The One Real Thing

But he had a hard road ahead. They both did. And I was sorry for them.

A pall hanging over me, I decided to head back into the bar to tell Cooper I’d sent Archie home, but also because I needed a Cooper hug.

I was not amused, then, upon strolling back into the pub to find a woman in jeans so tight they looked painted on sitting up on the bar counter, her red stilettos settled on a stool. She had her fingers curled in Cooper’s shirt and was looking at him with sex in her eyes.

Cooper had been trying to gently loosen her grip on him.

When Ollie clapped him on the shoulder and gestured to me, Cooper scowled and yanked the woman’s hand off him.

She pouted and tried to grab a hold of him again.

I could feel the regulars’ eyes on me, obviously excited for a show, as I hurried over to Cooper. Of course I wasn’t going to give them a show, but I was going to get this stranger out of my man’s bar.

“Come on, Coop, why you acting so tense?” I heard her say, and I bristled at her familiarity with him.

“May I help you?” I said, stopping at the bar.

Cooper sighed. “Doc, it’s not what you think.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I think this woman is coming on to you and you want her to go away.”

“Then, yes, it is what you think.”

The woman turned to look at me, her eyes growing round. “Oh. You’re the doctor.”

“That’s me.”

“So . . .” She gestured between me and Cooper. “You two are serious?”

“Who are you?” I said.

She grinned at me. “I’m Sadie Thomas.”

I cut Cooper a dark look and he winced and scrubbed a hand over his face.

I ran my eyes over her revealing shirt and big hair.

She was attractive in a very obvious way.

And my total opposite.

Yet he’d had sex with her.

Jealousy bubbled up and I hated it.

“Sadie”—I stepped closer, hoping to reduce the number of people who’d overhear me—“in answer to your question, yes, Cooper and I are dating, and if you don’t get off his bar and keep those well-manicured fingers to yourself, I may have to forget that I’m a lady.”

I heard Cooper snort and shot him a killing look.

“Oh, honey.” Sadie shook her head, somehow getting off the bar with a grace I did not expect. “You don’t need to threaten me. I didn’t realize you two were serious, that’s all. Cooper and I flirt. No big deal. But if you two are together, then I respect that.”

Surprised but gratified, I nodded. “I appreciate that.”

“Sure thing. I’m going to go shoot some pool.” She waved her long red fingernails at me and sashayed over to the pool table to flirt with one of the regulars, Hug.

I shot Cooper a look.

He stood, bracing himself, it seemed.

And so he should. “Archie’s gone home. I’m going back to the inn.”

“Jess.” He darted his arm across the bar and stopped me as I turned to leave. “Don’t leave angry.”

I narrowed my eyes on him. “Why didn’t you tell her we were dating and that she needed to get her hands off you?” I hissed.

“I was trying,” he said through gritted teeth. “You walked in just as she was starting that shit.”

With a harrumph of annoyance, mostly at myself for my jealousy, I pulled my arm away. “I need to go. We’ll talk later.”

“Jess,” he called, but I was already halfway across the bar.

I was lying in bed, reading—or trying to read—when my phone buzzed on the bedside table. Picking it up, I felt a flip in my stomach at the text from Cooper: I’m right outside.

This flip was different from the usual.

It was a sensation caused by worry.

This man was tangling my insides up in knots, and sometimes I loved it, but tonight I’d found it unsettling.

I’d been angry with Sadie for touching Cooper because I thought of him as mine. It had been a long time since I’d thought of anyone as mine. To feel that way meant that person was in my blood.

There was no way to get people out of your blood once they were in.

Even if you lost them.

But I wasn’t going to avoid Cooper because I was scared of how he made me feel. The scariness was accompanied by an addictive thrill and a sense of connection I didn’t want to shake.

Hurrying to pull on a pair of yoga pants, I moved quickly through the inn to reception, to open the door for Cooper. He crowded me immediately, his hand on my hip, and turned to take over locking up for me.

Without saying a word, he led me by the hand to my room. He closed the door softly behind us and then pulled me into him for a hug.

That was all I’d wanted earlier.

Cooper hugs were all-encompassing and warm and safe, and I felt utterly cared for and protected when he hugged me.

My arms tightened around him and I mumbled into his shoulder, “Not that I mind at all, but what are you doing here? You know I’m technically still working, right?”

Cooper moved me back to arm’s length. He curled my hair around my ear and then trailed his fingertips along my jaw. I was utterly disarmed by the warmth in his expression. “I wanted to sort out our earlier misunderstanding. Also I needed to see you, make sure you were okay. I found out about Anita’s diagnosis. I know she has cancer.”

“Oh,” I whispered.

“One of her friends came in tonight to tell us.”