Page 61 of Stone Coast

Cooper smiled. "I'm just riding the wave of life. Going wherever it takes me."

"That sounds a lot like unemployed," I said.

Olivia giggled.

Cooper scowled at me playfully. “I can assure you, I'm very much employed, and I love my job.”

"So, what is it exactly that you do?”

"I thought you weren’t interested,” he teased.

“I’m not. But Olivia might be."

She shot me an embarrassed look. "Don't mind my friend. She's in a period of readjustment.”

"Readjustment is good,” Cooper said. “Sometimes we need to realign priorities. Reevaluate purpose.”

“What’s your purpose?”

Cooper thought about it. “To make the journey worthwhile.”

"Somewhat vague, don't you think?” I said.

Cooper smiled. "We're all going to the same place. It's how you get there that counts.”

“Right now, I’m just trying to figure out where the hell I’m going.”

“You don’t look lost to me.”

I scoffed.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Cooper said, staring at me with those sparkling eyes.

“I’m not lost,” Olivia said with a smile, not one to be left out of a conversation. “I know exactly where I’m going.”

“Where is that?” Cooper asked.

“Wherever the heart takes me.”

“And where does your heart want to go?”

She leaned in and whispered in my ear, “Are you sure you don’t want him?”

“That’s all you, kid.”

She hopped off her barstool with a smile, grabbed his hand, and pulled him onto the dance floor. They were the only ones.

Olivia didn’t waste any time showing off her moves.

I got the bartender’s attention. “Is my friend safe with that guy?”

“Coop?” He looked to the dance floor as he wiped the bar down. “He’s a good guy. He’s in here all the time.”

“I’m sure he rarely goes home alone.”

The bartender chuckled. “Coop does okay.”

The two cut it up on the dance floor for a few songs, then returned, out of breath.