Fireworks: A Holiday Bad Boy Romance (7 page)

Her name.

Chapter 8

Cora

"Damn. Really, guys?" I glanced
around at my friends as anger burned through me.

"What?" Dedra turned her
attention to me, but seemed to have to force herself to do it.

"I didn't want him to know my
name." I ran my fingers through my hair and settled back in my seat.
"I hate guys like him. He reminds me of Brandon through and through."

"Because he's as hot as sin?" Emily
glanced over at me. "Maybe you should go for the nerdy type this time. I'm
thinking Brody needs a girl like me to teach him a lesson."

Dedra snorted. "You? I'm thinking
me."

"I'd let him in my bed for the night
for sure." Cindy turned and shrugged. "What? He's wicked hot. I bet
his chest and abs are chiseled out. I love that. It's fun to let your tongue-”

"Okay. Thank you very much." I
lifted my hand and shook my head. "None of you are allowed near Brody.
He's probably the town whore. He's got it written all over him. I've run into
him twice since getting here, and each time he's with a new woman."

"Maybe he's just not found the right
one?" Emily asked and gave me a pleading look.

"No. He's a whore." I moved back
as our burgers were delivered. It took everything inside of me not to look
around for him. His dark blue shirt fit him beautifully and accentuated his
green eyes and blond hair. As much as I wanted to not be interested, I couldn't
help the way my body reacted to his attention. He wasn't getting anything from
me. Not my attention, my time, or my lusty thoughts.

Yeah,
right.

"Do you think he has friends that
look like him?" Dedra stood up and looked around, showing her lack of
shame.

"Sit down. Jeez." I tugged her
back down and picked up my burger. "What's wrong with you guys? You know that
type of guy is everywhere. Are you seriously interested in a one-night stand?"

Cindy smirked. "With him? Yes."

"Me, too." Emily popped a french
fry into her mouth as she wagged her eyebrows.

I turned to look at Dedra, pleading with
her with my expression. "Come on, D."

"Oh, hell no." She shook her
head.

"Finally. Someone with sense in their
heads." I took a deep bite of my burger as she continued.

"No, I meant oh hell no to that look
you were giving me. I'd be one hundred percent in on this guy. I'd spread these
legs open wide and give it all up to him." She awarded me with a cheeky
grin as I groaned and chewed my mouthful.

The waitress appeared a few minutes later
and started to clean the table off.

"Hey, I know this is weird," I
reached out and touched her arm, "but, do you know that really good-looking
guy in the center of the room? Dark blue shirt, blond hair, impossibly
hot?"

"Now she says he's hot." Emily
scoffed.

I ignored her, keeping my attention on the
waitress as she glanced around.

"I think you're talking about
Brody." She smiled down at me.

"Yes, that's him." I glanced
around at my friends like 'see I told you so'. "Is he by chance the town
whore?"

"Cora. Shit." Dedra laughed and
leaned back in her chair.

"Town whore? No. He's the son of a
senator. He doesn't live here from what I understand." She shrugged.
"Those guys with him are his bodyguards."

I stood up, not willing to believe the
line of shit this girl was giving us. "Really?"

He glanced up and smiled, waving at me
like we were old friends. I lifted my eyebrow and shook my head before sitting
back down. What an asshole. Lying to this poor girl.

"That's what he said." She
shrugged. "Can I get you anything else before you go?"

"Just our check." I picked up a
pickle off my plate and popped it in my mouth as my friends started to talk
about how hot Brody was again.

"You guys should have seen him this
morning with his shirt off." Emily giggled. "I pulled my shirt off in
hopes of getting his attention."

I gave her a quick glare and hated how
badly I wanted to reach out and smack her. What was wrong with me? Why was I
trying to protect everyone from this handsome playboy? Half the reason we
decided on one last trip before starting our jobs in various places across the
country was to have one last fling.

Someone needed a fling with Brody. All of
my friends wanted it to be them, but I couldn't see them surviving him.

"What are you thinking about?" Emily
poked me.

"Nothing," I grumbled and
glanced back up at the server.

"Sorry, girls. Your tab has been
picked up by Brody." She smiled and shrugged. "Enjoy your night."

"What? No." I stood back up and
turned toward him as him and his
bodyguards
stood up. I mouthed, “no,” but he ignored me, blew me a kiss and turned to walk
out.

"Hey. It's okay." Cindy stood up
and touched my arm. "What's up with you? Did something happen that you're
not telling us about?"

"What? No." I pushed her hand
away and grabbed my purse. "I don't want him paying for our dinner."

"Oh, fuck," Emily muttered,
moving up beside me as I moved through the crowd.

"Hey." I caught up with them
about the time we got outside. The three guys with him turned before he did,
giving me a quick visual on what had to be his closest friends. We had the
brain, the brawn, and the cowboy. Of course, Brody would need to be the cocky
playboy.
Typical.
"Hey,
Brody."

He turned and slipped his hands into his
pockets as my friends moved up around me. "Ladies. You want a ride to the
party? We got Clay's truck. It would be fun to pile in the back and get to know
each other, no?"

"No," I barked as my friends all
yelled yes.

They started toward the truck, leaving me
standing there. I wasn't getting in the truck with him. It wasn't happening.

"Come on, Cora. Don't be odd man
out." Brody turned to me as he helped my friends climb in the truck.
"You can ride shotgun. Sit in my lap?"

"Fuck that." I shrugged and
turned to walk toward town. I was fine not having a ride. It was a short walk,
and it would prove a point.

What?
That you're being a prick?

A deep growl resounded behind me followed
by shoes hitting the pavement.

"Come on. Don't be like that."
Brody moved up beside me. "I'm not going to bite."

"Really? You look like a piranha to
me." I glanced over at him, hating how insanely good looking he was. That
I couldn't be attracted to someone for their personality first and then their
looks was aggravating.

"Do I really?" He nipped at the
air rapidly, looking ridiculous as we walked up a steep hill side by side.

I couldn't help but smile.

"Stop it." I swatted at him,
hitting him in the chest, and realizing how firm he was.
Great.

"Come on, Cora. You don't even know
me. Stop acting like you do." He reached out and grabbed my hand, jerking
me back before I walked into oncoming traffic.

I pulled my hand from his and let out a
soft sigh. "I know plenty of guys like you. You get used to recognizing
them when they're all you've dated."

"Awww, come on now. I'm a new face
and a new opportunity to have a little bit of fun." He started across the
road, keeping his hands to himself, which surprised me.

"Your definition of fun doesn't match
up to mine, at all." I kept my eyes on the people in front of us, not
willing to give him an inch.

"I highly doubt that." He
touched the small of my back as we hopped up on onto the sidewalk across the
street. It felt silly to slap him away, and within a second, his hand was off
of me.

The wind picked up and blew my hair about
as his cologne drove into me, leaving my heart racing.

No.
He's a total asshole. A user. Just like Brandon
.

That thought alone doused any desire I had
completely.

He cleared his throat. "I can see
you're not going to make this easy."

We stopped across the street from the
mansion, waiting on the light to turn.

"Make what easy?" I glanced over
at him. "Please do explain yourself."

He smirked. "Make getting to know you
easy."

"You don't need to know me, Brody.
I'm not your type of girl, nor are any of my friends. We respect ourselves more
than that." I shrugged and darted out through the traffic, hoping to lose
him. I wasn't interested in conversing with him for another minute. I was
strong in my resolve, but even I had a breaking point. If he batted his damn
eyelashes at me once, I would melt like butter.

He was far too sexy to chance it. I just
prayed that my friends would find his friends complete duds. The last thing I
needed was my girls wanting to hang out with his guys. That would leave me with
one thing to do: get to know him.

*

"What the fuck was that all
about?" Emily got in my face as I stood by the drink table in the center
of the large living room as the party raged around me.

"I don't want anything to do with
him, Emily. Is there some reason that you guys don't understand just how much
Brandon hurt me? He was a slut and a half, and this guy is no different."
I tried to keep my tone even, calm. There was no reason to feed into her anger.

"I get that, but leaving and walking
over here by yourself was dangerous. I tried to find you, but didn't see you
after you took off. You scared me." Her eyes filled with tears.
"Don't do that again. Got it?"

"Okay. I'm sorry." I reached out
and pulled her into a hug. "Don't be mad at me. I just don't need this guy
in my life. Not even for a summer fling."

She pulled back and wiped at her tears. I
needed to be more cognizant of her feelings. They'd lost her little sister a
few years back in a sporting event and never found her.

"Alright. I get it. Just don't run
off again. You're the only family I really claim." She gave me a tight
smile and glanced around. "Brody might be a player, but I'm not so sure
the rest of his friends are. They seem really nice. I'd let Clay take me out
sometime, but I'm not sure he's the kind to ask. He's quiet."

"I thought you liked Brody, that you
were the woman to teach him a lesson or two." I chuckled, forcing myself
to relax a little. The party was supposed to be fun. Brody wanting my attention
wasn't going to change that. He was like every other man in the world: ignore
him long enough and he would simply go away.

"He's got eyes only for you,
sister." She poured herself a glass of punch. "We sure this stuff
isn't spiked with drugs?"

"Nope." I downed mine and
glanced around, spotting Dedra and Cindy talking to Brody's friends. He was
nowhere to be seen, and though a little part of me felt guilty for being such a
class-A bitch to him, it was better that way. "Come over here and
introduce me to Clay. I want to make sure I'm good with him before you let him
sweep you off your feet."

I lifted my eyebrow as she rolled her
eyes. "Yeah, right. I'm not looking for anything long-term. Life is about
to change drastically for most of us."

"Not you." I rubbed her back as
we walked toward the group.

Dedra turned and put her arm over my
shoulders, tugging me against her and smiling down at me.

"Did you let that big bad hottie run
you off?" She smirked.

"I sure did." I extended my hand
to the shortest guy in the group, assuming he was Clay by the way Emily moved
over toward him. "I'm Cora."

"I'm Clay. This is Daniel and Derek.
Forgive us for being friends with Brody. It's an age old issue, but we love the
guy, nevertheless. He's like the black sheep of the group." Clay chuckled
and shrugged as the other guys smirked.

"Nice to meet you." I shook Derek's
hand and then Daniels. "I'm uber sensitive to bullshit, so forgive me for
running from his lines. I've heard them all before."

"So has half the country, but he's a
good guy." Daniel spoke up as he adjusted his glasses. "I'm going to
go get some fresh air. You wanna come? We can bash Brody together?"

I laughed and nodded. "Yeah, that
sounds good."

Daniel was a good foot taller than me and
beanpole thin. Not at all the kind of guy I'd have given a second look to, but
he was cute in his own way. His messy brown hair and spattering of freckles
across his cheeks and nose made him adorable.

"Where are you from?" He smiled
as we walked out on the patio and moved to the only corner that wasn't
occupied.

I leaned against the railing and smiled
over at him. "From just up the road. I just graduated from Arizona
State."

"Oh, nice. Me, too." He glanced
out at the yard and grew silent. He wasn't at all like his friend, Brody.
Looked like I was going to have to carry the conversation if we were going to
have one.