Operation Prom Date (Tactics in Flirting, #1)(16)
I ate it off the spoon, not quite prepared for the size or the cold. Then I hugged Mom good-bye and went to answer the door.
Cooper stood on the other side, and the cute descriptor entered my head again, because dang, the guy was nice on the eyes. His curls were more tamed than usual, and he had on a dark blue button down. The sleeves were rolled up so that his forearms were exposed, and suddenly I found myself unable to look away from that strong line, wondering if it’d always been there, and kicking myself for not taking time to appreciate it before.
“Damn,” he said, then his gaze moved over my shoulder to Mom and a slightly panicked look hit his eye.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure she didn’t hear you swear,” I whispered.
“Actually, I did,” she called out. “But since it’s because he’s simply admiring your beauty, I’ll damn well let it slide.”
“Bye, Mom!” I pulled the door closed behind me and hoped the cool night air would help calm the heat in my face.
“You look nice,” he said.
“Am I bold and flashy enough, though?”
He looked me up and down, and my stomach followed along, rising and dipping. “You’re all the things,” he said, and his voice came out low and slightly gruffer than usual, which made my stomach dip all over again.
I grinned at him. “Thanks. You look nice as well.”
The dimple in his cheek flashed. “Am I tall and ripped enough, though?”
“So, so much regret,” I joked as I hooked an arm through his. After all, we were about to pretend to be closer than we were. Might as well get a little bit used to it.
He opened the passenger door of his truck, and before stepping out of the way, he leaned in close and inhaled. “You smell nice, too.”
Goose bumps scattered across my skin. Luckily he was already rounding the hood, so hopefully he didn’t notice. I needed to stop noticing. This night was about the cute football player. The cute rower acted like touching my knee and pretending we’d been making out would be appalling just last night.
The more I thought about it, the surer I became that my nerve wires were just getting crossed because I related hanging out with Cooper with landing Mick, who I’d liked for-freakin’-ever. Of course I got tingly surges.
Extra bright side? The things Cooper noticed about me would be the things Mick would also notice. Hopefully. Boys all pretty much work the same, right?
Resolve filled me and I straightened so I wouldn’t smash my hair. Mick Pecker, here I come. I hope you’re ready for me.
Chapter Ten
Cooper
I shouldn’t have sniffed her neck like some weirdo. Even in the cab of my truck I could smell her perfume, that scent I’d noticed last night. Lately, I was noticing way too much. At least she had on jeans tonight, although I could easily recall the way her legs looked in those tiny shorts yesterday, and her pants were tight enough I could still see the shape of them, and I might’ve checked out her ass as I’d walked her to my truck.
What the hell was wrong with me?
A sweet girl asks me to help her land a guy and suddenly I’m ogling her and thinking about her lips and her perfume and her legs and—man, I needed to derail this line of thought.
So I focused on the way the headlights lit up the narrow road and trees flanking it, and my plan to put her on Pecker’s radar tonight. For all I knew this attempt would crash and burn and I’d discover I knew nothing about people my age. Hell, maybe I should suggest everyone go outside and stare at the stars once we arrived at the party. Just really drive it home that I didn’t know what it took to be cool, only that not caring had somehow made me cooler.
“You okay?” Kate asked.
I kept my eyes on the road to keep my head in the game. “Yeah. I was just thinking about the lake.”
“When are you not thinking about the lake?”
I smiled at her, and she smiled back, and a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time went through my gut. “Not to rub it in, but you missed out today. There was this perfect breeze and enough cloud cover to keep the temperature nice and cool. You wouldn’t have been able to get your sought-after tan, of course.”
“Well, then, I’m out. Do you think I’m doing this whole rowing training for my health?”
No. You’re doing it for some meathead who only thinks about himself. I needed to remember that before my brain got any other ideas and I did something stupid that’d ruin the easy, fun thing we had going on.
“It’s always a bit crowded on the weekends, but it wasn’t too bad today.” The lake. That’d keep me safe. Whenever I thought about veering from the plan, I’d throw out more facts about it. Remind myself that I needed her help with training there, in addition to the side fun we were having.
“Maybe we should just wait until Monday to train more, then.”
I scowled at her and she held up her hands.
“Just kidding, Coach Grouchy Pants. I’m so excited to get out on the lake with you tomorrow that I can hardly control myself. Your jaw is totally going to drop once you see the time we make.”
“It better,” I said, keeping my tone light. Calling me a grouchy pants was hardly fair. More like clinging to every hour of fun and freedom before a decade of boredom and falling in line. I almost told her about the internship, simply because it’d be nice to vent, but that’d be a total downer, and we had enough to think about tonight if we were going to pull off our plan.