Operation Prom Date (Tactics in Flirting, #1)(40)
“Um, what’s that all about?” I gestured to the poles, making a circle to encompass them.
“We’re going to just enjoy the lake, remember?”
“By fishing?”
“Put your nose back where it belongs,” he said, making me realize I’d scrunched it up. “It’s going to be fun. Don’t tell me you haven’t fished before.”
“Okay, I won’t tell you.”
His eyes widened. “For real?”
“My dad used to go now and then, but I acted as his assistant rower. I refused to put a pole in the water, because I didn’t want to hook any poor little fishies.”
“That explains why you can row. You could move the boat with him in it?”
“Not very far,” I admitted. “But I was determined to try so that he’d take me. He was gone a lot, even when he wasn’t deployed, so if I had the opportunity to go anywhere with him, I jumped on it. Even if it meant fish might be flopping around on the floor of the boat at my feet. He used to tease me by swinging them toward me and asking me to unhook them, or picking one up and talking on his behalf, always about how honored he’d be to serve as our dinner.”
Memories from those lazy days with my dad on the lake flickered through my mind. His goofy floppy hat, the empty Dr Pepper cans in the middle of the boat that acted as a measure for how long we’d been out on the water, and how we always returned home sunburned but happy. “One day I surprised him by granting his request to unhook a fish, only to release the slimy thing back in the water and tell him to swim away as fast as he could and not to fall for food that seemed too good to be true. I thought my dad might get a little upset, but he just laughed and told me I was still his favorite fishing partner.”
Cooper’s voice softened. “You don’t talk about him much.”
“Probably because I worry if I do, then I might cry, and that’d be embarrassing.” Over the past few days I’d thought about him a lot, as if my mind was incapable of missing anyone without remembering who else I missed.
Cooper reached out and brushed his fingers across my cheek. “Not embarrassing. You lost someone.”
My heart swelled and tears clogged my throat. “He was my hero. We used to go on these made-up missions together—which is probably why I’m enjoying this one with you so much. We’d pretend people we passed on the street were spies and plot how we’d take down their evil organization. We also went on real missions, where we’d go shopping to find the perfect present for my mom, which usually involved another salt and pepper shaker for her collection. Stuff like that.”
Cooper ran his fingers down my arm and squeezed my hand. “He sounds awesome.”
“He was.” My voice faltered and I worked to put more sound behind it. “After he passed away, the only thing that made me feel better was binge watching TV and cheering for those characters’ happy endings. I’d always been prone to fandom tendencies, but that definitely moved them into overdrive.”
“Confession time?” Cooper raised an eyebrow. “It’s one of the things I like most about you. Even if I don’t understand half of what you say.”
I hugged him around the middle, and the fishing poles clattered to the ground when he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me back. “Look, I’ve already been abandoned by a friend, and it really hurt. So I know this is super selfish, but could you please not need space ever again?”
He tucked his chin on top of my head. “Right now, the last thing I’m thinking about is space. Between us, or the space that’s over our head and in a distant galaxy far, far away. And that’s saying something.”
I laughed and pulled back so I could look him in the eye. “I like your obsession with space, and I also like that you’re equally obsessed with boats and water.”
“Obsession? I’d call them more…mild infatuations.”
“Just take the compliment, Callihan.”
He lifted one finger and gave me a mini-salute. “Aye, aye, Hamilton.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cooper
Since Kate would liberate any fish we caught and it wasn’t her thing anyway, I switched gears and pulled the Jet Ski out of the shed.
I drove us out on the middle of the lake, and it was possible I’d driven a bit faster and made sharper turns than usual because it meant she held on tighter to me. Her little squeals of excitement also heated my blood and egged me on.
Man, I’d missed her. It seemed like we’d been apart weeks instead of days, and being out on the lake with her again only made me want the day to never end.
I slowed and let the waves determine our path as I looked over my shoulder at her. Water droplets clung to her hair and lashes and her cheeks were pink and wind whipped. “What do you think?”
Kate rubbed her hands together. “That it’s my turn to drive.”
We switched places and she leaned forward and gripped the rubber handles. I waited for us to move. After a few seconds, she glanced back at me. “Yeah, I’ve never done this before.”
“Oh. I got you.” I reached around her, and my cheek brushed hers as I placed my hands over hers. “Reverse on the left”—I demonstrated—“forward on the right, and squeeze for brakes. Got it?”