Page 75 of Broken Heart

SKYE

For far too long, my life had been filled with so much uncertainty.

Experiencing one devastating scenario after another, it was no surprise I’d reached a point where it felt safer to remain as unattached from others as possible.

But Cooper came crashing into my life, refusing to be ignored, and quickly wore me down.

Now, I was here in my bedroom with him, and I couldn’t recall a time when I’d felt more confident about any decision I’d ever made in my life.

Maybe it was his persistence or protectiveness that brought me to this point. Perhaps it was his confidence and charm. It was possible it was a mix of all of that and then some. But no matter what it was that led me here, I didn’t have any doubt that I was precisely where I was supposed to be. I was meant to have this with him.

And so far, there wasn’t anything about it I didn’t like.

Much like I’d grown accustomed to with him, Cooper had carried me from where we’d been seated by the fire, into my house, and through it to my bedroom like he was doing it with a purpose. Like he was a man on a mission that required the utmost care and attention.

In a way, I guess that wasn’t wrong. If there was one thing I’d learned about Cooper, it was that he didn’t do anything half-heartedly. If he was going to do something, he was going to do it right.

We had only just entered my bedroom, and he was already proving that to be true.

Cooper came to a stop beside my bed, but he didn’t set me down. He held on to me—one arm around my waist, the other hand on my ass—and simply allowed his eyes to roam over every inch of my face. It was as though he was trying to memorize the look of each feature, like he wanted to commit this very moment to memory.

If that’s what he was doing, I couldn’t say I blamed him. This was one of those moments I never wanted to forget, either.

So, I gave Cooper the time to stare, to get whatever he needed from this quiet moment before we took the next step.

But after some time passed, I couldn’t continue to stare at his handsome face with my body being held tight against his and not want to act on it.

My arms had been draped over his shoulders, so I pulled them back a bit and allowed one of my hands to drift up into the dark hair at the back of his head. The other hand went to the side of his neck, where my thumb just barely stroked the underside of his jaw.

I closed the distance between our faces and gently brushed my lips against his. Cooper’s hold on me tightened, his fingertips pressing in firmly.

It was bordering on torture not to just go for it, but something about this moment made me think it was better to remain just a touch reserved. If nothing else, the tension was building slowly, and when the time came, I didn’t doubt the result would be spectacular.

I pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth before running my tongue along the seam of his lips.

That did it.

Cooper lost the battle he seemed to have been waging with himself and took control of the kiss. The second our tongues touched, each fighting for just another taste, Cooper groaned.

It had been a matter of minutes since Cooper had made me come with his fingers, and simply kissing now while he held me in his arms was enough to build me up again. I didn’t know how it was possible for Cooper to not be losing his control, considering I was barely holding on.

He kissed me a long time, exploring every inch of my mouth, until he finally broke our connection. For a moment, he rested his forehead against mine as we both fought to control our breathing.

When he pulled his face back, Cooper’s eyes were roaming over me again in a way that indicated he was still struggling with something. For a man who I’d known to be nothing but confident, it worried me.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“What?”

I shook my head slightly and noted, “You seem unsure about this.”

“I’m not unsure,” he insisted.

The fingers I had in his hair scratched his head lightly, an instinct I had to offer him reassurance. Something was telling me he wasn’t being entirely honest. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Cooper held my gaze, something dark and intense swirling in his stare. “I want you, Skye. But I’m torn.”

My belly pitched, a knot twisting inside me. Despite it, I pushed forward. “Torn? About what?”