5. Skye

5

SKYE

Sleepless nights had become the norm.

After what Simon and Maria had done to me, I didn't seem to stand a chance.

Initially, I hadn't even realized that the restlessness was the result of my mind not being able to let go of what they'd done.

I'd learned the truth about Simon's infidelity and his and Maria's betrayal back at the beginning of February. In northeastern Pennsylvania, that meant it was still bitterly cold outside. So, when I woke up shivering that first night after I'd received his email, I had assumed it was because of the chilly temperatures, even though the heat was on in my house.

I hadn't been able to fall back asleep that night, and I'd believed it was merely because I was cold and couldn't find a comfortable spot again.

But when it continued to happen night after night, even as we entered the spring months, I realized it had nothing to do with the weather.

It was me, lonely and reliving the previous two years of my life over and over in my head. It was me trying to figure out what I had missed and the things I could have done differently.

Months and months had passed, and I'd done nothing but unintentionally torment myself each and every night. It had gotten marginally better as time went on, and I started getting a bit more sleep on occasion, but those nights were few and far between.

Last night was different.

In fact, several nights over the last week had been different.

It wasn't because I'd suddenly managed to get eight or more hours of uninterrupted sleep—I wasn't sure that would ever happen again. Rather, it was because I wasn't thinking about Simon, Maria, or any of the things I had overlooked in my relationships with either one of them.

Instead, my thoughts were completely and totally on one person and one thing—Cooper Westwood and our upcoming date.

Just as he'd promised before he left The Next Chapter the day he finished fixing the door, Cooper had called me that evening to work out the details of a date before the charity event.

I still recalled what it was like to get that call from him. His name had popped up on the display, since I'd saved his number in there after he'd given it to me the day the wood from his truck had flown through my window. Seeing his name there, I felt a shiver run down my spine.

I knew it wasn't good to have those feelings, but there didn't seem to be anything I could do to stop them.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, Skye."

"Hi, Cooper."

I could hear the satisfaction in his tone when he returned, "You recognize my voice. I'm a bit flattered."

Cooper had been nothing but kind to me, so doing anything to diminish his good mood didn't feel good, but I didn't want him to get the wrong impression. "Um, well, actually, I already had you in my phone from when you gave me your number," I reminded him.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot I did that. Wishful thinking on my part, I guess," he said. "Is now a good time to talk?"

Wishful thinking?

Was that simply an off-handed comment, or had he really been hoping I hadn't stopped thinking about him since I last saw him and had been unable to forget the sound of his voice? Or did it mean something else? Was it possible his thoughts were consumed by me, and he wanted reassurances he wasn't alone?

Unfortunately, I wasn't nearly as confident as Cooper. If I had been, I might have told him the truth—that it felt like he was all I'd been thinking about for days.

"Yes, I have some time to talk now," I replied.

I didn't know if Cooper was waiting for me to say something else, but there was a beat of silence before he spoke again. "Great. So, obviously, I wanted to talk to you about getting together sometime before the charity event. I thought about it today and came up with a few ideas, but I realized I didn't know what your work schedule was like. Do you have any days off or a time that works best for you?"

As someone who hadn't really been forthcoming with anyone in months, for some strange reason, I didn't hesitate to open up to Cooper and give him more information than he'd asked for. "Maria used to work at the store with Joan and me, but after I learned the truth in February, she's obviously no longer employed there. Since then, it's just been the two of us trying to manage, and it hasn't been easy. But I'm happy to report I've got a new girl starting on Monday, which will help ease the load and free up a couple of evenings a week for me. Since I want to make sure she knows everything that needs to be done throughout the day, I'll be there until closing every day earlier in the week. I'll have shorter shifts on Thursday and Friday, though, since Joan will be staying until close with Valerie. I'll be doing the later shifts this weekend, because I'll be off early for the benefit next weekend."

"Okay, so it sounds like the best option is going to be to set something up for either Thursday or Friday next week," he declared. "What time are you off? Would I be able to pick you up for dinner?"

He wanted to pick me up. Wouldn't that be taking things a bit too far, considering this was all just a ploy?

"I'll be leaving work at three-thirty both days, so I'll be off early enough to go to dinner with you," I shared. "And I don't mean to offend you, especially given what you're doing for me, but I think I'd prefer to meet you wherever you'd like us to go for dinner."

If there had been any lingering doubt about whether Cooper felt some sort of attraction to me and wanted this to turn into something else, that uncertainty would have vanished when he spoke. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense, all things considered. If you'd feel more comfortable doing that, I'm okay with it. Could you make it to Savor by six-thirty on Thursday?"

Savor.

That didn't seem like the place two people who weren't dating or celebrating some special occasion in their lives would go. It certainly wasn't a place two people who barely knew one another and only planned to get together for the sake of getting to know each other only to prove a point to one person's ex and former best friend would go.

Then again, I had to take a moment to consider precisely who I was going to be going to dinner with. This was Cooper Westwood. His family was practically royalty in Landing. Going to Savor for dinner was probably just an average day for him.

It wasn't about the cost of going to the restaurant. I had gone there on occasion before, but there was always a special reason for it.

Unfortunately, since I didn't want to look like a fool for making assumptions about what Cooper's intentions were, I decided to ignore the thoughts I had about the spot he chose for dinner and confirmed, "I should easily be able to meet you there at six-thirty."

"That's good. Since it's already late, I won't keep you. I'll touch base again before Thursday, though," he informed me.

With that, we'd said goodbye and disconnected our call.

And later that night, by the time I'd crawled into my bed, I found myself struggling to fall asleep, because I couldn't stop thinking about the conversations Cooper and I had both in my store and over the phone. More specifically, I couldn't get the sound of his voice or the way he'd so effortlessly been willing—and determined—to help me out in my situation.

Saturday's interactions with Cooper were enough to keep me slightly distracted over the days that followed, but I wound up getting much more than a single day of encounters with him to keep my mind occupied.

Ever since he ended that call with me on Saturday evening, he didn't hold himself back from making contact with me. He reached out via text messages throughout the week, which both helped and exacerbated my nerves.

The first text I received from him came on Sunday evening.

COOPER

How's the door holding up? Any problems?

Initially, I had to force myself to ignore the flutter in my belly at the sight of his text. It took substantial effort not to think too much about the fact I was hearing from him after he'd already completed the job. Cooper struck me as the kind of guy who took pride in his work, so it was only natural for him to want to reach out to make sure I wasn't experiencing any issues with it.

Before I sent off a response, I read it to myself three times, just to make sure I didn't sound anything but casual.

It's great. I haven't had any complications with it.

COOPER

Excellent. So, it's keeping out unwanted guests then, right?

I stared at that question, unsure what he was getting at, and when it didn't click for me immediately, I had no choice but to seek an explanation.

Pardon?

COOPER

I was mostly just teasing you, referring to your ex and former best friend. I wanted to make sure you didn't have to deal with anything like you had yesterday.

For some strange reason, I couldn't seem to wrap my head around the fact that Cooper could have been thinking about me after he'd left my bookstore. Granted, he had just been there the day before, but I guess I thought he would have forgotten about me once he left. Or, at least, he wouldn't have given me a second thought until he had to get himself ready for the date on Thursday.

Believing it was still wise to appear unaffected by it all, I thought it was best to match his energy.

The new entrance is keeping out all the trash!

COOPER

I'm glad to hear it.

Cooper didn't push for additional conversation beyond that, and I really wasn't quite sure what else to say. So, I put my phone away and expected I wouldn't be hearing from him until he reached out the day before our date.

I was wrong.

Because on Monday evening, after I'd gotten home from work, I received another text from Cooper.

COOPER

How was work today?

It was such a simple question that shouldn't have caused the reaction that it did. But why was he asking me about work? Asking about the door and whether I'd had problems with it made sense. If we were officially dating, a question about my work day would make sense. In this scenario, it made zero sense, especially because I'd revealed I wasn't interested in a relationship. Cooper had nothing to gain by asking me about my day at work.

But since he was being nice, and I believed he had a clear understanding about where I stood, I didn't stop myself from sending him a response.

It was okay. Steady, but not too busy.

COOPER

That's good. Did everything go okay with your new employee?

He remembered.

Now, two days after I'd shared the information with him only once, Cooper… cared? He cared enough to ask about my new employee. Why was he doing this?

If nothing else, I was merely grateful I didn't have to speak to answer him, because I was convinced my voice would reveal precisely how much it moved me that he cared enough to ask when there was nothing in it for him.

It did. She still has some things to learn, but she's enthusiastic about it.

COOPER

People can be taught what to do. It's the will to work or learn that you can't teach.

Agreed.

When he didn't respond, I took a moment to think about how he'd taken the time to reach out to me three separate times now. The least I could do was return the courtesy to him and ask a question.

So, even though I don't know exactly what you do, would you say you had a good day at work, too?

COOPER

I'll be happy to share more information about it on Thursday at dinner. For now, I'll say that it wasn't steady for me. It was hectic. It is often hectic and very busy.

I should have let it go there.

I didn't.

Would I be right to assume you work at Westwood's?

COOPER

Yep.

Every response Cooper gave came in with almost no delay. Clearly, he was attentive and liked to put his focus on whatever it was he was doing. For now, that meant talking to me. I couldn't know for sure if that was how he was in every other area of his life, but if he was, I thought it was a wonderful trait to have, especially in a world where people could get distracted so easily.

And it was that thought which pushed me to send him one more text.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about it when I see you later this week.

COOPER

And I'm looking forward to just seeing you.

There it was again.

Cooper seemed to have no problem saying things to me that made me believe there was something else happening beneath the surface for him. He'd come right out and stated he was merely attempting to help me in my situation with Simon and Maria and make it so I didn't need to lose one more thing by not being able to attend the charity benefit alone when they'd both undoubtedly be there. But his actions now, along with some of the things he said to me, made me believe there was something more there for him. I was much too scared to ask him what it was.

And for the next several days, that was all I could seem to think about whenever I had moments of downtime. If I wasn't busy helping a customer, training my new employee, or handling some other work-related tasks, my thoughts seemed to be constantly focused on Cooper.

There was both good and bad in what I was experiencing.

Because on the one hand, the conversations we'd had on Saturday when he was in my store and during every moment after that had me growing just a bit more comfortable with him. I had a feeling that these interactions would help me feel more at ease when we were finally face-to-face again at the restaurant later in the week.

Of course, hearing from him had led to me thinking more and more about him and less and less about Simon, Maria, and how badly they'd hurt me.

On the other hand, the constant communication from Cooper wasn't exactly ideal. Because even if I appreciated how he'd inadvertently taken away all of the focus that had been on people who didn't need to be taking up space in my thoughts, I wound up thinking about him.

I thought about how handsome he was. I thought about his hardworking nature, the way he stepped into the conversation with Maria for me, and the fact that he listened to things I said.

Mostly, I found myself unable to think about much beyond how much anticipation and, dare I admit it, excitement I felt about seeing him again.

Now, the day had arrived.

I hadn't gotten much sleep last night, but I didn't feel the exhaustion I would have normally felt after a full day at work.

I'd come home this afternoon and attempted to calm my nerves a bit by doing things to prepare for dinner with him. I made myself a small snack in hopes it would not only tide me over, but also settle my stomach. Afterward, I picked out a dress to wear, since that was going to be unavoidable given where we were having dinner, and I took a nice long bath.

Then I took my time doing my hair and makeup before slipping into my dress and shoes. And before I knew it, I was heading out the door to meet Cooper at Savor.

If I'd had any success in alleviating any of the nerves while I was at home, they returned with a vengeance as soon as I was in my car. And the closer and closer I got to the restaurant, the worse they became. It was a wonder how I'd made it there without throwing up all over myself.

But by some miracle, I'd succeeded.

And the moment I pulled into the lot and parked, I didn't have to wonder about how I'd find Cooper.

Evidently, he'd arrived before I did, spotted me when I pulled into the parking lot, and was already making his way in my direction, looking impossibly handsome.

Before I could even come to grips with the way he looked, he was at my door and opening it for me.

I swallowed hard as he reached his hand out to me. I placed my hand in his, stepped out, and stared up at him.

"Hello, Skye," he said with a smile on his face.

I returned the smile, feeling my insides trembling uncontrollably. "Hi, Cooper."

"Not that I didn't think the same when I saw you before, but you look incredible tonight," he shared.

I licked my lips, swallowed hard again, and rasped, "Thank you."

The last thing I wanted to do was accept that compliment from him, but I wasn't a mean person. There wasn't a chance I'd be able to bring myself to tell him I didn't want him to say something nice to me.

"Are you ready to eat?" he asked.

I gave him a nod. "Starved."

Cooper chuckled, a sound that only made him more attractive, and jerked his head toward the restaurant. Then he placed his hand at the small of my back and urged, "Let's go inside, then."

A shiver ran down my spine at the intimate touch from Cooper, but I quickly fell into step beside him. And throughout the entire walk to the restaurant and ultimately our table, I wondered how I was going to manage to keep my guard up if he continued to treat me like he was.