Intercepting Love (Second Chances #5)(24)

“Do you have the names of the family members and those involved?”

“I do,” I said. Taking the piece of paper out of my pocket, I read off the names that he would need.

“Okay, I got it. I’ll see what I can do. Can you give me a few days?”

“Yeah, of course. Just call me back as soon as you hear something.”

By the time we hung up, I was already starting to feel good from my pain meds; the haze making everything feel less complicated. Grabbing a bottle of vodka from my refrigerator, I marched outside and headed straight for Kate’s house … except I didn’t get that far.

“Cooper, are you okay?” Lara asked, walking to her mailbox. “Why do you look stoned off of your ass?”

“It’s because I am. I’m going to talk to Kate.”

“Oh, no you’re not,” she shouted, rushing to step in my way. Placing her hands on my chest, she pushed against me, backing me up toward her garage. “The last thing you need to do is go over there like that and start a fight. What did you take?”

“It’s just my prescription, Lara. It’s nothing illegal,” I stammered. “Anyway, Kate won’t talk to me so I’m going to go over there and make her.”

“Has she not been talking to you? Why would she do that?”

Chuckling, I lifted the bottle of vodka and took a long, hard gulp. I haven’t had alcohol in days, and it felt f*cking amazing. “How the hell should I know? After last night she blew me off and started spending time with that f*cker,” I hissed, pointing over at his truck.

“Well that doesn’t make any sense.” Sighing, she looked at Kate’s house and then back to me. “Okay, I want you to go into my house and wait. I’m going to get Kate to come with me, and that way you can talk to her without Luke interfering. When you go inside, turn to the left and there will be a hallway. Go down to the second room on your right and wait in there. As soon as she gets into the room with you, I’m going to lock the door from the outside so she can’t walk away.”

“Why are you doing this for me?” I asked.

Lara grinned mischievously and winked. “Oh, I have my reasons. Don’t get me wrong, I like you and all, but for once I don’t want to see Luke get the girl. He deserves to be put in his place.”

With those final words, she turned on her heel and marched off to Kate’s house. Kate wasn’t going to like getting locked into a room with me, but at least I’d get my answers.





Kissing his way down my neck, Luke slowly lowered the strap of my tank top down one shoulder. “Why do you keep pushing me away, Kate? You have no idea how bad you’re killing me right now.”

His fingers glided down my arm and then back up to cup my breast. “Am I supposed to make it easy on you?” I asked. “Besides, I’m not just going to jump in bed with you, Luke.”

Picking me up in his arms, he laid me down on the couch and covered me with his body, spreading my legs with his knee.

“And why not?” he growled, thrusting his hips up and down between my legs. His emerald gaze burned with desire as he leaned down to kiss my lips.

As much as I wanted to deny it, my body craved a man’s touch. It had been so long since I felt an ounce of pleasure, and with Luke touching me in all the right places I couldn’t help but want to submit. Luke was there and he wanted me, but why couldn’t I give in?

Before we could go any further, the doorbell rang. Agitated, Luke rested his head on my chest and groaned, reluctantly sliding off of me. “Why is it that we always get interrupted by something?”

Maybe it was a sign, I thought.

Straightening my tank top, I fixed my shorts and headed to the door while Luke stayed on the couch and adjusted his pants to hide the bulge. When he was ready and decent, I opened the door to see Lara standing there, looking overly excited with a big grin on her face.

“Lara, what’s wrong? Why do you look like that?” I asked, laughing.

“You have to come look at this new painting I got. It’s absolutely gorgeous.”

“Do you want me to look at it now?”

Her smile grew brighter. “Yes, but is it a bad time? I know Luke’s here.”

“No,” I claimed, breathing a sigh of relief. “Your timing was actually perfect.” It saved me from making a decision I didn’t know if I was ready to make.

Over my shoulder, I called out to Luke, “Luke, I’ll be right back. Lara wants to show me a new painting she bought.”

“You have to go now?” he asked.

Lara lifted a curious brow and I laughed it off nervously. “Yes, so just sit tight.”

Quickly, I shut the door and sighed. “Thank you for saving me. I swear he knows how to push a woman’s buttons.”

When we got further away from the house and into her yard, she leaned in and asked, “You haven’t slept with him, have you?”

“No, of course not! Trust me, I’ve been tempted, but I know better.”

It’d been so long since I felt what a real orgasm was like. I wanted it like I wanted air to breathe. The longer I was around Luke, the more I wanted to give in, especially now that Cooper proved to be exactly what I thought he was.

“Why do you say that?” Lara asked as we stepped up on her front porch. “Don’t you like him?”