Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Cooper stepped back, shaking his head. “I do not know who you are right now. It’s the smile.”
He rolled his eyes. “I smile, asshole.”
Cooper shrugged. “I mean is it a smile?”
He smiled. Sometimes. He intended to smile way more.
“I’m heading over to pick up Kala before we go into work. She’s a beast without a pitcher of coffee and a chocolate croissant,” Cooper said. “You need a ride?”
This was something they should discuss. “Nah, Devi’s picking me up in half an hour. We’re going to some brunch place she likes and then she’ll drop me off. We were talking about maybe seeing a movie or something tonight. I should get a car.”
Cooper shrugged. “Why?” Then his brows rose. “Are you talking about renting something or buying a car, because you pretty much don’t need one in DC.”
Dangerous ground, but he was feeling like pushing his luck since it seemed to have changed the night before. “Well, that is something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“I am shitty at buying cars,” Cooper admitted. “I’m a complete walk in the door and pay whatever they want because haggling seems rude. But if you take Kala with you, they’ll give you a deal just to shut her down. She can be brutal, and she knows way more about engines than you think she does.”
He knew a lot about them, too, but he wasn’t supposed to be that smart. Like they didn’t realize he spoke a couple of languages. He was the military grunt. They didn’t need to know he was actually a hell of a hacker and had fooled Tristan Dean-Miles a couple of times. Kala’s best friend and the team’s resident tech expert, Louisa Ward, thought he was a moron who could barely turn a computer on, and that was the way he needed it for now. “Well, then I’ll have to ask her to go in with me. I might not need a car to get around DC, but Dallas is another story. If I want to go anywhere outside the city, I need a car.”
“Seriously? But Zach that would mean…” Cooper left the statement open ended, as though trying to figure out if Zach actually knew what he was saying.
His himbo cover worked way too well. “I’m going to talk to Big Tag soon. I know they want active military to work with these teams, but like Tristan, I don’t want to spread my focus too much. It gets messy. I can still liaise with military even if I give up my active status and work strictly for the Agency and for our team. Which means I would move to Dallas and probably have a cover job with McKay-Taggart. I hear they’re always looking for bodyguards.”
Cooper sighed and seemed to consider the problem for a moment. “I think your timing is impeccable. I was wondering how I was going to justify staying here without a roommate. It’s kind of a big house. You looking for a place to stay?”
This was actually happening. Everything he’d wanted was right in reach. “I was hoping you would say that. It is a good time because after that scene last night, I think those three are going to figure it out. Eventually, but don’t Tris’s parents own this place? Are they willing to be our landlords?”
“Serena actually bought this place a couple of years back,” Cooper explained. “She was clear that I could stay as long as I want, and she’s open to me buying her out over time. I like it here. It’s comfortable.”
More importantly Kala liked it here. She’d mentioned a couple of times how much she liked what she called the boys’ place. Of course she’d also mentioned one of the reasons she liked it was the backyard had plenty of space for a pool.
Yeah, he knew what that meant. “Then I would love to take one of the empty rooms. Let me know what my share of rent is and I’ll start handling half the bills until you bring in someone else.”
There were four bedrooms in this big rambling house, though Cooper had only ever had two roommates. Tristan and Aidan once had rooms here. Nate Carter was supposed to move in, but he’d only been around for a week or so before he ended up engaged to Daisy O’Donnell and living at her place.
“The only person I might invite is my brother if he needs a place to stay, but he seems happy in my parents’ pool house for now. I think that might change when he finishes up his masters and goes to work. But he could surprise me and move states for all I know. He promised my dad he would get his education and then he could roam around the world for a while. So it might not happen. He might be like our sister and never come home again.”