Justin was rich by inheritance. There was no avoiding that. But as an inventor? He was also a millionaire by that measure too.
There was an irony to the fact that the guy who had everything could invent shit for the humble, everyday man.
His inventions were never grandiose, technological revelations. They were usually small and involved making everyday chores easier.
For a man who paid people to do his everyday chores, he was surprisingly canny at figuring out which gadgets they’d need to simplify them.
Or, maybe that came from a lifetime of watching other people do shit for him… whichever way, if Cooper grabbed this account, it would definitely be good for his resume.
“Do you think Leviathan and Dronig will bite?”
He snorted. “Do bears shit in the woods? I didn’t realize Gandy was the man behind DaILay.”
She bit her lip. “Well, he is. But his cousins deal with the corporate side of things.”
“Yeah. I know. But he’s the Managing Director, Lauren. Having this account will really change the way my bosses view me.” He smiled, but there was something to the smile that told me he wasn’t telling me everything. Not that I felt he was keeping secrets from me, but he and Justin… Saying that it seemed like they’d been in cahoots these past couple of days probably made me sound paranoid. “Plus, it will mean my staying here for chunks of time,” he was saying. “The personal touch is pretty much the only way I get anything done with Justin.”
I nodded. “Justin has the mental capacity of Stephen Hawking but the attention span of a toddler.”
He laughed. “I’ll be sure to tell my VP that.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Do whatever if it means to have you coming back here.”
I didn’t tack on the words ‘to me’, but I knew he heard them. His gaze softened, and he let out a sigh as he pressed our foreheads together.
“I’m in the ad industry, sweetheart. If anyone knows how to make a pitch, it’s me.”
I slid my hands around his waist. “You really do want to be here, don’t you, Coop?”
He sighed. “How can you even doubt that?”
I bit my lip. “You never wanted to be here before. I know you always hated Maine.”
“Only because I knew success was in New York.” He shrugged. “I have that in spades. Now, I want more.”
He reached down and pressed his hands to the bottom of my spine. He pushed gently, bringing our torsos together. I felt his erection against my belly, and felt the answering wave of heat unfurl throughout me.
Releasing a shaky breath, I whispered, “I need you to come back to me, Coop.”
“And I need you, period,” he said, his tone just as heartfelt. Gravelly with his emotion.
We weren’t highly strung, emotive people. But together, we kind of were.
It was like years of being separated, years of denying our feelings for one another and being made to live apart, had changed us. Made us needy in certain ways.
I knew I couldn’t let him leave without showing him how much I needed him. Even though fear still filled me; what if he left and didn’t come back?
What if his company refused to let him stay on here to manage Justin’s account?
What if? What if? What if?
None of that mattered though. Not when the only certainty was that I couldn’t let this man leave my life again without knowing him fully.
My one regret had always been that we’d never connected in the one way that mattered.
I couldn’t go another seven minutes without knowing all of him. Never mind seven days or seven months.
Shuddering, I reached up and pressed my mouth to his. My lips trembled, and nerves flooded me. But it was a good feeling.