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  After who knows how long, Cooper pressed a kiss to her lips and got up. Pulling her to her feet a second later.

  “Are you okay?”

  Real concern lived in Cooper’s eyes, and Victoria couldn’t figure out what he was worried about.

  “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

  Hell if she thought Cooper could get it up again that quickly she’d be asking for an encore performance.

  “I was rough with you.”

  Victoria knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t help but laugh.

  “You do realize I was the one with my ass thrust towards you practically begging you to fuck me harder, right?”

  The frown didn’t leave his face, and Victoria rolled her eyes.

  “I may be small, but I’m tough. You didn’t hurt me so turn that frown upside down, lose the condom and get over here so we can finish cleaning up. We have some work to do before the game.”

  Victoria stepped under the spray, wetting her hair again since it had started to dry during Cooper’s interruption, and then washed her body. When Cooper came back she soaped up her hands and began washing his body, but he stopped her before she got to the good parts.

  “I’ll do it.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  She’d gladly work her hands up and down his thick shaft.

  “Do you want to work before the game?”

  Victoria nodded.

  “Then I suggest you let me do it.”

  Victoria pretended to pout over his refusal.

  “Spoil sport.”

  “Insatiable tease.” He countered, and Victoria laughed.

  “Coming from the King of Tease’s, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “Take it however you want.” He said suggestively, and Victoria decided to take this as her opportunity for a little payback.

  Cooper had toyed with her last night, driving her so far out of her mind that she wasn’t sure how she survived the torture, but now Victoria was going to give him a taste of his own medicine.

  Reaching for the soap once again, Victoria made sure to work up a good lather before she reached down and gripped Cooper’s semi-hard cock. There was a small hitch in his breathing as she worked one hand up and down his shaft while the other traveled further south to cup his balls.

  “Mmmmm.”

  Cooper had gone from semi-hard to fully erect within a few strokes, and Victoria waited until his eyes drifted shut to let go and rinse her hands. Stepping out of the shower, Victoria paused long enough to look over her shoulder and bat her eyes.

  “All clean. I’ll be in the living room whenever you’re ready to get to work.”

  Lust, shock, and then understanding crossed his face and Cooper lunged for her, but Victoria was quicker.

  Grabbing a towel on her way out of the bathroom, Victoria ran to her room and made sure to lock the door as she fell to the bed laughing.

  The sound of someone running was quickly followed by the pounding of a fist on the door, but Cooper’s threats of torture he was yelling through the door only made Victoria laugh harder when she pictured him doing all these things butt naked.

  “…and I’m sure you won’t be laughing when they turn blue and fall off.”

  Victoria’s laughter had subsided enough to make out a little of what Cooper was ranting about. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Victoria sat up and spoke toward the door.

  “Well like Bob Barker always said ‘Don’t forget to spay and neuter your pets’.”

  A loud gasp followed by a string of curse words came through the door, but Victoria ignored Cooper’s expletives and started searching through her clothes for something to wear.

  Sure her stunt may be considered cruel by some, but feeling the power shift back in her favor made it all worth it.

  Cooper gave up a short time later, and when Victoria was sure the coast was clear she made a break for the bathroom to finish getting ready. A smile on her face the whole time.

  ****

  Chapter 14

  “We are NOT listening to this.” Cooper reached to change the radio station, but Victoria blocked his attempt to remove the girly pop song from his speakers.

  “You know you secretly love the Spice Girls.” Victoria taunted then moved her hand to his lips like she was holding a microphone. “Come on, sing it with me now, ‘If you wannabe my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever friendship never ends’.”

  Cooper watched Victoria out of the corner of his eye bouncing her shoulders and singing every word of the 90’s hit, and he couldn’t help but laugh at this playful side of her. He had gotten a few glimpses of it over the past several days, like yesterday morning when she teased him in the shower and ran away laughing, and the more he saw the deeper he fell.

  Try as she might to hide it Victoria had a light inside of her that when she let it out could blind someone, and Cooper was more than willing to go blind if it meant Victoria stayed as radiant as she had been the last couple of days.

  Deciding that this opportunity would be too good to pass up, Cooper took his eyes off of Victoria long enough to pass the slow moving car in front of them and once he got the cruise set again he took a deep breath and prepared to make a fool of himself once again.

  Thankfully his sister had listened to this song on repeat for weeks when it came out, so there was one part he knew by heart. When it finally came up, Cooper put his knee to the bottom of the steering wheel and cracked his neck before moving his hands animatedly as he sang.

  “So here’s a story from A to Z, you wanna get with me you gotta listen carefully. We got Em in the place who likes it in your face. We got G like MC who likes it on a… Easy V doesn’t come for free, she’s a real lady, and as for me, ha you’ll see. Slam your body down and wind it all around. Slam your body down and wind it all around.”

  When Mel B finished rapping, Cooper put his hands back on the wheel and continued to drive like he hadn’t just rapped right along with her. After a short stretch of silence Cooper chanced a look toward Victoria who was sitting in the passenger seat with a look of shock on her face.

  Victoria still hadn’t said anything as the song came to an end, but when Cooper wiggled his eyebrows and winked Victoria lost it. Laughing so hard Cooper was afraid she was going to hyperventilate.

  “I can’t believe…you just…sang all of that…without missing… a single word.” She huffed out between fits of laughter. Clutching her side as she did. Cooper just laughed and shook his head.

  Oh, if only Amy could see me now.

  Cooper knew his sister would be laid out on the seat next to Victoria. Teasing him relentlessly and never letting him hear the end of it.

  “You’re welcome for that by the way.” Cooper said when Victoria’s laughter started to die down.

  “Thank you.” She said as she wiped her eyes. “I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”

  “Thank my sister. I swear she memorized that whole CD in the hopes of being the sixth Spice Girl some day, or to torture the hell out of me and my dad.”

  “Probably a little of both.” Victoria chuckled softly. “Speaking of Amy, how is she? I forgot to ask you how she reacted to the news about the condo.”

  Cooper still had a slight ringing in his ears from Amy’s screams of excitement.

  “I think she started packing before I was even off the phone. I couldn’t tell if she was more excited about finally moving out of mom and dads, or having free reign over picking out all the furniture and paint colors.”

  Victoria looked at him quizzically.

  “What?” Cooper finally asked when she didn’t say anything.

  “It’s your place too, right?” Victoria asked.

  Cooper knew her question didn’t require an answer, but he felt the need to respond anyway.

  “Yeah. So?”

  “Shouldn’t you have some say in how the place is decorated?”

  Cooper thought about his apartment in L.A with its stark white walls and minima
l furnishings, and shook his head.

  “Amy will be there more than me, and I trust her to pick out colors we can both live with. As long as I have my California king and 70 inch flat screen mounted on the wall I’m happy.”

  “You’re such a guy.” Victoria said with a roll of her eyes.

  “Maybe, but I haven’t heard you complaining about my maleness.”

  Cooper ran his hand seductively from her knee to mid thigh just as Victoria tried to cover a yawn.

  “Tired?” Cooper asked with a hint of mischief, and Victoria narrowed her eyes.

  “Considering someone decided to keep me up half the night having sex on every available surface of our suite, knowing we had to be up early to get on the road, yeah you could say I’m a little tired.”

  “Right, because you put up such a fight.” Cooper said dryly, and rested his hand back on Victoria’s knee. Trying to calm his feisty spitfire.

  After Victoria’s mean and vicious teasing in the shower Cooper had tried to corner her in the living room, but she had been all business and they spent hours going over ways to answer media questions and discussing more community projects that were coming up.

  Since Victoria had made it very clear she wanted to keep business and pleasure separate Cooper kept his hands to himself during the day, but as soon as they returned to the hotel after the game, he pounced. Barely letting the door to the suite close before Cooper had her stripped naked with his clothes following right behind.

  Their first round hadn’t made it any further than the entry hall table, with the couch and dining room table joining the list for rounds two and three, and by the time they finally made it to Victoria’s bedroom she had been half asleep but Cooper woke her up with their fourth and final round pressed against her window. Watching the lights of San Francisco glow as he took her slow and deep from behind.

  But it wasn’t just about the great sex with Victoria. Putting all of that aside Cooper found that just spending time with her was enough to keep him interested. On their drive so far they had discussed books, music, movies, and much to his surprise they actually had a lot in common. Victoria’s taste varied as much as Cooper’s did, but one thing they definitely didn’t agree on was their choice in cars.

  Cooper had been a Mustang man since his dad helped him fix up his first car. A jet black 65 Mustang that lasted until his second year in college before he finally had to break down and buy a much newer one.

  Of course Victoria was partial to her Camaro and wouldn’t even listen to Cooper’s very valid arguments as to why his car was better. She may look like a girly girl, but underneath all of those designer business suits was a grease monkey just waiting to get out. And God how Cooper wished he could see her do just that. There was nothing sexier than a woman that knew about cars.

  “What are you smirking about?” Victoria asked curiously.

  “I was just thinking how hot you’d look lying naked on the hood of my Mustang. Hair spread out like an extra in an 80’s music video with a wind machine in the background.”

  It wasn’t a total lie. Actually now that he said it, it was a pretty good idea.

  “That’s an interesting little fantasy, but there’s one major flaw.” Victoria said a little huskily.

  “Oh yeah? What’s that?” Cooper asked as his hand started inching higher up on Victoria’s leg once again making her breath catch in the process.

  Cooper was extremely grateful Victoria decided to wear shorts today because it gave him plenty of room to slip his hand under the hem and brush his fingers across her already damp panties.

  Keeping his eyes on the road, Cooper snuck a finger under the edge of the scrap of silk she called underwear and felt just how much Victoria liked his idea. Something incoherent was mumbled as he teased his finger over her opening, but Cooper’s focus wasn’t on her words.

  “I’m sorry, what was that?” Cooper asked as Victoria ground her sex on his finger. No matter how many times they came together, it still amazed Cooper how responsive Victoria was each and every time, and this time wasn’t any different. Before Cooper could do more than crook his finger into her wetness a few times, she was coming. Screaming and gasping through her orgasm until her body slumped back against the seat.

  Sliding his finger out of her quivering channel, Cooper brought it to his lips and let her sweetness please his taste buds much like it had the night before.

  “You should see yourself when you come.” Cooper said in awe of the woman sitting beside him. “It’s incredible.”

  Victoria’s only response was a long drawn out moan. When Cooper glanced over, Victoria’s eyes were closed and she appeared to be falling asleep.

  “Victoria?” No answer, so he tried again. This time with a very small ‘hmm’.

  “You said something about my fantasy being flawed and I was just wondering what it was.” Without opening her eyes, Victoria turned on her side, hands folded under her cheek, and smiled.

  “I said change your Mustang to my Camaro and I’m in.”

  Cooper gasped in outrage. They had argued over whose car was better for more than an hour earlier, and he couldn’t believe she had chosen to get a jab in about his Mustang when his fingers were moments from making her come apart.

  “Why you little…” He started to say shit, but his outrage was met only by the sound of Victoria snoring softly.

  Cooper thought about waking her up and tickling her mercilessly until she proclaimed his car superior, but she was tired and he left her alone to catch a few z’s. Instead using the quiet time to think about his impending trip back to the place he had called home for the last eight years.

  Not only would he be seeing old friends and co-workers on this trip, but Jenna as well. When Victoria said he was to have a sit down interview Cooper hadn’t been thrilled about it, but he would have gritted his teeth and got through it for the sake of his job, and her. But knowing Jenna was going to be the one conducting said interview. Well, to say he was more than a little pissed was an understatement.

  There was no reason, or at least no good reason she should want to do this interview. Cooper thought back to the last conversation he had with Jenna outside Mariah’s and it was like he was transported back in time.

  ****

  Cooper pushed open the large wooden door and whipped his head from side to side, trying to see where Jenna had disappeared. He didn’t see her on the sidewalk, but as he rounded the building Cooper saw her leaning against his car. She appeared to still be crying, so Cooper raced to comfort her. He was less than ten feet away when she pushed away from the car and started shaking her finger and yelling at him

  “How dare you embarrass me like that?”

  “What!?!” Cooper stopped dead in his tracks. “I ask you to marry me, you run out crying without answering me, and I embarrassed you? Where the hell do you get off?”

  “You drop a bombshell on me that you’re moving two thousand miles away, and then ask me to marry you. What did you expect me to say?”

  “I thought the ring and marriage proposal made that fairly obvious. Is the bottled blonde starting to sink in? I expected you to say yes.”

  “So now you’re calling me dumb?” Cooper knew he should shut up, just walk away and cool off, but he was too pissed to do that.

  “Well if the hair color fits.” Great now he sounded like a five year old in a name-calling contest.

  How had this night gone so wrong so fast? They should be heading home to celebrate their engagement, not standing outside a very expensive restaurant screaming at each other.

  “You’re the dumb one.” Jenna snarled, and Cooper crossed his arms over his chest.

  “How do you figure? Other than the fact that I’ve wasted two years of my life with you.” Jenna seemed genuinely hurt by that remark, but went on.

  “You are throwing away a great career and an amazing woman to go back to the middle of nowhere and be with a family you barely talk to. What are you going to do in fucking Illinois? There�
��s nothing in that God forsaken place, and you will be nothing. If you really loved me like you claimed to you would choose me over going back.”

  Cooper’s mouth fell open. How had he spent two years with this woman and never noticed how incredibly selfish and small-minded she was?

  Digging his keys out of his pocket, Cooper looked at Jenna with disgust as he approached the driver side door of his car.

  “Yeah because spending the rest of my life here with a selfish bitch like you sounds way better than being with people who actually love me and not just my job title. Have a nice life, Jenna.”

  And with that, Cooper got behind the wheel of his car and drove off. He didn’t even spare a look in the rearview mirror to see Jenna’s reaction as he left. Cooper just headed to his apartment, packed up her stuff and sent one last text message telling her to come get her shit.

  Unfortunately, he also went out a couple nights later and got rip roaring drunk. Getting into his first and last bar fight the week before he moved back to Chicago. It of course made the papers and was a huge reason Crush management hired Victoria.

  At first they tried to say it was to help endear him to the people of the Midwest, but Becky later told him Mr. Richards was afraid the bad publicity would affect a few of their sponsorships if it happened again.

  ****

  The memory of that conversation with Becky brought his attention back to the present and to his sleeping car mate. A sign up ahead said Los Angeles 25 miles, and Cooper rubbed his eyes. More than an hour had passed since Victoria fell asleep and in that time Cooper had come to realize two very important things.

  One, he really could be an asshole when he wanted to be. Victoria said as much the other night and Cooper had to agree. No matter how angry he was he needed to learn to think before he spoke. The words he said to Jenna that night ran through his mind, and Cooper winced.

  Yeah, that’s a good rule to try and follow.

  Cooper had never talked to woman the way he did Jenna, or even the way he had talked to Victoria a few times, and he had no intention of ever doing it again if he could help it.

  The second thing he realized was that in some weird fucked up way he needed to thank Jenna. If she hadn’t crushed him so completely that night he never would have gotten in that fight, and Victoria wouldn’t be in his life right now. Sure he would have met her through Kyle, but who’s to say if the sparks would have flown without all the drama they had been through together.