“Lobster risotto.” He set down the bowls he’d been carrying. “Direct from the kitchen warming drawer. Extra creamy.” His half-lidded gaze slid over her. “Like you.”
The erotic jolt that zipped through her proved exactly how vulnerable she was. She sank into the banquette.
Forcing herself to eat was even more difficult than pretending nothing had changed. “You’re an amazing cook,” she said.
She knew, and he knew she knew, that he hadn’t prepared any of this, but he played along. “Got my finger cut up a little bit going after the claw meat.”
“Injuries happen to all great chefs.”
He grinned. She relentlessly attacked the risotto. It was creamy, just as he’d noted. Cheesy, with succulent chunks of buttery lobster that threatened to stick in her throat. They talked, or mainly he did, going back over what had happened with Parks. She finally told him how she’d gotten Noah’s computer, but even that wasn’t as difficult as what she had to say, and she finally gave up her attempt to eat.
“No good?” he said.
“Pregnancy screws up your appetite.”
He dropped his fork, and his stark horror testified that she was trying too hard to act normally. “I’m kidding.”
“Not funny!” he practically roared.
“You know I turn into a wiseass when I’m stressed.”
“I don’t care how stressed you are. Don’t ever joke about- What are you stressed about?”
Maybe she could put this off for a few days. A few weeks… The possibility was as seductive as the serpent in the Garden of Eden and as destructive. She had to do this quickly. Perfectly. Be as ruthless with herself as Duke used to be when she’d cried over a broken balloon or a scuffed knee. She was her father’s daughter, and she made herself look him square in the eye. “Breaking up with you.”
“Yeah, right.”
Lay it out logically. Men understand logic. “My job’s over. I finally have a little money in the bank. I even have another place to stay.”
“You already have a place to stay.”
“A better place. Amber’s leaving in a couple of days for a tour with her choral group, and she isn’t coming back to the Lyric until December, so I’m going to stay at her place.” She hadn’t talked to Amber. Hadn’t even thought about staying there until this very minute.
His frown deepened. “Completely unnecessary.”
“I’ve done what you hired me to do.”
“Which doesn’t have anything to do with the two of us.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Sure it does. The job’s over, and so are we.”
His hand curled into a fist on the table. “What are you talking about? We’re both having a good time. Great sex. You’re the woman I want to be with.”
“The woman you want to be with right now.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
Another piece of her heart crumbled. “For you, nothing. But there’s a lot wrong with it for me.” She could only nudge at the corners of the truth. “I can’t keep hanging around all your razzle-dazzle. That’s not my world. I’m a homegrown Chicago girl. You’re… the stars.” She managed a creaky smile. “‘Star light, star bright,’ and all that.”
“That doesn’t half make sense.” His hand opened. Pointed. “You’ve told me how you see things, so I know you’re not looking for an engagement ring.”
The way he said it was a knife through her heart. She wasn’t a romantic. She wasn’t. She didn’t want rings and bridal veils. That wasn’t her. But his casual dismissal of any kind of future made her throat close up.
She had to be tough. That’s who she was, and that’s what he expected. She pulled in a thread of air. “A woman’s never dumped you, has she?”
“We’re not talking about dumping.”
“In other words, no. You’re the one who does the dumping. You don’t know how to deal with any other scenario. Don’t you see? This isn’t about me or about our relationship. It’s about your need to win.” It was the truth and maybe he knew it, too, because he grew hostile.
“I don’t need you psychoanalyzing me.”
“It’s for your own good, and, yes, I really am breaking up with you.”
His lips thinned. “You’re a quitter, Piper Dove. I never thought I’d say that about you, but you’re running away from the two of us like a scared teenager.”
So true. With her emotional survival at stake, what else could she do? “I’m not running away. I’m being pragmatic. We’re two different worlds, Coop. It’s time I go back to mine and you go on with yours.”
“Is that what you really want?”
“Yes. Yes, it is.”
He came to his feet and threw down his napkin, his expression as cold as she’d ever seen it. “The hell with you then.”
Coop stalked upstairs to his office. Where did she get off? Tonight was supposed to have been a celebration. He’d planned to surprise her by asking her to move in with him, an invitation he’d never offered any other woman. And what had she done? She’d spoiled the whole thing.
Leave it to Piper Dove to take something straightforward and turn it into a mess. They had fun together. They saw life the same way. What was so hard to understand about that? But instead of appreciating what they had, she had to screw it up.
She was right about one thing, though. He didn’t like to lose. Especially when there was no need for it. He made up his mind. He’d ignore her for a couple of days, give her some time to miss what they had. Get tough with her. Because toughness was something Piper Dove understood.
Her final four nights working at the club were hell, but she’d promised Tony she’d stay till the end of the week, and she couldn’t leave him in the lurch. The story of Coop and his false accuser had played big in the media, and the club was packed every night. Whenever she turned around, there was Coop.
Saturday finally came. Her last night. With all the publicity, any lingering debate about leaving Coop alone on the floor was over. Jonah had organized the bouncers so one of them was always at his side. Until tonight, Piper had been able to beg off “Coop duty” because, as the only female bouncer, she already had too much territory to cover. But on Saturday Ernie called in sick, and she had to take her turn.
Coop had made it easy for her to keep her distance by acting as if she didn’t exist. He was proving what she already knew about him-how much he hated to lose. She missed their closeness so much that she ached-those intimate glances they’d exchanged, their shared amusement over some inanity only they found hilarious. All of it gone.
It was also her last night sleeping above the club. Amber was happy to have an apartment-sitter, and tomorrow Piper was moving in. By tomorrow this chapter in her life would be over. The worst chapter.
The best chapter.
As she watched one of the hair-swishers pressing in on him close enough to leave another makeup smear on his shirt, Jonah tapped her on the shoulder. “Time for you to take over with Coop.” He glanced toward their employer. “What’s with you two, anyway? I haven’t seen you guys talk all week.”
She was leaving, and Coop was staying. She had to do the right thing. “Coop dumped me. In the nicest possible way, of course. He’s the perfect gentleman.”
“No shit? I figured you guys were gonna last a little longer.”
“S’okay. It had to happen. Better sooner than later.”
Jonah gave her a clumsy pat on the back. Even though he was a cretin, she’d developed a reluctant fondness for him.
Within a few minutes of Jonah’s departure, the crowd again started pressing in on Coop, and she had her work cut out for her. “Let the man have some room.”
Most people didn’t give her trouble, and the few who did were drunk and easy to handle. It was a good thing nobody was getting in her face, because she needed a target for every raw, painful emotion swirling inside her. Only a few more hours…