Plush Book 4: A Billionaire Romance (3 page)

When I looked up from the picture, he was still fixed on me, not letting me off so easily. I sighed. “I know, I know. I was a total crazy lady last night.”

“No argument here,” he quipped.

I set the frame down roughly. “I’m trying to fix this, Cooper.”

He sucked in a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “All right, Allie. Tell me what you want? You heard what the lawyer said, so what do you want me to do?”

“I want to drop it.”

Cooper’s eyes went wide. My answer was the last one he’d probably been expecting. “Drop it?”

I nodded and swallowed the lump that had built up in my throat. “I know your lawyer guy is really good, and it would
more than likely
be fine—but I can’t risk it, Cooper. The chance that it doesn’t go as planned and everything comes out—”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“You can’t possibly know that, though! If the truth comes out, about my hacking, and the stuff I dug up for Plush. If that all gets dragged through the courts, then it’s not just me in trouble, it’s Plush, it’s Brighton Enterprises, it’s—” my words cut off. “We just can’t. It’s not worth it.”

Cooper looked ready to launch out of his chair. “So, what are you proposing then? We just wait around and hope it doesn’t happen again? That they decide
not
to fuck with us again?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, my voice quiet.

Cooper’s face shifted. “What are you afraid of, Allie?”

Shit
. “Please, Cooper. Just drop it.”

“Allie, haven’t we been through this enough? I know when you’re keeping something from me. Just tell me what’s going on.”

“See? This is why I went home alone last night. You’re pressuring me and it feels like I can’t breathe! I need this whole thing to go away, right now.” I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to trap my hot tears, but they broke free and slid down my cheeks. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

Cooper was at my side within half a second and pulled me against his chest. “Okay, baby, whatever you want. We won’t do the lawyers and court. I’ll handle this.”

I nodded against his chest, my throat tight and constricted.

He pressed a kiss against my forehead and held it there for the minute I needed to regather myself. When I’d calmed down, I straightened up and finally looked at him and met his eyes. “That’s really what you want?” he asked.

“Yes.”

He considered me for another moment, but then he kissed my face again and said, “Consider it done.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked, suddenly sobered. Cooper’s tone was low and dangerous.

“I’ll handle it.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “Cooper, this isn’t a mob movie. Tell me what you’re going to do!”

“I’m going to
talk
to Clay. Jeeze, Allie, I’m not threatening to feed him to the fish or something.”

I crossed my arms. “What are you going to say to him?”

We squared off, staring each other down, waiting for one of us to break. When it became clear that neither of us was backing down, Cooper said, “Allie, it’s either my way, or we go back to Mr. Peters office.”

I had my reasons for not wanting to go to court against Clay and Bryce, reasons that were bigger than my own humiliation and pride. “Fine.” I stood from my chair and stalked back towards the door.

“See you for dinner?” Cooper called after me.

“Can’t wait!” I threw back sarcastically at the same time I flung the door open and marched myself out into the hallway. I got about two steps outside when I could’ve sworn I heard the low, gravelly sound of Cooper chuckling.

One of the weirdest things about my transition to being Cooper’s girlfriend was that we still worked together and at work—he wasn’t Cooper. He was Mr. Brighton. Our relationship wasn’t necessarily a secret, but Cooper insisted we keep things professional so no one could ever get the wrong idea about my position being a fringe benefit of sharing his bed. I agreed it was no one else’s business and after the disaster at Spotlight, I was more than fine with keeping things on the down low to avoid company gossip. Although, there were still moments when it was weird to go about our day and not be able to acknowledge each other beyond what was expected.

Even thought I’d moved on from the hacking job, I remained in my original office—one floor down in the IT department. I was busy working on a new line of all-natural Plush products, and had very little to do with technology, but it was easier to stay put and not change offices just because my role in the company had changed.

At night, I’d usually leave the office to go home alone and feed Sam. Then I’d meet up with Cooper by eight, usually at some fancy downtown restaurant, then we’d go to his penthouse for the night. So, I was surprised to find Cooper waiting in my office when I’d returned from a meeting with the graphic designer who was making new logos for the new Plush line of all-natural products.

“Afternoon,” I greeted, keeping my voice neutral as I swept past him to sit behind my desk. My office was walled with windows and although with the touch of a button, I could have the bamboo blinds pull closed for privacy—it would be a little suspicious. His hand grazed my ass as I rounded the desk and I shot him a warning look as I smoothed the back of my pants and sat down. “What can I do for you, Mr. Brighton?”

“I believe we had dinner plans, Ms. Rand.” Cooper flashed me a devilish smile that made my heart thump out to a new, frantic beating.

I folded my arms on top of my desk. “Does that mean
it’s handled
?”

Cooper leaned back in his chair and stared at me for a moment.

I sighed. “Come on, Coop. Don’t make me beg for information.”

He cleared his throat and his expression darkened. It was clear he didn’t want to talk about it—but if he expected me to let it go and move on, he needed to bring me up to date. As much as I was resistant to share my secrets, Cooper was just as reluctant to share just about…
anything
.

“I told you I’d take care of it, Allison. Why can’t you just trust me on this?”

“What did you do?”

Cooper stood and paced the three steps away from my desk, headed for the door. “You know, I came down here to take you out to a nice dinner. Things have been so fucked up lately—I really wanted to just unplug from all of that tonight.”

He had a point. We’d spent the past few weeks so consumed with gathering evidence and having meetings with lawyers and investigators. Any free time not spent working on the case, was used up with the overhauling of Plush and transforming it into a new, all-natural company, which was a deeply satisfying project, but also exhausting. By the end of the day, we were both too wiped out on every possible level to focus on our new relationship and the next steps we wanted to take.

On top of the physical and mental exhaustion, my spare moments turned into combating the dark thoughts related to the trial, which then depleted my emotional capacity, leaving no room for even daydreaming about Cooper and the merging of our lives.

It was all a big, tangled clusterfuck.

“Cooper, wait!” I pleaded, right as his hand hit the lever on the door. He turned around and I got up from my desk and went to join him by the door. The office outside was nearly abandoned as it was well past seven o’clock, and I let myself melt against his chest. “I’m sorry,” I breathed. The faint scent of his cologne reassured me as he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight, as though he’d been waiting all day to hold me.

“You don’t have to be sorry, baby.”

“I am though. I know you’re only trying to cheer me up and take my mind off the stress, but it’s hard for me to set everything aside. It’s not the flick of a switch, you know?” I looked up, resting my chin against his firm chest, and he nodded.

“Tell you what,” he started. He ran his hands down my sides and grabbed a hand in each of his. “I promise to tell you all about it tomorrow. But tonight, it’s just you and me. Okay?”

A glimmer of seduction sparked in his eyes and I knew, without words, exactly what he was thinking. A slow smile spread across my face and I licked my lips to let him know his message had been received. Loud and clear. “Sounds pretty perfect. You and me.”

We froze in a beat of silence, savoring the words, before Cooper tugged me back into his arms. “Good. Now, let’s get out of here,” he growled into my ear.

* * * *

The night with Cooper unlocked the pent-up stress and worry in my heart, and although I never pressed him for details, the next day the emails and phone calls relating to the trial all stopped pouring in, and as I archived the old emails and messages, I ordered myself to let it all go. As the rest of the week went on, the pressure that had built up inside of me over endless thinking and stressing about the trial finally erased and I felt more myself than I had in over a month. By the middle of the week, my mood improved enough to attend the in-office birthday party for Sammy, one of the newest team members in the IT department. Since my office was still located in the IT department, I’d built relationships with all my co-workers in that department during my frequent coffee and snack breaks, and had gotten to know the new girl well enough to organize a miniature party for her twenty-fifth birthday.

By half past three, I’d gathered the entire floor into the break room and had people on either side of me as I presented the cake lit with sparklers. The group was three bars into a very pitchy rendition of the birthday song, when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I ignored it and sang along, but the buzzing wouldn’t stop, so I pulled it out of my pocket to see who was blowing up my phone. I was surprised to see my mom’s name flashing at the top of the screen. She’d called three times already, and was beginning her fourth call, by the time I was able to break free of the pack and answer the phone.

“Mom?”

“Allie! Thank God!” Her voice was high and hysterical.

My body tensed as I took a few more steps out of the kitchen where the singing was on a crescendo towards the end of the song. “Mom? What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“—I didn’t know what else to…the accident…”

“Mom, hold up,” I raced down the hall, plugging my opposite ear to muffle the singing and cheering from the break room. “What did you say?”

“Your father has had a heart attack.”

All the air left my lungs like a popped balloon. I crashed into the nearest wall, the words ringing in my ears. “What?” I gasped, gripping the phone so tight I didn’t miss a word.

“He—he was…” My mom’s voice broke and there was a pause that stretched out forever as I waited for her to be able to continue.

“Mom?”

There was a flurry of rustling sounds and then a new voice answered, “Allie? It’s Ben.”

“Ben!” My older brother’s face popped into my head and a warm relief surrounded the bubble of panic in my chest. Ben was there. Everything was going to be okay.

“Listen, Al, Dad was going out for lunch and while he was driving, he had a heart attack. He lost control of the car and crashed into a telephone pole. We’re at the hospital with him now. He’s having emergency surgery to remove a blockage in his heart and then they‘ll work to fix the damage from the accident.”

I slid down the wall inch by inch as Ben explained the situation. I hit the floor and nodded my head against the wall, hearing, but barely processing the words. Mental images of horrific wrecks and my dad’s face twisted with pain and fear assaulted my senses and I lost track of my surroundings. So, when I was suddenly swarmed by co-workers, it took me a second to remember where I was.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I told Ben, fighting back the tears that were pooled along my lashes.

“Do you need a plane ticket?”

I shook my head, forgetting that Ben couldn’t see me.

“Allie? I can book something right now.”

“No!” I found my voice and it burst out a lot stronger than I’d intended, startling the people gathered around me. All I could think about was getting on Cherry Bomb and hauling ass to Kansas. “I don’t want to fly. Ben, I’ll be there soon, just tell Daddy—tell Daddy I’m coming.”

I clicked off the call and let my co-workers scoop me off the floor. “I have to go. It’s my dad.”

I didn’t wait for a reply before turning and racing towards the elevators, only stopping to swing by my office to grab my purse.

* * * *

By the time I got back to my apartment, Cooper had called half a dozen times. I called him back, propping the phone against my shoulder as I laid out extra food for Sam and then went to my bedroom to start packing a small bag of clothes.

“Where are you?” Cooper asked in lieu of a ‘hello’ when he answered my call.

My mind was busy calculating routes and a plan of action and couldn’t formulate an answer to his question.

“Allie! Where are you? What’s going on?”

At the jolt of his voice, my thoughts shifted, rearranging as I began to piece together a route and a plan. If I stuck to the highways and avoided major cities, I could be home in a day and a half. “I’m at home, Cooper. But just for the next five minutes. My dad had a heart attack and got in a car wreck. I’m leaving to go see him.”

“Oh my God, Allie, I’m so sorry. Did you book your flight? I know people at the airlines—they can get you on the next flight out. I’ll hire a charter, whatever you need.” There was an edge of panic to Cooper’s normal cool, controlled tone that I appreciated.

“Uhm…no, thank you, but…I don’t fly, remember?” I clicked the speaker button and laid the phone on my bedside table to begin packing. I grabbed my duffel bag from the closet and jammed handfuls of clothes into it without really stopping to consider what I was putting together.

“Allie, that’s ridiculous. It’s an emergency. You have to take a plane,” Cooper countered, his authoritative tone back.

I glared at the phone. “No, I don’t. On Cherry Bomb I can be there in less than two days.”

“You can’t take your bike there! Let me arrange a flight, for God’s sake, Allie, think about this,” Cooper gritted out each word and without even seeing him, I knew the expression he was wearing.