much to Piper about the nightclub franchise he was developing, but she knew him well enough to suspect that Deidre’s refusal to make a final decision on financing was driving him crazy—not that he’d let her see that. Another man would be courting other firms, but Deidre had a stellar reputation, and Coop, being Coop, would only want to work with the best.
He laughed and leaned in closer to Deidre. Setting aside business, Coop genuinely liked her. Piper felt a stab of jealousy. Not because he liked her. No, that wasn’t it at all. Of course not. Piper was merely jealous because Deidre had it all: a megasuccessful business, a huge bank account, brains, beauty, self-confidence . . . And because Coop so obviously liked her.
She wanted to hit herself in the head. She was jealous! Jealous because she wanted Coop to like her, too. A ridiculous reaction. Coop was her employer, and all that mattered was that he like the way she was doing her job.
Thanks to Duke, she had years of practice scrubbing away feelings that made her uncomfortable, and she buried her self-disgust in a couple of warm bourbon fudge brownies from the kitchen.
Deidre and Noah finally left. Piper made her way through the lounges to the dance floor where the vibrant LED wall showcased the throng of bodies gyrating to DJ PhairoZ’s electro beats. Coop wasn’t far away, his customary throng crowding him.
An oversize goon in Gucci—she’d caught a glimpse of his logoed belt—was doing his best to back Coop against a wall. He wasn’t an ordinary fan. This guy was drunk and belligerent. He was also as tall as Coop and fifty pounds heavier. His arms gesticulated in agitated loops, and the club’s laser lights turned his complexion from blue to red to Hulk green. She glanced around for one of the bouncers. As usual, none were in sight. Wishing she’d traded her stilettos for flats, she pushed her way through the dancers just as the goon clenched his fist and leaned in.
Coop put a hand to the guy’s chest. The goon didn’t like that. His arm shot back, ready to throw a punch. She hurled herself forward and caught his arm before it could land. Shifting her weight, she thrust an elbow to his solar plexus and dropped him to the floor.
The dancers skittered back. Reeking of booze, the goon croaked for air and tried to get up. The side seam on her new mulberry dress ripped as she straddled him. She caught a momentary glimpse of Coop’s incredulous face before Jonah and Ernie appeared, blocking her view. They looked down at her, as if she were the one at fault.
“Get him out of here,” she ordered. Jonah’s expression was murderous, but he and Ernie led the guy away.
One of the female servers rushed over to her. “Are you okay?”
“Of course she’s okay,” the aggravated voice of her employer retorted. “She’s the Man of Steel. Just ask her.”
So much for gratitude.
PhairoZ did a quick switch to acid techno. A firm hand hooked her arm and drew her none too gently off the dance floor. As Coop maneuvered her through the crowd, she realized the skirt of her damaged dress had ripped at the side, revealing an unimaginative pair of white hip huggers.
He directed her through the kitchen and out the door that led into the back hallway. Only then did he drop her arm. She knew him well enough to know what was coming, and she wasn’t having it, so she got in his face before he could get in hers. “Unlike your bouncers, I won’t stand by and watch my employer being assaulted.”
His face reddened with massacred ego. “I wasn’t being assaulted, and don’t you ever try to protect me again.”
“Somebody has to do it.” She was the professional here, and she struggled for calm. “Your bouncers need to stay closer to you. That drunk was getting ready to throw a punch.”
“Which he’d never have landed.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“I hired you to watch the staff, not me.”
They were so close she could smell the laundry detergent from his sweater. “You do understand this is a conversation we wouldn’t be having if I was one of the men on your staff.”
“You’re not. And don’t you try to pull the sexist card on me!”
“When the card fits, play it.” The way he was looming over her made it nearly impossible to hold her temper. “If one of your bouncers had pulled the guy off you—highly unlikely,