nothing fancy. I figured a few herbs would be a good way to dress it up. Plus, it would turn an eyesore into something a little more attractive.”
As he spoke, Olivia suddenly had a great idea. Here was Cooper, looking buff and gorgeous, and his adorable nephews. She could only imagine that people in Cape Sanctuary would love to see their new fire chief trying to beautify his space while providing some color and flavor to his firefighters’ meals.
The mayor had asked her to highlight the fire department before the breakfast in a few weeks. The planting of an herb garden at the fire department seemed the perfect place to start.
“I love this idea,” she said. “And I think members of the community who are on social media will love it even more. What if I take some pictures while you’re picking herbs and post them to the fire department page? I can even mention that some of the herbs might be used at the firefighter breakfast that you’re doing to benefit Chief Gallegos.”
As she might have expected, Cooper looked vaguely horrified at the idea. “Who in their right mind would want to see photographs of me digging in the dirt to plant some herbs?”
Only every female in town. And possibly in all the neighboring towns, too. And maybe across the entire state of California.
“Think of the positive PR for the fire department, with very little effort on your part. And not much on mine, either, only a few photographs. I even have my good digital camera in my mom’s office, since I was shooting some of our new plant arrivals this morning for the Harper Hill website and social media properties.”
He had an obstinate set to his jaw that told her he still wasn’t very enthusiastic.
“This is a great idea. Trust me. Who knows? You might even get more donations for your fund-raiser. Plus, maybe some of the decent cooks in town will provide a few meals for your firefighters so you don’t have to take turns cooking.”
“I’ll be in your pictures, Livie,” Charlie offered.
“Me too!” his older brothers both said at the same time.
She smiled down at all of them. “That would be terrific. I have to talk to your mom first to make sure it’s okay, though.”
“Can we, Uncle Coop?”
He still looked trapped, but as he looked down at the trio of eager faces, he sighed.
“I still think no one’s going to care. But you’re the expert.”
People would care. She would make sure of it.
“What do I have to do?”
“Nothing at all except what you came to do. Let me run and grab my camera and talk to Mel. Then I’ll take care of the rest.”
Only after she hurried to her mom’s office in a small building her father had constructed between the buildings and overlooking the water did she realize this maybe wasn’t the smartest idea she’d ever had.
It was hard enough hiding her growing feelings for Cooper. How would she conceal them when she had to stare at him for the next twenty minutes or so through her camera’s viewfinder?
21
COOPER
This might be the most uncomfortable thing he had ever done.
He wouldn’t want anyone taking pictures of him. He especially didn’t enjoy that it was Olivia, the woman he hadn’t been able to get out of his head since the night he had made the colossal mistake of kissing her after Melody’s party.
It didn’t help that he drove past Sea Glass Cottage every day on his way to the fire station. Each time, he couldn’t help longing for a glimpse of her, wondering what she was doing, what she might be thinking about.
Seeing her now, her hair pulled up into a messy bun and wearing a purple Harper Hill Home & Garden polo shirt, all he could think about was pulling her hair down, removing that expensive-looking camera hanging from a strap around her neck and devouring that delicious mouth again.
He didn’t want to say he was the kind of man who could ever kiss a woman and then forget about it, but he couldn’t remember another kiss that had rocked him to the core like the one they had shared.
Now he had to act like nothing had happened, like he was completely blasé about the whole situation, while she walked around him holding a camera and studying him from different angles.
Right.
She had quickly asked Melody’s permission to photograph the boys and use the images on the fire department’s posts. He heard her promise she wouldn’t