Chapter 24
Jade
“What butter and whiskey won’t cure, there’s no cure for.”
~ Nora O’Sullivan
“Coop, this really isn’t necessary.” I lifted my hand to pull off the bandana that he’d secured around my eyes when he’d picked me up.
“Hey!” He swatted my hand down. “No peeking.”
“This isn’t a real date, Coop,” I snapped, instantly regretting taking my irritation out on him. I took a deep breath and calmly explained, “I told you we could just order pizza or skip it all together.”
“And let down your listeners? No way. You’re going to have an epic, unforgettable night and they’re going to hear all about it.”
“I’ll tell them any story you want me to tell them. The most romantic imaginary date you can come up with, I’ll tell them. I’ll spin a yarn that has you coming out like a dating god. Just please take me home.”
“You’re crabby,” he assessed correctly.
“I know. And I don’t want to subject you to it. So please, turn the truck around and let me go be cranky in the privacy of my own home.”
“No can do, compadre. What kind of friend would I be if I let you stew in your funk alone?”
I sighed in defeat. Once Coop got excited about something he was like a dog with a bone, there was no taking it away from him. I was just going to have to try and get through the next few hours without biting his head off.
That was not going to be easy. For the past few days, all I’d seen were interviews, posts, and random internet articles linking Hayden and Camilla together. The story wouldn’t have been big news if it weren’t for the fact that her last relationship was with a Dean Stanton who was Hollywood’s current bad boy. He’d lived up to his reputation and cheated on her.
Repeatedly.
It had all played out in the tabloids and on celebrity gossip sites. I hated to admit it, but I’d eaten up every morsel that I could find. I’d gobbled up all the salacious details like a starving person. She’d gotten played. Badly. And if this were anyone but Hayden, I’d be shipping their names and coming up with a hashtag for them.
So I didn’t blame her fans for wishing Hayden was her knight in shining armor. I understood why so many outlets wanted to believe it too. Camilla is a Broadway darling who had been wronged by an asshole Hollywood fuckboy. Hayden is a decorated veteran. Her brother died in his arms. He started his own charity. He works with dogs. God, on paper it looked perfect.
In my heart, I didn’t honestly believe anything was happening between them. But what did it matter if there was? Hayden and I hadn’t made any promises to each other.
Coop’s voice brought me back to the present. “So, tell me more about this bachelor auction you signed me up for.”
“It’s for the Crackle Media Gala. They have a theme every year for their bachelor auction. Last year it was Tech Nerd and this year it’s Farm Strong. It’s not for a date, I think that you’re going to have to do a few hours of manual labor or something like that.”
“So you’re saying I should I get my best overalls dry-cleaned. Gotcha.”
I grinned. “No. Your tux will be fine.”
“Okay, but I bet I’d go for a lot more money if you’d let me strut the runway in my overalls. Shirtless.”
“There’s no cat walk and there will be no strutting. It’s a silent auction. Your picture and experience will be displayed and then when it’s done you’ll get called up to the stage with your highest bidder.”
“No overalls and no runway walk. You’re no fun.”
“Sorry.” My nose itched beneath the scratchy cotton. “If they hire me again next year I’ll see what I can do to fix that.”
The truck went over three speed bumps before coming to a stop.
“We’re here!” He announced.
I reached for the blindfold again, but again I got my hand swatted down.
“Don’t.”
“Coop. I know where we are. We’re at the river.” It was the only place in town that had three speed bumps that close together.
“Sit. Stay. No peeing.” I heard his door open and close and then my passenger door opened.
“I’m not a dog,” I called out but had no idea if he heard me.
“Are you peeking?” he said with a high level of accusation as he took my hand.
“Oh.” I chuckled as I maneuvered my legs out of the car and stood, using him for balance. “I thought you said peeing. No. I’m not peeking.”
He tugged on my hand and I took a few steps before hearing the car door shut behind me. It was quiet for a moment but I saw shadows so I figured he was probably making obscene gestures to test me. “Good. The blindfold stays on.”
I let out a long exhale.
“Listen here little-miss-please-be-my-fake-date, I’m the one doing you a favor. And not only that, I agreed to be man meat for your farm boy auction so you can keep the exasperated sighs to yourself.”
“Farm strong auction,” I corrected. “But you’re right. I’m sorry. The blindfold is on and I can’t wait to see what this amazing date has in store for me.”
“That’s my girl.” He kissed me on the top of my forehead and threaded my arm through his as he guided me down toward the river. “I’m really glad you dressed up for me.”
I knew that he was being sarcastic.
“Ha ha.” I was wearing cutoff shorts and a tank top. I hadn’t really put any effort into tonight because I hadn’t wanted it to happen. But it seemed he put a lot of effort into tonight. It was actually really sweet that he’d gone to all this trouble. “I do really appreciate you doing this. You’re the best and I’m lucky that you’re my plus one. And thank you again for doing the auction. I owe you one.”
“Good. Then you won’t be mad if I have whoever wins me call me farm boy when they ask me to do things and I answer as you wish to fulfill my Princess Bride fantasy.”
My head fell back and I laughed as he led me down an incline and around a corner.
I knew he was joking but just in case I made sure. “No, Coop. No. You can’t do that. Promise me.”
“Darlin’, you know me better than that. I never make a promise I can’t keep. Speaking of promises, I believe I promised you an epic, unforgettable night. And I always deliver.” He removed the bandana and I gasped as a huge smile spread on my face.
There was a blanket spread out with a picnic basket, twinkle lights, and in the center was a man holding flowers. Hayden. He was wearing jeans that were worn in all the right places and a white T-shirt that hugged his sculpted muscles.
He wasn’t supposed to be home until tomorrow. “What are you doing here?”
“I got an early flight.”
“All right, kiddos, do everything I would do,” Coop instructed as he left back the way he came.
“Thanks, Coop.” Hayden grinned.
“Thank you!” I called out.
I looked around and realized that this wasn’t just any spot down by the lake, this was our spot. The spot that Hayden and I used to meet at. It was the most secluded area at the river. It was surrounded by rocks and trees with a tiny path that led to it. You could hear anyone that was coming up. It came in handy when you needed privacy, which was in short supply back when we dated.
“I can’t believe that you did this.”
He stepped forward and pulled me into a hug. His arms wrapped tightly around me and he nuzzled his head into my neck. I melted against him and closed my eyes, still smiling from ear to ear. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to stop smiling.
His hands roamed up and down my back before dipping lower and squeezing my backside. His lips brushed against my skin in a soft caress as he rasped, “I missed you.”
The heat of his breath sent a shiver racing through me and a pulsing between my legs.
Either he had a baseball bat in his pants or I wasn’t the only one that this embrace was affecting. I speared my hands in his soft hair and fisted my fingers, tugging him in even closer to me as I rolled my hips against his straining erection. He moaned as his hands gripped my waist and he stilled my movements and stepped away from me.
His tone was somber. “As much as I’d love to show you just how much I missed you, we need to talk.”
I was about to pull the talking-is-overrated trick out of my bag again but I could see in his eyes that he was serious. Really serious. The kind of serious that made my palms sweat and my heart race. And not in a good way.
“Let’s sit.” He motioned to the blanket.
“We need to talk and sit down…this should be fun,” I teased as I followed his lead and lowered onto the blanket. He didn’t say anything at first, he just stared at me. It was clear that he was trying to get his thoughts together but every second that passed made me more and more nervous. “Did you want me to start? Because I’d like to talk about getting back to you showing me how much you missed me.”
He grinned and I felt a little bit better, but not much.
“We have a lot of unresolved issues that I think we need to deal with. I think we should’ve dealt with them a long time ago. And that’s my fault. I know that the way I left you was hurtful and wrong. And for a long time I thought that I had done it because it was what was best for you. We were both so young, and things were so serious between us. I always wanted to join the Army, and I didn’t want you to waste all those years missing me, waiting for me to call, seeing me maybe once a year. I told myself that I was doing the honorable, selfless thing because I didn’t want you to end up resenting me. And I didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on our relationship. And while much of that is true,” he paused and inhaled a slow, deep breath, “I think that the truth was that I was scared. And I ran away.”
And just like that, the smile I thought would be there forever was gone.