It was a stuffed box. I hurried back and sorted through the massive stack. There were some bills, most of which were autopays, I was pretty sure. Then there were envelopes addressed to the parents of, more college stuff, and three letters to me.
I separated those out and then carried the ones for Mom to her room. I kept the “To the Parents of”—she never wanted to read them anyway unless they were something important. Even if she hadn’t been home the night before, I knocked on the door anyway and waited.
When no sound was forthcoming, I let myself in.
The bed was a mess of rumpled sheets and blankets.
Gag.
Averting my eyes, I went to put the mail on the stack—that she hadn’t looked at. At least not based on the height of it.
Fuck.
I flipped through the mail real fast, because if we missed something, it would suck if something got shut off. Without a doubt, it would be my fault. I pulled out five envelopes that had no return addresses or any sign of what they were.
I left everything I recognized or at least knew was not an issue. Then I got the hell out of her room. The longer I was in there the more it smelled a little musky, a little like foreign cologne, and a lot like sex.
Things I didnotneed nor want to imagine.
Shoving the mail in my backpack, I added the letters for me. I didn’t have time to look at them now. Archie would be here any minute, which meant Coop should be knocking…
The rap on the backdoor made me laugh.
“Right now,” I murmured to myself before slinging the backpack over my shoulder and heading for the door. Bracing for it, I opened the door and grinned.
Coop wore the biggest smile, and he had a hand resting on each side of the doorframe. “No escaping the good morning kiss for you,” he intoned in the most comical voice.
A giggle eddied up, and I clasped my hands to my chest as I retreated a step. “Oh no, whatever shall I do?”
Waggling his eyebrows, Coop stalked inside—still grinning like a loon, mind you—and continued in his horrible accent, “Surrender, and I’ll go easy on you.”
The snort escaped before I could stop it. “Eep.” I waved my hands like I had no idea what to do, and Coop shoved the door closed right before he tugged me forward by the backpack strap. He slid it right off and then kissed me as I opened my mouth to protest.
Well, playfully protest anyway. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I fought the smile, even as he locked his lips on mine. It was hard not to laugh as everything in me tingled. He locked his arms around me in a firm grip. Guess I won out over the backpack. Not that I was complaining as he licked against my tongue and slid his hands down to cup my ass.
The first hard suck against my tongue had me sighing. Coop tasted a little bit like a strawberry smoothie that he’d probably had for breakfast. He smelled freshly showered, and he was hot everywhere. When he nipped at my lower lip, tugging on it gently before he lifted his head, I shuddered.
“I surrender,” I whispered, and his eyes lit up. The soft gray-green of them reminded me of a stormy sky in spring, when the tornado sirens could blare up at any moment. “What will you do with me?”
“I think I’m going to kiss you again,” he whispered. “Just to be certain.”
My heart did a little twist as he made good on his words. This kiss was much slower, far more nuzzling, and had my toes curling as I slid a hand onto his hair. The soft curls slid through my fingers, and my pulse rabbited. The languid heat exploded into a conflagration, and I was burning up.
He gripped my ass as he lifted me, pressing me right up against the fridge. It was like he loved pushing me against things, and the bump of his hips to mine had me groaning.
Panting when he let up this time, I licked my lips. “Good morning.” The words came out far shakier than I wished, but Coop’s pupils were huge, and his chest rose and fell with the swift, shallow breaths he released.
“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered. “How are you?”
“So much better right now.” It was true. The bad night of tossing and turning faded, the frantic thoughts quieted, and the worry diminished. This was Coop, and he always had a knack for making things better.
“Good,” he said, then nipped my lower lip again before laving it to make it better. Who knew having someone else lick my lips would be such a fucking turn-on? The distinct pressure of his erection against me promised I wasn’t the only one getting excited. “I wish it was Thursday.”
“Yeah?” I teased. “What’s so special about Thursday?”
Chuckling, he massaged my ass, and I swore all the heat in my body pooled between my legs. Crap, I was going to have damp panties, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it right this second.
“If it was Thursday, I could keep you right here and kiss you until we both melt. Birthday boy privileges.”