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“What?”
“I haven’t heard that one since college.”
I laugh and shake my head. “I’m out of practice. It’s been a while since I did the one-night stand thing, so give me a pass, please?”
“Is that what it was? One night? I thought we had a list.”
I grit my teeth and shake my head. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I mean, it feels complicated with everything. You trying to reform your image probably isn’t going to be improved by sleeping with the help?”
“You’re not the help.”
“I sort of am. Your PR help anyway. Kind of extra help around here. It won’t look good for you if people find out, regardless of what we call it. Let alone if Lizzy would.” I look up from my cup and his eyes search mine. “It didn’t take Ramsey much to connect the dots. It makes me nervous. With everything else going on right now, I just don’t know that it’s a good idea to keep it up. Even if I had a lot of fun.”
“So I have Ramsey to thank for it then. Noted. I’ll make him pay for that later.” Cooper’s playful smile returns.
“No. It’s not his fault. Just that in the morning, things feel different, you know?”
“I can respect that.” He nods, looking at me thoughtfully.
We fall into silence for a moment, and then we both start to talk at the same time before I laugh and shake my head.
“You go,” I say softly.
“I was just going to say, if you change your mind and still want some help, I’m happy to earn more badges.” He flashes another smile, and it melts my resistance a little. It makes me wish I met him first. Because if I’m honest, one night with Cooper was better than the entirety of my relationship with Rob. But that feels like a heavy thing to say when we haven’t even had breakfast yet.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I look down at my coffee. “For the record… that wasn’t a line or something. That really was the most fun I’ve had in a long time…”
“Is that your way of telling me I’m better in bed than my brother?”
“I wasn’t going to put it exactly that way, but…”
“You should. It’s my birthday.” He grins before he takes another sip of his coffee, and my heart riots in my chest. I’m trying to decide exactly how much to tell him—how much to confess—when there’s a knock at the door.
“You two decent? Your gardener wants to talk to you.” It’s Ramsey.
“Be right there,” he calls back.
Cooper’s brow furrows, but he stands and grabs a pair of sweats and puts them on, apologizing to me as he makes his way out. I follow behind at a distance, curious about what’s going on but still not keen on being half-naked with his teammates still in the house.
When he gets to the door, the gardener’s already in the entryway, and he nods his hello.
“I’m sorry to get you up. We were just out there working, and I noticed there are footprints in the beds around the front and side. A few of the plants are crushed. We can fix it, but did you have someone working out there? You might want to tell them to be more careful.”
“Out where?” I ask, forgetting that I’m in what is essentially an oversized nightgown with messy hair. The gardener notes my appearance but doesn’t blink.
“I can show you guys if you want.”
“Yeah. I think we’d like to see.” Cooper flashes a concerned look in my direction and back at the gardener.
“Just give me a second.” I sprint to my room to grab shorts and tie up my hair before I join them on the porch.
We follow the gardener around the house with Ramsey in tow, and he points to tracks in the mud—a place where the flowers had clearly been tamped down under heavy boots. I look up slowly, hoping it’s not the window I think it is, and feeling my stomach tumble when I see it is. My window. The one I’d sworn I’d seen someone outside of the other night.
Dread climbs up my spine and wraps around my throat, making it feel tight and scratchy. Cooper’s eyes meet mine with sympathy before he turns back to the gardener.
“Thanks for showing us. If you can fix it up, I’d appreciate it. Just charge me whatever you need to do that. I’ll see what I can do about keeping people out of the beds in the future.” Cooper wraps an arm around my shoulder and walks me back to the house. Ramsey studies us as we pass him and then follows us in.
“You know who did it?” Ramsey’s brow is hard-set, and he and Cooper exchange a look.
