Body Movers: 3 Men and a Body by Stephanie Bond

Author:Stephanie Bond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2008-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

19

Coop set her suitcase inside the living room door. Wesley walked past them, and a few seconds later, his bedroom door slammed.

“I didn’t realize how moody he is,” Coop said.

“I guess he has a lot on his mind,” she said, then muttered, “Don’t we all.”

Coop rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “This wasn’t exactly how I’d hoped the weekend would go.”

“You went way beyond the call of duty to deliver the body to your uncle’s funeral home safe and sound.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” she murmured, then picked up one of his long-fingered hands. “I think our timing is off.”

He curled her hand inside his. “I’m ready and you’re not.”

She nodded. “I’m not. I just have too many things going on right now.” She considered telling him about seeing her father—she was bursting to tell someone—but she didn’t want to put Coop in a position of having information about a wanted fugitive.

He stepped forward and kissed her, a long, deep kiss to tide them both over for a while. “Don’t forget what I said,” he whispered.

“I won’t.”

At the door he turned back. “When your arm heals, will you still consider a body-moving job now and then?”

“Sure. Stay in touch.”

“I will.”

“Coop?”

“Yeah?”

She angled her head. “Tell the truth. Do you really think Kiki Deerling died of an asthma attack?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think. I’m not the M.E.” He touched her nose. “And neither are you. Get some rest. And call me if Wes gets to be too much of a handful.” He smiled. “Or call me if you just want to talk.”

She nodded, but when the door closed behind him, she murmured, “If only.”

Carlotta dragged her suitcase into her bedroom, then ran a bubble bath. Everything hurt. She undressed slowly and sank into the tub up to her neck, laying her arm on the rim to keep her cast dry.

And then the tears came.

She cried over the messed up messy mess of her life, over her parents’ failures and her own shortcomings. She bawled over her own indecisiveness when it came to men. She was afraid to choose. She didn’t want to make a mistake that would come back to haunt her later, and wreck the lives of others in the process. What did she know about relationships, anyway?

She was better off alone rather than pulling someone into the dysfunctional vortex of her family and having them end up hating her for it.

Like Coop…He seemed eager to love her, and her response to him this weekend, frankly, blew her away. But she was fairly certain she couldn’t meet his expectations. He was lonely and needed a project; she was a handy fixer-upper. Perhaps it was his experience with the twelve-step program that made him so accepting, so optimistic. But as tempting as it was to share her burden, she wanted at least one man in her life who didn’t have a direct connection to her parents.

Her roll in the hay with Jack had led nowhere. To him, she was still first and foremost the daughter of Randolph “The Bird” Wren.

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