Five Exotic Fantasies: Love in Reverse, Book 3 by Serenity Woods

actually Mr. Sexy Cool Dude from the coffee shop?”
    “No.” Coco sank into the seat and put her face in her hands. “What am I going to do?”
    “Oh dear. What have you done?”
    “Nothing! Nothing.” Coco rubbed her nose. “I almost kissed him.”
    “I’m sorry, pardon?”
    “It was nothing. He was just…nice.” Her eyes met Amy’s and she groaned at the leap of triumph in them. “Don’t look so smug. Really, it was nothing.”
    “It doesn’t sound like nothing. Where did you nearly kiss him?”
    “On the mouth.”
    “Sweetie, I meant where in the building. Are you feeling okay?”
    Coco touched her brow, not surprised to find it warm. “I think I may be coming down with something. And it was in his office. Not in the middle of the workroom or anything. He’s found out my nickname. I asked him not to tell anyone and he said he won’t.” That one nice gesture brought a lump to her throat. He didn’t know her from Adam, or Eve, or the snake for that matter. As far as he knew, she was the Dragon, the strict office manager who—if they were in a TV show—would be the one to know all the dirty secrets about the office and who, as a long-serving, devoted and loyal employee, would feel honour bound to cover them up. He was there to carry out an investigation and he could have used that snippet of information to force her to tell him whatever he wanted.
    But he hadn’t. And his eyes had been kind.
    “Oh…” Amy drew the word out, her face softening.
    “What?” Coco blinked, heart still pounding from the memory of nearly having his firm lips touch hers.
    Amy smiled. “Nothing. So what happened? He went to kiss you?”
    “Yes. No. Sort of. Well, he looked like he was going to, but he didn’t. And then he asked me out for a drink tonight.”
    “I hope you said, ‘Absolutely, Mr. Fancy Pants, just tell me when and where and I’ll be there.’”
    “I said no, of course. And I walked out.”
    Amy sighed. “There really is no hope for you. He’s young, obviously rich—did you see his watch? He didn’t get that from the two-dollar shop. He’s tall. He’s smart. He’s frickin’ gorgeous. Seriously, girlfriend, I think your cheese has slid off your cracker.”
    “I can’t,” said Coco. “He’s only here temporarily and then he’ll go back to Auckland.”
    “So shag him senseless while he’s here and then wave him goodbye. What have you got to lose?”
    Coco closed her eyes and shook her head. “Amy…”
    “Seriously, Coco. You don’t have to sleep with the guy. I mean, I would but then that’s me, but I know what you’re like. You haven’t been out in ages. I know you don’t like leaving your mum, but she keeps telling you she wants you to have a life and this is the kind of thing she means. Just go out with him. Have a drink. Be sociable. Have a bit of fun, for God’s sake. You’re only twenty-seven, you work hard and you deserve it.”
    Coco bit her lip and stared at the floor. This was exactly the argument she’d been having with her mother lately—minus the shagging part—almost on a daily basis. Eleanor Stark had got it into her head that it wasn’t fair for a bright, pretty woman of Coco’s age to be tied to a mother in a wheelchair.
    Unbidden, her father’s words the last time she’d seen him in hospital before he died rang in her head: “Promise me you’ll always look after her, Coco. She’s not a strong woman—she needs you. Promise me you won’t ever leave her.” It was a harsh instruction to a fourteen-year-old girl, one that had haunted her ever since. She already had to deal with the guilt of having someone else look after Eleanor during the day so she could earn enough money to keep them—and now Eleanor wanted to move into a respite home so her daughter could have a social life. Coco didn’t want a social life at the expense of her mother’s happiness. It was her responsibility to care for her mother, and she’d die rather than see her go into a