Page 40 of Collateral Damage
“What’s your problem with Benton? He’s perfect.”
“He’s your lover,” Cooper growls, inching forward until I’m pressed against the door. He sounds jealous, but I know better than to think that. Years ago, maybe. But now he hates me.
“My sex life is none of your business.”
“Put one of your fuck-buddies on national television, and your sex life will beeveryone’sbusiness, Valentine. I’m doing this to protect you.”
I study his face, my gaze dancing across his features. An intense longing surfaces deep in my belly, and how much I’ve desperately missed his friendship comes bubbling up. “If you’re trying to protect me, does that mean you don’t hate me anymore?”
“I never hated you, Sybil.” An unreadable expression crosses his face. “You were my best friend, and you dropped me like I was nothing.”
“I had to,” I whisper. “You know why I had to…” A torrent of emotions swirls through my body, mingling with flashes of long-ago memories that nearly killed me.
He sighs. “I don’t hate you, but don’t hate me for building a wall between us. I can’t take that wall down just because you want me to.”
I may not like it, but I understand, and I don’t want to argue anymore. I close my eyes briefly, shoulders slumping as the weight of our broken friendship presses down. “Okay,” I say, opening my eyes again to see him unmoved. “I hear your concerns about Benton. If he gets on the show, I promise to keep it professional between the two of us. A sexual relationship between a cast-member and a producer is not okay.”
He nods slowly. “Fine. Great. You’re good at cutting people off. Do it to him, and I’ll agree to him being on the show.”
His words send a pang of regret right through me. He thinks I’m cold and unfeeling, that it didn’t hurt me when I ended our friendship. He should know it killed me. Why doesn’t he see it the way I see it?
“Maybe we can be friends again?” I try, sounding unaffected but wanting it so bad I could cry.
He stares at me for a long moment. “You mean that?”
“I do.”
“Maybe.”
It’s not a yes, but I’ll take it.
“But it’s probably for the best if we focus on our work and nothing else.”
Ouch.
A knock sounds on the door, and I step aside to let Cooper open it, expecting it to be Perry asking us to return to the group. It’s not Perry.
It’s not anybody I know.
A gorgeous young woman stands in the doorway. She’s not one of the cast members, and my hackles rise as she gives Cooper an alluring smile.
“Hey, Cooper. Sorry to show up unannounced, but I think I accidentally left my phone here earlier.” She grins. “When we were… hanging out.”
I immediately know ‘hanging out’ is synonymous with fucking, and a pit grows in my stomach.
“Roxanna.” Cooper’s clipped voice softens for her. “Always good to see you.”
“Likewise.” Her gaze slides from him to me. “Hi, I’m Roxanna. I’m Cooper’s friend.”
Cooper turns between us. “Uh, yes, Roxi, this is Sybil Laurence. She’s a co-producer on the show I was telling you about.”
I don’t know why I expect a catty smile instead of the genuinely kind one I get, but it unnerves me. I want to hate this woman, but I can’t. She radiates kindness underneath her natural sultriness, and she didn’t do anything wrong by being here.
She begins small talk, and it’s obvious she’s got something romantic going on with Cooper. I’m happy for him, I am. She’s gorgeous and kind, and she’s the face behind the name I saw on his phone at lunch earlier. They must have met up here after that and left her phone behind.
The familiarity between them makes my chest ache. I wish I could be a little more familiar with Cooper, that things didn’t have to be so broken between us. If we were still friends, I’dalready know who Roxi was, and my stomach wouldn’t be hollow right now.
“Anyway, my phone?” She turns to Cooper. “I think it’s in your bedroom. Probably got knocked under the bed when I was kneeling.”
