“Do you want friends?” Cooper asked gently.

Felicity couldn’t answer. Did she want something she’d never sought out? Others seemed to think it was worthwhile. Felicity hadn’t really had friends since school. “They’re unnecessary distractions,” she muttered with little conviction. “Emotional roller coasters are exhausting. Human or animal. This was what my father was trying to tell me back then. He told me to suck it up so I wouldn’t be weak.”

“Weak?” Cooper blinked. “How old were you?”

“Twelve.”

“He told a twelve-year-old to suck it up?” Cooper eyed her. “To me you sound like a perfectly lovely, sweet child who adored her cat. You didn’t need to change who you were to be good enough or worthy of him. You don’t have to be this driven woman you’re trying so hard to be. You’re already enough, Felicity. You’re there. You’ve made it. Okay? You can relax now.”

Felicity chased some chicken around on her fork. “Hardly. I’m about to take over all of Bartell Corp. I’m far from ready to relax.” She took a bite, chewed without tasting it, and swallowed. “And I’d really rather never discuss my father again. The topic gets my blood boiling.”

“Okay,” Cooper lifted her hands. “Sure. But hey, if you ever want to talk about demanding dads in the future, though, I’m all ears. I have one of my own. My dad’s this big ole Army dude who decided I should be an Olympic athlete.” She chuckled. “Even as a kid, I was so big for my age.”

“I can believe it.” Felicity forced herself to unknot her muscles, relieved at the conversation shift. “Which sport?”

“He didn’t care. He tried me on all of them.”

“And were you any good?”

Cooper shrugged. “Sure. World-beating standard, though? Not even close. Besides, my good boys and girls were calling. I just can’t stay away from animals. Like Brittany—oh, she was love at first sight. She was given to me by a homeless woman just before she passed away. The woman was so scared I’d say no and Brittany would end up in a shelter. But I was smitten. Been stuck with that amazing dog ever since.”

“Like gum on a shoe.” Felicity said dryly. “You have that effect, too, you know.”

“I’m like gum? Used, icky gum?”

“In the sense you’re hard to shake,” Felicity said. “Memorable.” She reached for her wineglass and took a sip.

Cooper beamed. “Okay, speaking of memorable, you have to try a bite of this. It’s fantastic.”

Felicity was shaking her head, even as Cooper pointed a pizza slice just outside her mouth. Lord, this was so wrong. It was intimate, for a start, and she barely knew Cooper, although God knew her hormones definitely wanted more. Not to mention, hello, carbs! And cheese! But…why did it have to smell so sinful?

And oh. Suddenly she was tasting the food. Chewing slowly. Swallowing. It was glorious. Felicity sighed out appreciation, melting under the delicious spices. It had been years since she’d eaten something so flavor packed. “Heavenly.”

“Why do you look so surprised? Haven’t you had pizza in a while?”

“No, not in…” She stopped and thought. “Well, I haven’t had carbs in any major form since I was sixteen. So twenty years.”

Cooper looked horrified. “Is this all about the women in your family being round again? Because twenty years without pizza is overkill, don’t you think?”

“I guess I have been on the world’s longest diet.” Felicity shrugged, suddenly realizing how absurd that sounded. “I don’t have an eating disorder, if that’s what you’re wondering. I just… Well, it’s a habit now. It started out as a preventative measure against my genetics, yes. Then after a while, it just became convenient to pretty much eat the same things all the time because I don’t have to think about it and my clothes always fit, and that’s the end of it. I’m busy, and it’s easy. But I need to remind myself that a lapse every now and then is hardly a calamity, especially given this is what I’m missing. Actually, it’s wonderful.”

Cooper grinned. “Does that mean you’d be open to trying more things? I’d love to reintroduce you to every food there is. I’m an expert, given I love to taste everything.” She patted her rounded stomach. “Which probably shows.”

“Oh, it shows.” Felicity said, then realized with alarm how that sounded. “And it suits you,” she rushed on. “All of you seems so in proportion. Wide shoulders, long powerful legs, full hips, and round stomach. You’re just so…substantial.” She licked her lips at the thought. In fact, ever since she’d met Cooper, she couldn’t imagine any body shape more impressive than hers.

“You seem to have thought a great deal about my body.” Cooper’s eyes sparkled.

“Oh.” Felicity felt her cheeks warm up. Yes, that had sounded a bit too appreciative, hadn’t it? Christ. “I mean, it was a purely aesthetic observation. Like how Brittany is short and brown.”

“Tell me you did not just compare your date to her dog.” Amusement laced Cooper’s tone.

“I—” Felicity paused. “Wait. This is a date? I was under the impression it was a celebration.”

“Can’t it be both? I mean, I thought you were pretty brazen in your appreciation of me the first time we met. Remember when you took over two minutes to get my keys out of my pocket, like you were on the hunt for buried treasure?”

Oh God. She’d been that obvious?

“And just now you listed all my physical attributes in a pretty flattering way. What’s a girl to think? That you merely like my aesthetics in the same way you like my dog?” Cooper’s expression turned cocky.

It was annoyingly attractive.

“I don’t know where you got the idea I like Brittany,” Felicity sputtered, desperate for a distraction. “That’s crazy talk.”

“Oh yes, I can tell by the way you push her away the moment she sits in your lap.” Cooper chuckled. “Is a date with me such an out-there thought? Or does it scandalize you to be dating a lowly vet from the South Bronx when you’re a highflier about to take over an international media corporation?” Her expression was teasing, but there was a sharpness in her eyes.

“You’re missing the point. I’ve always known nothing could get in the way of my career. It doesn’t matter what or who the distraction is; my eyes are fixed on the prize.”

“So it’d look bad if anyone found out you dated someone way, way down the ladder like me?” Cooper frowned. “Someone with no ambition other than to do exactly what I’m doing? And who’s happy doing just that?”

“Could you stop putting words in my mouth?” Felicity asked in exasperation. “I’m saying that very soon I’ll be famous enough that I’ll be watched by the media and my industry, examined for every little thing. Will I be deemed worthy to replace Elena Bartell even in a temporary capacity? That’s what they’ll want to know. I’m very aware of that. That’s my focus. This is a difficult, precarious time for me, navigating what’s to come, wondering what sort of job I’ll do, and now you want me to think about dating? Why would I complicate my life like that?”

“So I’m hearing you’re a bit prickly on the idea of us having a date.”

“No…I’m just prickly in general,” Felicity said in frustration. “Can’t you tell the difference? This isn’t even about you. Not really.”

Cooper nodded. “I hear you. And ordinarily I’d just say, ‘Hey, I like you, and I admit I may have a thing for bossy executive types who know their own mind. That’s a powerful lure to me. Let’s go out.’ And you’d say, ‘Can’t, busy empire building,’ and we’d go our separate ways. But there’s a small problem.”

“There is?” Felicity couldn’t imagine what the issue was.

“Today, after what you did to the mayor, it was like being hit by electricity. Fork in a socket, slammed into the ground, little cartoon birdies dancing around my head.” Cooper grinned.

“Sounds…painful.”

“Felicity, I never saw anything more astonishing in my life than when you made the mayor agree to let through those bills. For years I’ve been dreaming about getting them passed. I wanted to kiss you on the spot. Don’t you get it? You knocked my socks off, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to ever get them back on again. I might be stuck barefoot for life.” She gave a lazy smile but her gaze was honest and intense.

Felicity blinked in surprise.

“So tell me,” Cooper continued, “how do I walk away after meeting someone like you? You’re this beautiful, clever, giant-killing lawyer queen, Felicity Simmons. You’re so fucking impressive to me that I can barely remember how it felt three days ago before I knew you. Really, is it so hard to understand why I’d want this to be a date?”

Felicity swallowed. I’m beautiful to Cooper? Weedy, weak, rail-thin, pale, and one-stiff-breeze-away-from-tumbleweeding-down-the-street Felicity Simmons was beautiful to the powerful Sandy Cooper?

“I have always been really clear where I stand,” Felicity whispered as the energy arced between them. “My career comes first. At least for now.”

“I know that.”

“And my career’s about to take a steeper trajectory very soon.”

“I know that, too.”