Chapter Five
A few tense hours passed as Chad got to work. I sat next to him, assisting as he needed. Cooper stalked the room. He was good, and didn’t interrupt us—but his mere presence was distracting enough for me. I desperately wanted to pick up where we had left off—my whole body ached for him, slowly burning from the fire he’d started.
I did my best to focus and follow Chad’s instructions as he worked. He had me work on one computer, typing in coding as he dictated it to me, and scribbling down frantic notes. Eventually, we got the virus handled, and shut down, before it could wipe out the whole system.
When it was done, I lay back in my chair, my chest heaving as if I had just run a marathon. The sheer amount of stress had worn me out, physically and mentally.
“That should take care of it. Unfortunately, you did lose some data. But it sounds like Allie, here, got most of the backup salvaged before the hacker could take that out completely. I’ve put in some safe guards to help stave off this kind of attack in the future, but I would recommend investing in some secondary backup that is manual, not automatic, in case this were to happen again,” Chad explained. He slid his jacket back on and prepared to leave.
Cooper thanked him and slipped him what I assumed to be a fat check to thank him for his help.
“Whew.” Cooper exhaled slowly as he sank into the chair next to me. It was nearly midnight and we were both wiped out. “That was insane.”
“Tell me about it!” I looked over at him and smiled.
“You were amazing,” he said, his voice suddenly very serious.
I tried to brush off his compliment.
“Allison, I’m serious. Without you…” His voice trailed off. “Well, let’s just say this company can’t take one more fire to fight. Thank you.”
I nodded and tried to breathe normally. The room crackled with intensity and I found myself, once again, being pulled to Cooper.
“Come on,” he said, standing and offering me his hand. “Let’s relax a little. Or does Sam need you home?” He smiled at me and I couldn’t help but laugh at his reference to my cat.
“I think he’ll be okay,” I answered before slipping my hand into his.
“Glad to hear it.” Cooper’s eyes darkened as I let him lead me to the leather couch on the opposite side of my office. He sank down and pulled me next to him. “Are you hungry? You never got a chance to eat. I put your food in the fridge. I can go heat it up, though.”
I stared at him, baffled by his sweet gesture. He was the most complicated man I’d ever met. He brought out every emotion within me, sometimes all at once. He could make me so angry and fierce that I wanted to punch him, and then rebound two seconds later and have me eating out of the palm of his hand.
It was insane.
And intoxicating.
I had to admit that regardless of how much I wanted to be angry and stomp my feet and throw a fit, the reality was that I was developing real feelings for him and I wasn’t sure what to do with them just yet.
“I’m all right. Let’s just sit. My brain is fried.”
Cooper laughed. “I bet.” His hand was still holding mine and he gave a little tug and I fell against him. His rock-solid chest provided a nice place to land and I didn’t give in to the urge to resist. I let myself lay against him and heard the comforting beat of his heart under my ear.
“This is nice,” he whispered against my hair.
I nodded, but the quiet of the room and his voice was starting to unsettle me.
“Do you prefer Allie, or Allison?” he asked.
It struck me as an odd question. We had known each other for well over a month at this point. He’d always called me Allison.
“Most people call me Allison, but friends and family call me Allie,” I answered, wondering where he was going with his question.
“Well, what am I?” he asked. He tilted his head to look down at me.
Good freaking question, I thought.
If only I knew…
“You can call me Allie.”
“Okay, Allie. Have you ever been in love?” he asked.
This time, I popped off his chest and stared at him. “What kind of a question is that?”
It was like he’d touched a raw nerve and I recoiled at the sensation.
“Whoa, easy,” he said. He reached over and placed my head back on his chest and stroked my hair gently. “It was just a question. We’ll start with something easier. Tell me about your tattoos,” he said, his hand sliding from the ends of my hair and over my arm, tracing the colored lines of my tattoo sleeve.
I shrugged. “I just like them.”
“Hmm. So, no particular meaning behind them?”
I sighed and relaxed my head on him, delicate sensations running over my skin as he continued to caress my arm and shoulder. “I got made fun of, a lot, growing up.”
“What? Why?” Cooper asked. I smiled at the protective fierceness to his voice.
“Well, I was a chubby red-head. You figure it out.” I cringed as a wave of anxiety swept over me. I rarely let myself think about my childhood, let alone talk someone though it. “Anyways, I got bullied and teased a lot. I didn’t fit in with anyone. My parents made me try church camps, the drama club, band. You name it, and I was probably a part of it at some point. But none of it really fit me. Eventually, I started hanging out with a rougher crowd. The misfits, I guess. We smoked, drank, got high, and partied together. Nothing too serious, but it became part of my identity. I wasn’t doing it to be rebellious or just to act out. I hung out with those guys because they were the only people who liked me and accepted me. Of course, the perk was that all the other kids were afraid and you didn’t get messed with so much.”
I sighed, letting the memories play through my mind.
“I’m really sorry, Allie,” Cooper said before pressing a kiss to my temple.
“It’s all right. I’m a stronger person for it. Once I got to high school, I worked at a sandwich shop and got enough to buy my first bike. My parents were horrified, but they couldn’t stop me. I was too stubborn.”
“There’s a surprise,” Cooper teased.
“Hey, now,” I said, laughing as I looked up at him.
His gorgeous, dark eyes were staring down into mine and I got lost, wondering what in the world I’d been talking about.
“So, then tattoos are mandatory for bike riding, tough chicks?” he asked.
I laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. They drove my parents crazy, and at the time, that was part of the attraction. I guess I’m like a crazy cat lady or something, just with tattoos. You start with one and pretty soon you have a dozen and people look at you weird.”
It was Cooper’s turn to laugh, and the soft vibrations through his chest soothed me and I nestled into him even closer.
After his laughter faded, we were quiet for a spell.
“What about you?” I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me. “I’ll bet you were the hunky jock that all the girls chased around school.”
He laughed at my assessment. “I guess. My parents sent me to prep school. So it was uniforms and very strict. At the time, I was a little resentful because I wanted to go to a bigger school and play sports and all that but my parents wouldn’t let me. My dad started this company when he was young, and it was just this expectation that someday I would take over for him. So, to them, getting a good education was more important than sports and girls.”
I nodded, slightly surprised by his answer.
“I thought I was in love once,” I said, my voice low. “But, it wasn’t love. Love is for suckers.”
“Hmm.” Cooper tightened his grip on me but didn’t argue my point.
The adrenaline rush from chasing down the virus was crashing hard and I felt myself drifting in and out of consciousness as I lay in his arms.
“Allie?”
The sound of my name roused me and I opened my eyes, startled by the brightness around me, and equally as freaked out by the feeling of another body pressed against me. I sat up and jerked around, realizing Cooper and I’d fallen asleep on the couch in my office.
And judging by the light breaking through my office window, it was already morning.
“Shit!” I said, scrambling off the couch. “What time is it?”
I smoothed my hair back, hoping I didn’t look as disgusting as I felt. My lips and tongue were dry and scratchy and my hair felt all out of place. I didn’t even want to know what my makeup looked like after my face had been stuck to the leather couch all night long.
Cooper laughed softly. “Come here.” He reached out an arm, trying to lure me back to the couch. I resisted his invitation and crossed the room so I could search my desk for my phone.
It was six a.m.
I groaned. “Cooper, how did this happen?”
He patted the couch. “Come here. It’s okay.”
I hesitantly went back to him and sat down where he’d indicated.
“We were up late working on the virus.”
“I’m tired, not hungover. I remember what happened. But why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I did! Just now.” He laughed again and I rolled my eyes.
“I’m glad you’re so amused. I, on the other hand, now have to do the walk of shame in front of all my co-workers and I didn’t even get fucked!”
“We could change that,” he whispered in my ear as he nuzzled my neck. His stubbled jaw ran against my skin, waking up every part of my body and restarting the craving for him that had started yesterday morning.
“Cooper!” I hissed and pulled away. “Be serious!”
“I am. Listen, Allie, calm down and relax. No one else is here, it’s too early.”
He continued his nuzzling and I felt my body taking over. He was too much to resist and I wanted him…badly.