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  Victoria opened the overhead bin, but couldn’t quite reach her bag. She could feel it with her fingertips but had to stretch and stand on her tippy toes before it finally came loose. Relieved she didn’t have to ask for help, Victoria turned to see Cooper’s eyes firmly fixed on her ass and desire pooled in her lower regions.

  When he was being difficult, or downright hostile, she could deal with her inexplicable attraction to him, but when he was sweet, attentive and looking at her like he was now— like he wanted to press her against the nearest hard surface and have his way with her— Victoria’s brain nearly short circuited.

  A man clearing his throat broke both of them out of their daze and Victoria apologized to the man behind her before taking her seat once again. Cooper quickly grabbed a magazine and looked intently at a page that appeared to be for some sort of lawn equipment. Victoria thought about pointing out his lack of need for said equipment, but that would mean talking to him and they both seemed perfectly happy ignoring the other.

  The rest of the flight was fairly uneventful, with neither of them saying much aside from an ‘excuse me’ from Cooper when he needed to step around her to get to the bathroom. Cooper sat quietly going over stats for San Francisco players while Victoria looked through lists of charities and groups that had events or functions coming up for him to possibly attend. It was important for Cooper to be seen supporting the community that he grew up in, and this was one of the many things they would need to discuss on this trip.

  As he had before takeoff, the pilot came on the intercom and announced they were beginning their decent toward San Francisco’s International airport. All around passengers began putting away electronic devices and Victoria was doing the same when the plane dropped. Paralyzing her instantly with fear.

  Victoria was gripping her iPad so hard she was surprised the screen hadn’t cracked, when it was slowly pulled from her clutches and replaced by Cooper’s hand. She tried to shake him off, but another drop came and she couldn’t let go.

  Time stood still for Victoria until the sound of tires meeting pavement echoed through the plane. As soon as the plane came to a stop at their terminal, Victoria reluctantly looked at Cooper. She expected to see exasperation or even humor in his eyes, but all she saw was genuine concern and then a smile.

  “Safe and sound.” Those two words had never meant much in Victoria’s life before, but when Cooper said them she almost believed him.

  The flight attendant opened the door, and after grabbing both of their bags Cooper led her toward the exit.

  The wait for their luggage didn’t take too long and when Victoria started heading toward the waiting cabs Cooper steered her away.

  “Where are you going? The taxis are this way.”

  “I called ahead to reserve a rental car. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to San Francisco, and I want to do some sight seeing while I’m here. Maybe visit a few of my favorite places.”

  Victoria saw the black and yellow sign for the rental agency ahead and once he filled out the paper work they headed toward a black Mustang. She couldn’t hide her smile as Cooper loaded their luggage into the trunk.

  “What?” He looked at her quizzically.

  “Not much for variety, are you?” She looked at the car then back to Cooper. He smiled and opened the passenger door for her.

  “I guess not.” He said cheekily.

  Victoria stepped around him and slid into the front seat.

  “Do you want me to put the top down?” Cooper asked before he shut the door.

  Victoria thought about what it would feel like to let the warm California air float around her as they went down the interstate, but remembered they were staying at the Four Seasons and didn’t want to show up with wind-blown hair. Victoria told him no, Cooper shut the door and as soon as he buckled up they were off and merging with the rest of the traffic heading toward San Francisco.

  “Have you ever been to San Francisco before?” Cooper asked once they were immersed in the flow of traffic.

  “No, but I’ve always wanted to.” Victoria said excitedly. “I’ve been to L.A a few times, but it was always quick trips to style a client and hop a plane back home the same night. I’ve never seen much more than the airport, interstate or studio lots.”

  “Well we will have to fix that. If you’d like you can go with me to check out a few of my favorite spots after the games.”

  Cooper’s offer sounded great and yes was on the tip of her tongue, but Victoria reminded herself that she was here to work and Cooper was her client. Doing anything other than what she was hired to do would be a huge conflict of interest. Victoria made a promise to herself when she started her firm that she would never get involved with clients, and she didn’t have any plans to break that promise. No matter how tempting the invitation was.

  Instead of trying to explain to Cooper why she couldn’t, Victoria kept her answer vague.

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

  “Why not?” Cooper asked, clearly confused.

  “I’m not here on vacation. I don’t want Mr. Richards to think I’m taking this job lightly, so it would probably be best if we keep all outings work related.”

  Cooper didn’t seem to like her answer, but Victoria decided she’d worry about it later as the traffic around them began to bunch up; making her nervous as they approached the top of a hill, but when they crested it Victoria could see why and her nerves faded.

  At the bottom of the hill was a breath taking sight. The sun reflected brightly off the bay showing off the magnificence of the Golden Gate Bridge. The sight was stunning, and Victoria leaned forward in her seat as if being drawn toward the large structure. She tried to look up as they entered the bridge, but there was only so much she could see with the top still up.

  A few strange looks at the hotel would have been worth the view Victoria thought when they exited the bridge a few minutes later.

  Cooper hadn’t said anything since before the bridge, but when she looked across the car at him he seemed to be deep in thought so she stayed quiet. Instead focusing on the architecture and other sights they were driving past on their way to the hotel.

  The Four Seasons finally came into view and Cooper pulled up to the front door. Both of doors were opened almost immediately and the bags placed on a rack to be taken to their rooms. Cooper gave the bellhop their names and the young man tipped his head before disappearing with their luggage.

  “How does he know what room to take them to? We haven’t checked in yet.” Victoria asked and Cooper shrugged.

  The lobby was beautifully decorated in dark honey colored wood with gold statues and flowers all around. A long check in desk was off to the left and Cooper gave their names to the woman behind the counter. After tapping a few buttons, she smiled and passed them two key cards.

  “It appears you’ve both been upgraded to one of our Executive Suites.”

  “There must be some mistake.” Victoria protested, but she had a feeling they had Mr. Richards to thank for this. The old bastard meant what he said and didn’t want Cooper out of her sights, but there’s no way he could expect her to sleep in the same bed as Cooper.

  “I show it was changed this morning. A suite with two bedrooms was requested.” Well at least that was something.

  “Thank you, you’ve been very helpful.” Cooper picked up both key cards before leading Victoria towards the elevators. “I’m sorry.” He said once the doors closed and they began their ride up.

  “Did you change the reservations?” Cooper shook his head. “Then you have nothing to be sorry for. I’m sure the suite is big enough for the both of us. We’ll just have to make due, and it will make getting work done a lot easier.” Victoria said with all the calm she didn’t feel.

  She had a hard enough time resisting Cooper with other people around. She could only imagine how hard it was going to be with just the two of them. A flash of Cooper in his towel Saturday morning made Victoria cheer up a little.
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br />   Seeing that again wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

  The elevator dinged their arrival and Victoria followed Cooper to their room with a wicked smile on her face.

  Once inside the suite the first thing Victoria noticed was the floor to ceiling windows that presented a panoramic view of downtown San Francisco.

  “At least my boss has good taste.” Cooper stated as he picked up his suitcase from where the bellhop left it near the couch and disappeared down the hallway.

  Victoria hung back to look around. The living room area held a small desk off to one side and a light blue couch was pushed against a long wall facing a large flat screen television. Just before the hallway a set of French doors caught her eye.

  After kicking off her heels near the couch, Victoria turned the golden handles and pushed the doors open. A king sized bed decorated with at least ten pillows was the focal point of the bedroom, and more floor to ceiling windows made up one of the walls with a dresser and nightstand completing the room.

  “I put my stuff in the bedroom down the hall. I hope you don’t mind.” Victoria turned to see Cooper leaning against the wall.

  “A bed is a bed. I don’t care where I sleep.” When she saw the corners of his mouth lift she almost smacked her forehead. Why did she keep saying things like that to him? Giving him her most stern look, Victoria pushed him out of her room and shut the door.

  Most of her clothes needed hung up, so Victoria spent the next twenty minutes busying herself with unpacking. After calling Stella to give her the hotel information, Victoria slowly opened one of the French doors and peeked into the living room. The lights were still on, but there was no sign of Cooper anywhere. Figuring he was unpacking as well, Victoria grabbed her bag that held all of her toiletries and went in search of the bathroom. What she found wasn’t a bathroom. It was more like the Holy Grail of relaxation.

  Cream-colored marble seemed to cover every surface, including a deep soaker tub and glass enclosed shower. The tub called to Victoria’s travel tired muscles and she fully intended on using it before she went to bed tonight.

  As she was placing her toiletries on the counter next to the sink the muffled sound of conversation came through the door across the hall. Cooper sounded excited about something, but when she tried to hear what he was talking about the door started to open and Victoria quickly rushed back towards the living room. A few minutes later she heard the sound of running water and it was almost too much for her to handle. If she had any hope of surviving this trip she was going to need to focus on work and work alone.

  Going to her room to grab her laptop Victoria sat at the desk, and once the computer was up and running she connected to the Wi-Fi and started checking her e-mails. Michelle had sent her a quote for the new line of products at the salon, so Victoria did what she always did and lost herself in her work.

  ****

  Chapter 6

  Traveling always left Cooper a little wiped out, and the shower had done wonders in making him feel more awake. Not to mention the phone call from the bank saying the initial paperwork had gone through just fine for the condo. Inspections and the appraisal would be set up and since the condo was already empty he and Amy could move in as soon as next week if all went well.

  Cooper picked up his dirty clothes and after placing them in his room went in search of Victoria. He found her in the living room typing away on her laptop. She was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t notice he was in the room until he cleared his throat and she finally looked up.

  “I don’t have to meet Becky and the rest of the crew for an hour. Do you want to go grab some lunch?” Victoria hit a few more keys then saved whatever she was working on and shutting her laptop.

  “We should probably just order room service. I wanted to go over a few ideas with you before the production meeting.”

  Any trace of the Victoria Cooper got a glimpse of earlier that afternoon was gone, and professional Victoria was back. Cooper decided he would go along with the change for now, but after seeing the look on her face as they went across the Golden Gate Bridge earlier Cooper had big plans for her tomorrow night.

  The room service menu was sitting on the desk and after placing their orders they got to work. Victoria handed him a list once they were both seated at the table and told him to scan it and pick one or two that he thought he might be interested in getting involved with.

  Most of the charities and other foundations didn’t sound all that appealing, but as soon as he turned the page Cooper knew which one would be worth his time and handed the list back to Victoria.

  “You may have to look at my schedule and theirs, but if you could find out when I can set up a time to volunteer here.” Cooper pointed to his choice. “I’ll be there.”

  Victoria looked at the page and then back to him.

  “Youth At Risk? Why this group? Not that it’s a bad choice, none of them are, I’m just curious why you picked one that helps teen drug addicts.”

  Cooper thought about explaining his sister’s struggles, but since they didn’t have time for that very long and painful story he just shrugged.

  “It was the first one I could relate to.” Victoria looked concerned and he knew she was drawing the wrong conclusion, so he added “Because of what someone close to me went through.”

  “Sorry. I just thought…”

  “I know what you thought, but I’ve never touched a drug in my life.”

  Victoria seemed to accept him at his word and reached for her phone at the same time a knock sounded at the door.

  “I’ll call my assistant and have her check into it.”

  Victoria left the room and Cooper opened the door. After he signed the slip for their lunch and set up the food, Victoria came back into the small dining area.

  “Michelle is going to call me back once she talks to the director of the group.”

  They took a seat at the table and started eating. Every now and then Cooper would look up from his burger to see Victoria looking at him curiously, but she would quickly turn back to her salad.

  “How’s your food?” she asked when they were both almost done eating.

  “It’s alright. A little fancier than I’m used to, but then again everything tends to be when I’m on the road.”

  Victoria nodded and went back to eating.

  “Are you going with me to the stadium? The production meeting should only take an hour or so.” Cooper asked as he cleared their plates and put them back on the cart.

  “No, I’m going to go over a few things for the salon and catch up on some emails. We can talk when you get back.” Victoria relocated back to the living room and opened her laptop again.

  Cooper went to his room to grab his bag and left after a quick goodbye to Victoria.

  Rush hour was already starting to clog the streets, but luckily the stadium was only six blocks from the hotel. Pulling into the parking lot, Cooper easily found the staff parking area. When he worked in L.A San Francisco was a frequent stop so he quickly made his way through the building to the visiting sound booth.

  Bob was standing near the window making notes while the rest of the crew was setting up the camera equipment and wires when Cooper came in. Becky was speaking to an assistant producer when she spotted him.

  “Hey, how was your flight?”

  “Same as always, but I need to talk to you about something after the meeting.” Becky gave him a worried look and sent the assistant off to help the crew finish setting up. She motioned for him to follow her into a small room off to the side of the booth.

  “Is everything okay?” She asked once she had closed the door.

  “It’s nothing that couldn’t have waited until after the meeting.”

  Becky rolled her eyes.

  “I’m in no rush to begin what I know are dreadfully boring meetings, so spill it.” Cooper laughed. Becky was in her late forties and one of the most laid back producers he had ever worked with. They had a few issues in the beginnin
g, but they worked through them and now got along great.

  “I wanted to find out what time you were planning on all of us meeting before the game in L.A. on Friday.”

  “It’s a night game, so probably around four. Why?”

  Cooper breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I’m going to drive from San Francisco to L.A. Friday morning.”

  “Why in the world would you do that?”

  Clearly Becky thought he had lost his mind, and maybe he had. After all what sane person would give up a first class plane ticket to drive six hours in California traffic. But after seeing Victoria’s reaction to flying Cooper figured this would make things easier on her. After all, it was his fault that she was on this trip to begin with, and maybe this would even go a long way in making things easier between him and Victoria as well.

  “I have my reasons.” Cooper told Becky who was waiting for some sort of explanation. “I just wanted to run it past you first and make sure you were cool with it.”

  “This wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain pretty blonde that you are sharing a room with, would it?” Becky wiggled her eyebrows, but when Cooper glared at her she actually started laughing. “Oh you’ve got it bad.”

  “I have nothing. Victoria doesn’t like to fly and I feel bad because it’s my fault she had to come on this trip. So I’m trying to make things easier on both of us. That’s all.”

  Cooper didn’t know why he was defending himself to Becky. It was none of her business how he wanted to spend his time.

  “Uh huh. Whatever you have to tell yourself to make it through the day.” Becky said in a sing songy voice.

  Wanting nothing more than for this conversation to end, Cooper asked his question again.

  “Do you care or not?”

  “As long as you’re not late getting to L.A. for the game, I don’t care.”

  “Thank you.” Cooper held the door open. “Now, let’s get this bore fest over with. I’ve got plans tonight.”

  Cooper caught an elbow to the gut that made him oof, but he still managed to laugh.