Page 38

“Damn.”

“Yeah,” she agreed.

Lightning streaked across the sky in a dozen little forks over the valley and thunder cracked, spooking the horses, tugging the reins that Cooper held tight. The puppies burrowed against them as well, still shivering.

“I’m single by choice,” she went on, ignoring the drama in the sky. “I won’t put my son through another disappointment. I . . . don’t need anyone.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Or is that because Summer Boy stomped all over your heart?”

She exhaled a laugh and pushed away from him. “He did, but I got over it. You don’t know me, Cooper, or what I want.”

“Maybe. But I’d like to,” he said, his voice low, his gaze focused on her. “Know you.”

She hugged her arms across her chest. “We shouldn’t be talking about this.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “You’re right. It’s a bad idea. We might actually find out we kinda like each other.”

She blinked up at him, indignant. “I don’t. Like you.”

His gaze was on her mouth. “Right. So . . . if I kissed you right now, you’d probably fire me.”

Shock rippled through her. But she imagined it. Suddenly and completely. She imagined his mouth on hers. The taste of him. “Definitely,” she lied.

He grinned. “I’d better not then.”

Disappointment, however idiotic, caught up with her bravado. “Why would you even say that? About kissing me?”

“Because,” he said, tilting his head back against the rock wall, “if I’m honest, I’ve been thinking about kissing you since that first day at the auction.”

“No, you have not.”

“Longer than that, actually. That summer? The one with Summer Boy? I came home from college intending to ask you out. I’d finally buffed up that year, grew a few more inches. I thought maybe you’d finally notice me. But turned out, I was too late. You never even saw me.”

“What?” Rain splashed down from the rocks above them. She shivered again.

“It’s true. You really didn’t know?”

“No. I didn’t.” She sat and shivered for a whole minute before going on. “But . . . as long as we’re being brutally honest here, you’re wrong. I did notice you that summer. Before that, even. But I had no idea that—”

“That I liked you? Why would you? I was painfully shy. I couldn’t risk it.”

“Risk what? Me turning you down?”

“Something like that.”

“Hah,” she breathed, but it wasn’t a laugh. More like regret. She exhaled deeply. “Ironic. Sometimes, I wonder what I saw in him—Ethan. Why I was so foolish and determined to alter the direction of my life? It was all because of Ryan, I guess. He’s one thing I’d never change. But just so you know, in high school, I might have had a little crush on you, the smartest boy in the class. But I was sure I could never be interesting enough for you.”

“But you were a cheerleader,” he said, stating the obvious. “And . . . popular.”

“Well, I was a cheerleader.” Whatever everyone thought about her, however she’d managed to trick everyone into believing her I’ve-got-things-handled persona, there was a reason she’d allowed herself to fall in love with Ethan Bradley, a boy who never had any intention of loving or protecting her. A boy who got what he wanted from her and couldn’t be bothered with the consequences.

Now, Cooper pulled her against him again. She didn’t fight him. She felt chilled to the bone. It was only his warmth keeping her teeth from chattering. He pressed his face against her hair, and she felt his breath warm against her skull.

“Shay?”