Her eyes were dark when her gaze met his, holding it firm until he couldn’t have looked away if he’d tried.
Not that he wanted to try.
‘I want this, Cooper,’ she said, her voice low and dark. ‘I want you. Just once. Just for tonight.’
Just for tonight. That was the deal. Tomorrow belonged to Justin. But tonight...
Tonight Dawn was his.
‘Let’s start our tour in the bedroom,’ he said, and his blood burned as she smiled her agreement.
* * *
Okay, so maybe the ‘being well rested before seeing Justin again’ part of the plan wasn’t happening, but Dawn had to admit she felt more relaxed and content than she had in years—even if she might need a nap later to make up for all the lost sleep.
Cooper’s apartment faced east and, since they hadn’t bothered to close the blinds the night before, sunlight filtered in over them the next morning. Dawn stretched against the expensive cotton sheets, feeling all the kinks and knots in her muscles from the long days in the car giving way under the force of her bone-deep satisfaction.
If all she ever got was one night in Cooper Edwards’ arms, at least she’d made the most of every moment of it.
The man himself slumbered on beside her, and she smiled as she watched him sleep. She liked to think he’d remember the night fondly too. Maybe even their whole week together.
He was right, she realised as she sat up, wrapping the top sheet around her naked body. Their trip had felt like a week out of time. Like they were living another life.
But in a few hours they’d be in the Hamptons, where Justin was waiting.
And then her real life started up again. The life in which she’d been abandoned at the altar by yet another man who’d decided she wasn’t good enough for him.
Except...she wasn’t that Dawn any more. Life on the road might not have been real life, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t changed her—every bit as much as Cooper said it had changed him. Or maybe...maybe it hadn’t. Maybe it had just given her the opportunity to be herself again. She’d spent so long trying to be what someone else expected—Justin, her family, every other guy before Justin—that she’d almost forgotten who Dawn was.
But a week on the road with Cooper Edwards had helped her find her again.
She knew now that she was more than just the Dry Run sister. She was more than ‘poor Dawn, let down again’. She was worth more than all the sympathy and the pity.
And she knew that she never wanted to wait at the end of another aisle for some guy, or to sit at a romantic restaurant breathlessly waiting for him to get down on one knee.
She wasn’t married. So what? She could go out and chase a hundred other dreams—like driving Claudia from coast to coast with the hottest guy she’d ever seen naked—and have a hell of a better time than she ever had waiting to get married.
Yes, she still wanted love. Still wanted someone to love her unconditionally, just the way she was. But she knew now, without a doubt, that Justin wasn’t that man.
She liked the Dawn she’d been on her road trip with Justin’s best man—but she knew that Justin wouldn’t have. He’d have hated the cheap tee shirts with tacky logos, would never have sung along to Elvis on the radio. He’d have wanted consommé in diners that only served waffles, and complained about the beer on tap. And he’d have hated Claudia after the first twenty miles. He’d have loved people seeing him driving such a cool car, but Dawn knew without a doubt that they’d have ditched it for something state-of-the-art with Bluetooth within the first twelve hours.
And, for all that Cooper was supposed to be the workaholic of the two of them, Dawn suspected that Justin wouldn’t have been able to stay away from his emails and deals the way Cooper had that week.
Not to mention—although it made her guilty to even think it—the fact that Justin had never made her body sing the way Cooper had last night.
Beside her, Cooper stirred, turning under the covers to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her back down against him.
‘Good morning, beautiful.’ His voice was rough and heavy with sleep, and it made her blood hum with anticipation.
Yes, they had to face Justin today.
But maybe not just yet.
‘Good morning,’ Dawn said, and kissed him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
‘GOT EVERYTHING?’ COOPER leant against Claudia as Dawn approached with her bag. She’d eventually kicked him out of his own apartment to fetch them breakfast for the road, and so that she could ‘actually stand a chance of keeping some clothes on’.
‘Think so.’ She handed him her holdall and he stowed it in the boot, an action so familiar it was impossible to imagine that this might be the last time he ever did it.
‘What about that lacy pink bra I last saw hanging from my bed frame?’ It had been a delightful discovery that her lingerie matched the candy colours of her tee shirts.
Dawn’s cheeks were tinged with pink. ‘Yep, got that.’
‘Shame.’
He pulled her in for a kiss before opening the car door for her, enjoying every last second he could keep her in his arms. He might be resolved to give her up at the end of the day, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to make the most of the time he had.
They hadn’t spoken about what might happen next but, as he pulled out of the parking garage and into the sluggish New York traffic, he knew that it was on her mind as much as his. He could feel it in the way the silence filled the car. There was no Elvis on the radio, no ridiculous roadside attractions to aim for, no twenty questions, I Spy or even much in the way of conversation at all.
Instead, there was just the two of them staring out at the road ahead, his hand resting on her leg and a sense of encroaching dread.
Normally, once Cooper was out of the city, he started to breathe more easily, the open road along the coast to the beach house automatically relaxing him. Today, however, the sight of the ocean only made him feel even tenser.
He’d avoided thinking about this for as long as he could, but now the moment was here he couldn’t put it off any longer.
Dawn had to know the truth—that Justin had left her because he believed a lie. Whether that would change her feelings, he couldn’t predict. But he was fairly sure that Cooper’s assurances that Dawn wasn’t after the money would go a long way to convincing Justin that it was okay to love her—to marry her, even.
If she still wanted to.
God, what if he’d screwed up his own brother’s chance of happiness? How could Justin ever forgive him?
How could Dawn?
No. He might be a despicable human being, but he knew Dawn now. He knew that she had wanted him every bit as much as he had needed her, and if she’d truly loved his brother that couldn’t be the case, right?
Maybe, one day, they’d all look back and say that this was all for the best. Somehow. Even if it was impossible to imagine right now.
‘Are you okay?’ Dawn asked as they approached the familiar road that led to the Edwards family beach house. Had she even been here before? He couldn’t remember. Not that it mattered, he supposed.
Nothing much did now.
‘I’m fine,’ he lied. Then he spotted something on the side of the road he didn’t remember from his
last visit and forced a smile. ‘Hey, one last stop? For old times’ sake?’
He gestured to the new ice-cream parlour, promising the best frozen desserts this side of the Atlantic, and Dawn nodded.
‘You and your sweet tooth,’ she said fondly. ‘I don’t know how you’re going to go back to salads and vegetable juices after this.’
‘Neither do I.’ But he wasn’t talking about his diet. He meant all of it.
How could he go back to that office and stare at a screen, or play internal politics with the board of directors, when he’d spent a week staring at the open road and the ever-changing landscape of his country? How could he be interested in contracts and deals after he’d had giant polar bears, time capsules and ghost towns?
But most of all how could he go home alone every night, when he’d grown used to having Dawn with him every moment of the day? Just two nights of sleeping in the same bed, and already he couldn’t imagine her not being in his arms when he woke up. Just one night of them being together, as close as it was possible to be, and he already couldn’t bear to think about never feeling her, touching her that way again.
He should have known that one week, one road trip, with Dawn would never be enough.
He wanted it all. And instead he had to give her back to his brother because that was the honourable thing to do.
And because, however much he wanted it—wanted her in his life forever—he knew that wasn’t how it worked for him.
He’d sworn he’d never fall in love that way again, that he’d protect his heart at all costs. And he couldn’t break that vow. Not even for Dawn.
Could he?
‘Mint choc-chip?’ Dawn asked, and Cooper realised he’d been staring at the flavours board for minutes without even seeing them. ‘Or do you want to get a couple and share?’
‘You pick,’ he said, stepping back. ‘Get a few for us both to try. I’ll...find us a seat.’
He left her debating the merits of honeycomb over rocky road and collapsed into the nearest booth, the smooth plastic seat hard against his back.
He couldn’t love her. It had been less than a week! And, okay, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d spent so much time with anyone, but this was Dawn. His brother’s fiancée. The woman who, until a very short time ago, he’d been convinced was only after Justin’s money.