182
" Well, while I’m not too thrilled about your attachment to Number One, speaking as Number Two, I will say I’m happy to hear we’re in the negotiation phase.”
“Husband Number One is a lot younger,” she said consideringly. “And while he doesn’t have as many head of cattle as you do, he does come with an entire village, and if something happens to his other six brothers, he’ll be chief one day.” She smiled sweetly. “Just saying.”
Cooper flashed her a smile that might have been a little too private with her sister standing right there, but what the hell. “Keep in mind, Number Twos traditionally try harder. So I have that going for me.”
Hannah looked from Cooper to Kerry, then at both of them, before finally looking at Kerry. “Seriously, marry him before he wises up. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
183
" So how about we stop putting on a show for everyone out here and go find ourselves a floating playpen?”
He grinned. “Well, when you put it like that…” He leaned down, kissed her soundly, and tried not to let his thoughts stray to what came next. He’d exhausted himself with that the past three days and was thankful they were back to doing, not thinking.
“I’d tell you to get a room, but I happen to know you already have one.”
The sudden intrusion of a deep voice with an entirely different accent made Kerry jump, and it was only because Cooper already had his arms around her that he was able to pull her back before they both went in the drink.
“Sorry,” Brodie said with a grin as he covered the last ten yards at the end of the pier, a small mutt racing down the docks behind him. “Didn’t mean to startle.”
“So, an Irishman and an Aussie walk into a bar,” Kerry said, recovering quickly and teasing Grace’s husband as he stopped a few feet away. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
184
" He knew Kerry well enough to know that had he turned right back around, apologized, asked her to forgive the knee-jerk reaction, she very likely would have, chalking it up to the stress of the moment. But he hadn’t done that. And now the deed had been done, and Kerry had made it clear she respected his choice with her silence. So, hard as ti was, maybe it was for the best, and he should respect her choice, too.
But she hadn’t been silent with Sadie. He knew the two were talking, though Sadie wasn’t more forthcoming than that about the nature or content of their e-mail and messaging conversations, other than to make it clear she thought all three men in her family were idiots.
And she likely had a point. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
185
" She had no idea where Fergus had suddenly gotten to and was surprised he hadn’t tried to orchestrate something, anything, between Kerry and Cooper. Hopefully with her little demonstration just now, he’d never have the chance.
No sooner had the thought passed through her mind than Fergus was there at her elbow. “I’ve got this,” he said, uncharacteristically low key as he edged her out of the way.
“Gus--”
He nudged her again with a bit more force than was necessary, then wedged his cane in between them to emphasize the point. “I’ll pour and pass. You go talk to your young man.”
“He’s not my--”
Fergus turned his bright blue eyes on her. “I know who he is.” His voice might brook no argument, but there was a world more feeling in his gaze than in his quietly spoken words. “So get on out while the getting’s good. We’re not too far from closing. I’ll get Sandy to help shut the place down. You’re officially off duty until tomorrow.”
“But--”
Now his gaze did turn steely, reminding her where she got the look from. “I believe I still own and run this place. So when I say you’re off until tomorrow, you’re off until tomorrow.”
Kerry swallowed hard and was as shocked as anyone to feel the tiniest prickles behind her eyes. No matter what her latest exploit, he’d never, not once, looked at her with even a hint of disappointment. Until now. “Yes, sir.”
His gaze softened, even if the set of his face did not. He leaned in and bussed her on the cheek, then whispered in her ear, “And I’m taking this round out of your pay, Sprite. Giving away my ale,” he added in a grumble.
The grumble made her smile, and she gave him a quick, one-armed squeeze around his shoulders and a kiss on the side of his forehead, taking care not to put him off balance on his bad side. “I had to do something to throw them off the scent.”
“I believe the something that is still on your scent is waiting for you by the door,” he said, then turned back to help Sandy, who manned the griddle in the kitchen on busy nights, fill and slide mugs down the bar.
Kerry glanced up and over the heads of the folks crowding the bar to the tall man who, indeed, was standing by the door, his old Akubra in hand. Her gaze shifted from the ever-present drover’s hat he always wore for work to the penetrating and unwavering look in his beautiful eyes. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
188
" She gave Cooper a quick nod, indicating she was going out the back, and didn’t wait around to see if he understood her meaning. She pushed through the swinging doors to the small kitchen in the back, snagged the keys to her truck from the hook, and replaced them with her apron. She gave a quick glance to the grill, making sure Sandy hadn’t left anything to burn on it when he’d been pulled out front, but everything looked in order. Stop stalling.
She sighed, shook her head, but the rueful smile that accompanied the movement was fleeting. For what might be the first time in her life, she had absolutely no idea how she was going to handle what came next.
“Only one way to find out,” she murmured. Tightening her grip on her keys, if not her emotions, she let herself out the back door of the pub and found herself staring straight up into the crystalline blue eyes of Cooper Jax. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
189
" She was every bit of everything he remembered about her, all at once and all at the same time. That was Kerry McCrae in a nutshell, he thought. All at once, full on, 100 percent real. No bullshit.
She froze on seeing him, and while the wariness in her beautiful green eyes wasn’t a surprise, the vulnerability sure was. “Starfish--”
“Don’t call me that,” she said, then immediately, and less stridently, added, “Not here.” She ducked around him before he could react and was down the set of wooden steps leading off the narrow cement loading dock that ran along the back of the pub, heading across the gravel lot.
He started after her. He might not have handled any of this even close to how he’d planned, but he wasn’t flying all the way back home without at least a conversation. A private conversation. You might have wanted to lead with that, you yobbo. “Kerry, wait.”
“Not here,” she repeated, then opened the driver’s side door to a beat-up old navy blue truck that looked like it was more rust than actual metal. “Get in.”
“I’ve got a rental. I’ll be happy to--”
She swung her laser green gaze to his. “Get in.” She slammed the door without waiting for a reply, then slammed it a second time to get the handle to catch.
He climbed in the passenger side, not all that surprised to find the inside of the cab surprisingly clean and as well maintained as possible, given the thing had one tire, if not two, in the grave. Kerry McCrae had never fussed about how she looked or what she wore, but when it came to property or equipment, whether it be her own or simply entrusted to her care, no matter how old or worn out, she had a dab hand at keeping it clean and neat, all systems go. Her concern was never about appearance, just functionality and getting the job done.
It was sexy as hell then, and it was sexy as hell now. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
190
" A clearing of a gravelly throat pulled him from his thoughts. He turned and looked at Thomas, the boat captain, who was seventy if he was a day.
“I think that’s your party there,” the older man said, nodding toward the gravel lot at the end of the dock. If he seemed a bit uncomfortable, Cooper chalked it up to the rather taciturn older man being thrust into what, based on the bits and pieces of the conversations Cooper had overheard while eating breakfast at the café that morning, was the biggest gossip story to hit the Cove in ages. Maybe the boat captain had been secretly hoping Kerry wouldn’t show and he’d be excused from chaperoning duties.
Cooper was too relieved that Kerry had come to get distracted by what the captain was thinking or feeling. He turned around, a welcoming grin on his face, then went completely, utterly still. Even his heart seemed to have stuttered to a stop. Holy jumping mother of--what in the hell was she wearing? He’d just been hoping she’d show at all and assumed he’d have to cajole her out of being annoyed with him for his high-handedness. Again. Only she sure didn’t look annoyed.
She looked…like an edible tray of ripe, luscious fruit. With him being the only guest invited to the bountiful buffet. Sweet Jesus. How was he supposed to keep his hands to himself with her wearing nothing more than a glorified bandana?
She drew closer, and her smile turned a shade smug. She was clearly enjoying his all but cartoon character worthy, goggling reaction. And well, hell, what did she expect? He was a red-blooded male whose bed had remained strikingly empty since her departure. Since long before then, truth be told.
“Hi, Thomas,” she called to the boat captain as she closed the remaining distance between them, still smiling brightly. If she was uncomfortable in her little getup in front of the older man--a man, Cooper supposed, she had to know, given everybody knew everyone in such a small village--she didn’t show it. Instead, she said, “Did they rook you into being our captain today?”
The old man’s cheeks were beet red in a way that had nothing to do with decades of harsh weather. He nodded somewhat tensely. “Did indeed, Miss Kerry. Good to, uh, good to see ya,” he managed to choke out, trying to look anywhere but at the expanse of bare leg and curvy cleavage.
Cooper would have felt sorry for the man, but he was too busy trying to get his own voice back. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
191
" I want to know I can pick up and go if I feel the need. If I’m feeling all done with what I’m doing, I want to be able to go do something else, somewhere else, soak in new scents, new scenery, new people, new challenges.” She smiled. She realized something else. “I miss the restlessness. The pull to head somewhere new, find something I’ve never seen, learn something I didn’t know.”
“It’s comfortable, I would imagine,” he said. “And comforting. It’s what you know, what you understand. Makes you feel like you.”
She nodded. “That’s exactly it.” It was a little overwhelming at times, how well he seemed to understand her, to get what she meant. But in the best possible way. “There’s one more part,” she said, finding the courage, knowing she needed to tell him the rest of it. “Of the all I want to have.”
“Which is?”
She lifted her head then, propped her chin on his chest, and looked into his beautiful blue eyes. “You.”
The light that leaped into those eyes was almost startling in its fierceness. His hand stilled in her hair, his body seemed to vibrate a little, as if injected with a sudden shot of life. But he otherwise said nothing, didn’t move, didn’t roll her to her back and kiss her senseless. He just held her gaze and let her see everything her declaration made him feel.
That emboldened her to go on, to give voice to the rest of it. “I want to go back to Cameroo, see everyone again, see if it feels the same, if it still calls to me like it did before.” She clung to his gaze. “Feel what it would be like to be there and be with you. Really with you.”
She expected him to say something like he’d book her the next flight back, but instead he regarded her for a long moment, and she realized she was trembling by the time he spoke.
“That’s a lot of all,” he said.
She nodded, unable to say anything more.
Then he surprised a gasp out of her by reaching for her and pulling her up on top of him, slowing rolling to his other side and tucking her under the shelter of his body. He slid his leg between hers, leveraged his weight on one forearm, and cupped her cheek in his free hand. He stared down so intently, so deeply into her eyes, she thought she might drown in all that deep, dark, bottomless blue.
“Cooper,” she whispered, for once not having any idea what he was thinking.
“Maybe there is a way to have it all,” he said, lowering his head to hers. “If you want me, Starfish, we’ll find that way.”
“I do,” she said, the sudden prickle of tears surprising her, but it was such a huge rush finally to admit it, to tell him. To tell herself. “But--”
“No buts,” he said, kissing the damp from the corner of one eye, then the other. “We’ll sort it out,” he said. “It’s what we do for the people we love. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
192
" You just spent a whole lot of money and wasted even more of your time so I could turn you down in front of an entire town’s worth of people,” she said, giving him a sideways glance as she pulled out of the rear lot and swung the truck down the narrow back road toward the harbor down below. “So, what have you got to smile about?”
He settled back in his seat and put the old felt hat he’d taken off when he’d entered the bar back on his head, and let his smile slide into the grin he realized he’d been holding back. “It’s good to see you again, Starfish.”
She scowled at that, as he’d known she would, but she didn’t call him on it. No point in it, really. As well as he knew her, she knew him equally so. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
194
" You just spent a whole lot of money and wasted even more of your time so I could turn you down in front of an entire town’s worth of people,” she said, giving him a sideways glance as she pulled out of the rear lot and swung the truck down the narrow back road toward the harbor down below. “So, what have you got to smile about?”
He settled back in his seat and put the old felt hat he’d taken off when he’d entered the bar back on his head, and let his smile slide into the grin he realized he’d been holding back. “It’s good to see you again, Starfish.”
She scowled at that, as he’d known she would, but she didn’t call him on it. No point in it, really. As well as he knew her, she knew him equally so.
“I can’t believe you did this,” she said a moment later, and he noted that along with her irritation, she was gripping the steering wheel as if her life depended on it.
That shouldn’t have reassured him, but it did. “Which part?” he asked with a chuckle.
She gaped at him, then turned her attention back to the road. “All of the parts. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
195
" First time on a sailboat?” she asked, as casually as if she wasn’t standing there, gripping the wheel of a sleek, forty-foot sailing vessel while looking like sex candy on a stick.
“First time on any boat,” he told her.
She turned that smile on him again, and his body leaped to attention, while his mind leaped to wondering just what it was she had in mind. Looks might be deceiving. But he was beginning to hope they weren’t.
“Looks like you’ll be getting a few firsts this afternoon, then.” With that little bombshell dropped, she calmly looked back to the water as she navigated the boat away from the pier and through the other vessels tied up along the maze of docks and piers, some of them sailboats but more of them working ones.
With nothing else to do, and fairly certain if he stared at her in that tropical print napkin any longer he’d simply lunge at her, he made his way over to the picnic basket and cooler and stowed both in one of the big storage bins Thomas had showed him earlier. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
196
" I can’t believe you did this,” she said a moment later, and he noted that along with her irritation, she was gripping the steering wheel as if her life depended on it.
That shouldn’t have reassured him, but it did. “Which part?” he asked with a chuckle.
She gaped at him, then turned her attention back to the road. “All of the parts.” She drove on for another few seconds, making the turn onto the road that led down to the harbor, then suddenly stomped on the brake, causing him to brace a quick hand on the dash. She jerked the truck to the side of the road and came to a full stop before turning to him, her expression urgent. “Did something happen? To your family? Cooper, don’t even think about not--”
“What?” he asked, honestly surprised by the sudden barrage, and more so by the clear concern in her eyes.
“Your family,” she repeated, as if he was a bit slow. And maybe he was. About a lot of things. “I was just thinking I can’t imagine them being thrilled with you taking off like this, halfway around the world no less, leaving them shorthanded and--then I thought, oh no, something must have happened, because why else would you--” She broke off, shook her head, and seemed to look sightlessly at her hands, still gripping the steering wheel.
“Because why else would I what?”
She finally looked at him, and along with that goodly dose of agitation and not a little honest confusion, he saw that sliver of vulnerability again. “Because what else would cause a man I knew to be perfectly sane and fully committed to running one of the biggest cattle stations in the Northern Territory alongside his big, loud, boisterous, and very close-knit and beloved family--to up and run halfway around the world chasing after a…after--”
“You?”
She blinked, closed her mouth, opened it again, then simply shook her head and looked away. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
197
" I was just thinking I can’t imagine them being thrilled with you taking off like this, halfway around the world no less, leaving them shorthanded and--then I thought, oh no, something must have happened, because why else would you--” She broke off, shook her head, and seemed to look sightlessly at her hands, still gripping the steering wheel.
“Because why else would I what?”
She finally looked at him, and along with that goodly dose of agitation and not a little honest confusion, he saw that sliver of vulnerability again. “Because what else would cause a man I knew to be perfectly sane and fully committed to running one of the biggest cattle stations in the Northern Territory alongside his big, loud, boisterous, and very close-knit and beloved family--to up and run halfway around the world chasing after a…after--”
“You? "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
198
" I was just thinking I can’t imagine them being thrilled with you taking off like this, halfway around the world no less, leaving them shorthanded and--then I thought, oh no, something must have happened, because why else would you--” She broke off, shook her head, and seemed to look sightlessly at her hands, still gripping the steering wheel.
“Because why else would I what?”
She finally looked at him, and along with that goodly dose of agitation and not a little honest confusion, he saw that sliver of vulnerability again. “Because what else would cause a man I knew to be perfectly sane and fully committed to running one of the biggest cattle stations in the Northern Territory alongside his big, loud, boisterous, and very close-knit and beloved family--to up and run halfway around the world chasing after a…after--”
“You?”
She blinked, closed her mouth, opened it again, then simply shook her head and looked away. A beat passed, then another. “So, they’re all okay?” she asked him anyway, back to staring at her hands. “Big Jack? Ian? Sadie?” She glanced at him. “Little Mac?”
He lifted his hand, palm out. “All safe and sound, I swear. Last I checked anyway.” His grin settled back to a quiet smile. “The only one who’s lost anything is me.”
She ducked her chin; then he saw her pull herself together. And when she raised her eyes to his once more, she was all Kerry McCrae. Bold, confident, smart, and more than a little smart-assed. Potent combination, that. Or so he’d learned.
When she’d first come to their station, hired on by his father, Big Jack, as a jackaroo--or jillaroo, as the female ranch trainees were called--Cooper had told his dad and his two siblings that the American wouldn’t last a fortnight. A wanderer who’d gone a bit troppo more than likely, traipsing around the world for kicks, thinking station life was some romantic outback romp, was about to find out she’d bitten off more than she could chew.
He bit back a grin at the memory of how she’d taken on Cameroo and every single member of the Jax family, wrapping them around her like they were a comfortable, well-worn coat. And the only chewing that had been done was by him, eating his words.
“You know, a more prudent man might have wanted to use that newfangled thing called a phone, or to shoot off an e-mail on that fancy laptop Sadie was so excited about finally getting for her schoolwork,” Kerry said, more quietly now. “Find out if the other party even remembered his name, much less if she was interested in doing anything more with him than trying to herd ten thousand head of cattle all over the godforsaken outback.”
“Twenty thousand. And you just told your entire town you loved Australia and its godforsaken outback.”
She nodded but said nothing; there was not even a hint of that earthy, easygoing smile that was usually never more than a breath away. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
199
" He’d slide his hands around her waist, cup that beautiful backside of hers, and pull her in close so he could lean down and taste each perfectly tight, plump nipple, taking his time to savor them, until her head tipped back and she offered herself up to him, pressing her hips into his, and--
“Cooper? You feeling okay?”
At Kerry’s shouted query, he blinked his eyes open and found himself staring straight up at the sky, his hands gripping the rail so tight his knuckles were likely white.
“If you’re feeling queasy--”
“No,” he said, choking back a bark of a laugh. About ready to climb out of my skin and on top of yours, maybe. “Just enjoying the moment,” he called back over the rumbling engine, speaking truthfully enough. He subtly tried to clear the gravel from his throat, looking anywhere but directly at her, and added, “I can see why you love it out here. "
― Donna Kauffman , Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3)
