be the one to drag me out of the nongay closet and rock my world. My loss.” With that, I grabbed my e-reader and stood. “I need to get some sleep.”
“You do that,” he said, amused. “And sweet dreams, Cooper. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Lucky me.
I felt like a fish out of water, and I hated it. I wasn’t one to stress out, to be easily irritated, or even to mope. But as I walked away, I realized the source. My mood today had absolutely nothing to do with my recent breakup or having to tell my mother tomorrow.
It had to do with that asshole pushing my buttons.
Chapter Four
Cooper
With an audible gasp, I bolted upright in my bed. That was the second time that night, the only difference being this time I had a raging hard-on.
I raked my thoughts for a hint of what had freaked me out again but came up empty. Meanwhile, the lack of sunlight filtering in could only mean it was very early. While scrubbing a hand over my face, I reached for my phone.
Six a.m.
Four hours.
I guessed the hour or two of sleep I had gotten in before my deck outing put me ahead of my normal game.
For the second time that night, I tried to remember what had caused me to wake from a very deep sleep. How was that even possible? How did someone dream so hard yet not remember what had his heart pounding?
Now up and alert, I decided to get to work grading some of the papers that waited for my attention. After ordering a carafe of coffee to my cabin, I managed to get lost in the words of my students. One graded paper easily became a dozen, and before I knew it, my phone alarm chimed, alerting me it was 9:00 a.m.
Stretching into a standing position, I hurried into the shower. Expected on deck in an hour for the kickoff breakfast, I dreaded today. Actually, not the entire day… just the first hour or so after seeing my family… specifically, my mom.
My parents were due to arrive just about then, as were my other siblings and their spouses. Griffin was the oldest, married to Lily, with a boy and a girl. I hadn’t seen them since the holidays. They had recently moved to California, and my parents had taken it hard… we all had. I looked forward to spending time with them.
Then came Janis, who was married to Dean. They had one boy and lived in Texas. None of my three nephews or my niece would be joining us on this journey.
I couldn’t blame Sam and Lydia for not wanting little ones running around a ship all week. It wasn’t like there was a kiddie pool or giant waterslide on board to keep them busy. So instead Lydia had arranged for them, along with their sitters, to stay at a kid-friendly resort in Fort Lauderdale, where they would enjoy their week engaging in all sorts of fun activities.
After one last look in the mirror, I headed out to where the breakfast would be held. Except for staff preparing the buffet, it seemed my family had yet to arrive. Spotting Rebecca chatting with the redheaded cruise director, I approached.
“Morning.”
“Hey, you,” Rebecca said before giving me a hug. “How did you sleep?”
“Great,” I lied as my eyes landed on her employee. “Hi, Lara.”
“Hi, Coop. Great to see you again,” she said with a forced smile while her cheeks blushed vibrantly.
“Same. How’ve ya been?” My question meant much more than the simple words behind it.
Those big green eyes that I remembered so well met and held mine. They were what had first attracted me to her. I remembered the curves hidden beneath the masculine polo shirt and ordinary khaki shorts uniform she wore. I remembered running my hand up her toned legs, and I even remembered she smelled of vanilla.
The last time I’d seen Lara Burns had been on Bella Viaggi’s maiden voyage. Passengers had included my family, Marco’s parents, and siblings. Before we’d embarked, we’d been surprised to discover that Becks and Marco would be renewing their vows on that trip, since they had eloped months earlier. And during the last night of our cruise, the celebrating had gotten out of control and resulted with Lara and me making out in her cabin.
It had gone no further than that. Although the attraction was mutual, we’d agreed crossing that line would create more complications than a one-night stand would be worth. My sister