“What? Okay, I’m lost,” Maverick said as he moved to the bench and sat down.

“So am I,” Cooper said slowly. “Why wouldn’t she bring that up? Why is she trying to hide it?”

Maverick was silent for several moments. “Maybe she didn’t enjoy it as much as you did.”

“Bullshit,” Cooper said. “I know when a woman’s pleased, and she was crying out for more.”

“It has been a long time,” Maverick told him.

“I don’t care if it’s been a long time.” He closed his eyes and he could clearly remember that night. “Why didn’t I recognize her immediately?”

“It’s been six years. People change,” Mav said.

“Yeah . . .” He wasn’t so sure of that. “Her hair was blonde then, and she wasn’t as curvy as she is now, but those eyes and lips . . . they haven’t changed a single bit.”

“Maybe you didn’t want to know,” Mav told him.

“I searched for her for a while. It did me no good. She crashed the wedding and then she was gone.”

“The all-powerful Cooper couldn’t find a woman,” Mav said with a laugh.

“Joseph gave me a necklace she’d dropped,” he admitted. “I still have it.”

“Oohh, this just gets better and better,” Mav told him.

“Dammit, Mav, can you be serious for two seconds,” Cooper said with a glare.

“Confront her about it.”

“And say what? Hey! Remember me? I’m the one who made you scream an entire night until you disappeared on me?” Cooper said with sarcasm.

“Or you could be a little less crude,” Mav told him.

“I don’t know . . .” Cooper leaned against the wall and thought about it. “Maybe I will just try to figure out what is going on in her brain before I reveal that I know who she is.”

“That sounds like a recipe for disaster,” Mav warned.

“I always have liked living on the edge of danger,” Cooper said, warming up more and more to the idea.

“It’s your funeral.” Mav glanced over at the clock and sighed with relief. “I have to get to the base. So we’ll meet up next week and you can fill me in.”

Cooper waved his hand distractedly. His mind was reeling and he wasn’t sure what he was going to do next. The only thing he knew for sure was that he had to see Stormy soon. He wasn’t going to figure anything out sweating in a gym.

A smile lifted his lips. Let the games begin.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Never happy to wake, Stormy stumbled from her bed and moved to her dresser, trying to decide what she was going to do to fill her day. When nothing came to her, she took a shower, then climbed back into bed and sat there watching the sunrise. When enough time was wasted, she decided hiding out had to end.

She dressed and then slowly opened her bedroom door. There wasn’t a sound to be heard. Maybe Cooper was gone. He was a pilot after all. Sherman had told her the owner of the house was gone a lot.

With the lighting of this place and the solitude, she could create jewelry designs all she wanted and no one would be the wiser. It calmed her to draw, to dream, even if she didn’t have a lot of faith she’d ever make those dreams come true.

Feeling a bit more confidence, though, she made her way down the stairs and stepped into the kitchen. That’s when she realized she hadn’t had a chance to go shopping yet. And dang it, she was starving. She’d gone through her bag of protein bars and chips the day before.

Opening the huge Sub-Zero fridge, she was impressed and intimidated. It was filled with items she’d never even heard of, or items she had heard about and never had a desire to try. Caviar, truffles, and coconut water lined the shelves, along with meats and cheeses she didn’t recognize.

When she spotted the organic turkey bacon and farm fresh brown eggs, she decided that was as normal as she was going to get. Pulling the items from the fridge, she vowed to replace them as soon as she could find a store that carried the higher-priced items.

Moving over to Cooper’s six-burner commercial range that had barbecue vents to the outside, she wondered if she should even try to operate it. There was a distinct possibility she would burn down his house.

Never one to be a quitter, she decided to give it a go. While her bacon cooked, she roamed the kitchen, falling instantly in love with the giant walk-in pantry, again stacked with items she’d never heard of before. She really needed to introduce Cooper to the joys of basic grocery staples. The idea of turning his world upside down with the delight that comes from having a secret stash of Oreos had her smiling.

This kitchen was highly intimidating with its dark granite counters, custom wood cabinets, built-in espresso machine, and appliances that looked far too smart for her to operate. She desperately hoped the cottage was a little more down to earth.

Just as she was sitting down at the breakfast bar, she realized she wasn’t alone.

“Make yourself at home.”

Cooper moved to the counter facing her, pulled down a coffee cup, and filled it before taking a nice long swig. Then he turned and leaned against the counter and smiled at her.

“I’m sorry. I thought you’d already left. I’m going to replace the food. I just haven’t had a chance to shop yet,” she told him, hoping he’d leave before her eggs got cold.

“Go ahead and eat. I don’t get very many opportunities to cook. My mom likes to keep me stocked full of groceries even though I’m gone so much I don’t get to enjoy them half the time. But then she feels like she’s doing her job as a mother, she tells me.” Hadn’t Sherman told her she might need to shop for him? It seemed that wasn’t true.