Plush Book 4: A Billionaire Romance (9 page)

“Coop, I know you’re worried, and I appreciate it. You’ve been by my side for everything, and I know you’re just being protective big brother, but you have to trust me and let me figure things out for myself. I know my body and I know what I’m capable of. It’s just an audition. If I get the part, it will still be months away before I start filming.”

Her tone was soft, and her words gentle, but for some reason, it triggered the memories of the argument with Allie. Some of the things she was saying were almost the same as what Allie had said. “Fair enough,” I replied, sinking back further on the bed.

“How are things over there? How’s Allie holding up?” Angela asked, her voice filled with concern. I’d called her before boarding the plane to let her know I’d be out of town for a while and had been keeping her updated via text messages since landing in Kansas.

I caught her up on the day’s events, leaving out the argument with Allie from the night before. I wanted her advice, but wasn’t sure how to explain it all to her.

“That’s great that he’s awake! I bet Allie feels so much better. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to lose a parent,” her voice trailed off. “Cooper, I’m sorry, that was a stupid thing for me to say. Obviously, you’ve been through this too,” she said, an edge of panic in her voice.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” I assured her. As my half sister, we shared our mother, and she still had her father in her life, although he and our mom had divorced years ago.

“How are you holding up?”

“I’m all right, I haven’t really thought much about losing Dad,” I answered. It was the truth. The circumstances under which I lost my dad were much different and didn’t have a lot of cross points that would trigger memories. I still missed my father all the time—especially when business dealings got dicey and I wished he was there to ask for advice. I often wondered what he’d think of the things I’d done with the company he’d spent his life building.

“Well, that’s good, I guess. You know I’m always here to talk when you need me,” Angela said.

I took a deep breath, it was now or never. “You know, there is something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Of course!” She almost sounded surprised. It wasn’t often I asked anyone for advice, and I definitely had never asked anyone for relationship advice.

I blew out the breath I’d been holding and launched into the explanation of the argument with Allie, recapping the conversation to Angela.

“Yikes,” she said when I tapered off.

“That bad, huh?” I shifted, pushing off the bed and beginning to pace the room.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant. It just sounds like there are a lot of different issues that all came out at once, which is never a good thing. Were you guys having problems before Allie found out about her dad?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. She was really stressed with all the legal issues, and work has been really busy, I guess we haven’t connected in a while, but I thought everything was more or less heading in the right direction. I mean, I was having some crazy thoughts, you know, about the future.”

“Crazy how?” Angela asked.

I hesitated, suddenly wishing I’d left that part out. I didn’t need Angela getting too excited before anything had even been decided. “Well, I was thinking about the long term, the things I want to do with her, the places I want to go, things I want to see and experience. The idea of marriage was definitely there.”

“Was?”

I sighed and raked my free hand through my hair. “Is? I don’t know. I love her, Angie, I really do. I can’t lose her, but if she’s not happy with me…I don’t want her to feel like she has to be something she’s not or try to fit into some mold of what she thinks I want. If she changes herself for me, she’ll hate me later, and I couldn’t deal with that.”

“So, let me ask you this, do you want her to change? I know you love her, but sometimes that’s not enough. You know I think the world of Allie and I love the two of you together. I think you’re good for each other. But, is there maybe some truth to what she’s saying? Do you want some Stepford wife?”

“No!”

“Then you need to tell her that. Cooper, I love you, but let’s be honest, you’re more than a little bit of a control freak. Most of the time, it seems like Allie’s handled that well and has taken it all in stride, but with everything else piled on top of her, it sounds like she’s feeling suffocated. You need to show her that you love her just like she is, and that you’re not looking for her to contort herself into anything else. If she needs more time before she can give up her apartment and move in with you, then let her. If she wants to ride her bike instead of hopping on a private plane, let her.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense to me. Why does she
want
to stay in her cracker-jack box apartment when she could live in a penthouse? Why would she
want
to ride her bike across three states when she could be there in a few hours on a luxury plane? I’m only trying to make her life better—easier!”

“It doesn’t necessarily matter
why
, Cooper. You can’t question every decision she makes. Come on, you’d freak the hell out if you had someone questioning your every move and thought! Remember that you fell in love with her because of her unique, feisty spirit, so enjoy it, and stop trying to tamp it down. I know you mean well and only want to help her and spoil her, but I don’t think she can see it that way right now.”

Angela’s advice hit me square in the chest and I nodded along. Growing up, my parents had always given us the best of everything, and less than the best was looked down upon. With Allie, I’d been treating her life choices as second rate, and even though it hadn’t been out of malice, I could see where making her feel she was settling for second best, when it came to things she loved and treasured, was not acceptable. “Thanks Angie. You’re the best. Now, go knock ‘em dead at that audition!”

“Thanks Cooper. Send my love to Allie.”

“I will. Thanks again.”

We hung up and as I set the phone down on the bed, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest. It was easier to breath and my mood was lighter than it had been in days. I debated going back to the hospital—not wanting to be apart from Allie for even another minute—but in the end, decided to give them more time alone as a family.

* * * *

By the time Allie and her family arrived home, they were all more relaxed and happy. Being there the moment her father had stirred and opened his eyes, seeing his family for the first time since the accident, was a moment I knew I’d never forget. I was in the kitchen, returning the favor her mother had given the night before, by plating a spread of food. Allie rounded the corner and my heart nearly stopped at the broad, beaming smile on her face.

“Hey!” I greeted as she sailed across the kitchen. I set down the container I was emptying onto a large serving platter, and took her into my arms. She popped up on her toes and pressed a kiss to my lips. “How’s he doing?”

“Amazing!” She exclaimed.

Her mother joined us in the kitchen. “What’s all this?” She asked, looking at the containers of food.

“You were so kind to serve us dinner last night, I thought tonight I’d take care of it,” I explained. “I’m not much of a chef, but I’m pretty good at ordering in.”

Allie’s mom ran a comforting hand across my back and shot a knowing look at Allie. “I’m telling you, Allie, you found a prince! Thank you, Cooper. This looks wonderful!”

I nodded and bit back a laugh as Allie looked over at me. “I swear, in her head, she’s already picking out wedding dresses!”

“Is that such a terrible thing?” Her mom asked, shrugging before leaving us alone in the kitchen.

I cut a glance over at Allie, trying to read her mind. Thinking back to my confession to Angela, about having my own thoughts of marriage, I couldn’t help but wonder what she’d think about that idea? Was marriage something she wanted down the line? With me? We’d never talked about it, and a sharp sting reminded me how little we still knew about each other. Before I could ask her, she pressed a kiss to my cheek, “Thank you for doing this, Cooper. Really.”

Allie washed her hands at the kitchen sink and then turned back to help me finish plating everything. We worked shoulder by shoulder as she recounted the conversation with the doctor. “—so, it looks like he could be released tomorrow if this continues.”

“That’s great,” I smiled over at her.

She returned the smile, but then it faded slightly. “There is one thing though…”

My heart jumped into my throat.

“He’s going to need a lot of care for the first few weeks, or even months, as he works on recovering all the way. My mom can’t take much more time away from work and someone needs to be here around the clock…”

“That’s not a problem,” I jumped in. “We’ll hire the best of the best and make sure he has someone here twenty four, seven.”

Allie’s face fell. “That’s not exactly what I had in mind.”

“What do you mean?”

She turned towards me and took my hand. “I meant me. I told my parents I’d move back home.”

At her words, everything inside me welled up, ready to lay out a hundred reasons why that was the wrong decision and present her with a list of other options, but the conversation with Angela was fresh in my mind, her advice ringing in my ears, as I forced a smile on my face, and told Allie, “That sounds even better.” Even though the idea of her moving back to Kansas ripped my heart into a million tiny shreds.

Cooper flew back to LA the following morning after a final visit with my dad at the hospital. I knew work was stacking up and he couldn’t possibly stay forever, but sending him off at the airport turned out to be harder than I’d imagined. He’d promised to fly back as soon as possible to visit—but I knew the reality was work would probably keep him busy for at least a couple of weeks. As the CEO, it wasn’t something easy he could put on the back burner for a weekend, at least not in Cooper’s world. He was much too involved for that to ever work.

Two weeks flew by, and with each day, my life in LA was beginning to feel more and more like some kind of dream I’d cooked up. My life with Cooper seemed especially far away. I missed him like crazy, even though we talked at least once a day and kept things alive with spicy pictures and text messages. I didn’t regret my decision to stay and care for my dad, but the trade off was steep.

Caring for my dad was getting easier every day, and we had a home nurse come to deal with the medical needs, but it was my job to entertain him, make sure he took his medicine on time, and had enough to eat. I was working on convincing him to go vegan, but that was an uphill battle. He was mostly in good spirits and we’d had a chance to reconnect as father and daughter in a special way that made it easier to stay, even though I missed Sam, Cooper, my friends, and my job.

On my mom’s day off from work, she insisted on taking my dad to physical therapy, in order to give me the day off, leaving me alone at the house with nothing to do. I’d called Cooper twice, but had been forced to leave voicemails. I knew he’d call me back as soon as he got free, but the disappointment still stung. I was about to go out for a walk to get my mind off of everything, when my phone rang. I smiled when I saw Hannah’s name on the screen and immediately answered the call. “You have no idea how happy I am that you called just now!”

“Happy to help! How’s it going over there?”

I sighed and folded my legs up under me on the couch. “It’s okay, I guess. My dad’s doing great, and that’s what really matters. I just miss LA.”

“Missing your man, huh?” Hannah said, an edge of gentle teasing in her voice.

“Well obviously!” I said, laughing with her.

“Sooo…spill! What’s it like dating a
billionaire
?” Hannah squealed.

“Well it’s not all pricey champagne and first class travel, if that’s what you’re thinking!” I answered with a laugh. In truth, I’d never worked harder than since meeting Cooper, but that was how I preferred it. I didn’t want to be
kept
and locked away in a tower somewhere, even if the tower was plated with gold and fully air conditioned. “Honestly, most of the time I forget he even has that much money.”

“Oh right, listen, I’ve seen some of the jewelry he’s bought you. It’s pretty freaking obvious to the rest of us that he’s loaded.”

I laughed and knew I couldn’t defend that. Cooper did like to spoil me with nice things. “True, but right now I miss him, not the stuff he can buy me. I guess, I’m feeling kind of torn. I want to be here to help out, and seeing my family and getting that back on track has been really good for me. I’m feeling a lot more grounded, and not so tangled up in hurt from the past, but at the same time, I feel so out of place here. There isn’t much grace for a tattooed, biker chick in a small town like this. I can’t really go anywhere without attracting a bunch of attention, even though people know who I am, which is super annoying. And without a job, it’s isolating. I mean, I spend most of my days cooking for my dad and watching re-runs of old sitcoms on TV with him.”

“So, what are you gonna do? Are you going to come home?”

I chewed my lip. “Probably in a few weeks. Cooper’s coming to visit this weekend so I’ll talk to him and see what he thinks. Right now he’s been so busy with work, I don’t want to burden him with anything else.”

Hannah sighed. “Allie, you’re not burdening him by talking about your problems or expressing your thoughts. Listen, I know you’re the tough, independent, don’t need nobody chick, but he’s your boyfriend, he’s supposed to be the one you do life with. Right?”

“I guess you’re right. The idea is just so foreign to me. Like you said, I’m used to doing it all on my own.”

“I know, and I admire you for that, but even strong people need a break sometimes, you know? I mean, if you guys get married, are you just going to keep two separate lives? He has his problems, you have yours, and that’s it?”

“I guess not,” I agreed quietly. Hannah quickly changed the topic and started rambling on about the newest guy she’d met at the club and hooked up with, easily filling the hour before my parents got home for dinner.