“No, not like you’re thinking,” I said, part of me surprised at how honest I wanted to be with him. Even with other people around. It was his eyes, I decided. The way he looked at me made me want to spill my every secret. “I, um . . . my community service boss basically told me to stay the hell away from the residents today.”
“Why?” Paige whispered.
At first, I had no plans to tell them anymore. I was fully prepared to shrug it off. But then I realized that I was already in too deep—that I’d already peeled away several vulnerable layers of myself. As I sat there stuffing my face with Paige’s cooking, I unloaded everything that had happened today on three people I’d barely known a week.
When I was finished, Eric’s usual lopsided, playful grin had turned into something thoughtful and he was scratching his out-of-control beard. I was grateful that he didn’t say anything, especially since I’d probably just solidified myself as the Psycho Sally of the year, actress edition.
“It’s still pretty light out,” Paige said, breaking the silence. I flicked my eyes across the table to find her glancing at the window. She met my gaze with a big smile. “And I’ve got the coolest boss on the planet who’s going to go easy on his client today so she can soak up the rest of it with me. She’s looking pretty pasty.”
“She looks perfect, but whatever,” Cooper said, his words causing my heart to hammer wildly.
A few minutes later, Paige and I carried our boards out to the deck. She was right, it was still sunny out, but the beach was empty, save for a few people playing a horribly uncoordinated game of volleyball.
Before she hopped off the deck, she said, “Just so you know, I love Adventure Time, too.” When I leaned over the railing and raised my eyebrow, she shrugged, adding, “What’s not to love about a show with a hug wolf?” Then she took off into a sprint toward the sea. Halfway there, she turned, cupped one of her hands over her mouth and yelled, “Come on! I’m going to show you what Coop Taylor wishes he could do.”
He chuckled behind me. I turned, pressing my back against the wooden banister. Our gazes tangled. And it wasn’t until Eric’s tall form shuffled past him, toting a beach chair that we looked away.
As soon as Eric was out of earshot, Cooper pushed away from the opposite side of the deck, reaching me in two long strides. He grabbed my face between his hands, pushing back wisps of my dark hair that had fallen over my eyes.
“You’re not a bad person,” he said.
They can see us. They can see what you’re doing to me!
I swallowed hard. “Don’t think I ever said I was.”
“You didn’t have to.”
I jerked away from his grasp, feeling a tingle on my face where his fingertips had touched. “I better get down there with Paige before she comes to drag me.” I raked my hands through my hair and skimmed my body past his. Cooper opened his mouth to say something, but I shook my head and cut him off. “You don’t know me.”
“I know that the media turns everyone who makes a mistake into a monster,” he said, and there was a bitter edge to his voice.
Hugging my arms over my lower stomach, over the fabric of my t-shirt and the stretchiness of the one piece I wore underneath that, and the scar that symbolized the only secret of mine the media had never gotten their hands on, I matched my smile to his tone of voice. “I deal with it.”
“I bet you do.”
“Stop trying to figure me out,” I said, remembering his words the other afternoon when he’d called me difficult. If I was so difficult, why wouldn’t he just let this thing with me go? Hell, why couldn’t I just let this thing go?
His eyes challenged me. “You can’t take it?”
“Just . . . stop,” I whispered pleadingly.
He shook his head to each side in amazement. “Fine. When you want to give this thing between us a go, you let me know. You be the one to change the game.” When I didn’t say anything, he motioned out to where Eric was sloshing through the waves, with Paige sitting on his shoulders, her short legs wrapped around him and her tattooed arms flailing wildly. They looked happy. So f**king happy I felt my stomach burn.
“You should probably go before I change my mind about doing what Dickson’s paying me to do,” Cooper said.
For a moment—hell, longer than a moment—I wanted to turn to him and tell him I didn’t want him to just do what Dickson was paying him to do. That I wanted so much more from him. By the time I’d worked myself up enough to speak, the door to the house was clanging shut.
Swallowing hard and cursing at myself for being so difficult, so afraid of starting a new relationship, afraid of happiness, I grabbed my board and joined Paige and Eric.
Chapter Ten
If Cooper was in a bad mood, he didn’t show it Thursday morning during our lesson. Maybe it was because for the first time, we took on real waves and he could tell I was scared shitless. Or because he knew that after the weekend was over, shooting would begin—which, to be honest, also made me scared shitless. When I spoke to James Dickson and Kevin that evening on a conference call, Dickson told me that some of the crew had already started arriving.
“Yay for me,” I said because I knew that the film crew and their cameras would attract the paparazzi. Nikons and Canons would suddenly become my worst enemies again. I was ecstatic (and shocked) that I hadn’t been photographed, and I didn’t want it to end just yet.
“How’s the training going?” Dickson asked, changing the subject.