Page 78 of Broken Heart

Cooper held my gaze for a beat. Then he pulled out and rolled off of me, so we could both get ourselves cleaned up.

After the orgasms he’d just given me, my body would have been happy to roll over, curl up, and drift off. But my heart would have been devastated to not follow Cooper wherever he decided to go.

23

SKYE

I didn’t want to ruin the moment.

Cooper and I were back in my bed—he was on his back with one arm wrapped around my body, which was half on top of his. We were both naked, and everything felt perfect.

This whole day had been nothing short of spectacular.

I had something I wanted to ask Cooper, but I was worried that by doing so, I’d wreck this. And that was the last thing I wanted to happen.

But I should have known that Cooper was on to me before I even had a chance to consider how to approach the situation. “I thought you liked what I gave you tonight,” he said.

“I did,” I assured him, lifted my head from his chest to look at him.

“So, why, after having multiple orgasms, are you so tense?” he questioned me.

I pressed my lips together. This man’s ability to know when something wasn’t right with me was as comforting as it was eerie. It was nice to know he paid enough attention to me that he could recognize when I was in distress, but if I ever thought I’d be able to hide anything from him, there was no question I’d be unsuccessful.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you,” I murmured.

Cooper lifted his hand to the side of my face, where he stroked his thumb along my cheek. “And that’s making you nervous or worried?”

I pushed my cheek into his palm, loving the feel of his working hands on me. “Maybe a little bit.”

“Ask me whatever you want to ask me, sweetheart,” he urged me. “You have nothing to worry about, no matter what it is.”

I closed my eyes and inhaled a deep breath, opening them only after I’d released it. Following a beat of silence, I asked, “Would you stay with me tonight?”’

The only way to describe the look on Cooper’s face would be to say he seemed utterly dumbfounded by my question. “Why would asking me that question make you nervous?”

“I don’t know. I guess I don’t want you to think I’m suddenly going to start demanding all of your time or something like that,” I explained, my voice trembling. “I promise that’s not who I am.”

Cooper’s fingers shifted away from my face and sifted through my hair to the bare skin on my back. He flattened his palm to the middle of my back and asked, “Do you honestly believe I’d just fuck you and walk away like this meant nothing? Like you mean nothing?”

I swallowed hard at his admission. Granted, I didn’t necessarily believe I meant nothing to him. Cooper had made it clear he had an appreciation for me and that there was something special happening between us that went beyond physical attraction. But there was something about hearing him say those words aloud that left me with an indescribable feeling of reassurance.

Shaking my head, I answered quietly, “No, I guess not. I was just really hoping you could spend the night with me.”

He stroked his hand up and down my back. “Before you even mentioned it, I intended to do that.”

Relief swept through me, a small smile spreading across my face. I was slightly embarrassed, so I dropped my head down against his body again. Cooper didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around me and shift his body, so we were both on our sides, facing one another.

“Can I talk to you about something?” he asked.

I pulled my head back from his chest, looked up at him, and countered, “About what?”

“When we were outside, you said something about not being able to sleep for months,” he began. “I’m curious what that’s about.”

Evidently, I’d gotten myself caught up in all that I was feeling when I was sharing my fears with him earlier. I forgot that I’d said anything to him about that, but if I’d been paying attention and was more careful about it, I didn’t think it was something I would have necessarily shared. Now, I had no choice but to discuss it.

“It started after I learned the truth about Simon and Maria,” I admitted. “The first week or so was very rough. I barely got any sleep at all. Then it got to a point where I’d manage to fall asleep, but at some point in the middle of the night, I’d wake up, and no matter how hard I tried or how tired I actually felt, I couldn’t fall back asleep. My mind wouldn’t shut down; I was constantly thinking about what they did to me and how much it hurt to know they could betray me like that.”

“And you’re still having trouble sleeping?” he pressed.