At the bar, my brothers had snagged a long table to accommodate everyone.
“I stopped by the inn to check on Cooper, and he was working by himself," Morgan said.
"Really?" I asked, not wanting to give anything away. I was worried about Cooper and wondering if he'd be here for the event, if only to support me. But instead, he'd hid out at the inn.
Morgan nodded. "I'm worried about him. He's been working long hours. Now that we're busy in our personal lives, I'm concerned that he's taking on too much."
"He's seemed fine when I've talked to him," I said blandly as if we weren't intimately acquainted.
Morgan placed his elbows on the table. "Mom's talking about setting you up on blind dates."
"What?" I asked, my heart skipping a beat.
A teasing smile spread across his face. "I guess she wants you to settle down."
"I don't want to be set up on a blind date." Not when I was having amazing sex with Cooper.
He raised a brow. "Tell that to Mom."
"Ugh. I can't believe this, and it's all your fault." I reached across the table to poke his arm, which was the only thing I could reach.
"How so?"
"You're all seeing someone now, and I'm the only single one. Of course Mom is going to focus on me. She probably thinks if I meet someone steady, they'll convince me to get a career and stick with a job. Maybe even have a family."
"She didn't say that," he said carefully, as if he was afraid of my reaction.
I rolled my eyes. "We both know that's what she's thinking."
He winked at me. "She wants you to be happy."
"I am happy. When will she understand that my life doesn't have to look like hers?" I grumbled, sick of people interfering in my life.
"I just wanted to warn you what she was up to, so that you're prepared," he said.
"Tell her to mind her own business."
He just gave me a look. "I'd rather not be the center of her attention. She'll want us to start popping out babies."
"Hudson and Angela are having one." I pointed at Hudson, who was looking at his phone.
"It's not enough. She wants everyone to have babies," Morgan drawled.
I dropped my head into my hands. "I can't have my mother picking my dates."
Maverick rubbed my back. "I'm sorry, sis."
"Tell Mom you're seeing someone," Hudson said, setting his phone down.
I couldn't tell Mom I was seeing anyone. She'd want to know who it was, and I could never tell her that. "I forgot I need to check on something."
Everyone nodded, probably assuming it was a town-event-coordinator kind of thing. I headed toward the inn, hoping that Cooper was still there. I walked through the empty lobby and into the ballroom. The lights were off. He'd probably gone home for the night.
Was it crazy to go to his house? Was that outside the bounds of our relationship, whatever that was? We'd only interacted physically when we'd run into each other at work. We hadn't gone on any dates. There was that one dinner at his house, but that was supposed to be business.
I needed a release, an escape from the pressure of everything in my life, the job, and my parents. It was too much. I felt shaky as I got into my SUV and drove toward Cooper's house.
At any point in time, I could have turned around. I could have come to my senses and kept the boundary we'd set in this relationship. What I was doing was crossing a line. I shouldn't be driving to his house with the hopes of having sex with him.