Cooper (Corps Security #4)(16)
Author: Harper Sloan

“Oh trust me, you can definitely tell. I swear, if my feet swell any more, I’ll end up barefoot before I even hit the halfway mark,” I laugh and go to take another bite of my burger when I notice that Phil’s gone oddly silent.

His eyes, which had a spark of heat behind them, are now full-out blaring.

“Are you okay?” I question.

He doesn’t say anything for the longest time. His jaw ticks a few times and his eyes just burn into mine. It isn’t until he reaches under the table with one tan forearm to obviously adjust himself that the alarm bells start going off.

And to think, it was going so well.

“Phil?”

“What? Oh, Jesus. I’m sorry. Look, I’m going to be honest with you because I feel like we should start our relationship with complete honesty.” He pauses, looks me dead in the eyes, and waits a beat. I’m still stuck back at relationship, so it takes me a second to realize that he’s still talking. “…I don’t even know when it started.”

“When what started? I’m sorry. I spaced out there for a second,” I apologize.

“I can imagine. It’s pretty hot, isn’t it?” He wiggles his eyebrows, and I notice for the first time how perfectly shaped they are.

“What is pretty hot?”

“Tell me please. What color are they?” he practically pants.

“Phil, stick with me, okay? What is hot and what color are you talking about?”

Frustration is getting the best of me, and I can feel my crazy pregnancy hormones kicking in because I’m two seconds away from throwing my burger in his face. Which would be a shame because it really is delicious.

“Your toes. God, just the thought of them swollen and ripe has my mouth watering. I bet they’re red hot and juicy, aren’t they?” He hisses out a breath, and I can see his forearm flex.

I have to fight back a gag when I picture what his hand is clearly doing under the table…at the thought of my toes?!

“I can’t wait to get those little piggies in my mouth,” he moans. “Get them all wet and let you take over from there.”

“Excuse me?” I shriek, drawing the attention of the nearby tables.

He doesn’t even seem fazed when his eyes darken even more. “Babe, let’s get the check. My ass is clenching just imagining you sticking those feet near my body.”

Holy. Shit.

There is no freaking way he is serious right now.

“It’s got you hot, doesn’t it? Thinking about me sucking on your feet until your toes, your swollen toes, are nice and wet? It has me so turned on right now that I bet I won’t even need to use lube this time.”

“Phil, I think you have definitely got the wrong impression here. These piggies aren’t going anywhere near any hole you have in your body.”

Looking around frantically, I catch the eye of our waitress and signal that we need the check. I look over at Phil—disgusting, perverted, foot-fetish Phil—and pray that she hurries the hell up.

Chapter 10 – Asher

I’ve been in a foul mood since Chelcie and I shared that kiss. All I can think about is how she melted into my body, just as hot as I was to see where that kiss was going. The last thing I’d expected was for her to pull the emergency brake on it.

How she can possibly think that I find her anything close to chubby is beyond me. Her body has curves in every place that is meant to drive a man wild. Just thinking about my hands holding her hips as I take her… Goddamn, it’s the hottest thing that’s been playing on repeat since the first time I saw her bend over to pick something up.

Those hips, that ass—fuck me. She’s one hundred percent woman and I love every single inch of it. For the first time in my life, I want a woman who wants nothing to do with me. I crave her, and I have the worst feeling that I’ve done something to make her doubt that.

The fleeting memory of her standing in front of me with tears raining down her face flashes through my mind momentarily, there one second and gone the next. I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes, I’ve drunk too much, and there are so many holes in my mind that I fear I might have done something during one of my drinking benders that has done permanent damage to the relationship we started to form.

Before I can analyze the thought any further, my phone starts to ring.

“Dee?”

“Oh, dear Asher James. How are you this fine day?” she sings through the line.

“Uh, I’m fine. How are you?”

“Fine, just fine. So tell me—what are you doing today?”

She’s up to something. Dee’s been up my ass since we met, always trying to meddle in my business, and this phone call is screaming devious Dee.

“About to head over to the gym. Why?”

“Well, see…I’m over at Sway’s getting my hair done and the guys are all real busy. Is there anyway that you could swing over to Fat Jacks and grab us some burgers? I’m really—really—in the mood for some of their burgers.”

“You want me to get you lunch? Doesn’t Sway have staff there that takes care of that crap for you?”

Unbelievable.

“Oh. They’re all out right now. You know, slow day, so he told them to go out and enjoy a long break. It’s just a few of us here.”

Right.

“What about Davey? Pretty sure he wouldn’t mind grabbing his boyfriend, and you, some food.”

She’s silent for a second. Then I hear the phone rustling against her hand, her muffled voice talking to someone near her.

“He’s out. Sick.”

“He’s sick?” I question, knowing damn well that she’s full of shit but curious enough to wonder what she’s playing out.

“Yup. So Fat Jacks?”

“Dee, cut to the chase. What are you up to?”

“Shit,” she hisses.

I can hear Sway yelling at her in the distance a few seconds before the phone is clearly ripped from her hands.

“Asher, you tall glass of water, did you miss me? Of course you did. Look, what Dee here is so clearly terrible at is subtlety. I’m going to be honest with you, okay?”

“Yeah.” As curious as I am, I can feel it coming. I just know that whatever is coming is going to set some sort of ball rolling, especially if Sway has a part in it. I just have to hope it’s a calm situation they’re about to get me into.

“Sway here has noticed recently that you’ve got those sexy cerulean eyes trained on our fine little Chelcie. Oh yes, I noticed those fireworks shooting all over the place, and it’s a wonder no one got burned. So Sway here is doing you a favor, darling. I just got word from little miss Denise that Chelcie is currently on a date. As we speak, she’s sitting that lush body down and having a meat-filled lunch. So if you want to make sure the only meat she’s partaking in is the burger variety, I suggest you take those hot buns and get over to Fat Jacks. You got that, love?”