Alice’s sharp inhale of shock nearly made her choke while Cooper’s face fell as he said, “Excuse me?”
Lou threw his head back, his deep belly laugh continuing for a second too long. “I’m just fucking with you. No one would know,” Lou shrugged, but then he suddenly looked up and met Cooper’s eyes. “But a shifter might.” He tapped his nose to indicate that, surely, the shifter sense would be able to tell that they were truly mated.
“Fuck,” Cooper turned to face her. “Not that I wouldn’t…” He shook his head. “I’m sure we can find another way to mimic the scent of a mated couple. This is not an expectation, Alice.”
She nodded, but her gut was churning with lava. How could this be? How could Portia and Lou not think of thisbeforethe vows were exchanged? Or perhaps, theydidknow, and this marriage was a trick somehow.
“Are you okay?” Cooper asked, taking her hand in his. “You got very pale there.”
Alice cleared her throat, not sure her voice would work. “Yeah. I just need a sip of water.”
“Of course. Let’s toast to our wedding.” Cooper brought her hand to his mouth, and he gently kissed it, his eyes meeting hers. “Mrs. Alice Dawson, I believe that you are now safe.”
Alice swallowed against the tide of emotion in her mind. Part of her feared her new husband, while another part still wanted nothing more than to kiss him again.
I am so fucked. Maybe I should’ve taken my chances with the assassins …
EIGHT
COOPER
Cooper didn’t know what other people’s married lives were like, but he was fairly certain that his was by far the strangest one.
His wife spent the night in another suite on the other side of the resort hallway, and if Alice had her way, they would probably never set eyes on each other again. Cooper wasn’t a vain man, but it sure hurt a bit that the woman who had saved his life couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes…even if he had married her to save her life.
A loud knock on the door pulled him from his grumpy thoughts, but he perked right up when he recalled that he had ordered himself some breakfast. There was every chance that an angry imp was on the other side of the door with his meal.
He went to the door with a grumbling stomach and a little brown bag filled with candy corn. Before he swung it open, he stuffed a handful of the tiny white, orange, and yellow candies into his mouth.
“Well, well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” Portia stood at the door in a little blue dress that made her look like a magical creature…which, he supposed, she was. She eyed him up in down, taking in the fact that he was wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants, slunk low on his hips.
“Portia,” he said, still munching on the tip candy. “I thought you’d be an imp with my food.”
She waved him off. “I canceled that order. I’ve had it brought to Alice’s suite instead.” She ran her eyes down him one more time, grinning. “I bet it’s gonna be very difficult for your wife to keep her eyes off you today.”
Before he even had time to ask her what she could possibly mean, Portia turned toward the other door on the other side of the hallway…Alice’s suite…and knocked loudly.
“Fuck!” Cooper retreated back into his room, ran to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and finally slipped on some clothes. His wet hair wasn’t going to cooperate with him, but that didn’t matter. He had no clue what Portia had in store for them today, and he had the feeling he should wait to coif his hair. Not that he was a vain man, but Alice was beautiful, and he wanted to be the kind of man she wouldn’t mind standing beside.
With another glance in the mirror, Cooper felt about as ready as can be. He crossed the hall and knocked on the door. Portia was quick to open it, all but pulling him into the room and closing the door behind him.
“We need to talk,” the resort manager announced. “You two sit and eat.” She pointed to the beautiful spread laid out on the dining room table.
There was enough food to feed a small army. Pancakes, waffles, bacon, eggs, toast. Cooper wanted to dig in immediately. His stomach was rumbling in a less-than-attractive way.
“Hungry?” Alice asked, a smile bending those lush lips of hers.
He grinned. “Yeah. I’m starving. Been eating candy corn to sustain me, but it’s just not enough. I need some bacon.”
Alice gasped. “What? Why? What a nasty candy.”
Cooper laughed again. “You don’t have to like it, love, but I do. Just the perfect amount of sweet.”
She rolled her eyes. “By that, of course, you meantoosweet.”
Cooper wanted to make a comment that would compliment her, but he thought it was rather too early in the morning to flirt with his wife.
It’s never too early for that, his dragon argued.