The Perfect Homecoming (Pine River) Read Online Free Page A

she accused Cooper, playfully shoving his shoulder. “No way that happened.”
    “It happened,” Cooper assured her. “It will go down as one of the most bizarre weekends of TA’s corporate life.”
    “Honestly, it amazes me that no one has been hurt in all the things I’ve heard TA does,” Emma said. “How do you keep from getting hurt?”
    “Oh, I’ve been hurt,” he said with a laugh. “I guess I’ve got a secret weapon.”
    “What’s that?”
    Cooper dug into his pants pocket, then held out his hand and opened his palm.
    Emma leaned over to look at it.
    “Go ahead, pick it up.”
    Emma took it from his palm and examined it. It was a charm of some sort, silver and small, about the size of a nickel. The charm was scarred, the engraved image worn. “St. Christopher?” she asked, squinting at it.
    “Yep. My grandfather gave it to me when I was a kid. My brother had gotten into some trouble. . .”Cooper waved his hand. “My brother was always in trouble. We were little demons, always blowing things up, always rigging our rockets onto our bikes, that sort of thing. My grandfather was the superstitious type. He gave my brother and me each a St. Christopher medal and made us promise to carry it always so we’d be protected from harm.”
    “And you’ve carried it all this time?” she asked skeptically.
    “I sure have. I know, surprising, isn’t it? Can’t believe I haven’t lost it.”
    “So that’s the secret to not dying on a TA outing,” she said dubiously as she handed it back to him.
    He laughed. “I don’t really believe this medal protects me. But I like the sentiment behind it, and I’m not opposed to putting a little trust into the power of positive thinking.” He returned the charm to his pocket and looked at her. “What’s your secret?”
    The question startled Emma, and for a moment, she feared that Cooper knew about her reputation, knew what she did.
    “Your secret weapon for parties like this,” he clarified.
    But it was too late—Emma’s confidence had been shaken. “Oh,” she said, and laughed nervously as she slid off the table. “I always wear pointy-toed shoes in case I need to kick some ass.”
    Emma stuffed her feet back into her shoes. She turned around. Cooper was standing, too; she hadn’t realized how close she was to him. But there she was, only inches from him, so close she had to tilt her head back a little to see his face. His smile drew her in like a siren call. She could see the dark gray circle around his irises. She imagined she could feel his energy, all male, potent and strong. Good God, she wanted to touch him.
    Don’t touch him! “Isn’t someone waiting for you?” she asked.
    “No.” His gaze slid to her mouth. “Is someone waiting for you?”
    “No one that matters,” she answered honestly to his mouth.
    Cooper’s smile softened. He made no move to touch her, but his gaze lazily wandered over her hair, her face, her body. “We should get out of this room. Why don’t we go grab a drink and listen to the drunks sing a few tunes?”
    “A drink,” she repeated softly.
    “Or two,” he said, “depending on how bad the karaoke is.”
    The low spark in his eyes was distracting. It was sexy. It was trouble. “I’m not very good in big groups. I mean, as a participant.”
    “Sounds like my brother. No one would believe he’s an introvert, either, but he is.”
    What did he mean by that? He thought she was an introvert? No, Cooper, it’s far more screwed up than that.
    “You can take a break, can’t you?” Cooper asked. “Reggie has taken a very keen interest in the karaoke machine. This is your opportunity to butter him up, and we both know you should never pass up an opportunity to butter up Reggie,” he said with a bit of a smile.
    The rush of guilt and disgust Emma felt was because she’d already buttered up Reggie. She drew the corner of her bottom lip in between her teeth and looked at his very sensual mouth. She would like