Secrets from Her Past: Scandalous, Book 2 (7 page)

And that’s precisely why he couldn’t get any more involved, other than physically, with Cori. She would be leaving—again. Only this time he saw it coming, knew to brace himself for it.

“What happened today, Cori?”

He hadn’t meant to ask, but the hurt in her voice and her vulnerability had him opening his mouth before he could think. But she needed someone and if he hadn’t asked, he’d look like a total asshole. If she wanted to explain, she would. If she didn’t, then he wouldn’t push.

She shook her head. “Oh, just a nice dose of reality and humility slapped in my face.”

Cori hopped up to her feet and stretched her arms overhead. “Better finish that run.”

She took off without waiting on him and Dylan knew that woman may be running on fumes, scared out of her mind and more vulnerable than she cared to admit, but she had one thing that no one had taken from her. Her pride. Cori would bounce right back. She may be down now, but she had fight left in her.

Dylan was finding it harder and harder to believe that she was ever mixed up in drugs, but that didn’t mean she was innocent of what had been going on the night her house had been raided. They were her friends, after all. And as loving as Cori was, she may have known what her friends did for extracurricular activities, but she’d turned a blind eye to it. And that love had cost her.

He honestly didn’t know, but as he came to his feet and took off in a jog after her, he figured he’d know a lot more about the intriguing Cori before she left to go back to Miami.

But once he did get deeper into her life, could he let her go again?

After dumping her issues in his lap, crying and having the man kill a bat, the least Corinne could do was take a peace offering to Dylan.

Okay, so maybe the sex was a peace offering of sorts, but she didn’t really think so, considering it was fast, hard, sweaty, and they hadn’t really discussed it since it happened.

Corinne crossed the spacious yards between their homes and carried the plate of freshly baked brownies—Dylan’s favorite. At least, it used to always be his favorite sweet treat.

Why was she nervous about this? It was Dylan. He was still just as laid-back as ever, but she could tell the hurt she’d caused was still there. Or maybe he’d buried it and seeing her had resurfaced it. Who knows? But they did have a past that needed to be explored and put to rest once and for all.

Too bad she couldn’t delve too deep into that time in her life without revealing exactly why she’d left. If he ever found out he’d surely hate her and she couldn’t bear not only the thought of that, but also the fact that the truth would quite possibly destroy him.

She marched up the steps of his home and balanced the plate on one hand while ringing the doorbell with the other.

It was early, but she figured Saturday mornings didn’t mean much to him. She glanced down to her simple yellow sundress and flip-flops. She was going for casual, but not sloppy. And she’d put so much care into her outfit this morning she actually felt silly because the man had seen her naked, had seen her spread out in a magazine modeling lingerie and had gone on a sweaty run with her. But she just wanted him to see her as a down-to-earth girl. That small-town girl still lived in her and she wanted him to see she truly wasn’t that different.

Finally his oversized oak door eased open and…oops. Apparently Saturday mornings did mean something.

But, mercy’s sake, the man did make a morning brighter. With that rumpled hair, sheet marks on his face, bare chest and boxers hanging low on narrow hips…yeah, mornings just got a whole lot easier to face. She needed a picture of this for those hellish Monday mornings.

“Um…I’m sorry, Dylan. I didn’t realize you’d still be in bed.”

Oh God. Was he alone? She wanted to die. Right now she wanted the ground to swallow her whole, brownie plate and all. And if there was some bimbo in his bed, there was no way in hell she was mooching these brownies.

God, the green monster had reared his ugly head and Corinne wasn’t ashamed to admit she was beyond jealous.

“No, it’s okay. I was up late last night.” He opened the door wider. “Come on in.”

Surely if he had a visitor he wouldn’t have invited her inside. Right? She still stepped inside cautiously and darted her eyes around the living area for a stray bra or stiletto.

“What do you have there?” he asked, eyeing the plate.

“Brownies.” She handed him the plate. “They’ve been cooling for about an hour.”

He eyed the plate in his hands, then stared at her. “How long have you been up?”

She shrugged. “I actually didn’t go to bed. Couldn’t sleep.”

His gaze stayed on her a few moments before he turned and headed toward the kitchen. “Come on back and I’ll put on some coffee.”

Apparently they were alone and Corinne relaxed a bit more, knowing he hadn’t been putting the moves on some busty blonde.

Corinne moved through the house, trying not to let so many memories flood back. But it was impossible not to walk through and imagine the teens they once were, laughing and snuggling on the couch, watching a movie—or rolling around on the floor when they were home alone.

Stepping into the kitchen, she glanced at the new surroundings. “Wow, Dylan. This all looks amazing.”

“Thanks.” He poured the water into the machine and clicked it on. “I was finishing last night and I didn’t want to go to bed until it was done.”

Corinne ran her hand over the flawless granite countertop and eyed the new center island. “This looks so fresh and clean. I’m really impressed.”

He threw her a glance. “Don’t sound so surprised. You’re not the only one who is good at something.”

Corinne stepped back. “That was harsh.”

Dylan cursed and shook his head. “I didn’t mean that, Cori. I just…”

He sighed and turned back to the coffeepot which was starting to sputter and drip. Corinne wasn’t sure if she should just leave or stay. This awkwardness that had settled in the room wasn’t something she’d expected.

“I’ll just leave—”

“No,” he said reaching for her arm. “Don’t go. I’m an ass this morning. Chalk it up to lack of sleep.”

She quirked a brow. “I didn’t sleep either, but I’m not hurling insults.”

Dylan’s lips tilted. “And you made brownies. Apparently you are better at losing sleep than I am.”

“Maybe I’m just more of a people person,” she said, smiling sweetly. “And maybe I enjoy mornings.”

His eyes raked over her and the man might as well have touched her with his bare hands, the effect was the same. Her body shivered, tingled, and she instantly remembered how he felt skin to skin. The hair on his chest as it tickled her breasts, the stubble on his jaw as his kisses had traveled down her neck, the grip of those big, strong hands around her waist.

“I have to say, waking up with a beautiful lady holding a plate of brownies made my day a whole lot brighter.”

Corinne smiled. “I just hope they taste okay. Remember that one time…”

She stopped. She’d purposely not brought up any of their past. She’d actually been hoping neither of them had to discuss their previous time together. But now she’d done it, and she could tell by the look on his face that he was remembering that day too.

“I remember,” he said, his voice husky, his heavy-lidded eyes homing in on hers. “I remember ripping your shorts off in this very room and the pan of brownies we were making burned because we were otherwise…occupied.”

He moved toward her, stalking, smiling. “I remember the smoke alarm going off and we didn’t care.”

Before Corinne knew it, Dylan had caged her in against the countertop with his hands on either side of her body. She placed her hands on his chest, but didn’t push him away. She did, however, resist the urge to curl her fingertips into his bare skin and feel those amazing pecs he’d put on display.

“I remember everything about our time together, Cori,” he whispered as he leaned in to nuzzle her ear. “All your sighs, your sweet little moans. The way your body clenched mine.”

Corinne closed her eyes and dropped her head back as memories, visions assaulted her. Instantly she was taken back to the reckless teen she was when she didn’t care about anything but Dylan and their love.

Dylan’s mouth slid along her jawline as his warm breath tickled her, sending more shivers chasing after the first set he’d caused.

“Dylan…” she panted, gliding her hands up and over his taut shoulders, “…wh-what are you doing?”

“Making the most of being awakened by a beautiful woman.” His lips continued their path down her throat and to her collarbone, and farther south. “Did you wear this dress to drive me nuts?”

“I-I… Dylan, I can’t think when you’re doing this.”

“Thinking wasn’t part of my plan,” he told her as he eased down the top of her strapless cotton dress and slid his palm over her aching breast. “And I can’t think either when you’re in my house, smelling like sunshine and wearing this little excuse for a dress.”

Corinne framed his face and pulled his mouth up to hers, greedily opening for him and taking all he obviously offered. His tongue swept inside her mouth and she sighed into him, her body literally melting against his.

She shifted her body so she could feel that hard, rigid length of him against her core and she nearly moaned with arousal.

“Dylan!”

Corinne jumped as Dylan jerked back. The sound of a female voice startled her as she tried to adjust her dress and make sure neither boob was spilling out.

“Oh, there you are.”

Corinne glanced to the door and saw Evie. Evie’s eyes darted between Corinne and Dylan, and Corinne wanted the floor to swallow her whole. She’d been practically molesting Dylan and here stood his sister with a look that combined amusement with shock.

This certainly wasn’t the reunion Corinne had imagined.

Chapter Six

Dylan couldn’t believe the timing of his sister. Of all the times she’d stopped by to visit…

“Hey, Evie. What are you doing here?”

Her little smirk was starting to piss him off. “Oh, I just wanted to drop by to talk about the wedding, but I can see you’re busy.”

“Oh no,” Cori chimed in, “I just came to drop off brownies.”

Evie rolled her eyes. “Can we not pretend I didn’t just see you two practically having sex with clothes on? We’re all adults here.”

Cori laughed. “Yeah, about that…”

“She really did bring brownies,” Dylan defended, and why did he suddenly feel like he was fifteen again?

“And you were showing her your gratitude?” Evie asked, still smiling like she’d found out some huge hidden secret.

“I can leave you two to talk.”

Cori started to move toward the wide doorway. “No, wait,” Evie said, holding up her hand. “I was going to tell Dylan about more wedding details, and since you’re here, you can hear them as well. Besides, I’d love to have you attend the wedding, if you’re available.”

Cori’s eyes widened. “Oh, you don’t want me there.”

Evie smiled. “Why not? We were good friends before you moved. I’ve invited many friends from high school and I really would love to have you there.”

Dylan watched as Cori tried to rein in her emotions and finally just nodded her head.

“I’d love to,” she told Evie. “But, really, I should go. I need to check on my parents.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Cori moved through house and it wasn’t until the front screen door slammed shut that his sister whirled on him, hands on her hips.

“Care to tell me why you were nearly getting it on with Corinne when you’ve always claimed how she tore you apart—and then recently when you dubbed her a druggie?”

Dylan’s harsh words were coming back to bite him in the ass. Apparently he shouldn’t open his mouth when he was angry.

“I may have overshot my mouth,” he conceded. “I don’t believe she’s a druggie, but I also think she knew exactly what was going on in her house that night.”

Evie crossed the room and stood directly in front of him. “So, what? You just decide to let your hormones guide you anyway? Even though you don’t care for the woman anymore, you want to have sex with her for old times’ sake?”

Dylan didn’t like Evie’s line of questioning…mostly because she was dead-on. And he couldn’t act as if was taking this lightly, especially after all she’d gone through.

“Listen,” he began, “I have no clue what’s going on with me and Cori. She’s home for now and for some reason we still have this chemistry. Neither of us has mentioned the past and we can’t help that our hormones are leading us here. You said it yourself that we’re adults, so why am I defending myself to you?”

Evie shrugged. “I don’t know. Why are you?”

Dylan gritted his teeth. “Can we drop this? What did you want to tell me about the wedding?”

Evie’s smile widened, her eyes softened. “Vin is going to go with suits instead of tuxes and wanted to know if the two of you could head to the shop later today to get fitted. He’s on his way back from Hawaii now.”

The dead-last thing Dylan wanted to do was go get fitted for a suit, but for his sister he’d gladly go. She was so excited about this wedding and he wasn’t going to bitch about wearing a jacket and tie for a few hours.