need the three of you to go. I’ve got another crew over at the museum right now, so depending on whether anything else pops up, I might have two of you head over there and the other meet up with me.”

“No problem. I’ll talk to you in about two hours, assuming we don’t run into any problems with this,” Marco returned. “Enjoy your meeting.”

I narrowed my eyes at my best friend before turning and stalking off. It was widely known by just about everyone I oversaw in the operations and maintenance department, as well as my family members, that there was nothing I hated more than attending meetings.

The way I saw it, nothing got accomplished in meetings. At least, not the kind of work that I needed to get done. And if I was sitting in on a meeting, the things I needed to do would be delayed in getting completed.

Since my family was aware of my aversion to meetings, they tried to call me in only when it was absolutely necessary, after they’d gone through several meetings and had reached the point where my input was now required.

Although I was well aware they wouldn’t be calling me if they hadn’t reached the point where it was necessary, I still couldn’t stop myself from feeling irritated.

I left the factory and made my way to the building that housed our offices. As I rode the elevator to the floor where I’d find my family waiting, I glanced down at my phone, tapped on the screen to open my text messages, and scrolled through the most recent text string.

If there was one thing that could bring a smile to my face while I was at work, it was a simple thought of Skye. Recalling the way she looked at me or something she said had this unexplainable power to improve my mood.

When I woke up this morning, my thoughts had immediately drifted to her and our date last night. So much about what I’d learned about her life had left me stunned, but the grace and humility she continued to live with had me intrigued. There was something undeniably special about Skye, and I was convinced I’d only scratched the surface of what made her the woman she was. I wanted to know more, and she had me captivated enough to want to do whatever it took to get it.

So, believing she was going to need constant reassurance that I wasn’t going anywhere, I sent her a text this morning.

Do you think it’ll be believable?

I wanted to ask her something that would invite additional conversation, because as hectic as things were in my life, I found myself wanting to make time for Skye.

As the elevator doors opened, I slid my phone back into my pocket and made my way to Wyatt’s office.

The moment I stepped inside, my eyes narrowed, and I attempted to discern what was happening.

Not only did I find Wyatt, my dad, Malcolm, and Tate there, but my younger sister, Jules, and my mom, Evelyn, were also there.

All of them were wearing looks of excitement and were caught up in a conversation. My mom spotted me first and smiled. “Hey, Coop. How’s it going?”