I could feel the tension in him and quickly dove at him, grabbing his arm and holding him down to the couch when I knew he wanted to get up and…
What?
Pace?
Or hunt down Steve and beat the shit out of him?
Panic flooded me at the thought of him getting into trouble over that bastard, and tears, unbidden, burned my eyes as they began to pool along the lashes and spill forth.
He groaned at the sight and stopped trying to pull away from me. Turning toward me, he gently cupped my chin and reached forward to press the most tender of kisses to my lips. “I want to kill him,” he breathed against my mouth.
His words didn’t exactly inspire me with confidence, but at the same time, it was so wonderful to be believed that an odd sense of relief filled me.
Steve had never gone too far. Had never made me feel like he was going to force me to do something I didn’t want, but he was lewd and aggressive. He invaded my personal space, said things to me that made me embarrassed and uncomfortable. I hated the position he put me in, not only as a woman, but as Clarice’s best friend.
Knowing that if I revealed the truth to her she wouldn’t believe me, instead believing more in the reflection she saw back in the mirror, had cut deeper into my confidence.
But, without saying a word, Cooper had understood more than I’d wanted him to.
I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to his. “He never hurt me,” I whispered, meaning it and hoping he sensed my sincerity.
“No, maybe not physically,” Cooper said slowly, apparently reading into my words with a skill belonging to a trained interrogator. “But emotionally… the bastard.” The last word was a hiss.
I gulped. “I’m fine.”
“Why haven’t you told Clarice?”
There was no judgment to his tone, no reprimand. Just surprise. “She wouldn’t believe me.”
Silence fell at my words, then he snorted. “That girl is too vain by half.”
I couldn’t stop the grin from curving along my lips at yet more accuracy on his behalf.
“Are you a mind reader or something?” I asked, letting my arms curl around his shoulders, needing to be as close to him as I could be.
Not only to make sure he wouldn’t leave me and head off to beat the shit out of a man who didn’t deserve a moment of our consideration, but also because I needed him. Maybe more at that moment than I ever had in the past.
With a sigh, he hugged me too. “I’m not a mind reader. I just know you.”
And God, that was the truth. He did, and that was why I did love him. Even though I only ever thought it and never said it aloud.
Cooper was different. Special.
He knew what I didn’t say, understood what I couldn’t. He accepted and embraced me for who and what I was… how could I not love him?
“Is this why—” He broke off.
“Is this why?” I asked, motioning him to speak by gently kissing his lips.
His total certainty in me deserved no less than him asking me something I knew had to be on his mind, and for once, I didn’t mind answering.
“Is this why we’re waiting?”
Even though I knew that was the question, and even though I wasn’t scared by it because again, there was zero judgment in his voice, memories swelled in my head.
“Maybe.”
He stiffened. “Who hurt you?”