The Angel and the Outlaw Read online

  Yeah, that had been as hard to swallow for Ernie as Cooper had found swallowing the fact that he was spending his afternoons wheeling around a former police commissioner. Who would have thought?

  It was yet another consequence of bringing his partnership with Hayley into the open. He had brought her into his world, but she had brought him into hers, too.

  She had worried about telling her father the truth. She had wanted to delay telling him the news about the loss of the family home, too, for fear of upsetting him. Yet he would have found out eventually, so she’d made sure a doctor was standing by and had broken it to him anyway.

  Ernie’s silence with Cooper during the walk back to his room wasn’t because of his ongoing disapproval, though. He appeared to have forgotten who Cooper was. There was no recognition in his gaze when Cooper slipped his arms under him and carefully transferred him from the wheelchair to the bed—he probably thought he was one of the orderlies. Cooper lowered the head of the bed to the angle he had noticed Ernie preferred, then took off his slippers and drew the covers to his waist. “Anything else you need?”

  Pale-blue eyes met his. They were so much like Adam’s, Cooper still found it jarring. “When is my son coming?”

  Cooper fixed the bed rail in place and made sure the box with the call button was within Ernie’s reach. “Your daughter’s here.”

  “No, I don’t want to see her, I want to see Adam.”

  Cooper turned to the door.

  Hayley was standing in the doorway, her expression that familiar mixture of determination and longing. She brushed past him to kiss her father’s cheek, spoke softly for a few minutes, then said goodbye and moved into the hall.

  Cooper slipped his arm around her shoulders as they left the building. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. She waited until they had reached his pickup and he was pulling out of the parking lot before she spoke. “Thank you,” she said.

  Automatically, he checked the road and his rearview mirror, but there was no sign of any suspicious vehicles that might be carrying Sproule’s men, only families in mini-vans. No one was paying attention to them. “For what?”

  “For helping my father into bed. It was one of his…bad days.”

  “No problem. I’ve seen how the orderlies do it.”

  “It was very kind of you.”

  “That’s not why you’re upset, is it?”

  She rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers. “Cooper, every day Sproule is free is too much. We have to work faster.”

  “I warned you this would take time.”

  “You saw how Dad was. He didn’t recognize you. If we take too long to bring Sproule to justice, it might be too late to do my father any good.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I promised him, Cooper. This could be my last chance to make him—” she turned her face to the side window “—to make him happy.”

  That wasn’t what she’d meant. The words she hadn’t said hung in the air. She wanted to make her father love her.

  Cooper had known something was going to give soon. He hadn’t guessed how easily it was going to happen, but hell, enough was enough. He checked once more to ensure the road was empty behind him, then spun the wheel and steered the truck back toward the lake.

  Hayley gripped the dashboard as they bumped over the grass. “Where are you going?”

  He turned down a track that led away from the nursing-home grounds to a section of the shoreline that hadn’t yet been developed. The trees were bigger, the brush on either side of the truck was thicker, but it was still recognizable. It had been another popular spot when he’d been a kid. Not for hanging out with the guys but for bringing girls. He continued down the track until it flattened out to a clearing where he could glimpse the lake through the brush, then pulled to a stop and shut off the engine.

  “Why are we stopping here?” she asked.

  Cooper hopped out of the truck, went around to her side and opened her door. He held out his hand. “Come with me.”

  “Why?”

  “I need to do something.”

  She took his hand and climbed down. “What?”

  He swung the door closed and pulled her into his arms. “This.”

  She held herself stiffly. “Cooper—”

  He tucked her head into the crook of his neck, then crossed his arms over her back. It felt so good to simply feel her. He swayed from side to side, rocking her in a slow, soothing rhythm until she softened against him. “Damn,” he murmured. “You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do this.”

  Her shoulders shook. “We can’t…”

  “We are. Doesn’t it feel good?”

  She sniffed. “Yes, but—”

  “I think you put way too much importance on this love thing, Hayley.” He pressed his nose to her ear. “Sometimes you just have to settle for what you can get.”

  She stiffened again.

  “I’m talking about your father.”

  “Cooper…”

  “You’re doing everything you can to please him, but there’s a point where you have to cut your losses and look out for yourself.”

  She sighed, then pushed her hands against his chest and shoved herself out of his embrace. She walked to the front of the pickup. “You don’t understand.”

  “Then tell me. What’s going on?”

  “He’s sick and he’s grieving. I’m trying to comfort him.”

  “It’s more than that.” He followed her and touched her shoulder. “I’ve seen sickness before, Hayley. I watched cancer eat away at Donny, and I know people react in different ways when they’re scared, but the way Ernie treats you isn’t about his condition.”

  She folded her arms over her chest. Her jaw worked as if she were biting the inside of her cheek.

  “Talk to me, Hayley. Why weren’t there any pictures of you on your father’s desk?” he asked. “It isn’t only because Adam was a cop, is it?”

  She kept her face averted, yet he could see the tension in her body as she considered her reply. When she finally spoke, her words came out low and fast…as if she had been saving them up for a long time and no one had asked. “No. It started long before that.”

  “I can’t believe it’s because of something you did when you were younger. You’ve been as straight as they come. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “You would understand if you saw a picture of my mother.”

  “Your mother? What does she have to do with this?”

  “I look exactly like her.”

  He lifted his hand to stroke her hair. The trees blocked most of the wind from the lake, but there was enough of a breeze to twine her curls around his fingers. “She must have been beautiful.”

  “Everyone said she was. I never knew her. She died giving birth to me.”

  Cooper’s fingers tightened. “I didn’t know.”

  “So you see, my father’s dislike of me is from something I did. I took away the love of his life.”

  “You weren’t responsible for what happened when you were born, Hayley.”

  “It doesn’t make any difference. Every time my dad sees me, he’s reminded of my mother’s death. He’s an intelligent man, so logically he knows it wasn’t my fault. But on an emotional level, he can’t help blaming me. He has very rigid ideas about crime and punishment.”

  Cooper wanted to argue with the unfairness of that. Hayley wasn’t to blame for the circumstances of her birth, and she shouldn’t be punished for them. No one should.

  But life wasn’t fair—that had been one of the earliest lessons he’d learned. It was right up there along with the lesson about not being a fool enough to care. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, don’t be. I’m used to it. I’ve understood it for years, but I have to keep trying. I keep hoping to change his feelings.”

  And so she set the pattern of her life, he thought. She wanted love from men who didn’t want to give it.

  Go. Leave now. It’s not too late… Cooper shut out the voice i
n his head and breathed in the scent of her skin.

  “It might have been different if I’d been more like Adam,” she said. “He always made Dad proud of him. I never could. I was always in Adam’s shadow.”

  “You’re not now. Adam’s gone.”

  She met his gaze. “You’re wrong about that, too. Adam’s always going to be there.”

  “Maybe with your father but not between us.”

  “Cooper—”

  “When I look at you, I see only you, Hayley.”

  “How can you? Adam put you in prison.”

  “That was him.” Cooper stepped in front of her and took her face in his hands. “I see you.”

  She was silent for a while. “Cooper, I want to apologize.”

  “For what?”

  “For the remark I made last week about your motives. I know you didn’t want to sleep with me to get back at Adam. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  He brushed his thumb over her cheek, then touched it to her lower lip. “We already got that straight, Hayley.”

  “Yes, but it was hurtful and you didn’t deserve it.”

  “Fine. Give me a kiss and we’ll call it even.”

  Her lip trembled. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Sometimes you think too much. It makes things complicated.”

  “But things are complicated.”

  He stepped closer. The breeze fluttered the hem of her dress against his legs. He slid his hands to her shoulders. “Sure, but not this part.”

  Her gaze dropped to his mouth. “We should get back to the Long Shot.”

  “Later.”

  “Cooper, I already explained why I’m not going to have a relationship with you.”

  “Who said anything about a relationship? All I’m going to do is kiss you.”

  “But—”

  “You don’t have to prove anything to me. You don’t need to change anything. Just enjoy.”

  Her breath hitched. She put her hands on his chest again, but this time she didn’t shove him away. She opened her fingers. “One kiss?”

  He smiled and lowered his head. He spoke against her lips. “One at a time, anyway.”

  Hayley knew it was a mistake. A big one. But oh, his lips felt so good. So did his arms as he wrapped them around her. So did the heat of his body and the thud of the heartbeat she felt beneath her palm.

  She had tried to keep busy, to keep away from him, but he was always there in her thoughts. The loft had become more of a home to her than her apartment in Chicago had ever been. It was because of Cooper’s presence, even when he wasn’t there. It was because of all the little, day-to-day things she was learning about him, the way he held his fork, the way he hummed in the shower, how he made her pulse give a quick jump whenever she looked up to find him watching her.

  Maybe he was right. She did think too much. Because right now, all she wanted to do was feel. And enjoy. Oh, it had been a long five days.

  His kiss was rich, a blend of all the kisses they had shared before. His lips moved over hers with a sureness that silenced any more urge to protest. She could hear the trees around them rustle in the breeze, the sound of water lapping against the shore, the faint whine of a car passing along the road, but it was muffled, distant. Cooper dominated her senses, as he always did.

  She couldn’t get enough of his taste. She opened her mouth to him, inviting him to give her more. Her head spun with the sweep of his tongue. Oh, this man could kiss. His lips were supple yet firm, as if he savored the pleasure he gave her, as if nothing was more important than to explore every nuance of this place where their bodies joined.

  Hayley slid her palm over his shirt. She could feel the breadth of his chest, hear the crisp rasp of hair against the chambray and her pulse grew heavy. She closed her eyes, reveling in the feel and the sound of him. Her fingertips brushed the edge of a button. She hesitated, but the twinge of caution was brief. She indulged herself and unfastened it. She worked upward to his collar and pushed the halves of his shirt aside, then pressed her palms over his skin.

  His heat sent a tremor down her arms. His scent enveloped her. She had to break off the kiss to breathe.

  Cooper moved his mouth to her cheek, to her temple, to her ear. He pulled the hem of her dress to her waist, braced his feet apart and drew her closer. The sensation of warm denim rubbing across her bare thighs made her gasp.

  He ran his tongue around her earlobe. “Don’t stop, Hayley. This feels too good.”

  She tugged his shirt from his jeans and slipped her hands beneath it. She caressed the washboard muscles of his abdomen, following the contours with her fingertips, tracing the silky line of hair that led to his navel. The need to get closer was overwhelming. She stood on her toes to slide her arms up his back, squeezing her breasts to his chest.

  He reached down to clasp her thigh and guided her leg around his hip.

  Hayley shuddered. The strength of her response shocked her. Blood throbbed between her legs as she hooked her ankle behind him. She could feel him swell to meet her. Their bodies fit perfectly. Intimately.

  Cooper cupped her buttocks, lifted her tighter against him and turned around to lean one knee on the front bumper of the truck. Her back hit the grill. As one they brought their mouths back together.

  The kiss turned wild. Hungry. She thrilled to the edge of his teeth on her lip. She caught his tongue and sucked hard. He eased her legs wider apart and slid his hand to the inside of her thigh.

  Hayley gasped. “Cooper!”

  He moved his fingers higher in a bold, possessive stroke.

  She couldn’t catch her breath. Oh. Oh!

  In the next instant, he wrenched his mouth from hers and lifted his head. His hand stilled.

  Hayley shook in frustration. She grasped his wrist, wanting him to finish what he started.

  He muttered a short, crude oath and withdrew his hand. “I’m sorry, Hayley. Damn, I’m sorry.” He pushed her legs down, sat her against the bumper and ran to the passenger door. He threw it open and jumped onto the running board to dig through the glove compartment. “Stay down until I see who it is.”

  Hayley clutched the hood of the truck to steady herself and struggled to draw in air. Her entire body was vibrating with need. Her heart was pounding so hard, it took her a few seconds before she recognized the noise of the approaching engine.

  Cooper leapt back to the ground from the truck, a pistol in his hand.

  At the sight of the gun, the sensual fog that had enveloped her scattered. Her pulse accelerated and her brain finally clicked into gear. She whipped her gaze to the lane at the edge of the clearing.

  Someone had followed them. It could be one of Sproule’s men. That was why Cooper had started to carry a gun. That was why he had come with her in the first place, to make sure Sproule didn’t try to hurt her again. But she hadn’t given a thought to the danger of being in this isolated place. How could she have forgotten?

  She tugged her skirt down to cover her thighs, her hands trembling. How? Because Cooper had touched her, that’s how. He had that effect. He shut down her brain.

  Cooper sprinted toward a tree to the right of the lane. His shirt flapped loosely behind him, baring his chest, but he didn’t take time to refasten his buttons. Using the trunk of the tree for cover, he levelled the weapon at the point where a vehicle would emerge.

  Hayley thought fleetingly of her father’s old Winchester that was still locked in the Long Shot’s storeroom. She looked around quickly, picked up a fist-sized rock and took cover behind the truck. She realized it wouldn’t be much use, yet it was better than nothing.

  The noise of the engine increased slowly, like the low rumble of approaching thunder. Chrome glinted through the brush. A few seconds later, a large motorcycle nosed into the clearing. The rider’s face was hidden behind the tinted visor of his helmet, but Cooper appeared to decide the man wasn’t a threat. He lowered his gun to his side and walked forward to meet him.

  “Dam
mit,” Cooper said. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  The man astride the bike shut off the engine and flipped down the kickstand, then took off his helmet and dismounted. “Looking for you. I thought I saw your pickup turn down to the lake. When you didn’t come out, I figured you might have run into trouble.” He glanced at Cooper’s open shirt and moved his gaze directly to Hayley. He raised one eyebrow. “Did I interrupt something?”

  There were too many emotions to process in too short a time. The fear that had gripped her at the sight of Cooper’s gun flipped into a sudden urge to laugh. She realized it wouldn’t have been difficult to figure out what she and Cooper had been doing—not only were their clothes a mess, she could feel how swollen her lips were and she knew her face was probably still flushed.

  But being embarrassed was the least of her concerns. What if it hadn’t been someone Cooper knew? This wasn’t funny. It was dead serious. She dropped the rock on the ground and finished straightening her dress.

  “Your timing stinks,” Cooper muttered, tucking the gun into the waistband at the back of his jeans. He looked at Hayley and held out his hand.

  She studied the new arrival as she walked forward to join them. He was dressed in black from his heavy boots and denim jeans to the leather jacket that stretched across his wide shoulders. He was as tall as Cooper, and his hair was the same raven-black, but there the similarity ended.

  This man’s gaze was rich amber. His eyes were deeply set in a face with chiseled cheekbones and a strong jaw. His hair was poker-straight, smoothed back from a broad forehead and trimmed neatly above his ears. He had the same aura of contained toughness that characterized the other men Cooper had brought in to help at the Long Shot, yet there was a restless intelligence to his gaze that set him apart. He wouldn’t be a man who would be comfortable working for someone else.

  Cooper slipped his arm around her shoulders and drew her to his side. “This is Nathan Beliveau,” he said. “He’s from Payback.”

  Hayley’s stomach did a swooping dive. Payback? She looked at Cooper. “You said Tony would give you more time to pay your debt.”