Page 51 of Broken Heart

My eyes shot to him, but before I could assess whether I’d seen him in the store before, Cooper didn’t hesitate to question his best friend. “When have you ever been interested in books, let alone been to Skye’s bookstore?”

Marco and Liam both laughed as Marco replied, “I’ve read a book or two in my life, Coop. But I haven’t been to Skye’s place.” He turned his attention to me momentarily and said, “No offense.”

“None taken.”

Marco slid his eyes to the side, smirked, and declared, “Let’s just say that ever since you destroyed the front door at The Next Chapter and met Skye, you’re like a completely different guy at work.”

“You can say that again,” Liam muttered under his breath.

Curious as to what they were talking about, I twisted my neck to look at Cooper. His eyes were narrowed on Marco and Liam in a way I hadn’t ever seen. He almost looked… menacing.

“Yeah, I think we’re going to have to wait until Tate or I call a meeting to be certain the change is here to stay,” Wyatt added.

A wave of confusion washed over me as I looked around, hoping somebody was going to offer some additional explanation.

Ivy cottoned on and announced, “I get the feeling Skye hasn’t met the real Cooper yet.”

My body tensed.

The real Cooper?

I wasn’t quite sure I knew what that meant, but I was certain I didn’t like the way it made me feel.

“Wh… what’s going on?” I stammered.

“Jeez, you guys are the worst sometimes,” Cooper declared.

“Everyone is just joking around,” Tate insisted. “I’m sure Skye has seen your moody side already.”

I raised a curious brow. Cooper? Moody?

Normally, in a situation like this, I’d have sat back and said nothing. But something came over me and I rushed to Cooper’s defense. “I’ve never seen anything like that,” I told them. “Cooper’s the sweetest, gentlest man I’ve ever met.”

If I thought I’d been shocked by them calling him moody, it was evident I’d done the very same in return by telling them the truth about who I knew Cooper to be, because several of their jaws dropped open, and those who kept their lips pressed together couldn’t stop their eyes from looking as though they might fall out of their heads.

My focus returned to Cooper. “Am I missing something?”

His hand rubbed my thigh as he shook his head. If I hadn’t been so distressed about the possibility of Cooper being someone other than who I believed he was, I didn’t think I would have been able to ignore how much I liked the feel of what his hand was doing and that I wanted to feel it in other places.

But I was worried I’d somehow misjudged him—or that he’d kept a side of him completely hidden from me—so I couldn’t pay attention to much else besides that.

“No, you’re not,” he assured me. “My family is simply getting on my case, because just as I’m a man of action in my personal life, which I don’t think you would disagree with, I’m the same when it comes to my work. Wyatt and Tate don’t mind having meetings. I think if they could be in meetings all day, every day, they’d do it. I’d rather be getting something accomplished instead of sitting around. That’s all.”

If there was one thing I could believe, it was that Cooper was a man of action. After that piece of wood flew through my front door, he walked in and promised to take care of it. When Maria showed up unannounced and unwanted, he stepped in and pretended to be my boyfriend. He’d put so much effort into getting to know me, and he made our night last night wonderful.

I guess I could easily understand why his family might have thought he was moody, especially if they made him sit around in a meeting when he much preferred to work with his hands.

Of course, those thoughts all led to me relaxing enough to recognize his hand was still rubbing my thigh. Cooper liked using his hands a lot, and I started envisioning those hands on other parts of my body.

A shiver ran down my spine. Cooper noticed, halted the movement of his hand, and asked, “Does that help explain it?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Of course, it does,” Jules declared. “And shame on the rest of you for giving him a hard time for being happier while he’s at work. If meeting Skye has made that happen for him, you should be thanking her.”

“He’s already agreed to build you a bakery, Jules,” Tate noted. “No need to butter him up.”

“Oh, stop it,” Wendy ordered. I was surprised Cooper’s grandmother was so firm, but I probably shouldn’t have been. Mine had been the same way. “We want Skye to come back. And we want Rhea sticking around, too. So, how about you all just finish eating and distract yourselves with some volleyball in the pool before we have dessert?”