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.”
“And I’ll be in the public eye. And very busy. And working around the clock.”
“All the more reason you should have someone around who might be a safe space for you to talk to. And you know, have a date with. Share food. Because even kick-ass executive women need to eat.”
“I…do.” Felicity had never felt more conflicted. So if in doubt, retreat. “I think we should go home now. Separately, I mean. To our respective homes. The meal was…lovely.” Even if all Felicity could remember of it was a mouthful of heavenly Sicilian pizza.
“Separately, because it’s not a date,” Cooper said, smiling.
Why did she look so amused? Felicity suddenly realized her fingers had slid to tangle with Cooper’s.
Dear God, when had that transgression occurred? She snatched her wandering hand back, mortified. “Exactly. And we are definitely not taking this anywhere. Okay?”
“Whatever you say.” Cooper merely grinned.
* * *
Their first kiss came three seconds after Cooper closed her apartment’s front door behind them and pressed Felicity against it.
Cooper offered a roguish smile, then her lips crushed Felicity’s.
Felicity opened her mouth with a soft groan, hands scrabbling to grab Cooper’s shirt, tugging her closer. As the probing softness of Cooper’s tongue teased her own, arousal exploded through her like oil in a hot pan. It was frantic and demanding and so, so hot.
“Not a date, huh?” Cooper laughed against her lips. “Not taking this anywhere, huh?”
“Oh, shut up,” Felicity snarked back and reached for her again, kissing her fiercely.
The woman could kiss, she’d give Cooper that. It wasn’t just what her mouth was doing, either. It was the sheer size of her, the press of her weight, the feeling of all Felicity’s senses being overwhelmed.
“I’m definitely not dating you. Or anything else,” she added breathlessly when she struggled to come back up for air. “It’s a distraction. All of this is a distraction.”
“Mm, it sure is,” Cooper drawled. “I’m plenty distracted right now. And I’m wondering what you’d do if I just stepped back and started peeling off all my clothes. Right in front of you. Would you enjoy that, Ms. Simmons?”
Felicity swallowed. “W-what?”
Cooper grinned, took a step back, and began to do exactly what she’d promised, her gaze scorching. She tossed her jacket behind her. “You know, your eyes have been stripping me naked for the past hour.”
Stupid traitorous eyes.
Even as her pulse rate leaped, Felicity struggled to get a grip on herself. Would indulging in this be…unprofessional?
