Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
“It’s not manipulation.” Cooper didn’t like the word. “It’s about figuring out how to get her what she needs when she doesn’t think she needs it. Things like affection and taking care of her. So if I stop by a bakery on my way to work, I pick up a chocolate croissant because she’ll tell herself she doesn’t need the carbs. But if I paid for it, she doesn’t want to waste the money.”
Ian shrugged. “All right. I’ll give you that, but it’s still a way to top her. A sneaky top. Now you have to figure out what will make her comfortable in bed. And you need to do it fast, son. If you give her a couple of days, she’ll talk herself out of it. But if it was right there and presented in a way she understands, then maybe…”
Oh, he had his thinking cap on. Big Tag could come up with a plan. “What are you planning?”
A smile hit the big guy’s face.
An evil smile. Cooper sighed because this was absolutely going to be embarrassing.
* * * *
Kala stepped out of the conference room, ready to pretty much run and hide. A cowardly thing to do, but here she was. She’d tried to dip her toe into the ocean, and now she felt like she was drowning.
And she definitely hadn’t known how to swim.
“Hey.” Her sisters moved in, Kenzie taking the lead, but Tash close behind. “I think we should talk.”
The last thing she wanted to do was talk. She was so done talking. Talking was what got her in trouble in the first place. Or maybe she should have talked more to Cooper and then she would have realized it wouldn’t work.
It hadn’t worked. It was an actual ache in her gut, and she finally understood how much she’d been counting on having a few weeks with him. A month or two. A year, tops. She could have sunk into it, guarding herself, of course. She could have put off making decisions.
“I don’t think Zach has a reason to bomb Dr. Walsh, if that’s what you’re asking.” She knew it wasn’t, but she wasn’t doing this here. “We’ll know more when Lou gets a look at the bomb. Way to get yourself a free trip to Stockholm, bestie.”
Lou was coming out of the conference room, TJ behind her. She looked at Kenzie and Tasha, obviously taking in the scene. “You guys, you know better than to corner her. She’ll talk about it when she’s ready to talk about it. You’ll do way better offering her late-night waffles. Somewhere in the middle of her third she might drop a moment of truth.”
Her bestie knew her way better than anyone else. Even her twin. She and Kenzie loved each other but didn’t always understand the other’s motivations and actions. Like Ben Parker. Ick. She did not get the attraction. He was cold and ruthless. He was an obvious playboy, an agent who used his looks and magnetism to get what he wanted. She would always have to question his intentions. Cooper was earnest. A woman tended to know where she stood with him.
Shit. She was like Parker. It was an opposites-attract thing. Coop was the Kenzie in this situation.
Damn. She was always the bad guy.
“I’m afraid I’m not hungry tonight.” Kala started down the hallway. She wanted to get home and get to bed and be alone. The only problem was she’d come with Lou and TJ. She needed to be less dependent. She was their constant third wheel, and it had to grate. The last thing she wanted to do was fuck up her best friend’s relationship.
Why hadn’t Cooper come out of the conference room? She glanced back and her mom was exiting, talking to Tristan. The door closed and Kala stopped, waiting for it to open again.
Shit and balls. There were only two people left in that room. Cooper was in there and so was her dad, and the chance that they were talking about the op was zilch.
“Who told Dad?”
Everyone seemed to take a step back as though she could take them out with a mere glare.
Her mother stepped in. “It wasn’t your sisters. They won’t give me anything. It was him.”
She pointed Tristan’s way, and he paled. “I didn’t. I said something offhand because it’s…I…okay, I might have mentioned in a casual way some of the events of the evening. It’s not like he wouldn’t find out. But like I said…”
She punched him. Right in the nose. Let Aidan set the fucker. He was somewhere in the building. Tristan had two people he could count on, and both of them had MDs. He didn’t need to go around tattling on her like a fucking toddler.
Tristan groaned, putting a hand over his nose. “Damn it, Kala. You can’t expect to sleep with Cooper after five thousand years and not have anyone talk about it.”