11
" Laughing, I stood up and got her a Coke from the fridge.
When I handed it to her, Raven stared at my flat belly then leaned her face against it. “You’re so lucky,” she whispered. “Your mommy will make you laugh and kiss away the tears. She’ll read you books about self esteem then sing you awful songs until you sleep out of boredom. You’re going to grow up so loved and you won’t know any other way.”
When Raven looked up at me, she smiled at my tears. “I wish I had a mom like you, Lark. Everyone does. You’re going to love the shit out of this kid and you’ll make it look easy. No worries, okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered, caressing her face. “I’m so glad you came home.”
“Me too.”
The sound of dogs’ claws on the wood floors ended the quiet moment.
“Thank goodness we have company,” Raven said. “I was gonna start bawling.”
Startled by a new person in the house, Pollack descended into a barking fit while Professor played tough guy by growling. Raven barked back at Pollack who decided she couldn’t argue with crazy and ran away.
Already laughing before he turned the corner, Aaron took a minute to realize who was sitting with me.
“Raven came home,” I told him and he smiled wider. “She speaks dog too.”
“Pollack has never met a challenge she couldn’t run from,” he said then glanced down at a growling Professor. “Hush.” The dog grudgingly quieted, but kept an eye on Raven who stood up and shook Aaron’s hand.
“You planning to make an honest woman out of my sister?” she asked in a voice more suiting of a protective dad.
“Yes, sir. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Cobra (Damaged, #3)
13
" Sighing, I scooted down in the booth and pulled away my hand. “You can’t control everything. It’s like you’re a finished product and I’m a brand new idea. You’re making all the decisions about who I can be and what I can do, but I can’t make any decisions about who you are.”
“Well, for one thing, I’m not eighteen. For another, you have control over how I feel and that’s still power. Finally, maybe you grew up with a boot on the back of your neck so you need all of this independence to feel like you’ve accomplished shit, but you need to get over that. I take care of the people I love. My money can make your life easier and that makes my life easier. I’m not molding you and I don’t think you need molding anyway. The only difference between us is that I know I’m a finished product and you think you still need to change. You don’t and working this weekend so you can buy new clothes you don’t need won’t make you better. It won’t make you stronger or smarter. It’ll wear you down and give you a false sense of accomplishment. In the long run, your grades will suffer and you’ll hate your job and school and, God forbid, me.”
“I’ve dreamed of this life for a long time and I want it to be like my dream.”
“Dream bigger, baby.”
“You mean dream of you.”
“A dream with me in it, yes, but I know you want to be a teacher. I see on your face what that means to you. I’m not saying give up everything for me and be my bitch. I’m saying live your dream along with being my bitch.”
“Fuck you,” I hissed, grinning.
Cooper shared my smile. “I have to protect you. I have to feel like I’m doing right by you because my heart hurts when you aren’t happy. The last day sucked worse than any time in my life. I just couldn’t give two shits about anything because I’d lost you.”
“I don’t know. I still feel like I should work this weekend.”
Cooper sighed for nearly a minute then shook his head. “Healthy relationships are about compromise. Don’t work this weekend and go to the fair with me and I’ll buy you new clothes. See, compromise?”
“You get everything you want. How is that compromise?”
“I’m buying you new clothes that I don’t think you need,” he said, grinning. “I’m wasting money on your delusion. You’re welcome.”
Laughing, I finished my soda then stood up. “I’ll think about it.”
“And say yes when I take you home later. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
15
" Soup’s here,” Judd finally said after we watched each other for a few minutes.
As I sipped the broth, Judd pretended to ignore me. I knew he wasn’t really watching television. His face was too perfectly stoic like he was working hard to make himself seem cold.
“Do you want the rest?” I asked.
Judd frowned at me. “If I wanted soup, I’d have ordered myself some. I’m not a dog begging for scraps.”
Scowling at his ridiculous anger, I shrugged. “I don’t want to waste the rest. Can we put it in the mini fridge and I’ll eat it in the morning?”
Judd’s frown eased. “Fuck it. I’ll eat it.”
“No, it’s mine,” I said, standing up. “I offered and you got grumpy. Now, you can’t have it.”
“I’ll just eat it after you go to sleep.”
“I respect your honesty,” I said, setting the bowl into the little fridge next to the expensive treats. “It’s a rare quality in a thief.”
Judd grinned. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Knight (Damaged, #2)
17
" Noticing Cooper watching me, I paused mid-chew.
“You really are happy, aren’t you, baby?”
“Yes,” I said, stroking his shirt and feeling giddy. I’d never imagined I would share anything like this day with anyone, let alone someone as beautiful as Cooper. “Are you happy?”
“If you’re happy, I’m happy. That’s how men are. They like when their women are content.”
“Did your dad tell you that?”
“Oh, yeah. Pop hasn’t stayed married all these years by being a fool. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
