Path of Destruction (Broken Heartland, #2)(51)

He sighed and stepped closer. The sweet sting of alcohol assaulted his nostrils when he did.

“Don’t leave with either of them, okay? I’m only going to be a few minutes. Then I’ll drive you home.”

“We can handle her,” Kent said. “We’ll make sure she gets home safe and sound.”

Cooper smirked at the little twerp. “You so much as try and I will show you exactly how we handle shit where I come from.”

“Easy there, buddy. She’s a big girl.”

“Yep, I’m a big girl,” Ella Jane said, lifting a flask as if making a toast. “And I can handle myself, thank you very much.” She took a big swig and swayed slightly to the left. Cooper groaned. “Ooh, let’s take a picture. Group selfie time!” She turned away from Cooper and pulled out her phone. Jarrod and his sidekick started posing with her.

Cooper stood and watched for a minute to make sure that all they were doing was taking stupid pictures of themselves before heading back into the hotel. He’d find Cameron, dance with her so she didn’t have to stand there alone, then get Ella Jane the hell home. Seemed like a simple enough plan.

Walking through the hotel lobby behind a couple he didn’t recognize but seemed to be hammered, the guy laughing as he held the girl as upright as she could manage, he had a strange twinge of jealously. What if Cameron wasn’t still alone? What if, in the time it had taken him to load his truck, change into his dress clothes, and check on Ella Jane, Cameron had found someone else to occupy her evening?

He didn’t know why that bothered him so much. It should’ve been a relief. If some other chump had asked her to dance then he wouldn’t have to. But the possibility actually made him feel the opposite of relieved.

When the couple ahead of him opened the door to the ballroom, he saw her first. That red dress standing in a gorgeous silhouette near a side exit. She was smiling and talking with a small group of people, so he hung back. But once they’d paired off, leaving her alone again, he started to make his way over to her.

“Hey there,” a nasally wine of a voice called out as a body stepped in front of him. He took his sights off Cameron to look down into a pair of eyes that he assumed were exact replicates of the soulless pits of hell. “You look like a man on a mission,” Raquel stated the obvious, but it certainly didn’t stop her from blocking his path.

“Yeah,” he answered, trying to move past her, and giving another glance in Cameron’s direction. “I kind of am.” If someone asked her to dance while he was being held captive by Raquel, he was going to be seventeen kinds of pissed off.

“Oh I see how it is.” Raquel smoothed her hand down his tie before wrapping her hand with it. “I don’t know why you’re so into her when you have the new and improved model standing right in front of you. How about you and me get out of here and have a party of our own?”

“What in the hell are you talking about?” He wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was pretty sure Raquel had just referred to herself as an upgraded model of Cameron. In her wildest dreams maybe.

“I mean, if you want to ditch your dirt road ways by going after the “it” girl of Summit Bluffs, I’ve got news for you. It isn’t Cami anymore.” Raquel looked up at Coop like she was handing him the golden ticket. He felt his brow crease as he looked at her with confusion. Raquel took his silence as him not understanding what she was offering. “Look, you’ve got to be bored of feeling up the ice queen in the janitor’s closet by now. How about spending time with someone a little…hotter?”

Coop took in a deep breath and fought back a handful of comebacks that he knew would have Raquel running to the bathroom in tears. Lucky for Raquel, his mama had raised him better. And it wasn’t just her comments about Cameron that had him seeing red, it was everything else that Raquel stood for. It didn’t bother him one bit that Raquel knew about the closet. If he ever made it over to his intended destination everyone in that damn ballroom was going to know exactly how he felt about Cameron.

“While I appreciate the offer, Raquel, you’re just not my type.” With that he removed her hand from his chest and started to walk away, but he couldn’t just walk away without adding one more thing. “And for the record, Cameron Nickelson is not one of you. She’s better than anything you will ever be.” He wasn’t just raised not to be rude to women, he was raised to stand up for what—or who—he believed in.

Cameron was grinning faintly at the dance floor and didn’t see him immediately. He was thankful she hadn’t seen his interaction with Raquel. Cameron was too busy watching the couples in the middle of the room. She wanted to dance. Glancing around the perimeter he saw that, strangely, he had no competition. Coop figured half the guys were probably assuming she was dating Hayden and waiting for him, and those who knew better were likely intimidated. He could relate. When her eyes finally found his, he was glad to see not only shock but also pleasure in them.

“I thought you weren’t a prom sort of guy?” she asked gingerly as Coop took her hand in his.

“I’m not,” he said, leading her onto the dance floor. “But sometimes that doesn’t matter so much if you find yourself unable to stop thinking about a prom sort of girl.” He winked. “Anyway, I thought we should talk. About some…things.”