Tidal (27 page)

picking up speed. Jessica and I’d gone

after each other’s ex-boyfriends

repeatedly in the past, not really giving a

shit. But Cooper wouldn’t be one of them.

Ever. I pinched my mouth, hoping like hell

she wouldn’t bring him up again.

“How’s that new show you were

shooting for going?” I asked in a strained

voice.

She ignored my question and I heard a

squeaky noise in the background. Her bed,

maybe? “I’m dying to see you, woman.

What are you doing this weekend?”

“I’ve got to study up for a scene next

week. Sorry, babe, but I can’t fly to L.A.

to see you,” I said. I mean, it was partially

the truth—the part about the scene, that is.

Jessica made a sniffling noise.

“Actually, I just finished shooting a guest

appearance and wanted to take time to see

my best friend. I haven’t been to Hawaii

since I was a kid.”

I froze in place. Jessica wanted to

come here to see me. I should have felt

excitement about seeing the girl who’d

been my best friend since I was thirteen,

but instead, a chill crept down my spine.

“We can meet up when I come back

home in the next month or so,” I suggested,

but she quickly brushed that off.

“I want to see you now. I won’t take

no for an answer.”

No, I was sure she wouldn’t but that

didn’t stop me from saying it over and

over again. I came up with a half dozens

excuses not to see her until finally a

guttural sound bubbled from the back of

her throat. “Do you just not want to see

me?”

“That’s not it,” I said.

“Then what the hell is it?”

“I—”

I could practically here her eyes

rolling when she said, “Then I’ll see you

this weekend. Call you tomorrow to let

you know when my flight will be there.

Love you!” Then she squealed, making the

spot between my eyes hurt, and hung up

before I could get another word in.

I was still seething five hours later as

Cooper and I watched an Andy Samberg

and Adam Sandler movie at my rental

house. We’d thrown around the idea of

going out to dinner with Paige and Eric

and a few of their other friends (including

Miranda), but I’d said I had a headache.

Now, my head lay on his lap, and I held

on to the hem of his long cargo shorts as

he stroked his fingertips across my skin.

“You know, Wills, if you want to rip

my clothes off, just ask,” he teased, staring

down into my green eyes.

Groaning, I sat up, sliding my hands

through my long hair and pulling it into the

band that I’d put around my wrist earlier.

It’d left a deep indentation in my skin, and

I rubbed it as I bit the inside of my cheek.

Cooper moved closer, his blonde

eyebrows knitting together in concern.

“You’ve been scary quiet. What’s up?”

“Jessica wants to come visit me,” I

said. He held up his hands and shook his

head, waiting for me to elaborate, and I

groaned. “Sparkly pastie girl,” I said.

That got his attention because I felt his

body go rigid. A friend of a friend had

been a smartass and had posted a picture

of me and Jessica at some party a year and

a half ago on Cooper’s Facebook wall.

We’d been flashing whoever wielded the

camera phone, red-faced and laughing.

Cooper touched his fingertips to his

full lips, and I licked my own, feeling that

pull between my legs. “And you said?” he

asked.

I stared down at my hands. “I can’t

stop her from coming to Hawaii.”

He groaned, but motioned me to him. I

locked my legs around his hips, one at a

time, my breath catching when I saw the

need in his blue eyes. “You’ll be fine,” he

said. He’d been saying that to me more

often than usual and I’d started to wonder

if it was more for his benefit than my

own.

But I nodded, touching my forehead to

his as his fingertips skimmed under the

elastic of my panties to slip inside of me.

“We’re filming too fast,” I moaned, ready

to get the thought of Jessica out of my head

for now. I’d worry about her later or hell,

once she showed up in Hawaii.

Cooper murmured something against

my shoulder blade then traced the tip of

his tongue across the delicate bone there.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I don’t want to go,” I whispered, my

voice heavy. I closed my eyes, my head

falling forward, my hair falling over his

shoulder, as his fingers picked up speed

inside of me.

He was unraveling me.

Driving me crazy.

“We won’t have to let go,” he said,

raking his teeth gently across my flesh as I

came for him.

I slid down his body a moment later,

undoing his shorts and wrapping my

hands, my mouth, around him as the floor

bruised my knees. I caught his gaze, and

the corners of his lips lifted, his blue eyes

softened.

Then I lost myself in him.

Chapter Nineteen

In a move that was so typically

Jessica, she changed her mind about

coming to Hawaii at the last minute,

claiming that she’d been brought on to act

as the love interest in a music video. But

instead of cancelling her plans all

together, she changed her flight to nine

days later. By the time Miller and I met

her at the airport Thursday afternoon, I

was a bundle of stress. I waited for her,

chewing on the inside of my lip and

squinting at the escalator through my giant

sunglasses. Then I saw her, carrying her

signature Vuitton bag and looking like she

was bored out of her fucking mind.

Jessica squealed once her eyes landed

on me, wobbling forward on four-inch

heels that had to make her at least six feet

and threw her arms around me. I sucked in

a deep breath. She smelled like too much

booze and too little perfume.

“I’ve missed you,” she cried, kissing

me a few centimeters from my lips. Miller

flushed and stared down at the airport

floor.

“I’ve missed you, too.”

“We’re parked in short term parking

so we should hurry this up,” I said, and

she slid her fingers into mine.

Her mouth dropped open and she gave

me a surprised look. “No limo?”

I laughed. “No actually it’s a Kia.”

She snorted but said nothing as she

collected her luggage from the baggage

claim. When she tried to pass the bags off

to Miller, I bit the inside of my cheek and

lunged forward to grab them myself. There

was a look of determination on his tanned

face, and he shook his head.

“I’ve got this, Willow.” I didn’t miss

the dark look he shot at Jessica who was

rapidly sending a text on her tablet-sized

Samsung phone.

As we walked a couple feet in front of

Miller, she peeked over her shoulder and

gave him an appreciative twice-over.

“You lucky bitch,” she said, shaking her

head. When I raised my eyebrow, she

continued, “You’re fucking two gorgeous

guys, and I’ve been too swamped to do

anything fun.”

I froze and looked her directly in the

eye. The last thing I needed was for her to

think Miller and I were sleeping together,

or even worse, that Cooper and me and

Miller were sleeping together. I

shuddered at the thought. “It’s not like that,

Jess. I’m . . .” I paused before saying

happy. It felt wrong to admit that to her.

“I’ve been busy, too. With work.”

Her lips parted slightly and she took

another look at Miller. “So, the bodyguard

—”

“Has a girlfriend,” I replied sharply.

As we drove her to her hotel—a fancy

five-star place overlooking Waikiki—she

chatted about the flight and all the clubs

she’d found online in Honolulu. “We’re

going dancing at Moose’s tonight,” she

said, and I noticed a muscle tick in

Miller’s cheek.

He was playing the role of big brother

again, but this time I was glad. I glanced

back at Jessica and gave her an apologetic

smile. “I’ve got a scene to shoot first thing

in the morning,” I explained, and she

threw her long strawberry blonde hair

back and laughed.

She caught Miller’s eyes in the

rearview mirror. “Is she fucking serious?”

Then she held up a purple-manicured hand

and shook her head. “You know what,

never mind. We’ll have plenty of time to

go dancing.”

“Dickson will skin me if I’m late,” I

said. My producer had been detached ever

since that day in his trailer when he’d

admonished Cooper and me, and I felt like

I was walking on thin glass whenever I

was around him.

I didn’t need to screw up and show up

for work late.

After we dropped Jessica off at her

hotel, declining her invite up to her room,

Miller drove me to Cooper’s place for my

lesson. He was in the middle of instructing

a small group of ten year olds, so I sat on

the beach with Paige, watching him. All of

his gestures were over the top and

dramatic and the kids were laughing at

something he was saying.

Cooper caught me staring and gave me

a chest-clenching smile that I returned.

“How’d picking up your friend go?”

Paige asked, breaking my daze. I glanced

over to see she was holding her hand over

her eyes like a visor, studying me.

I shrugged. “She wanted to know if

she could move in on my bodyguard.”

Paige let out a laugh. “Hulk? God, I

can’t imagine what he said about that.”

I hugged my knees, focusing my gaze

back on Cooper as he showed the ten year

olds how to pop up in the sand. I couldn’t

resist thinking about my first day—okay,

first few days—doing the same thing with

him two months ago. I sighed. “Miller

didn’t say anything because he probably

doesn’t want to piss me off,” I admitted.

Paige lifted an eyebrow, ignoring Eric

who had come out on the deck to yell for

her. “My phone call can wait,” she said.

She twisted her head to each side for a

few seconds, biting her lower lip, before

asking, “Would it piss you off?”

I swallowed hard. “No. Guess it

makes me a shit friend that I want Jessica

to leave already, huh?”

Paige rose to her feet, dusting the sand

from the back of her bright red Billabong

board shorts. “Sometimes I realize that

those things that make me feel like a

dickwad usually pop into my head for the

best reasons.”

Leave it to Paige to mix in a giant dose

of psychology.

When Cooper’s group lesson ended,

he lifted his hand, grinning so that his

dimple showed. He crooked his finger for

me to join him at the shoreline and I

gravitated to him, feeling the sand squish

into my flip flops.

Jerking me flush to his body, he slid

his hands down my shoulders. “You look

like you’re ready to strangle someone,” he

said. His fingertips pressed into the small

of my back to close the gap between our

bodies.

“Just tired,” I said.

“Want me to talk to Dickson about

giving you some time off?” he asked

teasingly and I shook my head.

“You’re not his favorite person,” I

said, and he shrugged, releasing me.

“Story of my goddamn life.”

As we pushed our boards out into the

white water, we talked about his surfing

competition coming up in October. Every

time I mentioned Jessica, he steered the

conversation away to anything else. We

talked about my work, his work, and even

the new shipment of promo tees Blue

Flame had gotten in earlier today. By the

time he volunteered to take me back to my

rental house a few hours later once our

lesson had ended, my irritation had moved

from Jessica to him.

“Please don’t tell me you’re turning

into one of those possessive dickheads,” I

said as I stalked through the house to my

bedroom. I pulled the band from my hair,

shaking the long strands out and then

flipped each of my flip flops off, kicking

them beneath the bed.

He turned on the radio by the bed and

made a face when a Ke$ha song blasted

throughout the tiny room. He slid the dial

over until he found another station—this

one with nothing but commercials.

“I’ve never been a big fan of toxic

friends,” he said, and I stiffened halfway

to my closet. Taking a breath, I dragged a

pair of shorts and a tank top down, tossed

them onto the bed, and spun around to face

him.

“Cooper, she just got here. She hasn’t

done anything to make you dislike her

yet.”

But even as I said the words, they

didn’t feel quite right. They sounded like I

was trying to convince myself.

Cooper sneered. “Don’t be ridiculous,