Page 9 of Cooper’s Promise

Chapter Three

Cooper stood at Brenna’s door at five thirty a.m. Monday morning, and looked down at the single white rose that lay on her welcome mat. It had a pink ribbon tied around it. Chills rushed down his spine. How long had this shit been going on? He knocked on the door.

The door burst open. There she stood, gorgeous in her shorts and oversized T-shirt, her pretty blonde-streaked hair scooped up in a messy bun on top of her head.

“You’ve been calling since four thirty a.m. How dare you wake me so early? I told you not to come over! You know I hate mornings.”

“Here’s your Caramel Mocha Frappuccino.” He held out the drink and saw her eyes take on an avid gleam.

“Caramel mocha?” She licked her bottom lip, and he suppressed a groan. She was going to give him a heart attack.

“Are you going to let me in?”

“Fine.” She stepped aside.

“Brenna. There’s a rose here.” He tipped his chin towards the rose on the mat. She went pale beneath her golden tan. Fuck. His instincts had been right, it was from that fucker. As she bent to pick it up, he put his arm around her, and guided her towards the little dining room table near the front door.

“Sit down and drink your beverage. I’ll take it to the dumpster on my way out.”

“I need to throw it away now,” she said shakily.

“Do you really want it in your house?” He eyed her as he asked the question. She sat there staring at her drink. Finally she shook her head. Damn, he should have never mentioned the rose. He crouched down beside her chair.

“Brenna.” She continued to stare at the frozen drink on the table. “Honey, can you look at me?” She turned her head.

“What?”

“How many roses has he left at your door?”

She shook her head. He knew that didn’t mean zero, it meant that she wasn’t going to answer. That wasn’t acceptable. He placed his finger under her chin.

“Baby, please tell me. I need to know.”

“This is number five,” she finally told him.

“Motherfucker.”

“I told the police, but we couldn’t prove it was him. I spoke to this really nice detective. He reminded me of Dad. He actually made a call to warn Josiah off, even though he wasn’t supposed to. Did you know that the police can only get involved if the man threatens you? Anyway, Josiah denied everything. A rose came the very next day.” Her bottom lip trembled.

“Oh, honey, why didn’t you call me?”

“You know why,” she said softly.

And he did. He wasn’t going to have it. None of it.

“Brenna, this is all my fault. I should never have put you off like I did.”

“You can’t help how you feel. I’m too young. I don’t interest you.” She pushed out of her chair. He didn’t know where she planned to go, but she wasn’t going anywhere without him. He stood up too.

“Get out of my way. I need to get ready to start going over resumes before going into the law office, and you need to go throw away the rose and get back to your place.”

“I’m not leaving you alone.”

“Sure you are. You’re going to track down Josiah. Crush him like a bug. I’ll move to Australia, and we’ll see each other at Hudson’s wedding. Whenever he finds someone.” She pushed past him to go down the short hallway to her bedroom. He gently clasped her upper arm.

“You’re right about me going after Josiah. That’s about all you got right.”

“Let go of me, Cooper.” She didn’t turn.