Page 8 of Cooped Up for Christmas

“Yes, Jed?”

“When do we sleep?”

I smiled. Like a crocodile. “When all the work is done.”

Before he could howl over this injustice, Coop asked, “Anything my team and I can do to help?”

I stared at him. Usually special teams thought they were special teams and never offered to help with the drudge work. Obviously, Coop remembered being in the trenches as much as I did.

“You can clean the bathrooms,” Jed suggested.

Coop laughed. “Yeah. Not that.”

“Anything you can do to help is appreciated, thank you.” I told him. “Ben? Can you use Cooper and his team on the maintenance checks?”

“That’d be great. Thanks.”

And with that, the meeting was adjourned and my staff dispersed to work on their lists.

After everyone else cleared out, Coop winked at me and followed the rest of his crew to the stairs leading to their billets. For some reason, for a second there, I was pretty damn happy he was here.

But then, he stopped short, turned slowly, and came back to me. “Oh. I do have a question, Vic.”

“Shoot.”

He looked around the empty room, then leaned in; his lips touched mine.

The kiss was utterly unexpected.

It wasn’t an onslaught. It was, indeed, a question. Sweetly asked with timorous hope.

I didn’t intend to answer that question. I swear to God I didn’t. Something possessed me, took hold. Something made me kiss him back. Maybe it was the allure of his breath; I wanted to drink it all in. Maybe it was just joy that we were together again. Maybe it was just a reawakened primal lust or the fact that I was so damn lonely all the time… Surely it wasn’t the ache of a soul unfulfilled.

I was damn fulfilled. I had a great job, a fabulous apartment, and a hot boyfriend.

What a pity he wasn’t anywhere in my mind when I kissed Coop back. That kiss seared away all thoughts entirely.

It turned into a long, hot, hard kiss, one that woke up parts of my body that had been, apparently, in hibernation for years. In fact, his kiss set me afire.

So much so, that I lurched back and swiped my bangs out of my eyes and said, “There. Does that answer your question?” in a frosty tone that was hardly breathless at all.

I have no idea why he laughed.

“It does indeed, Vic.” And then—to my horror—he turned away and headed back to the stairs.

“And what was that burning question, may I ask?” I called after his retreating form. I just had to.

He looked back and grinned. “I wanted to know if it’s still there, Vic. That thing between us.”

Heat rose on my cheeks. “What thing?” I knew damn well. I’d just felt it.

His expression made clear he was wise to me. He came close again and whispered, “It’s great to see you again, sweetheart.” And then he gathered up his gear and headed upstairs.

His dog remained behind, for some season, staring at me with stupid big brown eyes until I hissed, “Go!”

And then he left too.

Chapter Three