Just A Kiss Read online

  “Hey, your words, not mine.”

  The rest of the crew seemed unaware that he and Becky had been gone, so Cooper went to talk to Bob before the meeting started a few minutes later. The meeting held no surprises, so after running through the lineup and stats of the star players with Bob, Cooper headed back to his car and put the top down.

  Figuring Victoria was still working, Cooper headed toward the bay to get everything planned for her surprise tomorrow night. Thankfully they had a day game because nighttime was the perfect setting for what he wanted to show her.

  Maybe Becky’s accusations weren’t so far off Cooper thought as he crossed the bay. He may not have wanted to admit it to his boss, but there was definitely something about Victoria that intrigued him and made him want to find out what made her tick.

  By the time he was done running errands the sun was beginning to set and exhaustion was starting to take over. Cooper pulled into the parking garage of the hotel and made it to the suite with his last bit of energy.

  The door to Victoria’s room was closed so he figured she had already gone to bed, and Cooper wanted nothing more than to do the same thing. Going to his room, Cooper stripped and collapsed onto his bed. Thinking about what Victoria may be wearing as she slept in the next room made sleep difficult, but eventually his tired body gave up and he fell into a deep sleep.

  ****

  The next morning, Cooper woke to the sound of a very excited Victoria. He couldn’t make out everything she was saying, but from what he could hear she was congratulating someone. Rolling over to grab his phone he noticed it was only twenty minutes before he was supposed to get up, so he went ahead and got out of bed.

  Putting on a pair of pajama pants, Cooper followed the smell of coffee into the dining area where Victoria sat wrapped in a robe with the newspaper laid out in front of her.

  “Oh, tell Kyle not to call him. He’s right here.” Cooper looked at Victoria as she started to blush then straightened and shouted “NO.” Pause. “I’ll explain later, just give the phone to Kyle.”

  Victoria held out her phone with a shake of her head.

  “Kyle has something to tell you.”

  Setting down the carafe of coffee he had just picked up, Cooper took the phone.

  “Hey man, what’s up?”

  “I wanted you to be one of the first people to know Lindsay and I got married this morning.”

  “What?” Cooper looked to Victoria for conformation that he had heard correctly, and when she nodded he knew he had. “You mean to tell me Kyle Brady is a married man?” Cooper mock gasped, and Kyle’s deep laugh boomed through the phone.

  “A very happily married man with a shiny new ring to prove it.” There was some whispering on the other end and then Kyle was back. “We want to plan a time for all of us to get together and celebrate. Do you know what your schedules like the week you get back?”

  “Hang on a sec.” Cooper covered the mouthpiece and got Victoria’s attention. “Did you hear back from Michelle yet?”

  “Yeah. They have a day camp the week we get back and you have three day games that week, so Monday and Thursday are the only two days that sync up.” Cooper uncovered the speaker and he made sure Kyle was still there.

  “Monday and Thursday are out for me, but any other time is good. Just let me know when and I’ll be there.”

  They talked a little bit longer and after another congratulations for his friends, Cooper hung up and handed the phone back to Victoria.

  All of the excitement when she was on the phone with Lindsay seemed to have vanished as she looked out the window with the most distant look on her face. It was the same look he had seen the other night behind Maxwell’s, and just like that night Cooper wanted to make it go away.

  Covering her hand with his, Cooper waited for her to look at him.

  “Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

  Victoria looked at their hands and then up to him and Cooper saw that she wanted to, but something inside wouldn’t let her and she pulled her hand away.

  “What time do we need to leave for the stadium?” She asked then started grabbing sections of the newspaper and putting them back together quickly.

  “Victoria.” He tried to reach for her hand again, but she stepped just out of his reach.

  “It didn’t look like the stadium was too far away, so do you think around noon?” She wouldn’t even look at him when she asked, and Cooper finally gave up trying.

  “Pre-show starts at twelve thirty so we should probably leave around eleven thirty to be on the safe side.”

  Victoria glanced at the clock.

  “Well if you don’t need the bathroom, I’ll go get ready now. I have a conference call that I have to make at eleven that will probably last until we need to leave.”

  Cooper pinched the bridge of his nose, and closed his eyes

  “Fine.”

  Victoria quickly grabbed her phone and left the room.

  Let it go Coop. You don’t want or need another high maintenance woman. Just finish your breakfast and forget the whole thing.

  That’s what he told himself, but Cooper couldn’t let it go. Whether he liked it or not, Victoria was under his skin and he didn’t like seeing her in pain.

  The pastry in front of him no longer held any appeal and he pushed it aside. Knowing he had a few phone calls of his own to make, Cooper went to his room to make them while he waited for Victoria to finish her shower.

  The first call he made was to the bank and they informed him that an appraisal had been ordered for Wednesday morning. The man he talked to gave him the number for a home inspector, but before he could set it up he would need to call Rachel Stewart to discuss the policy for inspections of the place.

  Rachel gave him the times that would be available, and by the time Cooper got off the phone with the inspector his ear felt like it was going to fall off. He wanted to call Amy and tell her the good news about everything moving ahead, but decided a text would work just as well.

  When he came out of his room Cooper saw that the bathroom door was still closed, so he went to the living room to watch some TV. The Tuesday morning lineup for shows consisted of talk shows, talk shows and more talk shows, so Cooper settled on Jerry Springer and laid out on the couch. He must have dozed off at some point because the next thing he knew Victoria was shaking him awake.

  “I let you sleep as long as I could, but I have to start my conference call and I figured you would want a shower before we left.”

  A rejuvenated looking Victoria stood in front of him smelling like fresh picked flowers and looking like she was back to her usual sexy self.

  “I don’t remember falling asleep. Thank you for waking me.” Victoria smiled, and Cooper didn’t see the faintest hint of her earlier melancholy.

  “I’m going to start my call.” She started walking toward her room. “Can you knock when it’s time to go?”

  Cooper nodded then pushed off the couch and headed for the hallway.

  When he entered the bathroom Victoria’s scent instantly surrounded him. Ignoring the way his body reacted to all things Victoria, Cooper rushed through his shower and hurried back to his room to get dressed.

  It was nearing the time they needed to leave, so Cooper grabbed everything he would need for the upcoming game and went to knock on Victoria’s door. The phone was still to her ear when she answered the door, and when she held up two fingers Cooper mouthed okay.

  Sure enough a couple minutes later Victoria came out of her room, bag in hand and they headed to the stadium. There wasn’t a whole lot of room in the booth, so Victoria sat in the skybox that was reserved for the visiting teams’ owner. Once Cooper got her settled he went back to the booth and got ready for the pre-show. A few curious looks were shot his way from the crew, but Cooper ignored them and got to work.

  Throughout the show Cooper found his mind drifting to the woman down the hall, but as the game started there was no room for other thoughts as the
Crush fell behind in the first inning, and were never able to recovered.

  ****

  Chapter 7

  Victoria spent most of the game trying to work through all the information she had received from Dan, the organic product rep she spoke to that morning, but her mind kept wandering and eventually she gave up on work completely.

  Lindsay and Kyle are married. Stella and Alex are having a baby.

  Maybe if she repeated the words enough they would start to make sense because right now it all seemed like a bizarre dream. One that Victoria would never be able to be a part of unless she did one thing. Change.

  Every person in those two couples had changed in one-way or another to make things work, but for Victoria the change she needed to make would never be possible because for that to happen she needed answers and closure from one person and that person was dead.

  “No.” Victoria said out loud. “I’m done letting her ruin things for me.”

  But even as she screamed at herself, Victoria knew she already had. Every time she went on a first date and it didn’t work or she dumped one of her casual bed buddies because they started getting too close Victoria knew it was because of her unresolved issues where her mother was concerned.

  Wanting, no needing, to think about anything else Victoria looked up at the scoreboard and almost laughed. She had never been much of a sports fan, but even Victoria knew that nine to nothing was not a good day at the office for a ball club. Apparently the Crush were jet lagged too but their misery made Victoria forget about hers temporarily, and when the stadium started to clear out she started packing up her stuff.

  Victoria had just put the last of her things into her bag when Cooper came in.

  “Did you enjoy the game?” Cooper seemed to have moved past what happened this morning, and Victoria was glad. She hadn’t meant to act the way she had toward him, but years of keeping things to herself was a hard habit to break.

  “Honestly I wasn’t paying much attention, but I did catch the final score. Even I couldn’t put a positive spin on a shut out.” Victoria smiled, and Cooper laughed.

  “I don’t think anyone could, but Bob and I tried.” Cooper had one of those laughs that were contagious, and Victoria found herself smiling a real smile for the first time that day.

  “So I’m assuming by your being here that means you’re done for the day?”

  “Yep, and we need to hurry and get back to the hotel to change or we’re going to miss our dinner reservations so chop chop.”

  “What dinner reservations?” Victoria eyed him suspiciously. She wasn’t aware of any plans, and Victoria thought she had made herself clear yesterday that this was not a vacation.

  “The dinner reservations I made for us last night.”

  Victoria started to protest, but Cooper just ushered her down the hall towards the elevators.

  “I’m not spending all my free time in the hotel and neither are you. Mr. Richards wanted you with me, so if he has a problem with us having dinner he can discuss it with me.”

  Cooper made a good point. Victoria wasn’t looking forward to being cooped up for a week either, but she didn’t like having things planned for her. She liked being in control.

  “So where are we having dinner?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “I don’t like surprises.”

  “Why does that not shock me?” Cooper laughed, but this time Victoria didn’t join in. “Just trust me. You’re going to love it.”

  She doubted that, but seeing as she didn’t have much of a choice Victoria walked silently to the car. Once they got back to the hotel Cooper told her to change into something casual and wear comfortable shoes then disappeared into his room.

  Thinking over the clothes she brought, Victoria settled on a pair of blue jean capris with a light pink v neck t-shirt. Luckily she brought her tennis shoes in case she found time to work out because those were the only none heels she owned.

  When Victoria stepped out of the bedroom Cooper was sitting on the couch talking on the phone. He had changed into a pair of khaki shorts and a light blue T-shirt looking for all the world like a California surfer.

  “Everything is scheduled for Wednesday morning.” He said to whoever was on the other line. Since she didn’t know how long he would be Victoria went to the bathroom to touch up her make-up and fix her hair into two braids. After a final look in the mirror, she went back to the living room and Cooper was saying goodbye.

  “Is this too casual?” She asked as he stood up. Cooper’s eyes moved up and down her body and Victoria could almost feel his gaze like a caress. God she really needed to get laid if just one look from a good-looking guy could get her going. But Victoria knew it wouldn’t happen with just any good-looking guy. Just one. And the fact that Cooper was that one sucked.

  “You look great. I’m glad you put your hair up because I was going to put the top down.”

  Victoria smiled. She hoped he would say that.

  “Will you please tell me where we are going?” Victoria’s curiosity finally got the better of her when they reached the car.

  “Nope.” Cooper said making the word pop, but when she scowled and plopped into the passenger seat he laughed. “It’s not that far. Plus it’s something I’d rather show you then tell you.”

  Victoria recognized the road Cooper took as the one that had brought them into the city, but it wasn’t until they were coming around a bend on the interstate and he pointed straight ahead that Cooper gave her any clues as to where they were going.

  “I don’t understand.” Victoria said as the Golden Gate Bridge came into view and its beauty once again blew her away.

  “On the northeast side is a fort. There is an amazing café with a great nighttime view of the bridge. Then after we eat I thought we could take a walk from there to under the bridge.”

  Victoria didn’t know what to say. It was clear Cooper had put a lot of thought into this, but she couldn’t figure out why.

  “Why would you do all of this? I’m sure there are other things you would rather be doing than playing tour guide to me.”

  Cooper’s silence was starting to drive Victoria crazy, but when they got on the bridge Victoria stopped trying to figure things out and laid her seat back. Grateful that Cooper had decided to put the top down.

  It was nearing dusk and Victoria watched as the beams and lights above her zoomed past like a million shooting stars, and when the orange beams and lights disappeared from above her Victoria was left mesmerized. Rolling her head on the headrest to look over at Cooper, Victoria saw him smiling.

  “That’s why I did it.”

  “Huh?”

  “I saw how your face lit up yesterday when you saw the bridge. I’ve seen it hundreds of times, but seeing the look of awe on your face was like seeing it for the first time all over again.”

  A small lump formed in her throat and Victoria looked away.

  Victoria had spent the majority of her life taking care of everything and everyone around her, but having someone she never expected to care doing something just to see her happy was a little overwhelming.

  Victoria didn’t trust her voice, so she stayed quiet until they pulled into a small parking lot behind a brightly colored building. After putting the top up on the Mustang, Cooper held the door for her as they entered a seaside café. Victoria was starting to feel a little under dressed for such a beautiful restaurant, but when Cooper gave the hostess his name they were led to a patio area on the backside of the café. Most of the patrons out there were dressed like them so she felt better.

  Cooper made sure Victoria took the chair facing the bridge before taking the seat opposite of her and opening his menu.

  “I didn’t know if you liked seafood or not, but if you don’t they have other dishes as well.”

  “Seafood is fine.” Victoria said, and opened her own menu.

  The menu wasn’t large but everything sounded delicious, and Victoria finally settled on tilapia with stea
med vegetables.

  The waitress brought the glasses of wine they ordered and after taking down their selections for dinner, walked away. Cooper raised his glass toward Victoria, so she did the same.

  “Thank you for coming with me.” He said, and tapped his glass to hers.

  They each took a sip of the crisp wine before placing the glasses back on the table.

  “I didn’t have much choice, now did I? I mean, I couldn’t have you wandering all over San Francisco getting into trouble. What would Mr. Richards think?” Victoria teased, and Cooper smirked.

  Their salads were placed on the table a few minutes later, and after eating a small amount Victoria pushed her bowl aside and once again looked at the bridge.

  “This really is an amazing view. Thank you.”

  “I’m glad you like it. I haven’t been here in quite a while myself. Jen…” Cooper started to say something, but stopped himself and picked up his glass of wine. “Nevermind.”

  Cooper downed the rest of his wine, and looked out over the bay. Something made him clam up and if Victoria heard him right it involved a woman.

  Over the last several days Cooper had been there for her in one small way or another, and Victoria decided that it was time to return the favor. Without even thinking she slipped her hand over his and squeezed.

  “You listened to me outside Maxwell’s, held my hand on the plane, and now you’ve shown me this amazing area. You don’t have to, but I’ll listen if you want to talk about it.”

  Victoria knew she was being kind of unfair. Cooper had told her basically the same thing this morning, but she had refused. Now she sat patiently waiting as one emotion after another crossed his face, but the one that finally won was hurt.

  Cooper was still silent a minute later, so Victoria figured he didn’t want to talk and removed her hand. Their food was brought out shortly after and she began eating as Cooper just sort of pushed his food around his plate.

  “Her name is Jenna.” Cooper blurted out, and Victoria was momentarily confused until she realized he was talking about what, or more importantly who, was bothering him.