She walked right up to him and poked his chest with her finger. “I have been down this route before. I fell for it once when I was a teenager, but I won’t be a sucker again. So you can just keep your generous offer. I will take my chances with the courts.”
By the time Cooper came up with a defense, she’d already flounced out of the room and into her own bedroom. He stood in front of the door she’d slammed in his face, devastated.
“It was a generous offer!” he yelled. “Because I’m going to win. I was trying to save you some heartache, but it appears you don’t have a heart!” He paused and listened, but all was quiet on the other side of the door. “Allie?”
He heard the shower go on.
With a sigh he returned to their half-eaten breakfast, but he certainly had no appetite for it now.
After what they’d shared, how could she believe the whole thing was a calculated scheme? He would have to be the coldest, most soulless bastard in the world to cook up a plan like that.
In his experience, innocent people assumed others were as honest as they were. It was only the crooks and cheats who believed everyone was out to get them.
What did that say about Allie?
ALLIE SOMEHOW GOT THROUGH the rest of the day. She did all her crying during a very long shower, so that when she emerged from her bedroom an hour later she was dry eyed, showing as little emotion as possible.
Cooper was obviously angry, too. His every movement was filled with tension, his mouth nothing but a thin, tight line and his eyes sparkling dangerously if she so much as looked at him.
At the trade show they spoke to each other only when absolutely necessary, each of them alternating between the booth and the floor so they didn’t have to be together.
It was the longest day of Allie’s life.
Unfortunately, they didn’t repeat their success from the previous day. Maybe it was the fact that outside the gorgeous spring weather called, or maybe it was the tension in the air, but they signed up fewer than half the number of people they’d attracted on Saturday.
Max showed up to help them pack up at the end of the day. “So, how’d it go?” he asked.
“Fine,” Allie and Cooper said in unison, each of them sounding as if they’d just been through a root canal.
“Gee, sorry I asked.”
Allie was immediately contrite. She didn’t know if Max was in on the plan, but she shouldn’t automatically assume he was. “Sorry, Max. It’s been a long day. We did well yesterday but today was slow and I’m afraid Cooper and I got on each other’s nerves.”
“Hey, it happens.”
Allie busied herself taking down the fish cutouts. From the corner of her eye she saw Cooper and Max conferring about something, and she guessed it was her because Max glanced her way every now and then. She wondered what sort of spin Cooper was putting on the weekend’s events.
It was dark as they climbed into Cooper’s car for the drive home. “Do you want to stop somewhere for dinner?” Cooper asked, his tone grim, telling her exactly what he thought about sharing a meal with her.
She was hungry, but she wouldn’t be able to eat a bite sitting across the table from him. “No, thanks.” She put on her seat belt, reclined the cushy leather seat, and closed her eyes. If she was lucky, she would fall asleep and the drive would be over in no time.
But Cooper had other ideas. “How are we going to run the cruises if we aren’t speaking to each other?”
“I can do it alone,” she grumbled.
“That’s not what we agreed to do.”
“Cooper, surely by now you know I’m not going to make off with the boat.”
“I don’t think I know you at all. And you clearly don’t know me if you think I would seduce you just to get my hands on your boat. If I wanted a boat that bad, I could buy one.”
“Then why don’t you? Why does it have to be this boat?”
“It’s a matter of principle.”
Allie hooted at that one. “Principle? You’re a lawyer. You don’t actually expect me to believe that, do you?”
“No, I don’t. Because you’re determined to believe the worst of me no matter what the evidence says. Some people think I’m jaded and overly suspicious of everyone, but lady, you take the cake.”
“I have every right to be suspicious. My uncle stole my birthright from me. He took my father’s boat, left to me in his will, and he sold it without my knowledge or consent. I won’t let that happen again.”
“You’re not the only person in the world to be taken advantage of,” he said, his words soft, no longer angry.
She wondered what had made him say that, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. However, she found she no longer had the energy to argue.
“I will do my best not to rile you up when we have to work together,” she said. “Maybe Max or Reece could stand in for you.”
He surprised her by laughing. “I’d pay money to see that.”
They rode in silence for a while, but then Cooper’s phone rang. He didn’t answer.
She opened her eyes. “Shouldn’t you get that? What if it’s a potential customer?” Allie’s phone had rung a couple of times today with people wanting more information about Remington Charters.
“It isn’t.”
A few minutes later it rang again, and again he didn’t answer. She wondered what that was about.
SOMEONE TAPPED SOFTLY ON Allie’s bedroom door at the B and B. She’d been about to climb into bed, but she froze and her heart raced wildly as her traitorous imagination wondered if her visitor was Cooper.
“Allie, it’s me, Sara,” came a hoarse whisper.
Well, that answered that question. Allie felt like an idiot as she walked to the door and opened it, summoning a smile for her friend.
“Where’ve you been?” Allie asked. She’d been surprised that Sara wasn’t home when she and Cooper had arrived back at the B and B about an hour ago.
“Date, perfectly awful, not worth discussing.” Sara let herself in and promptly plopped on Allie’s bed. “So spill it. How did your big weekend with Cooper go?” Sara’s eyes sparkled with mischief, making Allie wonder if her friend was psychic. How else would she have known that it was anything but a business trip to work a trade show?
Allie had already decided she wouldn’t rehash her stupidity with Sara. Some things were best forgotten as quickly as possible, though how Allie would ever forget the feel of Cooper’s touch, she didn’t know.
“It went fine. We gave away a lot of brochures and signed up people for a drawing. The booth looked great.”
“And…?”
“And nothing.” But Allie couldn’t meet her friend’s inquisitive gaze.
“You mean to tell me you went away for the weekend with that gorgeous hunk of man who practically salivates every time he looks at you, and nothing happened? Do you not have hormones or what?”
Oh, she had hormones, all right.
“Allie? You better tell me what happened.”
Allie sighed and flopped onto the bed on her stomach, grabbing one of the pillows and scrunching it under her head. “It was the best and worst weekend of my life.”
Sara clapped her hands as she hopped onto the bed. “I knew it!” But then she sobered. “Sorry. All that was for the ‘best weekend’ part. Was it dreamy?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“That’s all I get? C’mon, Allie, I haven’t had dreamy sex in so long I’ve forgotten what it’s like.”
Allie raised her head. “You?”
“Well, you don’t have to act like I’m a major slut. Yes, I was a bit wild in my youth, but I’ve calmed down considerably in my old age. No more cozying up to guys I couldn’t possibly have any future with.”
“But that’s the thing, don’t you see?” Allie said. “Cooper and I couldn’t possibly be together in the future. When someone’s beaten you in court and deprived you of something you believe is yours, how can you even exist in the same room with them?”