Oh, she believed him.
Her previous thoughts floated back, ribboning around the ecstasy of his mouth’s moist caress as he angled closer to the juncture of her thighs. Inside, she held herself tight as the delectable ache of arousal grew stronger and deeper, until a fine spray of flaming arrows began to fly at her core. The intensity built to such a degree she barely knew she was writhing, or that her fingers were knotted in his hair. She could literally taste the ultimate satisfaction waiting a heartbeat away.
His slightly roughened palm skied down her waist, over her hip, till his touch delved past her panties’ elastic and, curling beneath, met with the unmistakable evidence of her need. At the same moment she gasped at the contact, he snatched the scrap of fabric down and fully off her legs.
Bunched up inside, she shook like a kitten as he kissed her there, with such tenderness and obvious enjoyment that after a moment she forgot every concern other than being an aroused woman with urgent burning needs. She followed where he led, ever closer to the cliff, more than willing to freefall into the blazing whirlpool he had so effortlessly created within her.
Her climax crept up, then knocked her flying. An unfamiliar noise escaped her throat as she gripped his head and held on tight. The release was a continuous detonation of throbbing pleasure that kicked her hips off the bed and sent her soul soaring towards those far-flung stars.
She rode the rolling crest until the intensity gradually ebbed, and bit by bit she washed up on the shore. As the delicious ripples faded and real time began again, she dragged herself back and sighed on a smile. She needed to take a good deep breath.
Her eyes sprang open.
Oh, God, so must he!
Smothering a whimper, she released her hold. But when he peered up over the length of her body he didn’t look concerned, or the least bit annoyed. In fact, he looked positively pleased as he prowled up on all fours, a sleek-muscled jungle cat stalking its second course.
A strong arm drew her near as, propped up on an elbow, his pure masculine perfection hovered close. ‘Any regrets so far?’
Her heart squeezed.
Yes—but she wouldn’t say it. She didn’t want to even think it. This was the best she’d felt about herself in—well, since for ever. Her regret was that tonight would end; they would say goodbye. They were fundamentally different people, who thought and operated in very different ways. Cooper would find a beautiful agreeable woman who fitted his list, while Sophie Gruebella would carry on with her life.
The silver lining? Hers would be a new life, a metamorphosis, so to speak; tonight had proved that as nothing else could. From this time forward she made her own rules. The husk of ‘pushover Sophie’ would be left behind for ever. She couldn’t wait to see Penny and Kate’s reaction when she saw them next.
Cooper’s voice was so low he sounded as dangerous as he looked. ‘Miss Sophie Schoolteacher? That question requires an answer.’
Her lips curved as she twined her arms around the thick column of his hot damp neck. Thatching her fingers up through the back of his silky black hair, she shook her head. ‘No regrets. No going back. Only forward.’
And, although her body buzzed with deep satisfaction, her sizzling nerve-endings already anticipated the next round. The best was yet to come. Three times, if she was lucky.
As he searched her eyes, his expression changed.
‘You’re beautiful.’
He said it simply, seemingly without artifice, and for a moment the breath caught in her throat. But, come on … She knew what lay behind that statement. Cooper might be alpha, and built, and sexy and rich. He also had a conscience. And right now that conscience told him to be kind to the girl he was about to know in the most intimate way possible.
She traced a fingertip around his cleft chin and lower, to circle his prominent Adam’s apple. ‘I know one thing,’ she murmured.
A faint line brushed between his brows. ‘Tell me.’ All warm inside, she tugged some chest hair and
grinned. ‘I’ll remember this night.’
Returning her smile, he grazed the hard, ready
length of his body against her. ‘You won’t need a
memento?’
She pretended innocence. ‘You could arrange one?’ ‘I do have something you might remember fondly.
Unfortunately you can’t take it with you when you go.’ He found her hand and redirected her attention …
The rest of the night and half the next day, Sophie enjoyed Cooper Smith’s extraordinary hospitality. They didn’t exchange addresses or any personal details. Exactly the way she wanted it. Him too. They’d agreed. They had no future together. This was one night and one night only. Neither needed to pretend to the other it was anything more.
Over the following weeks Sophie thought often of Cooper, but she tried never to dwell on his offhand suggestion of fond remembrances or mementoes. Until one Saturday morning when, alone in her apartment’s bathroom, she gazed at the test stick and her jaw came unhinged.
Pink. Two lines. Positive.
In eight months’ time she would be a parent.
Sophie crumpled back onto the pedestal seat.
And, like it or not, millionaire Mr Smith would be one too.
CHAPTER FOUR
COOPER scowled at the Roman numeral clock above his home office filing drawers and bit down as his stomach muscles clenched.
Eleven-twenty on a late autumn day. His surprise visitor would soon be here. Question was … what did Sophie want so many weeks after the event?
Frowning, he pushed out from his high-backed leather chair, rounded his desk, and absently rearranged a stack of depositions he should have finished assessing that morning. Instead, most of the time he’d merely stared at them in a slightly vexed, preoccupied daze.
The hotel had passed on her message asking him to call. Since their brief phone conversation yesterday, when she’d asked to meet with him here, he’d thought of little else. He loathed wasting time, but this morning he’d been dressed by six, had finished his workout by seven, after which he’d achieved nothing more than washing down endless cups of strong black coffee.
He glanced at the clock.
Eleven twenty-one. Nine minutes to go.
‘Cooper, can you spare a few dollars?’
He jumped at the bright voice at his back, and the depositions scattered across the desk onto the floor. He spun to find his sister, dressed in worn low-slung jeans and a luminous pink midriff top. Her cropped blonde hair was styled to perfection. Shoulder propped against his office doorjamb, she munched on a bowl of rabbit food.
His arms folded over his chest. ‘Is that what’s going to fuel your day? A handful of lettuce?’
She was naturally small and lean, but a person needed sustenance—particularly when she was headed off in two weeks’ time on a students’ overseas exchange programme. The provincial city of Aurillac, France, was known for its chilly mornings. A little natural padding wouldn’t go astray.
Paige arched a brow. ‘And you’ve had … how many cups of coffee already today?’
He suppressed a grin. Smart Alec. ‘We were talking about you.’
She mumbled something like ‘bossy-boots’, then issued a put-upon sigh and pushed off the jamb. ‘Marlo and I will have lunch in between shopping, okay?’
His arms dropped to his sides. ‘More shopping?’
She