Page 11 of Forbidden Dreams
He gestured for me to sit on the couch, and then he handed me a plate and fork.
The kitchen was cold lines and wood chairs. It reminded me not to get too comfortable. But now we were in his cozy living room, where there were pictures of Cooper with my family all over the shelves and the walls. "You have a lot of pictures with my brothers."
"We grew up together,” he said as if I shouldn’t be surprised by the framed images but I was.
He didn’t strike me as a sentimental person. And what was so horrible about his home life? It wasn't my place to ask, but now that we'd started this get-to-know-each-other thing, I was dying to know his secrets. I wondered if my brothers knew or would spill the details. "I don't think I'd want to spend that much time with them."
He chuckled. "They can be annoying."
"So annoying. They're always in my business. Giving their opinions on my life." I ate a piece of the cake.
"Is that your parents or your brothers?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.
I thought about it. "I guess it's more my parents. But now that they're all paired off, my mom is going to be pressuring me to settle down. I blame them for that."
He cut a piece of the cake and ate it. "You think she wants you to get a boyfriend?"
"I think she wants to see us settled and happy. But I'm not made for that. I like to have options and change my mind. What if I don't like this job after a few months? I want the freedom to pick up and leave."
"Yet you haven't left this area."
He was right about that. I loved living near my family, even if they drove me crazy. "Just when I went to college."
"You have more staying power than you've given yourself credit for."
I sighed. "I suppose you're right."
"You must like your family a little bit." He ate the last bite of his cake and set the plate aside.
"They have their moments."
He leaned back in the cushion and crossed one leg over the other. "They love you and want the best for you."
I rolled my eyes. "Now you're starting to sound like them. If you don't want me to treat you like a big brother, don't act like one."
He chuckled so hard; his entire body shook.
He was different tonight, lighter somehow. More open with what he was willing to share.
I got a glimpse into the real Cooper, and it was intriguing. I wanted to know more. But we didn't need to know each other's secrets in order to work together. As long as he treated me as an equal and not a little sister, we'd be fine.
When he sobered, he said, "I promise I won't act like your brother."
His words sent tingles down my spine. It could be worse, now that I was seeing all the ways that he was attractive.
"Aren't you going to promise not to act like an annoying sister?"
I rolled my eyes. "I'll do my best."
"You could lose the eye roll."
I sighed heavily. "Fine. No eyeballs. No jokes from our childhood. No teasing."
"You know, your brothers told me to stay away from you?—"
My heart started pounding. "What are you talking about?"
"When you became a teenager, they mentioned it to me. That you were off-limits. And I said you were like a sister to me."
