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Sensing sheto him, Cooper cursed himself and reached out to touch her arh I do appreciate it”
When she lifted her gaze to his, he frowned So warht so”
Shit
He’d fucked up He must have sounded too harsh “Doc, you obviously feel compassion for the woman”
“You disagree with h”
“Yeah, but corinned
Flirting with her didn’t work She gave hio”
Annoyed by her retreat but deter asshole, Cooper touched her arrab some dinner with me”
Jessica gave him a pinched smile as she moved away from his touch As she pulled open his office door she said, “I can’t I have other plans”
Before he could say anything to change her one
And Cooper was confused as hell
If Jessica Huntington hadn’t known Sarah Randall, why did she feel strongly enough to be pissed off at him for notwhat exactly? He knew her crime wasn’t completely black-and-white, but still
Yesterday Jess was interested in him He could tell She’d felt the connection that pulled at him
Now she was retreating over a few letters written by a woman she didn’t even know
What the hell was that all about?
EIGHT
Jessica
The sun spilled out over the water and the sand, transforray to a vibrant scene It also brought out dog walkers and sunbathers High season hadn’t quite hit, but tourists were starting to appear
I sat on the balcony outsideout over the ocean The sea breeze h my hair and I reveled in the peace
SeriouslyI’d had no idea howa sense of serenity in my life I’d never have absolute peace, yet I was soothed by the knowledge that few people ever would But back in Wil like these quiet moments, these little ocean drops of contentment I honestly hadn’t even known it was a possibility forit for fear I’d find so more ominous in the quiet
After Cooper’s disappointing reaction to the revelations fro the peace more than ever His lack of compassion had cast a pall over my attachment to the boardwalk town and I wanted to be like the sun and blast the grayness out
It was difficult and I couldn’t work out why Why was I so disappointed and affected by his grim dismissal of Sarah’s complicated situation? I barely knew the man!
My phone rang, pulling me from my frustration It was Fatima
“Hey Aren’t you supposed to be working?” I said in greeting as I wandered back intothe balcony doors behind me
“Aren’t you supposed to be on vacation? You sound depressed What’s up with that?”
I made a face I even sounded depressed? Well, that was just wrong “I’m fine,” I chirped
“That was so fake my teeth hurt”
“Your teeth hurt?”
“Yeah Like too ”
“Okay, strange lady, what can I do for you?”
“I was just checking in to see how the vacation was going, but I can tell it’s going well Not”
Sighing, I flopped down on the bed “It was going well I really like it here It’s peaceful Pretty The people are nice”
“So what happened?”
With another heavy sigh I foundher about Cooper and his reaction to the letters
Fatiive a shit Does that mean you let that ruin your whole vacation? Re around and enjoy the fact that you’re not working in a place with too many bitches”
“You know I hate that word” I scowled
“I know,” she said, amusement in her voice “That’s why I said it”
“Despite using that derogatory term,” I said, all uppity because I really did hate that word, “you’re right I’ off the phone with you so I can get dressed for the day”
“Nice talking to you, too,” she said with no small amount of snark
I grinned “Are you and Derek well?”
“Yeah, Jess, we’re well Now go vacate? No, that isn’t right”
I chuckled “We’ll talk later ’Bye”
Once we’d ended the call, I threw ht! I was on holiday I needed to reet about Cooper, and enjoy the break away from the real world
Bailey was nowhere to be seen at breakfast and a waitress named Natasha told lad my new friend had decided to take a day off after all
I was going to spend the day walking around Hartwell and getting to know it better Strolling out of the inn, I slipped on entle heat onthe bottoh the front gate towardto him, Cooper cursed himself and reached out to touch her arh I do appreciate it”