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She blushed, her gaze dropping “That’s just your diplo you’re not interested”

“Hey” He tipped her chin gently to raise her eyes back to his “Ayd, you’re gorgeous and you’re sweet, but you know I’ up”

This tiet that”

“Good So we’re okay?” He grinned

She rolled her eyes “When you smile like that you know it’s hard for any woman to be mad at you”

He winked at her and heard her laughing as she followed him to the truck

Relief h him

“How’s Angela doing?” he asked as they rode back into town

“Oh, she’s doing great She got a su out a lot She’s a good girl”

“She is that” Cooper sreat job there, Ayd”

She gave him a tired smile “I do what I can”

“Which is a lot more than some” He pulled up to a stop at her shborhood in Hartwell She’d ela there nine months back They used to live four houses down from Cooper, but when her asshole of an ex left them, he left them without the means to pay rent on the nicer house

“Thanks for saying so, Coop” She opened the door “And thanks again for the car”

“No problem I’ll call you when it’s fixed”

She threw him a wave over her shoulder and Cooper pulled away from the house

“Call Cat,” he said to his truck’s computer system

His sister picked up on the third ring “What’s up?”

“Did you know Aydan was going to make a play for me?”

His sister groaned down the line “Oh, please tell me she didn’t”

“I wish I could”

“Well, don’t feel special She has a list of suitable guys and you’re actually last on the list She probably just went for it because the opportunity arose”

Cooper grinned “You always kno to ood about myself”

“Like you need o”

He ignored that and asked after his nephew “Joey okay?”

“At school It’s his last week, so you know he’s more than okay He’s hyper”

“I’ll swing by to see you tomorrow”

“Great And I’ll talk to Aydan if you want”

“It’s okay I already did”

“You weren’t mean to her, were you?”

That didn’t even deserve a response

“Right,” she said “Stupid question”

“I’ up to the house Talk to you later”

“Later”

Ex-wives were hell

Or at least in Cooper’s experience they were hell

For instance, he was supposed to be free and clear of his That hat the divorce was all about, right? So why the fuck had he stepped out of his house, set for getting to his bar, to find Dana Kellerainst the passenger side of his truck?

Unfortunately for him, this wasn’t his first encounter with his ex since they’d divorced For a while he had been free and clear of the traitorous she-demon Until a feeeks back, when, out of the blue, Dana was suddenly in his face again, wanting to talk and angling for reconciliation

She was out of her fucking mind, that was all Cooper could say

Sighing at the annoyance, he strode down his porch steps to his drive, coot in his truck He could feel her eyes burning on his face Once upon a ti Now he looked at her and he couldn’t remember what the hell he’d seen in her

Cooper guessed that was only natural since Dana had fucked his best friend behind his back

He pulled out of the drive, ignoring her thuetting angry at her calls, at her turning up at the house and his bar, he realized all he was doing was giving her a reaction She was obviously taking that e for her

Noas out to get the ive a shit about her Maybe then she’d get out of his face and leave him in peace

Irritation bubbled in his blood, but Cooper atte out, to turn his mind away from his ex The woman had monopolized too much of his life as it was

By the tiot to his bar on the boardwalk he felt a little better It was hard not to feel good as he walked the boards, knowing that he had a business there, in the one place in the world he wanted to be The salt air, the clean light spray of the water, the ers, surf, and coffee—all of it was so fae that it smelled like home

Cooper had barely let himself into the bar when there was a knock on the front door The bar wasn’t open yet It didn’t open until noon, when he served lunch five days a week His cook, Crosby, wouldn’t show for another hour to set up

Even so, Cooper kneas at his door

He let Vaughn Tremaine inside and locked up behind him

Without even asking what he wanted, he poured Vaughn his favorite scotch and slid it across the bar to hi “That’s just your diplo you’re not interested”