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

Kill me now. Just kill me and get the torture over with.

“What?” he asked, his voice rough—which she probably took for irritation, but if he was honest with himself, it stemmed from pure arousal.

She crossed her arms over her chest, as if that would stop him from seeing the outline of her perfect breasts beneath that poor excuse for a robe.

“I’m sorry to bother you. Believe me, I tried to think of something else, but—”

“Just say it.”

Her eyes widened and she swallowed. “There’s a bat in my bedroom. I was headed to bed a few minutes ago and it was on my curtain.”

Shit. Was she serious? Not only did he have to see her half-dressed, now she needed him in her bedroom? And not for wild sex, but for pest control? This date night was just getting better and better. He’d turned down a sure thing, all to be drawn into the bedroom of the woman his body truly wanted. He’d no doubt leave with a hard-on and a foul mood.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I know you hate me, but can you help?”

Why, why did he have to have that gentleman streak in him?

Because his father had been the kindest man he knew and his mother had raised him right. And because he never could stand to see a vulnerable woman.

“Come on.” He moved around her, eager to get in, get out and get the hell home. Alone. “Which bedroom?”

She followed him up the porch. “My old bedroom.”

Of course it was. The room where they’d both lost their virginity to each other when they’d been fifteen. God, the thought of that age…they’d practically still been kids. They’d fumbled through putting on the condom, he’d nearly come as she was trying to roll it on him. They’d both laughed like idiots afterward and had sex again a few hours later since they were “now experienced and all”…and her parents still weren’t home.

“Do you have a broom?” he asked as he entered the foyer.

She moved to the small closet and pulled one out. “What else do you need?” she asked, trying to clutch her robe together.

Too late. He’d already seen the swell of those tanned breasts. And no matter the years that had passed, he could still feel them, taste them.

Great, now he was standing in her house, ready to kill a bat in her bedroom, and he had a boner. Sex with Cori was completely out of the question, which meant he’d have to resolve that issue later by himself. Could he have a more pathetic day?

“Grab me a bag and stay outside the door,” he told her. “I’ll tell you when it’s dead and you bring me the bag. Okay?”

She nodded and moved down the hall toward the kitchen.

Fantastic. Watching her walk away was just as torturous as watching her walk toward him. The robe barely covered her rounded rear and that silk slid against her body like a lover’s hands.

Cursing himself for his adolescent thoughts and raging hard-on, Dylan went to the bedroom door and eased it open. He poked his head in and, sure enough, across the room on the bright yellow curtain was a small black bat.

In no time Dylan killed the bat and it fell lifelessly to the hardwood floor. He tapped it with the toe of his boot to double-check before he called Cori in.

“Come on in, Cori.” He purposely used her real name because he refused to call her the made-up one. Her legal name was Cori, not Corinne, as the rest of the world knew her.

She eased the door open, her eyes darting around. “Where is it?”

“Dead.”

He reached for the bag and she crossed the room to hand it to him. He put his hand inside the bag to hold on to the plastic while picking up the bat. Once he had the creature in hand, he turned the bag inside out and tied it. Ignoring the visible shudder from Cori, he walked through her house and out her back door in search of the trash. Once he disposed of the critter, he went into the bathroom to wash his hands.

Dylan stopped in the bedroom to tell her he was leaving, but the sight of her with her back to the door, shoulders slumped and head hanging, twisted something inside of him. But he had to steel himself against her because he was still feeling the aftershocks of his sister’s vulnerability and he couldn’t get wrapped up in another female with emotional woes.

Yet he found himself moving into the room, just a step, then two. He stood right behind her, but didn’t touch her. Touching was a big
hell no
.

“I’m going to go,” he told her. Saying it out loud made it more believable. “The bat is outside in the trash.”

She lifted her head and turned, and now that they were in the light and she was looking right at him, he noticed she’d washed off her makeup and her eyes were nearly hollow with dark circles.

With a slight smile, she nodded. “Thank you, Dylan. I’ll try not to bother you again.”

He felt like an ass. Apparently she was upset, for good reason because her life was a mess, but there was no need for him to be a complete jerk to her. So she’d jilted him years ago. Enough time had passed that he should be over it…and he was. Well, he’d thought he was until she showed up at his doorstep earlier. They had been teens, for pity’s sake. They weren’t even the same kids they’d been.

“Look.” He sighed, rested his hands on his hips to keep from ripping that robe off of her and seeing if she still felt the same beneath him. “I don’t want you to think I hate you. You said that earlier. We have a history and, yes, it’s uncomfortable with you back, but I’m not purposely trying to be mean. I’m sorry I slammed the door in your face. I’ve got a lot going on and you just threw me off, that’s all.”

She tilted her head, causing all that dark hair to slide over black silk. “Then I’m doubly sorry for bothering you.”

For a moment he didn’t say anything, but his damn mouth opened before he could stop it.

“You’re so beautiful, Cori,” he murmured. “Without all that makeup and those fancy clothes. You look the exact same.”

A shadow crossed over her eyes. “I’m not the same, Dylan. I’m damaged, broken, but I’m going to be okay.”

He slid his hand over her smooth cheek and up into her hair. This was a mistake. All of it. Coming in here, talking, touching. Wasn’t that a nonnegotiable rule he’d given himself? No touching?

She stepped up against him and looked into his eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Hell if I know.”

His mouth captured hers, hard, fast, and she gave it right back, clutching at his shirt and leaning into him.

He relished in the fact her lush body was rubbing all over his, the fact her tongue was in his mouth. All of this was so familiar, yet so new and…so wrong.

Dylan pulled back, putting his hands on her slender shoulders and ignoring the confusion and hurt in her eyes.

Dropping his hands to his sides, he took a step back, then another. “Did you do this on purpose?”

“Excuse me?” she asked, her hand coming up to wipe her mouth. “Do what?”

“Get me over here, in your bedroom.”

Cori rolled her eyes. “Yes, Dylan. I planted a bat on my curtain to lure you into my bedroom. Do you hear yourself?”

Yeah, that sounded ridiculous, but…

“The bat I believe, but the robe, the lack of clothing beneath it.” He swallowed. “The kiss.”

She placed her hands on her hips, pulling the V of the robe even wider. God. Couldn’t she find a damn turtleneck to cover those tits up with?

“You kissed me,” she reminded him. “I didn’t ask you to and I didn’t hint for it either. I was on my way to bed, where I sleep in the nude for your information, and when I saw the bat, I grabbed the robe from the bathroom and went into the living room, and that’s when I saw your lights pulling into your driveway.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. “I didn’t come here for this, Cori, and I don’t like whatever game you think you’re playing.”

Her eyes turned to slits. “I’m not playing a game. Just because you got blown off by some date tonight and you’re coming home to bed alone, don’t get all pissy with me.”

Dylan closed the gap between them, arms at his sides because he wasn’t going to be stupid enough to touch her again. Her eyes widened, lips parted. Yeah, she wanted him to kiss her again. Like hell. They’d both end up setting each other on fire in that bed that was so close and most definitely mocking them.

“Next time you need a job done, call another neighbor and put some damn clothes on.”

He marched from the room sporting one hell of an erection and more irritated than he’d been earlier. She didn’t have anything else to throw on before coming to get him? Yeah, like he believed that.

Just because her body had gotten her all she’d ever wanted the past few years didn’t mean it would get him to crawl to her on hands and knees. He’d had that body before anybody else in the world laid eyes on it. Before any adolescent fantasized about her. Cori had been his.

And tonight she could’ve been his again, but common sense had kicked in at the last minute and he was damn glad he’d put the brakes on.

As he slammed the door to his house and flicked the lock, he rubbed his lips. Now if he could get his body to stop humming and settle down, he’d be more convinced he’d made the right decision.

Chapter Two

Dylan was more than happy that after five—yes, five—times at measuring for the cabinet, the damn thing finally went in the way it should. He was a professional, this is what he did, what he knew. So why the hell was he botching things this morning?

Oh yeah. The temptress from his past had him tied in knots. The woman hadn’t even been back in town for a full twenty-four hours and so far she’d pissed him off, had him in her bedroom, and had his hands and mouth on her.

Great track record, Dylan. Well done. Way to man up on the willpower.

On a groan he went to another large box and ripped it open to reveal the smaller base cabinet that would go next to the fridge. As he was tearing the cardboard away, his front door opened and closed.

“Dylan?”

Thank God it was his sister. He didn’t think Cori would just walk right in, but, hell, he didn’t know what to think anymore.

“Kitchen,” he yelled back.

Evie stepped through the doorway and leaned against the frame. “Wow, you’ve really made some progress since I was here last.”

Resting his hand on the top edge of the cabinet, he nodded. “I’ve been trying to work double time in here to get it done. Not that I mind eating out for nearly every meal, but it’s getting old and expensive.”

Evie stared at him for a second and he knew what she was going to say. He knew it before she opened her mouth.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, just as her lips parted. “So don’t bring it up.”

Crossing her arms, she smiled. “You don’t want to discuss what? The renovations? My new haircut? Or do you not want to discuss the woman who just moved back in next door?”

Dylan groaned, raking a hand through his bedhead. Well, it would be bedhead if he’d gone to sleep last night.

“The renovations are fine to discuss, I didn’t notice your new cut and that final question doesn’t even warrant a response.”

Evie sighed and moved into the room. “Dylan, you can’t avoid it. I just came from Shop ’n Save and they were all talking about Corinne being back.”

“Her name is Cori,” he corrected, then cursed himself. “Listen, she’s back to hide from the scandal. Did she come when her parents needed her most? No. She came because she’s selfish and she wants to keep out of the negative limelight.”

“So you’ve seen her?”

Flashes darted through Dylan’s mind. Oh, he’d seen her…touched her, tasted her.

“Yes,” he said, offering no further explanation.

Evie ran her hand along the newly installed counter on the island. “Don’t be so harsh. She’s struggling, Dylan. No matter what you think you know about what’s going on with her, unless you heard it from her, don’t be so quick to judge.”

Dylan studied his sister’s face. “You’re defending her?”

“Yes, until I hear the truth from her.” Evie lifted her head, met his gaze. “I’d think you would’ve learned after my scandal not to jump to conclusions or to judge people before you know the whole truth.”

“Your scandal was nothing like what Cori is going through.” Dylan couldn’t even believe she’d compare the two. “Everything Cori is going through is her own fault. What happened to you was at the hands of a lunatic.”

And still, the thought that one of his best friends, a man he’d grown up with, gone on family vacations with, had raped his sister…

“Stop, Dylan.” Evie crossed to put her hand on his bare arm. “I’m fine. I’m engaged, I’m happy. Let’s just move on. Don’t let your mind always go to that ugly place.”

How could it not? Evie had lived with the truth for years and he’d just learned of it a few months ago. Not that he thought time would ever make him forget or erase the image, but he was still adjusting to the fact his sister had been sexually assaulted and he’d never had the first clue.

“Dylan, stop.”

She was too good at reading him.

“What happened when you saw Cori?” she asked.

Dylan shook his head. “I closed the door in her face.”

Evie gasped. “You didn’t! Oh, Dyl.”