Upside Down (Breaking the Rules #3) - A.M. Madden Page 0,21

offered a shrug. “Why not?”

Again, there were a whole host of reasons as to why not. I remembered how hard he’d been last night when I’d touched him… this morning even after he discovered I’d been in his cabin. If it were anyone else, by now I would’ve taken it even further. My kiss wouldn’t have been as tentative as his. My body wouldn’t have kept a respectful distance. Without a doubt, I would’ve spent the rest of that evening with him in my cabin… and part of the morning.

“Hey, whatever floats his boat,” I said when I realized she was still staring at me.

Thankfully, she failed to hear the sarcasm. “I was looking forward to spending time with him for a few days after we get back, but he said he needs to fly home as soon as we do.”

“Why?” This time I allowed my disbelief to come through.

“Some mandatory staff meeting that popped up.” Code for running away from his problems again. “But he’ll be back in May once school’s done.”

That was ten weeks away, plenty of time for Cooper Stanton to fuck a few women, ignore his primal urges, and continue burying his head in the sand.

Sometime after the cake had been cut and served, I slipped out of the reception only to witness Cooper and Lara sharing a drink on deck. Just like last night, he had no idea I was there. But instead of a drunk trying to stand upright, tonight he was perfectly composed and sober.

As Lara chatted away, he nodded robotically while sipping what seemed to be a seltzer. Every now and again she’d lay a slim hand on his arm or lean in a bit too closely. Cooper would simply smile at her obvious flirting attempts with no reciprocation. Shocker.

Since I needed to walk by them to get to where I had planned to go, I emerged from the shadows and said, “Hello, you two.”

“Oh… um… hey, Ricky.” Lara subtly put some distance between them, adding, “We were just chatting.”

Cooper, on the other hand, decided to play it in an entirely different way, laying an arm across the back of her chair. “Calling it a night?” he asked as his fingers began twirling an auburn lock of her hair.

When Lara flinched at his touch, I couldn’t stop the chuckle. I tried… I really did.

Ignoring his annoyed glare, I said, “Yeah… but I have some work to do first.” I pointedly raised a brow when he started rubbing a hand down her bare arm. “You know how it goes when it’s all work and no play. Everyone needs to allow some playtime, don’t you think, Cooper?”

With her eyes on me, Lara recoiled a bit more and smiled nervously, assuming my comment referred to her. “Do you need me to take care of anything for you?”

“No, no. You relax.” I slid my gaze to him and smirked. “It’s so romantic out here,” I added, waving toward the orange orb as it set into the deep-blue horizon. “You might as well enjoy it. G’night.”

I didn’t need to turn around to know by now his arm was probably back in its place at his side. A few minutes later, I punched at the keypad on the door with a sigh and relished in the cool tranquility of my office. It was smaller than Rebecca and Marco’s, but I had a large picture window. Although watching the sun setting in deep-turquoise waters normally made it hard to concentrate, I considered it the only downside of my career.

Being part owner of RMR made it easy to get lost in some mundane task or another, and I used that excuse now to escape the Stanton clan. After my chat with Rebecca, hearing he planned to fly back to Jersey when we got back to Fort Lauderdale made me angrier than I had any right to be.

“I’m not his keeper,” I grumbled. “Whatever he decides to do with his life is his business.”

“This is true.” My head snapped toward where Cooper stood in the doorway. “Sorry, I was about to knock before you started talking to yourself.” I couldn’t stop my face reddening from embarrassment any more than I could stop my heart from pounding. “I assume the he you referred to was me?” And now it was his turn to chuckle at my unease. “Can I come in?”

Waving a hand toward him, I dug out my cockiness and shrugged. “Your call.”

He took a few tentative steps, paused, and decided