Page 55 of Cooped Up for Christmas

“I want to explore this with you,” Coop said. “No matter what it means. No matter where it takes us.” And, when I didn’t respond quickly enough, “How about you?”

“Yes. Yes, please.” He kissed me before I could continue, but it was a quickie. I pulled back so I could see his face when I admitted, “When I first saw you again, I felt…excited and scared—”

He stilled against me. “Wait. What?” I couldn’t even look at his horrified expression. “Scared? Why?”

I grinned. It wobbled. “You broke my heart. I was afraid.”

“You were afraid because you still have feelings for me. That’s why you let me kiss you right off the bat.” There he was, all playful again. I loved when he was playful.

“Your logic is impeccable.”

“And?”

“And?” I knew he was asking for a declaration. I knew I had to tell him how I felt. Hadn’t I given Farley that exact advice? So, even though it still scared me silly, I sucked in a breath, looked him in the eye and said, “I’m crazy about you, Coop. I want to figure out a way we can spend more time…exploring this.”

His smile blossomed and he pulled an object from his pocket. “I have something for you.”

I stared at the small, square box. A ring box. My stomach churned. “Coop…”

“Yeah, Vic?”

“You’re not going to propose to me, are you?”

His eyes got all wide and he clutched at his imaginary pearls. “What are you asking me, Victoria Sue Walker?”

I snorted a laugh. “My middle name is not Sue, and I think you heard the question. Because we’ve just met again.”

“I know we’ve just met…again.” He kind of made fun of that word. “But I bought this ring to give to you, before we had that fight, way back when.” He opened the box to show me the ring.

Oh, hell yeah. He better not be proposing. It was a cute ring, but not an engagement ring. Certainly not the engagement ring of a man who expected a yes.

He chuckled at my expression. “I’m not proposing, Vic, but I do have a very important question to ask you. It’s been delayed a little while, but I think the question applies now, just as much as it did then.”

I was befuddled. What the hell was he talking about? Also, had he been chewing on cloves? His breath smelled yummy. “All right. What’s your question?”

He held out the box and went down on one knee—ignoring the squeals from the staff, who were all now peeping around the doorjamb—and said, with all sincerity, “Victoria Sue Walker, will you go steady with me?”

It was about all I could do to not laugh. He was adorable. Dorky, but really, really adorable. “I would love to go steady with you, Cameron Cooper.”

“Rocky.”

“Cam.” I accepted the ring with grace and helped him stand. He folded me into a hug.

“So will you come with me to Seattle?” he asked.

I made a face. “I have a ton of work to get back to.” Returning from vacation was always a nightmare—what with the hundreds of missed emails—and I hadn’t even had my vacation. “But you’re welcome to come visit me in LA. My condo has a pool.” I added that last bit to sweeten the deal, but I’m not sure it was necessary, because he agreed with alacrity before I even got the word pool out.

“And maybe then you’ll visit me in Seattle and fall in love with it and move there.”

“With Seattle?” I blinked. “Doesn’t it rain there?”

“Hardly ever.” He grinned so I knew he was lying. “Or you could fall in love with me and move there. Either would work. I’m flexible.”

“Mmm,” I murmured as I kissed him. “If memory serves, you are very flexible.”

We kissed. You know, to seal the deal. And also, because we enjoyed kissing.

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