First Step Forward by Liora Blake

Author:Liora Blake
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Cooper isn’t flexible. Strong, yes. He also has the endurance of a safari animal, or the Energizer Bunny, but manlier. He’s very coordinated, has great balance, and can do more than one thing at once. Lots of things. So many things at once.

But Cooper trying to eat during a picnic, while sitting awkwardly on a stadium blanket, is like watching the Tin Man do yoga. Long limbs that don’t quite hinge enough, knees and elbows that won’t stay put when what he wants is just beyond his reach. Must be all those muscles.

Once we’ve finished eating, I stretch my legs out, fold up the sweatshirt he brought along, and place it on my lap, giving it a pat to prompt him. Poor guy needs a flat surface and encouragement to stretch out. Cooper immediately rolls down, head in my lap, and lets his eyes close. I lean back onto outstretched arms and spy a group of guys across the park, setting up a small area for disc golf.

“I want to talk about the loan you need.”

I groan aloud. The sunshine and food made me sleepy, in a good way. Now the sixty million–dollar man is going to ruin that.

“No.”

One eye opens and he shades the sun from his face by propping one hand to his forehead. “Why not? Maybe I could help you. I don’t understand why this is a problem.”

“Because it’s squicky.”

“Squicky? Is that a real word?”

“Squicky is the feeling I get when I have sex with a guy and the next morning, he’s trying to give me a large sum of money. Squicky.”

Cooper rolls slightly to one side, making it so he doesn’t have to shield his face.

“But if it’s a loan, it would be different. It wouldn’t be squicky.”

More of the absentminded touching commences. He toys with the lower areas on my shirt, letting one finger slip under the bottom hem, grazing the skin on my belly. That doesn’t help me think, so I still his hand.

“If I had sex with a guy from the bank and then he gave me a loan, wouldn’t that seem squicky?”

His expression hardens. “We’re not talking about you sleeping with another guy. I don’t want to talk about that, at all, in any context. We’re talking about you needing a loan and me being in a position to finance it.”

He’s such a brick wall, mentally and physically. Despite his being the touchy-feely, thoughtful, sexy, fun Cooper for the majority of my time here, it seems the stubborn Cooper was still hiding just under the surface. A low grumble rises from his chest when he realizes that I’ve effectively closed the conversation by going silent. For nearly thirty seconds, he does nothing but twist the hem on my shirt and gnaw on his upper lip with his bottom teeth.

Finally, he stops abusing the hem and simply gives a tug on my shirt, aiming to get my attention.

“So what’s your plan, then?”

When I look down, his eyes have gone soft. I shift my gaze back to the guys playing disc golf.

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