Crushing on cooper camp.., p.1
Crushing on Cooper (Camp Firefly Falls Book 3), page 1
Crushing on Cooper
Camp Firefly Falls #3
Violet Vaughn
Sugarloaf Press
Contents
Copyright
Foreword
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Copyright © 2016 by Violet Vaughn
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover by Lori Carter
Editing by Jodi Henley and Red Adept Publishing
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Foreword
CRUSHING ON COOPER
by Violet Vaughn
When Allison Nelson’s failed bakery leaves her career in limbo she takes a job at Camp Firefly Falls. It’s a trip down memory lane to return to the camp she attended during her childhood, but she gets more than she expected. A corporate retreat arrives, and Allison is forced to sink or swim in a new romance with her first love. But a casual summer fling doesn’t go as planned, and she dives in with her heart, even if she’s too scared to tell Cooper about her son and a past full of failure.
Cooper Marshall spent the last decade as the golden boy of snowboarding winning multiple Olympic medals. When he decides to settle down and take a suit-and-tie job, he’s sent on a retreat to Camp Firefly Falls. More than fond memories of the camp await him, and he discovers his childhood crush that got away. He makes the move he should have years ago, but Allison is not the Allie he remembers, and the week-long fling she insists upon keeps him at arm’s length.
When Allison’s truth is revealed, Cooper learns the girl he fell in love with has changed into a woman he doesn’t know. But the Allie he remembers is still in Allison’s heart, and she struggles with learning to let go of her mistakes to take a chance on love.
Chapter 1
Sweat trickles down my back as I swipe forks back and forth over my molds. Caramelized sugar splatters to create hair-thin strands for a nest-like structure in the shape of a firefly. I came up with my signature dessert the first week I worked at Camp Firefly Falls as the pastry chef. I wanted to capture the magic of the insect the camp is named for, and since spun sugar captures light to glow, it seemed like a good way to do it. Although, right now I wish I had thought things through, because it’s a time-consuming process, and today I have to make two gallons of lime sorbet, thirty firefly bodies, and sixty wings for a corporate-retreat welcome dinner.
I imagine the lake only yards away and picture sunlight sparkling on the small waves from a gentle breeze. I’d really like to be swimming instead of sweating in a hot kitchen, and I imagine diving into the cool water as I blow a strand of hair off my forehead and bend down to concentrate on my work. Just five more bugs to go, and I can take a break. The sound of children screaming as they play carries from another camp down the lake, and I think about my seven-year-old son. My stomach clenches because he’s with his father this weekend, and that means Max won’t get enough sleep or eat the right foods. When I announced I planned to raise Max on my own, everyone told me being a single mother would be too hard. They were concerned I couldn’t work a full-time job and take care of my child all by myself. They were wrong. The hard part was when the guy I knew for two months before we got pregnant got a court order allowing him to play dad for eight days a month.
The air brakes of a charter bus sigh as the luxury vehicle pulls up to drop off this week’s guests. A pharmaceutical company is holding a retreat, and I picture the men and women who usually wear suits climbing down the metal steps in their shorts and tees. I imagine they gaze out at the teal-blue waters of Lake Waawaatesi while birds chirp and the scent of pine hangs in the air.
Camp Firefly Falls is nestled in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, and we have a beautiful location that lets city dwellers escape from the rat race. When I was a kid, I came here for overnight camps, but it’s since been reinvented as a destination spot for adult getaways. We cater to a variety of groups that have included couples counseling, family reunions, and corporate team-building retreats. Whatever the event, Camp Firefly Falls works its magic, and people leave in a better place. Even me.
When I applied for a job here, I was at a low point in my life. My bakery-and-wedding-cake business had just folded, and I was one step away from becoming a short-order cook at the local diner. The idea of slinging hash instead of creating desserts that are works of art makes me shudder. Besides which, the schedule would have made my life more difficult. During the week, I make my own hours and am only required to be on site to prepare desserts to order on the weekends, which allows me the flexibility to take care of my son during the week.
My life leaves me little time for myself, and working here lets me relax a little during my breaks. I often go for a quick swim with my boss and friend, Meg. Or we’ll go out in a canoe or on paddleboards.
My forks clatter in the pan I’m holding as I finish my task. I think about the lake again and decide to wander into the dining room to gaze out at it. When I do, I notice a guest walking down the dock. He’s in swim shorts, and I have no doubt he’s about to dive in. Alone. I huff in annoyance. One of the rules every guest hears upon arrival is that there is no swimming alone. This guy is blatantly breaking the rule, and I can’t stand by and watch it happen.
I return to the kitchen in a hurry, and the pan I was holding thuds in the sink. The screen door that leads out of the kitchen squeaks open as I walk out. When I get around the corner, water splashes as the guy dives in, and my teeth grind as I clench my jaw. I can’t exactly let him have it—he’s a paying customer, after all—but I sure can make it clear this sort of behavior can’t be tolerated. Our insurance policy won’t allow for it.
I jog across the distance to get to the dock, and I’m breathless as my feet pound over the wooden deck. As I get closer to the guy, I notice his broad shoulders, and long arms are rippling with well-defined muscles as he strokes. He stops at the round inflatable float and holds on to it, which gives me my chance.
“Hey!” I yell.
The man turns toward me, and while he’s probably fifty yards away, I can tell he’s attractive. I call out, “You can’t be out here alone!”
He tilts his head at me and then begins to swim back toward the dock. I take a moment to appreciate his fine form from this direction. He moves like an athlete, and my anger fades as he gets closer. I’ll admit I’m a sucker for a hot guy. Especially since looking is all I get to do these days. When he gets to the dock, water splashes near my feet as he grabs onto the edge and lifts his face to me.
He frowns as I say, “I’m sorry, but—” I know him. Those blue eyes are burned into my memory for life. Could it be?
A grin covers his face, and he asks, “Allie?”
“Oh my god. Cooper?” A tingle rushes through me, because Cooper was the closest thing to first love a thirteen-year-old girl can have. He was also my brother’s best friend, a year older, and so not into me. I soften with nostalgia, and my voice is calm when I say, “You’re not supposed to swim alone. Our insurers don’t allow it.”
He lifts his hand and says, “Help me out.”
I reach for him without thinking, and when his cool fingers wrap around mine, I realize my mistake. I try to jerk away, but Cooper’s too fast for me, and he yanks hard. I lose my balance and let out a yelp before I fall in. I’m dressed in a white cotton chef’s coat and the black-and-white-checked polyester pants I’m required to wear for work. The wet fabric clings to me as I come up for air. Cooper is laughing when I do.
I can’t help it, and I laugh too before I say, “You haven’t changed a bit.”
Cooper glances down at my chest quickly, which makes me realize I’m wearing a bright-red bra under my shirt, and I think it’s showing through the wet white fabric. He waggles his eyebrows as he says, “You sure have.”
Considering the mosquito-bite breasts I had at thirteen require underwire now, I know what he means. And my cheeks heat as if I’m thirteen again. I splash water at him with my hand. “I can’t believe you pulled me in.”
He shrugs. “You said I can’t swim alone, so I found a friend.”
“Yeah, well, I’m getting out.” The dock is firm in my hand as I tug myself over with the intention of hauling myself up instead of swimming to the ladder.
“Hang on, Allie.” I turn to Cooper, and he says, “Swim out to the float with me. I’m not ready to get out yet.”
Memories flood my mind. I was the timid girl who followed the rules, while Cooper was the complete opposite. He convinced me to do just about everything I ever got in trouble for as a child. But clearly I didn’t learn a lesson, because I say, “Okay.” I remove my shoes, and they thud on the dock when I toss them there.
I was a swimmer in high school, and even though my clothes are awkward, I have no trouble making it to the float. Cooper gets up first and reaches down to hoist me up easily, the way he used to do when I was a kid. I bounce on the inflatable trampoline as I land, and I push my loose strands of hair out of my face as I move back onto the sun-heated surface. Cooper lies down, and I do the same before I turn to face him. I say, “So.”
Water drips down his tanned nose, and I glance at the full lower lip I fantasized about kissing for most of my teenaged life. “Fancy meeting you here,” says Cooper. “You’re the cook?”
“Pastry chef.” Last winter, Cooper won several medals in the Olympics for snowboarding and retired from the sport. But I think he’s here with the pharmaceutical company, and I ask, “You’re a corporate guy?”
“Not quite. I sell snow to the Eskimos.” I frown at him, and he says, “New job. I’m in training to sell medical devices to surgeons.”
“Oh.” I blink as my brain tries to wrap around Cooper with a real job. “Congratulations on your Olympic medals. It was pretty amazing to watch.”
“Thanks. You watched me?” Cooper’s voice has lowered in tone, and it makes tiny hairs on my body stand up.
“Well, yeah,” I say. “You’re the closest I’ll ever get to being famous. I told everyone I knew that you were my fir—brother’s best friend.”
He reaches over to move a strand of my hair off my face, and a tiny shiver runs through me at his touch. He asks, “Are you married?”
“No.” My brain goes into overdrive as I imagine he’s asking because he wants to date me. I picture us holding hands as we kiss by a campfire in an old fantasy that has almost become a real memory for me. I ask, “You?”
He shakes his head. “Boyfriend?”
“Nope.” My heart doesn’t care that this boy devastated us when he went off to prep school, and it reaches out for a guy I crushed on so many years ago. “You?”
Cooper lifts up to lean on his arm, and his body blocks the sun. He says, “No,” before he lowers his mouth to mine.
Oh my god! His kiss is amazingly tender and does more than live up to my fantasies. While he only nibbles at my lips instead of diving in for more, my entire body heats up as if he flipped a switch. I’m pretty sure I hold my breath too, because I practically gasp when he pulls away to say, “No girlfriend either.”
I chuckle at his joke and place my hand on my mouth to make sure this isn’t a dream before I ask, “What was that for?”
“That was for all the years I kicked myself for not doing it the last summer we spent here. I swore if I ever saw you again, I’d kiss you before you could escape.”
The grin covering my face almost cracks my cheeks. I’m thirteen again, and this time I’m not going to blow my chance. I’m not the timid girl I used to be. When Cooper leans down for more, I take all I can get. I open my mouth when his tongue darts between my parted lips, and I drink him in. He holds my face as if I’m a treasure while the muscles of his back flex beneath my palms. My fantasy of his kiss pales in comparison to the real thing. I think it might be the same for Cooper, because when we break apart, he smiles before he pulls me back for more.
Chapter 2
Making out on the float with Cooper was the last thing I expected to do today. After a last kiss that got quite steamy, we swam back to shore, and he had to leave me for his cocktail reception. A plastic bag rustles as I grab a dry uniform from the kitchen and make my way to Meg’s cabin. On the weekends when Max is with his father, I stay at camp, because I find my house too lonely without my son around.
I recall the last summer I spent at Camp Firefly Falls. My brother and Cooper were counselors in training, and I was one of the oldest campers. Cooper grew up down the street from me, and as kids we often played together. When he got to high school, his parents sent him away to prep school. During the nine months he was gone that year, I developed from a girl to a young woman who looked at boys in a different way. Naturally that summer I fell for the one who had spent years torturing me as the little sister of his best friend.
My feet thud over the dirt path toward the cabin. My crush was obvious to everyone around me, and I assumed Cooper flirted with me then because he knew how I felt. Could it be he had a crush on me too? My hand flies up to my mouth, and I touch my tender lips as I recall our kiss. “I swore if I ever saw you again, I’d kiss you.”
When I get inside, my clothes stick to my body as I strip them off. I recall the tiny lines that are around Cooper’s eyes now and the way they crinkle when he laughs. I can’t believe he kissed me. “I kicked myself for not doing it the last summer we spent here.” I’m back where I was fifteen years ago. Crushing on Cooper.
I shake my thoughts as they race toward a happily ever after. The girl I was back then is not who I am today, and I bet Cooper has changed a lot too. I’m being foolish thinking what just happened was anything more than a promise to himself for his regret.
I’d spent my freshman year of high school anxiously awaiting the next summer when I’d be old enough to be a counselor in training alongside Cooper. But it didn’t happen, because Camp Firefly Falls closed down. So Cooper found another counselor job far away, and I mended my broken heart close to home while I scooped ice cream at a local shop.
My comb tugs at my scalp as I untangle my damp hair to put it in a bun. I think I’m making more out of this situation than I should because I haven’t had a date since before Max was born. Besides not having time, I’ve been too focused on raising my son, and a boyfriend isn’t something I want to bring into the picture. My child doesn’t need to get attached to some man who will slip away once the going gets tough.
I sigh. No. Kissing Cooper was a temporary moment of craziness that meant nothing to him. That’s just how he does things. I recall the time he decided we needed a frog pond in the woods behind our house. I smile as I think about how we spent the whole day digging a ditch and capturing frogs to put in our pond. When we managed to connect a series of garden hoses to reach it and filled the hole with water, we discovered it didn’t work. The water continued to sink into the ground instead of creating the perfect frog home we’d imagined.
Cooper convinced my brother and me to keep the frogs in our bathtub overnight until we could figure out a new plan. I remember my mother’s screams when the frogs managed to escape the bathroom and hop around the house. Yeah. Cooper kissing me impulsively is just how he does things.
Water drips as I wring out my wet clothes over the sink. It occurs to me Cooper’s probably the reason I was attracted to Scott, Max’s father, too. Scott has an impulsive streak a mile long, which I found exciting at the time. Until I got pregnant. That was one reckless move I should have stopped, but I don’t regret it, because Max is the love of my life.
I’ve since learned my lesson, and I plan to remember it. If I decide to date again, it will be a man who follows rules and likes structure in his life. The way I do. By the time I return to the kitchen, I have my head on straight. Kissing Cooper was fun and exciting, but it was nothing more than a kiss.
When I get through the door, Meg stares me down. Her hands are on her ample hips as she says, “Rumor has it you’ve been fraternizing with the guests.”
I smile at her. “It’s the craziest thing. Cooper and I grew up together, and remember how I told you I came here as a camper the last summer this place was for kids? So did Cooper.”
She squints at me. “So you were kissing an old friend?”
Heat rushes to my cheeks. “Ah.” I shrug. “We were close?” I say as if it’s a question.
Meg chuckles and says, “Good for you. I was wondering why you didn’t clean up after yourself.”
I glance over at my station to find it’s been put back in order. “Oh my gosh, did you do that for me?”
“I did. And don’t you worry about it. You’ve saved my ass more times than I can count.”
