“You’re on my mind constantly. I thought we’d have a nice evening together,” he told her.

Stormy’s breath caught as she looked at this man telling her that she meant something to him. Was it real? It seemed real. He felt real.

She had two choices. She could accept the invitation or she could run and hide. Stormy was sick of running and hiding. So she moved forward and sat—on the other end of the couch, which made Cooper chuckle.

Handing her a glass of wine, he raised his own in a toast.

“This is to you, Miss Stormy Halifax. You make me . . . I don’t know, feel something I haven’t felt in a very long time.”

Dang, she loved hearing him say this to her. It brought back that moonlit walk, that night when she had felt special. Was her prince back to stay?

“Thank you, Cooper. You’ve been incredible,” she said.

“I should warn you, I’m doing all I can to get you to come back to my bed—willingly,” he said with a smile and a wink.

She flushed as the image of the two of them entwined on his bed shot to the forefront of her mind. Oh, how she wanted that more than she wanted breath. But it couldn’t happen. She decided it was time to change the subject.

“Now that I’ve met your brothers, why don’t you tell me more about your family?”

“That’s a boring topic,” he said with a slight choke. Of course it was a lie.

“I’ve met the Armstrongs, or a good amount of you, and boring is never something I would use to describe your family,” Stormy said with a raised eyebrow.

“My dad was a pilot for Pan Am, but died several years ago. My mother was a talented photographer who sold her art in galleries around the country. Just your average family, really—I have three brothers, no sisters.”

“That would explain all the photographs of you around the house. You obviously enjoy spending time with your family.”

“Yes, my brothers and I are incredibly close.”

“Okay, so I know Nick is in the Coast Guard, but what does Maverick do?”

“Are you sure you want to hear about them? I’m much more interesting,” he said with a laugh.

She agreed. But to know him she needed to know his family, too.

“Yes, I’m sure I want to hear.”

“All right. First there’s Nick, who you know is a Coast Guard pilot. Then there’s Maverick, who flies an F-18 for the Airforce and is based here at McChord Field. Then there’s Ace . . . Ace has been away for a while.”

The slight crack in his voice intrigued her, but she could see that wasn’t something she could push him to talk about so she didn’t.

“It’s really cool that you all share a love of flying,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, it just sort of happened. Our father and our uncle were pilots, and we all fell in love with flying at a young age, none of us realizing that it would become a career for us,” he explained.

“What made each of you choose such different avenues of flying?”

“I don’t know, to tell you the truth. When I decided to do it as a profession, I wanted to fly bigger and bigger planes, though I’m telling you it’s not as much of a joy as flying my personal aircraft. Mav always wants adventure and speed, and I think Nick likes being a hero,” he said.

“You are quite the trio,” she said. She desperately wanted to ask about Ace, but he wasn’t speaking of his youngest brother so she didn’t want to pry.

“Do you want more wine?”

“I think I’m good,” she told him, knowing she didn’t want to lose her wits.

The darkness of the room, the warm fire, and the wine were quickly sinking her resolve. And the look in Cooper’s eyes nearly burned her alive.

“Good, then I’m going to hold you.”

He didn’t give her a chance to refuse him; he simply stood up, picked her up, and then sat back down, pulling her onto his lap.

“I don’t think this is a good idea, Cooper,” she said, though she wasn’t trying to pull away.

“A lot of things in life aren’t a good idea,” he replied.

His hand trailed down her back and Stormy leaned into him without even realizing it. This man was affecting her more than she wanted him to.

He said nothing else and she felt her eyes drooping as her head rested against his chest. She struggled with whether to take this to the next level, to make love with him again . . .

Soon the decision was out of her hands. She drifted peacefully to sleep.

Cooper glanced down, realizing Stormy had relaxed enough in his arms to let her guard down. Smiling, he gazed at her peaceful beauty. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“We’re getting closer,” he whispered.

He slowly stood, cradling her in his arms. He was falling for this woman in a way he’d told himself he never would. And it was both terrifying and exciting. But even being shaken to his bones, he still couldn’t manage to take her to her own room.

He slipped inside his door and laid her on the bed, not even letting her go for a moment as he clasped her in his arms and held on tight.

For the first time in a long while, he fell asleep with his lips tilted up.

CHAPTER THIRTY

The ringing of the doorbell startled Stormy as she was putting the finishing touches on a new bouquet on the kitchen table. She’d never had access to beautiful flowers, and now that she did, she decided it was a luxury she would continue when her time at Cooper’s was over. She loved how bright they were and how they left a subtle scent in the air.