Somewhere

Chapter Six

Some would say I had no self-preservation.

But to my credit, while being mesmerized by Cooper Blackwood, I did wait for the cars to pass before I crossed the street. Cooper was dressed pretty casual for a Blackwood in a simple blue sweater. He turned and I saw two tan leather patches on his elbows and Hell would just have to wait to freeze over.

Dozens of ways to start a conversation ran through my head and yet, my mouth wasn't moving. I was just standing behind him like a stalker, breathing heavy. Panicking, I debated turning on my heels and running back to Nani with my tail between my legs.

How different he looked bothered me. He looked like an adult. My Coop, a lean, mean walking adult with his own car and a watch. The man actually owned a watch. I couldn't believe it. I lost my phone three times a day and I was pretty sure my shoe was untied.

Cooper noticed me just before he closed the back of his car. He did a double take from his trunk to me, his blue eyes as bright as ever. Most people had to cry to achieve that level of blueness, a perfect sunny day blue.

"Uh, hi," was my cool opening line.

The corner of his mouth perked up just a moment. He reached towards my cheek. "You have some paint-"

"Careful, it's still wet," I warned, recoiling from his hand. The one time I would. Damn Nani. She was more clever than anyone ever gave her credit for.

He didn't question it. We both just stood there in silence, waiting for one of us to bring up the other night. But I wanted to forget that night. I wanted to forget the morning and the day after, erase Lucinda, the body and Moira Blackwood from the world. For one tiny moment, I wanted to be the Sam that was still friends with Coop.

Finally, I crossed my arms and walked over to his side, inspecting the contents of his car: plastic plates and stacks of colorful cups. I examined two trays of rainbow cupcakes with bright blue frosting and a plastic ring on everyone. "Who's birthday?" I guessed.

He crossed his arms too, but not to mimic me. If anything, I stole his thing. "My mother's assistant, Mrs. Rossi, she has a daughter that's turning nine tomorrow. Like an idiot, I volunteered to get some cake, but I remembered that Chef King threw his son a party around this time." The more he spoke, the deeper his brow narrowed as he became hyper focused. He unfolded one hand, making it flat and motioning to the cupcakes as if he were giving them the lecture of a lifetime.

"So," he continued, and I leaned against the car, gazing at him and wishing he'd go on forever. "I spent half the day organizing a list of the staff's children and their birthdays, when I realized I still had to get the cake and enough plates and-" With a sigh, he digressed. "Anyways, I ordered enough for both children, but half the cupcakes had rings and the other half had little smiley faces on a stick and that simply wouldn't do."

"Of course not," I smiled, fueling him.

"Right, because it's fairer that way. Each kid deserves to get a ring and who puts smiley faces on sticks anyways? This isn't Vlad the Impaler's birthday. They're nine-year-old's for Christ's sake."

I laughed and that brought him out of his rant. He fingered back his hair as if the Cooper Blackwood could ever feel embarrassed. He said, "sorry. I know it sounds ridiculous and nitpicky—"

Standing from the car, I shook my head and tried to be very clear with him. I touched his arm, feeling the muscles tense beneath my touch. "No. No. You thought of everything. It's sweet..." The compliment caught in my throat. I've never blushed faster in my life and his little smile just made it worse. I dropped my head and tried to calm my raging blush down before I burned permanently. "You've lost your street cred man. Now I know you're a big softy."