Cooper by Liliana Hart Read Free Book Online

clitoris.
    It had been curiosity that had first led her to the unusual decorations—and no one ever saw them except her—but she loved the way they looked and felt, and she had no desire to get rid of them just because it wasn’t considered mainstream for a small town librarian or your average woman walking down the street. She was more than comfortable with her own body and sexuality, and she had a mind of her own. She knew what she liked.
    But Cooper had added to her body decoration—and not by her choice. The collar was a problem. Every time she looked at it she was reminded of what could have been between them. She was eventually going to have to see him again and make him remove it. But not yet. She wasn’t quite ready.
    The good thing about the collar was that it could be passed off as a necklace if she wore the right clothing with it. The bad thing about it was she’d had to dress up more than usual every day this week. She was getting tired of wearing hose.
    She pulled on sheer thigh highs and a black pencil skirt that made her legs look good. The weather was still cool in mid-April, so she picked a three-quarter length shirt the color of poppies that cut in a low vee to show just a hint of cleavage.
    Nerves overtook her, just like they did every morning, as she left the house and took the long way to the library. She had the added misfortune of the library being directly across the street from the sheriff’s office.
    The street was mostly deserted this early in the morning, and she sighed in relief when she saw Cooper’s truck wasn’t parked in front of the station.
    She prayed all the way into the building that she wouldn’t come face to face with Cooper today. She reminded herself that Club Dominique had been a moment of temporary insanity, and that she was still the same Claire Drexel she’d always been—a small town librarian with close friends and family. A woman who had the heart of an adventurer trapped in the mind of someone who never broke the rules. It was time she accepted her lot in life and moved on.
     
    ***
     
    Cooper knew the minute Claire stepped foot into the library.
    He had a perfect view of the front steps from his office window, so he’d seen when she’d unlocked the big front doors and slipped inside. Even from a distance his cock hardened at the sight of her. She was his every fantasy come to life. The thought of her pierced nipples hiding under all those clothes made him crazy to peel them off layer by layer.
    He’d had nothing but time over the past week to think about what his sister-in-law had told him. Between that and thoughts of Claire, his mind had been pretty busy. Even now as he thought of the way he’d treated her, the things he’d told her, shame crept over his skin until he felt dirty from it. She’d deserved better from him. And he’d deserved to be horsewhipped.
    He’d been so used to his routine of how things went with the other women in his life, he’d almost become desensitized to the fact that there were still people in the world who had real feelings. He’d been cutting off his own emotions for so long that it seemed like the natural thing to do. But it wasn’t just Claire’s body he wanted, he’d discovered after a great deal of soul searching. He wanted everything about her. And he prayed he hadn’t screwed things up too badly to try and make a new start.
    “Lucy,” he called out to his secretary. “I’ll be available on my cell if there’s an emergency. I’ve got a few personal matters to see to.”
    He ran up the back stairs to his apartment and made a call. If Cat was going to dole out advice, then she should be there to back it up.
    “How do you feel about filling in some holes in your education?” he asked when Cat answered the phone.
    “I’m always up for something new. I just finished my very first pot mat, so I’m ready to conquer the world.”
    “Good, because Surrender is going to need a librarian for the rest of the day.