"And what exactly am I?"

Abby took another gulp of champagne, liking the diversion.

"You're a callous man-wh.o.r.e who only sleeps with women who are technically unavailable. Women who are married or attached."

"Is that what Tucker told you?"

"He might have mentioned it. He might have warned me about you."

"Maybe you should listen to him." Cooper was no longer smiling.

"Why would I?" Abby asked. "He's got you all wrong."

Cooper stared at her for so long that Abby s.h.i.+fted her feet, uncomfortable and wondering if she'd gone too far. After all, she'd only met Cooper the day before.

"And what is it that you think he's got wrong?" Cooper asked.

Abby considered shutting the conversation down right then and there, but Cooper had started it. And since she preferred to focus on something other than her sorry situation, she decided to let it all out.

"Honestly, Tucker's got a lot right. You are a callous man-wh.o.r.e who only sleeps with married women, or women who are technically not available."

"So what's he got wrong?" Cooper asked casually, but she saw how his fingers gripped the tumbler so tight that his knuckles were white.

"It's not the what...it's the why, and Tucker doesn't know it."

"And you do," Cooper said, his voice a little stronger as he squared his shoulders and stared down at her.

Something flashed in the depths of his eyes, and Abby zeroed in on it like a bear after honey.

"Someone hurt you. Badly, I'd say." She shrugged. "And because of that, you've closed yourself off from the possibility of ever having a healthy relations.h.i.+p again. You don't want to get close to anyone, let alone a woman. So you sleep with the ones who can never belong to you. The ones that are already taken. You sleep with them because you think that keeps you safe."

He didn't say anything so she continued.

"I'll bet you've slept with several friends' girlfriends and when they get too clingy, you pull out the 'he's my buddy, this will never work,' card and move on to the next."

She thought of a comment flung toward Cooper from his brother Rick, one that was off the cuff and not meant for her ears.

"I bet you've even slept with one of your brother's girlfriends."

"Two actually," Cooper answered without missing a beat.

Wow. Abby shouldn't have been shocked but she was.

"And I bet you told yourself you were doing your brother a favor when you did it. Maybe you thought that if they were willing to sleep with you, then Rick was better off without them."

"No." Cooper shook his head slowly. "I slept with them because I wanted to."

"I call bulls.h.i.+t. Just like everything else, you bulls.h.i.+t your way through it all. You hide behind your pain because you're a coward. Because you're afraid to put yourself out there. And unfortunately, you end up hurting people that you care about like your brother."

"I think you missed your calling," he shot back. "You should be charging by the hour."

"The sad thing is that you're hurting yourself the most. Whoever that woman was...whatever she did to you, it's not right to use that as an excuse to be an a.s.shole just because it's easier for you to live that way. You're so much better than that."

And he was. She'd seen it last night. The way he'd been so sweet to his Aunt Virginia, taking her for a turn on the dance floor, more than once. The way he'd made his sister smile and his mother giggle like a teenager. Cooper Simon could make some woman ecstatically happy if he would just let himself fall in love again.

For a moment there were no more words. They each sipped their drinks and Cooper leaned along the wall beside her.

"You're good."

"I'm sorry," she answered simply.

"But since we're being so honest and all, I gotta say Abby, you're no better than I am. You're hiding, too."

Surprised, she pushed off from the wall. "Excuse me?"

His gla.s.s was empty, and he studied it, swis.h.i.+ng around the ice cubes so that they clinked against the side of the gla.s.s. He leaned close to her, his mouth near her ear and she held her breath as he whispered.

"You're in love with my cousin and too afraid to do anything about it. You're nothing but a big old chicken and if you don't mind my saying, pretty d.a.m.n hypocritical to lecture me when you're carrying around that secret."

Abby blinked.

She cleared her throat.

Gooseb.u.mps spread across her skin and cold sweat gave her the s.h.i.+vers as Cooper shoved away from her. "So how close am I?"

She didn't answer him because she couldn't. So she said nothing.

"If I came into your bar, if I ordered the perfect martini from you," He paused, a dark grin that didn't quite reach his eyes in place. "No, hold on. What if I had several perfect martinis?" He tipped his chin up. "Enough so that I spilled my s.h.i.+t and told you that I was in love with someone, but was too afraid of rejection to do anything about it. What advice would you give me?"

"I'm not paid to hand out advice," she managed to say.

"Now who's full of s.h.i.+t? What advice would you give me, Abby?"

He wasn't going to let this go. She thought of Tucker. Of the kiss they'd shared the night before and the promise that would never bloom.

"I would say that if you didn't at least try, you would never know."

"Never know what?"

Abby licked her dry lips and exhaled. "You would never know if there was a chance for the two of you."

"So maybe you should listen to your own advice. Maybe my cousin needs a kick in the a.s.s so that he stops living in the past."

How in h.e.l.l had Cooper Simon managed to turn the entire conversation around to Abby and Tucker?

"He needs you, Abby, and he probably doesn't even know it yet but," Cooper glanced behind them, a calculated look in his eyes. "Judging by the p.i.s.sed off expression on his face right now..." Cooper's hand caressed her cheek. "I'm thinking he's gonna realize that sooner or later."

Chapter Eleven.

Something was getting under Tucker's skin and like a slow burn or itch, it wasn't going away. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it would burrow deep and torture him for the rest of the weekend-because that something had an awful lot to do with Abby Mathews.

s.h.i.+t. He hadn't seen that one coming.

Tucker settled back in his chair, pushed aside his crumpled napkin, not bothering to hide his scowl as he watched Abby and Cooper chat near the chocolate fountain.

He'd been trying to get her alone all day, but every single time he'd approached her something or someone got in the way. Like the d.a.m.n wedding or-his scowl deepened-his d.a.m.n cousin.

"What's got you so p.i.s.sed off?"

Tucker didn't bother to glance up as Beau slid into the seat beside him.

"Or should I say who?"

Dinner had been cleared away, the speeches were done and in a few minutes, the music would start. The bride was posing for pictures with some girlfriends, and the new groom was shaking hands. Congratulations no doubt.

Tucker toyed with his half-full wine gla.s.s but didn't answer his brother. Instead he shrugged, his eyes still on Abby.

"So tell me again how you and this woman are just friends?"

Tucker shot a dark look at Beau. Guess the jig was up there.

"Because right now brother, you look jealous as h.e.l.l."

"Yeah?" Tucker muttered.

"Yeah," Beau replied. "Looks to me like Cooper's got a bull's eye pinned to the back of his head with your name on it. So maybe you need to figure out what's going on before things get out of hand." Beau leaned forward. "Because a family wedding isn't exactly the time or place for the kind of s.h.i.+t that I know is brewing in that head of yours."

A muscle worked its way across Tucker's cheek as he clamped down hard. He wanted nothing more than to plant his fist into Cooper's nose. He was wound so tight his shoulders ached. h.e.l.l, even his teeth hurt from clenching his jaw.

He knew he'd get grief if he started something with his cousin, but right now it was the only thing that would make him feel better.

f.u.c.k.

He needed to get Abby alone. He needed to tell her some things. The fact that he wasn't exactly sure what those things were didn't really matter. He'd figure it out.

His eyes narrowed as Cooper leaned in close and whispered something into her ear. Again. Something that made her smile. Something that had her looking up into his cousin's eyes as if...

Tucker was out of his chair so fast he nearly spilled his wine. He didn't bother looking back at Beau as he strode through the crowd. If he'd have taken a moment, he might have realized he was playing out the exact same scenario that had occurred the night before.

The one that had led to a kiss. A kiss that had pretty much kept him up for most of the night.

It was that kiss that he needed to talk about.

So he stayed focused and didn't look to the right, even though he knew his mother was trying to get his attention. He ignored his Aunt Virginia, which was a small miracle because the woman was wearing a bright orange dress and waved her arms madly. He ignored his brother Jack's girlfriend, and the knowing smile that curved Betty Jo's mouth.

h.e.l.l, he didn't even say a word to his baby sister, Grace, when she managed to come up for air after making out with her new boy-toy-and that had been bugging him since he'd first met the guy.

Tucker ignored it all, because he was done.

Done thinking about that kiss. Done remembering what it felt like to hold Abby in his arms and breathe her in. He was done wondering, and he was done sulking in the corner like a G.o.dd.a.m.n schoolboy.

Beau wanted to know what the h.e.l.l was going on? Well so did Tucker.

And it was about time he found out.

He reached Abby and Cooper just as the DJ called the bride and groom up to the dance floor.

"We need to talk," he said trying to keep his cool and doing a c.r.a.p job of it. He knew this because Abby took a step back, a wary look in her eyes.

"Tucker," Abby said haltingly. "I don't think this is the place-"

"I don't care what you think; we need to talk." Christ, he was blowing this. He took a moment-exhaled-and tried for a bit of calm. "Please," he entreated. "Can you just come with me?"

"Tucker doesn't say please very often, Abigail. This must be important," Cooper said. He leaned into her and Tucker's fists clenched when Cooper murmured. "Save me a dance?" His cousin turned on his heel and disappeared into the crowd, milling near the edge of the dance floor.

Beau was right. If Tucker's hands were filled with darts every single one of them would be buried in the back of Cooper's head. Screw darts. He'd be using arrows for f.u.c.k sake.

"Are you all right?" Abby asked softly.

"No." There was no hesitation. He was so far from all right at the moment that he wouldn't know what all right looked like if it kicked him in the a.s.s.

She cleared her throat, her hands on the pulse at her neck, and Tucker stared down into Abby's soft brown eyes, not knowing what to say-not knowing how to be calm with the heat surging through him.

"Let's go," he said roughly, reaching for her hand.

He led her through the crowd, eyes searching for a place where they could be alone. Where there could be some quiet so he could think.

They were near the patio doors that led to the back garden when Tucker caught sight of his Aunt Virginia, deftly making her way toward them. No way did he have time for her. He turned sharply, Abby's hand still in his, and took a right until he was able to slip out the exit behind the head table.

Without pause, he took to the stairs, not stopping until he'd gone up another flight and then opened the first door on his left. The last rays of sunlight fell in from the window and illuminated what appeared to be a study or office.

"Tucker, slow down."

Abby tugged her hand from his and stared up at him. There were questions in her eyes-probably the same ones in his-and d.a.m.ned if he was leaving this room until they were answered.

"What the h.e.l.l? Your family is going to think that you," she blew an errant strand of hair off her face. "They're going to think we're...that we..."

In that moment, he didn't give a flying f.u.c.k what his family or anyone else thought. How could he?

All he saw were eyes that tugged at him. A mouth that tortured him. And a heart-shaped face that made him crazy.