He smiled. “Maybe I was waiting for you.”
Oh, he shouldn’t say things like that. Her silly heart was doing ridiculous somersaults.
“There are things we need to talk about, I know there are, but all I can think about is kissing you.” His gaze fell to her lips. “Do you taste as sweet as I remember?”
She stretched her legs out and tapped his thigh with her foot. “Would you like an answer to that question?” From the moment he’d sat down next to her at The Tipsy Turtle bar, and she’d looked into those warm chocolate eyes, there had been chemistry. There still was.
“I would very much like an answer.” He put his hands around her ankles and pulled her to him, then took her bottle and set it on the coffee table with his.
She stared into his eyes again and the five years between then and now disappeared. And when his lips brushed over hers as light as a feather, goose bumps prickled across her skin. He brought his hands up, cradling her face, and deepened the kiss.Her eyes slid closed, and all she felt was his mouth possessively on hers and the stroke of his thumbs over her cheeks. It had been this way that night. Nothing existed but him and his touch, his scent, his heat.
He lifted his head and smiled. “Sweeter than I remembered. If you only knew how many times I wished I could kiss you again.”
Same.She traced her fingers along his jawline, feeling the roughness of his stubble beneath her touch. She wanted to ask him where they went from here. Aside from her one night with him that she thought would never be repeated because she’d never see him again, she wasn’t one who could have an affair with an expiration date. Which would be the case for them.
She lived in a different state, had a good job and, most importantly, was a mother. If she was single, different story, but she wasn’t. He was Livie’s father, and she wanted him in Livie’s life, but a relationship between the two of them would be complicated. Maybe too complicated.
“More deep thinking going on there.” He tapped her forehead. “Talk to me.”
“I—”
Livie screamed, then began crying. “Mommy!”
Chapter 12
Cooper’s heart dropped to his stomach when Livie screamed. The anguish and fear in her voice tore at him. He followed Kendall as she ran to the room. Livie was sitting up in the middle of the bed crying her little heart out. He flipped the light switch on.
“Sweetheart,” Kendall said, scooping Livie up.
Livie wrapped her arms and legs around Kendall. “Mommy, the bad man came.”
“Oh, honey, it was just a dream. The bad man isn’t here.”
“He was!”
Cooper wasn’t sure if he’d make it worse by approaching her, but he couldn’t stand back while his little girl was hurting and afraid. He eased up next to Kendall. “Livie, I promise the bad man isn’t here. I wouldn’t let him come here, and I’m way bigger and stronger than he is.”
She lifted water-filled eyes to his. “You promise?”
Just go and slay me, little girl.That she trusted him to keep her safe humbled him. He tapped his chest. “With all my heart, I promise.”
“Let’s get you back to bed,” Kendall said.
“You stay, Mommy.”
“I will, but I need to put on my jammies, okay?”
Livie shook her head. “No. You stay.”
“What if I stay with you while your mommy puts on her jammies?” Had he ever before now said the wordjammies?Pretty sure he hadn’t. What other words would he learn to use because of his daughter? He couldn’t wait to find out.
“Cooper will stay with you while I change, okay? I’ll only be a few minutes.”
Livie looked from Kendall to him, and he had the feeling she was judging his ability to keep her safe. Then, surprising him—and Kendall by the expression on her face—Livie held out her arms to him. It was a momentous moment, and he was overwhelmed by the trust she put in him and the deep-seated protectiveness he already had for his child.
Kendall pulled some clothes from her suitcase, and after she left the room, he sat on the edge of the bed with Livie wrapped around him. It was the first time he held his little girl, and he swallowed against the lump in his throat as he gently rocked her.
“Did you know that princesses have magic powers?”