I wanted him to myself a little longer before that happened.
But as Stewart escorted me out to the lobby she brought up her sister herself, “Miranda said she met you.”
“If you count her saying three or four words to me, yes,” I said. I clenched my nails into the hem of my thin top. “I’m pretty sure I could get you fired for talking about a client to your family members.”
Stewart’s glossy red lips quirked into a shadow of a smile. “Actually she has no clue I’ve ever met you. We were talking about Willow Avery the actress, not the girl with the criminal record. But if it helps, Miranda said you were nice.”
My eyebrow shot straight up. “Nice?” I asked, choosing to ignore her comment about me being the girl with the criminal record.
She shrugged. “For Cooper. Personally, I wouldn’t be able to stand it if the guy I loved fell for another girl, but Miranda and I are very different people.”
My breath caught but I shrugged it off. I was so used to dealing with jealous ex-girlfriends—like Gavin’s psycho ex whose friends had started a nasty YouTube channel blasting everything from my weight to my clothes and even my shade of fingernail polish—that it was a bit of a shock to get a thumbs up from Cooper’s ex-girlfriend.
“Tell her . . . thanks,” I said, and Stewart shook her head.
“I can’t discuss my clients, remember?” When I gave her a half-smile, she continued, “I’ll see you again in August and don’t forget to finish your community service before then. I’d hate for you to ruin the work you’ve put in by not following through with the terms of your probation.”
I nodded my head understandingly.
Since I’d been given the day off filming, Cooper and I had planned a surf lesson to work on a technique I needed to master for a shot my stunt woman and I would be working on at the end of the week. But when I arrived at Cooper’s house, and Miller told me he had to run an errand, I knew something was up. My bodyguard had made it a point to stick around for all of my surf lessons ever since production began. I told him I’d see him soon, but as I walked into Cooper’s place alone, I noticed that Eric’s truck was gone too.
The moment I stepped into Cooper’s shop, I smelled candle wax intermingling with the usual scent of plugins and Banana Boat. Cooper was shirtless when he appeared around the corner, and smiled as soon as our eyes met, making me go a little crazy with the way he was looking at me. “What day is today, it’s—”
“Not the singing,” I groaned, “My mother already—”
He yanked me to himself, bringing our lips together as he reached behind me to lock the front door. “Don’t be a party pooper,” he murmured against my mouth as he effortlessly lifted me into his arms and carried me through the house into the kitchen. There was a tiny, homemade birthday cake with lavender icing sitting on the counter with two thin birthday candles plunged deep into the frosting.
“Cooper?” I asked when he left me sitting on top of the granite. He glanced over his shoulder as he adjusted the kitchen blinds to make sure they were view proof. “What are we doing?”
“Can you forget yourself for a day?”
“Like you forgot how old I am?” I asked when he returned to me. I leaned over and blew out the candles before plucking them out the cake to lick the icing off the bottom.
He grinned and nudged himself between my legs. He slid his hand up the front of my body, stopping just behind my ear. A strangled moan escaped the back of my throat as his fingers gently threaded through my hair.
“Happy birthday, Willow,” he said, his voice serious this time.
I reached out and skimmed the back of my hand along the side of his face, through his hair, before pulling his head down to mine. I laced my fingers through the hair at his crown, and wrapped my ankles around him.
When the kiss turned sweet, it took me a moment to realize he’d dipped his finger into frosting and was sliding in and out of my mouth as his lips probed mine. I groaned, melting against him, but he shook his head.
“I’ve got a birthday surprise for you, Wills.” Another surprise. I wasn’t too sure if I could handle another today without bursting into a puddle of waterworks but I nodded despite myself. His hands slid down the bare skin of my arm, tangling with my fingertips for just a moment before he stepped away. “But first, cake.”
We each ate a slice, sitting on the countertop, and then he said it was time to go. I asked him a million questions as he maneuvered his Jeep down Honolulu’s back roads but he wouldn’t budge.
“And Paige and Eric know?” I asked. When I’d asked him where they were while we ate our cake, he said they were taking the day off and would be around tonight.
“Paige is a planning goddess,” he said, winking as the corners of his lips tugged up.
I sat back in the seat, crossing my arms over my chest, but I couldn’t fight the smile that spread across my lips.
Best. Birthday. Ever.
Our destination turned out to be a small cove a half hour from his house. As I jumped out of the Jeep, taking in the sight of the jewel green water below the rocks, I said, “I am so not skinny dipping with you.” I glanced back at him, where he stood leaned against the front of the Jeep with a giant beach blanket slung across his shoulders.
He clutched at his chest, pretending to be hurt. “God, Wills, I can’t even get you to let me see you naked in the lights. I wouldn’t dream of trying to get you to strip down in Cockroach Cove.”
I froze. “Cockroach Cove?”