Page 2 of September’s Bad Boy: Cooper (Bad Boys of Mustang Mountain #9)

RILEY

I haven't seen him since the kiss.

It’s only been a few days, but my mind keeps looping the moment like a scene on a projector reel. That flash of heat. His lips. The way time folded in on itself and nothing else mattered but the space between us. I’d acted on pure instinct, with no hesitation. Something I haven’t done in years.

Talking to myself, I grumble, “You couldn’t have picked a worse time, Coop. I have grant applications due for the town council and the library board, and now I have to deal with this too?” I mutter, pushing my laptop closed.

I try to clear my head of all things Cooper as I get ready to head into town and run some errands.

Now, standing in front of Nelson’s Mercantile, the weight of that kiss presses on me. My lips still tingle when I think about it. I run my fingers along the strap of my canvas bag, trying to shake it off. I’m here for groceries. Errands. Not... not him.

But Mustang Mountain has a habit of putting people in your path right when you're not ready to see them.

It’s hot out, late summer clinging on like a stubborn habit, and my tank top sticks to my spine under my flannel.

The air conditioning hits me in a rush as the bell above the door jingles.

It smells of coffee and pine cleaner inside.

The comfort of familiarity and home. I let out a breath and walk down the aisles.

I’m juggling a list in my head—bread, granola, coffee—and trying to remember if I promised to bring lemon bars to Kinley’s dinner later. I’m halfway through mentally reviewing whether I have enough eggs when I round the corner near the produce section.

And I see him.

Cooper Montgomery.

He’s standing by the shelf of canned tomatoes, holding a flyer in one hand and a box of tea in the other, and still somehow, he’s the reason my heart’s lodged in my throat.

Like he didn’t completely disarm me with a single look just a few days ago.

He’s wearing the same dark shirt stretched across his shoulders, work-worn jeans, and boots.

My breath catches. Even though I don’t move, he sees me.

Our eyes collide, and heat jolts through me.

I step back instinctively, and my foot catches on the edge of a wooden crate full of peaches. The basket in my hand tips. Fruit goes flying, and I yelp as my balance pitches forward.

Strong hands catch me before I hit the floor.

One arm braces around my waist, pulling me against a broad chest. The other cups my elbow, steady and firm. I’m not falling anymore, but I’m not standing either.

I’m caught. Again .

His scent hits me—clean soap, cedar, a hint of leather—and the world stops spinning. For a full breath, we don’t move. I feel his heart beating under my palms. Fast. Or maybe that’s mine.

"You okay?" he murmurs.

His voice is soft but gruff, like he’s trying not to startle me. I nod, barely breathing, cheeks blazing. Forcing myself to take a step back, I feel the heat crawling up my neck.

"Yeah. Sorry," I say, voice too high. "I wasn’t looking."

He lifts a brow, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. "Yeah, I noticed."

There’s tension in the air, taut and fragile. Like the moment before a thunderstorm.

When we both kneel to pick up the peaches, our hands brush, and the spark that follows is instant and causes my stomach to flip.

I can’t shake the memory of the kiss, how it unfolded with the force of fate—inevitable, undeniable.

The way he didn’t lean in with expectation. Just... let me take the lead.

He presses a peach into my hand, his fingers lingering. I fumble as I try to drop it in my basket.

"Thanks," I say, even though that word doesn’t come close to what I’m really feeling.

He nods but doesn’t move away. We just... hover.

My gaze drops to the floor, then lifts to meet his. I shouldn’t. It’s a mistake. But I do it anyway. He’s looking at me the same way he did that night, making sure I was okay.

I’m at college in Whitefish, visiting a sports bar off campus.

I’m there for a friend’s birthday. She is turning twenty-one and we have just been out a few weeks ago celebrating my twenty-first birthday at a different bar.

Loud music, too many drinks, the kind of place where everyone pretends they’re safer than they are.

I’ve been laughing. Flirting maybe. Just a little.

Just enough to attract the attention of someone I don’t know well.

I step outside to call a friend to pick us up because we all had too much to drink, and there is no way any of us can drive back to our dorm.

Then the guy I’d been flirting with is pressed up behind me. His hand finds my waist. Then lower. Breath hot and wet against my neck. I freeze as he moves us toward the shadow of the building. I say no.

I shout no! Then louder a second time.

He doesn’t listen.

Suddenly, like a shadow from nowhere, Cooper appears.

I had no idea he was working security there to put Jason through college.

When I stepped outside, I didn’t even know he’d been watching me from across the room.

But the second he saw what was happening, he stepped in.

Pulled the guy off of me and then took a hit when the guy retaliated.

Cooper gave better than he got, and it escalated fast. The guy’s friends jumped in, and the cops were called.

And because Cooper already had a record from his younger years, he was the one who paid for it.

He went to jail for saving me. And I never got the chance to say thank you.

Not really.

I blink back to the present.

"Riley," he says. My name on his lips still does things to me I don’t want to name.

I glance up. "Yeah?"

He opens his mouth, but before he can speak, Ruby’s voice calls from behind the counter.

"Cooper! Your paperwork’s up here!"

He hesitates. Nods toward the front. "I should..."

"Of course," I say too fast. I grip my basket tighter. "Right. Go ahead."

He walks off, but I don’t move for a second.

I turn to the cooler section, pretending to browse. The glass doors are fogged slightly, and I can see my reflection. My cheeks are pink, my eyes too bright.

What is this?

Ruby materializes beside me as if she’s been waiting for the perfect moment. "So... you and Cooper, huh?"

I shoot her a warning look. "Don’t."

She lifts her hands in surrender, but her grin says otherwise. "I’m just saying. You two lit up the entire store. It’s like watching a slow-burn soap opera."

"Ruby."

"Alright, alright. I’ll back off. But for the record, I’m rooting for you. That man needs someone who believes in him. And I know you do."

I say nothing, but her words hit deeper than I’d like to admit. Shaking my head, I start toward the register, hoping to escape before my face combusts.

That’s when my phone buzzes.

Pulling it out, I glance at the screen and see a text from Luna. She used to babysit me, and I always thought she was fun to be around. We have been hanging out since I came back to town a few months ago.

Luna: Jason’s back. Just saw him at the garage. Still full of himself. Warned me about you and Cooper. Said you’ve “clearly forgotten the past.” What a jerk.

My stomach twists. I stop dead in the middle of the aisle.

Jason. Cooper’s son and my ex. It’s been four years since the night Cooper saved me. Jason and I broke up not long after that, and since he was a year behind me in college, I never really ran into him. I graduated three years ago, and I took a job in Bozeman before coming back to Mustang Mountain.

Of course he’s back. Because the universe likes to make things complicated. Because just when I think I might move forward, the past comes walking back in with all its arrogance and judgment.

Jason, who dismissed my fear. Who told me I was overreacting. Who made excuses for the man who hurt me. Who called Cooper a criminal and me a fool.

Jason, who was never brave enough to stand up for anyone but himself.

Anger bubbles up fast and hot. Not just at him, but at the version of myself that let him hold so much power over me. I’d shrunk for him. Doubted myself. Questioned my truth.

But not anymore.

I glance toward the counter where Cooper is talking quietly with Ruby. He looks calm. Strong. Nothing like the man Jason always tried to make him out to be.

Jason doesn’t know him. He never did.

And maybe I didn’t either. Not fully. But I want to.

I want to know who Cooper is now. Who he’s become.

Straightening my shoulders, I slide my phone back into my pocket and walk toward the front.

Cooper glances up as I reach the register. The moment our eyes connect, the chaos inside me stills. Clarity and a choice.

I don’t look away.

Whatever this is, whatever it becomes, I want to be the one who decides.

Even if it terrifies me.