It was the alcohol. That’s the only explanation she could come up with. The alcohol was obscuring her judgment, and she was temporarily out of her mind.

When Cooper pulled his mouth from hers, she looked up into his eyes, the usual golden brown was darker, more intense than she’d ever seen it.

“So you fell for me?” he whispered.

It took a minute for the question to register, and that’s when the starch returned to her limbs, effectively allowing her to push him away from her. There wasn’t much space in the shower, but at least she managed to gain a few inches of distance between them. Not that it mattered, she still felt the heat of his body emanating from him.

“I did not!” she snarled.

“That’s not what I heard.”

“Well, you’re delusional, cowboy.” Tessa tried to turn away from him, but his hard hands brought her up short.

“Listen to me, Tessa,” Cooper stated firmly, his grip firm on her upper arms, forcing her to stand facing him. “We’re going to take a shower, as innocent as you’d like it to be. And then we’re going to go into your kitchen, have coffee and breakfast, and I’m going to explain some things to you.

“No, wait, I’m not finished,” Cooper growled when she was about to interrupt. “After I explain everything to you, then I’ll let you make the decision. If, at that point, you want me to leave, I will. Not willingly, but I’ll go.”

Tessa felt the tears sting her eyes. Or maybe it was the shower water. No, damn it. Definitely tears. She remembered everything Marcus had told her and the idea of Cooper using her temporarily was enough to make her heart hurt. Again.

“Understand?” he asked, and Tessa forced herself to nod. “Good, now come here.”

Tessa allowed him to pull her closer as he removed her t-shirt and bra, then her panties. She felt numb, almost like she was outside of the shower looking in at the two people there. Not bothering to move when he managed to force his jeans down his legs, Tessa held her breath when he stood back up.

Damn him for being so fucking gorgeous. She didn’t want him to be. She didn’t want him to be anything. She wanted to hate him and send him on his way, but she couldn’t. Her brain had misfired somewhere along the way, and it wasn’t listening to reason.

Now that he was standing naked in front of her, she really, really needed it to listen to reason.

Shit.

Why did that damned persistent trouble always insist on following her?

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Getting Tessa naked in the shower might’ve been a lousy idea.

Especially considering Cooper genuinely wanted the opportunity to talk to her. Right now, he was having a hard time keeping his hands off of her. The water was sluicing over her golden skin, and he was so captivated by the sight, he couldn’t focus on anything else. Including the raging hard on he knew was on prominent display now that he was just as naked as she was.

Blindly grabbing the shampoo bottle off of the shelf, Cooper kept his eyes trained on her breasts as the water cascaded over the pebbled tips. He wanted to put his lips there, to taste her, to feel her body writhe beneath the onslaught of his mouth. Filling his palm with soap, he moved forward, fully intending to wash her hair for her, but she quickly put her hand up and took a step back.

“Hold up, cowboy. You can’t put that in my hair,” she warned, a sudden gleam in her pale green eyes. Glancing over at the bottle he’d picked up, he noticed he’d grabbed the dog shampoo.

“Why the hell do you keep that in your shower?” he asked with a deep laugh as he let the water rinse the soap away.

She didn’t answer him, but she did offer up the shampoo bottle, so he took it from her and tried one more time. This time he filled his palm and then turned her to face away from him. It was probably the only way he’d be able to focus. Looking down, he admired the perfect shape of her ass and knew he was mistaken. He couldn’t suppress the growl that escaped, but he did his best to ignore his own needs.

Pulling her back against him, Cooper slid his hands into her hair, lathering up the soap as he massaged her scalp. He took his time, letting the sweet smell of strawberries fill the shower. He’d probably never look at strawberries the same again.

“I think my hair is clean now,” she mumbled, her voice wavering.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” he answered, ignoring the demands of his body. He wanted to bend her over and slowly slide inside of her, let the warmth of her pussy grip him as he thrust deep and hard.

But there were two reasons he couldn’t. One: he didn’t have a condom. Two: he’d surely seal his fate and be forced to leave without having a chance to explain anything to this woman. And as much as he wanted to feel her sweet body sheathing his aching cock, he wanted to be able to look forward to it in the future as well.

He had to take things slow with her. At least right now.

Retrieving the shower sprayer from the wall again, he rinsed her hair, letting the soap run down the front of his body, the water teasing his cock, making him painfully aware of how much he was denying himself.

He observed the other bottles on the shelf and grabbed the conditioner, effectively lathering her hair once more before he picked up the body wash and the puffy thing hanging from a hook. He probably used more soap than he should have, but his brain was intensely focused on how he was going to accomplish this task without coming.

“I can do that,” Tessa whispered as he began running the sponge over her breasts, keeping her back against his chest.

“Not this time,” he said, his voice sounding strangled.

As if washing her body wasn’t difficult enough, Tessa moaned as the sponge slid over her nipples and then louder when he reached the juncture between her legs.

Pressing his mouth to her ear, he said, “You keep doing that, and I can’t promise you I’ll control myself. This is hard enough for me as it is.”

Tessa nodded her head, but Cooper had no idea what that meant, so he bit the inside of his cheek and slid down to his haunches, her gorgeous ass directly in front of him.

He managed to wash her legs, between them, and then made his way back up, returning to a standing position. He let the water rinse the sponge, but before he could use the sprayer to rinse her off, Tessa turned on him, grabbing it from his hand.

“I can only take so much,” she warned, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at him.