Thunder Canyon Homecoming (7 page)

“I told you—” she had to look away to break the hypnotic
effect of those espresso-colored eyes “—I'm not looking to get involved with anyone right now.”

“Yeah, you told me,” he agreed. “But your kisses say some thin' totally different, darlin'.”

“It was one kiss—and it never should have happened.”

“My mama might have raised me to be a gentleman,” he said, “but she also taught me to never back down from a challenge.”

“That wasn't a challenge,” she said.

“Wasn't it?”

“No,” she insisted vehemently, desperately. “It was a statement of fact.”

He smiled again. “We'll see about that, darlin'.”

“And stop calling me
darlin'
.”

“My apologies…Erin.”

The way he spoke her name made it sound more intimate than any words of passion that had ever been whispered between lovers in the dark. She fought the urge to shiver. She refused to give any outward indication of the effect of his nearness on her.

“And the reason I said ‘kisses' is because there will be more,” he told her.

“That's quite an assumption to make,” she said.

“I know.”

His lips curved, just a little, before they covered hers.

It was a gentle kiss this time—teasing, testing. As if, despite the previous kiss they'd shared, he was unsure what her response would be this time.

Erin had no doubts. She was sure that she could—
would
—resist.

Her certainty lasted all of about two seconds. Because in the moment that his mouth first brushed against hers, every thought of protest, every ounce of resistance, simply
melted away in response to the heat that churned through her body.

The sciences had never been her forte, but she did understand the basics of simple chemistry. And it didn't get much more basic than the rubbing of a man and a woman together resulting in physical attraction.

She knew there were exceptions to the rule. Trevor had been one of those exceptions. However, Corey was the poster boy for the rule. And in his arms, Erin was nothing more than a reactant.

She had no free will, no ability to control her own response where he was concerned, and no desire to be anywhere but in his arms.

Already the feel of his mouth on hers was familiar, his flavor addictive. She'd wanted this—wanted
him
—from the first, and the knowledge shook her. Or maybe it was the kiss that made her tremble.

S
he'd said their first kiss never should have happened, and maybe she was right about that. But at this point, Corey thought that attempting to deny the attraction between them would be like closing the barn door after the horse had gotten out. And the desire that raced through his veins reminded him of Lucifer racing across the field, sampling his taste of freedom. Heady and reckless and desperate for more.

He desperately wanted more of Erin.

All
of Erin.

He already knew how it would be between them, how she would feel, her naked body beneath his, moving against him, willing and eager. How she would wrap herself around him; how he would sink into her warmth and softness.

He could picture it clearly, and the details were so vivid and real, they made him ache.

But somewhere beneath the passion he tasted on her lips,
there was something else. Just a hint of uncertainty, a touch of wariness. He could make her forget all of her doubts. He could simply keep kissing her, touching her and enticing her to the point that her desire overwhelmed any lingering reluctance. But he knew that they would both have regrets if he did.

No, he wouldn't take her to bed until he was certain that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. So instead of letting his hands roam over her and touch her as he craved, he contented himself with holding her. Even when her arms lifted to link behind his head and her body softened against his, he held his own raging desire in check and continued to kiss her.

Just tasting.

Testing.

Tempting.

Except that he wasn't just tempting Erin, he was tempting himself, too. And because there was a definite limit to how much temptation he could endure, he gently eased away. Slowly. Reluctantly.

Her eyelids fluttered, opened, revealing beautiful blue eyes clouded with confusion.

He brushed his thumb over the curve of her bottom lip, moist and swollen from his kiss, and felt her tremble again. He dropped his hand, realizing he was venturing a little too close to the edge of his limits.

“I'll be seeing you again,” he promised.

And then, before he could forget his resolution not to take more than she was ready to give, he turned and walked away.

 

As Erin closed and locked the door at Corey's back, she was more confused than ever. And considering how
confused she was when she arrived in Montana, that was saying something.

She desperately wished she had someone to talk to about her feelings for Corey, but who?

Erika was probably the best friend she had in Thunder Canyon, but she was a newlywed who certainly didn't need to be troubled by her friend's romantic woes, not to mention that she was married to Corey's brother.

Haley was the first friend she'd made in town, but as a waitress, part-time student and volunteer counselor at ROOTS—an organization she'd founded to help troubled teens—Haley had more than enough on her plate. And on top of everything else, she was in the midst of her own romance with Marlon Cates.

Erin was pleased that her closest friends were blissfully in love. She wasn't so pleased that their happiness left her to figure out this situation with Corey on her own.

She really didn't want to get involved with him, but she had a feeling he was right—she was already involved. And now that she knew he was planning to stay in Thunder Canyon, at least for the short term, she would have to figure out how she was going to deal with him.

Sure, she could just continue to ignore the attraction she felt, but her attempts to deny the feelings he stirred inside of her had already proved futile. All he had to do was touch her and all of her resistance melted away. And when he kissed her…well, just the memory of his kisses, the masterful seduction of his mouth on hers, made her sigh.

She'd been attracted to other men before, and she'd had a few relationships in her twenty-five years. She'd also had her heart knocked around a few times, and that wasn't an experience she was eager to repeat. Of course, she'd been younger then and more naive, and she'd learned from her mistakes. She didn't lead with her heart anymore, she didn't
believe everything a man told her (and she was especially skeptical of declarations of affection made while naked), and she wasn't ever again going to stay in a relationship with someone because she didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him that there was no zing in the relationship—which is what had gone so wrong with Trevor.

Of course, lack of zing wasn't a problem with Corey. The problem was too much zing. So much zing, in fact, it was interfering with the normal, rational functioning of her brain.

What she needed to do, if she wanted to ensure that her hormones didn't overrule her head, was establish boundaries—and make sure that the man in question was aware of those boundaries. Because Corey Traub with his dark, bedroom eyes and slow, sexy smile and slower, sexier drawl was a cowboy who had undoubtedly left a trail of broken hearts all across Texas, and she had no intention of being his latest conquest. Even if the thought of being conquered by such a man held a certain undeniable appeal.

Which made her again consider that instead of ignoring the attraction, she should embrace it; instead of establishing boundaries, she should obliterate them. So long as they each knew what they wanted from the other, why shouldn't they enjoy being together?

Maybe it was foolish to think that she could indulge in a casual no-strings affair when she'd never done so before. Or maybe that was just another reason why she should go for it. When she'd made the trip to Thunder Canyon, she'd done so knowing that the journey would bring changes to her life. Meeting Corey had given her another opportunity to make another change.

She'd never known anyone like him—he was larger than life, a man strong enough for a woman to lean on, a man she wanted to be with. He didn't strike her as someone who
did anything by half measures, and she knew that if she ever made love with him, it would be a spectacular experience.

What worried her was the possibility that he would seduce not just her body but her heart, and that when he was gone she would be left with only memories of the time they'd spent together and her heart in pieces. Because he
would
go. She knew that. He had no more intention of staying in Thunder Canyon than she did—but she wasn't ready to pack up her bags just yet.

And although heading back to San Diego held a certain appeal, she knew she couldn't do it. She couldn't go back to her old life and pretend that everything was as it had always been. She'd come to Montana because she needed answers, and she wasn't going anywhere until she had them.

 

After another restless night, Erin got up Tuesday morning and readied herself for work as if it was any other day. Because her dreams had been mostly centered on Corey, she hadn't come up with any revelations about how to tell her boss about the possibility that he could be her brother. Instead, she decided to act as normal as possible, as if nothing had changed.

But she found herself making excuses to walk past his office, trying to catch a glimpse of him, trying to figure out if there was any familial resemblance between herself and her boss. She had two brothers, and she loved both Jake and Josh, but there was just something about Grant Clifton that had appealed to her from the start.

A man didn't rise to the position he was in without having a fair amount of drive and ambition, but he wasn't ruthless or hard. Her own experience had shown her that he was a fair and compassionate employer; according to his friends, he was loyal and steadfast; the love he obviously
shared with his wife of three years proved he was faithful and devoted; and when he talked about his mother and his sister, he demonstrated that he had a strong sense of family.

Was it possible that she might be part of his family? If so, would he grow to care about her as he obviously cared about Elise? Of course, if it turned out that Erin was his sister, it would mean that Elise was not.

How would he deal with that revelation? Would he resent Erin for bringing it to light? Or would he accept that she was as much a victim of circumstances as everyone else?

“Is everything okay?”

Erin realized that she'd been standing in front of the reservation computer for several minutes without inputting any data. She looked up at Carrie and managed to smile. “Sorry. I don't know where my mind is today.”

“I think I know,” her coworker teased, nodding her head in the direction of the counter.

Glancing past her, Erin saw Corey standing there, and her heart gave that all-too familiar jolt.

“What's he doing here?”

“Looking for you,” Carrie told her. “And honey, if you're not interested, feel free to give him my number.”

Erin felt her cheeks flush as she moved past her coworker to the counter.

“Are you here to see if I was playing hooky today?” she asked him.

“Nope. Just to see you.”

“Any particular reason?”

“You were on my mind. In fact, you've been on my mind since I left your house last night, a detail that did not go unnoticed by my associates at the meetings I had this morning.”

She wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she remained silent.

“This is where you could say that you've been thinking about me, too,” he prompted.

She didn't think his ego needed the boost of hearing the words, even if they were true. But she folded her arms on the counter and dropped her voice, as if making a confession. “What if I tell you that, as I drove to work this morning, I was thinking about playing hooky again because it's much too beautiful a day to be cooped up inside?”

He leaned closer, so their faces were only inches apart. “Did you think about playing hooky again with me?”

“A girl has to have a few secrets,” she teased.

“Something tells me you have more than a few.”

It was an effort to keep her smile in place as his words struck a chord. He was right. She had more secrets than anyone in Thunder Canyon knew, more than anyone would possibly guess. And the longer she stayed, continuing to perpetuate the myth that she was just a California transplant looking for a change of pace, the guiltier she felt. She'd made friends with the people in town, listened to their confessions and hopes and dreams.

But she hadn't told a single one of them her real reason for coming to Thunder Canyon. Not even Erika, who had chosen Erin to be the maid of honor at her wedding. And now Erika was married to Dillon, and Erin was fighting her attraction to Dillon's brother, who happened to be good friends with Grant Clifton, who might be Erin's brother. There were too many strings connecting all the players in the drama of her life, and they were getting all tangled up.

She'd been dishonest with so many people. Even if she wasn't guilty of telling lies, she certainly hadn't volunteered the complete truth. And she couldn't help but wonder what
they would think of her when they found out. Would the people who had become her friends understand why she'd been silent about her true purpose for coming to Thunder Canyon? Or would the truth cost her those new but treasured friendships?

Her mother tried to instill in all of her kids the importance of being honest. If you tell the truth, she'd pointed out to them, you won't ever forget what you said. Erin understood the importance of the message and she'd tried to live her life accordingly. That had changed when she came to Thunder Canyon.

No, she admitted to herself, it had changed when she'd said that she was quitting her job in San Diego because she felt as if her life had stagnated since graduation and she wanted to explore some other opportunities. Her parents had been supportive—or tried to be. They'd also been hurt by her decision, but not as hurt as she knew they would be if she'd told him she was going to look for a family that Erma had told her was in Montana.

And that one little lie had led to more little lies. Since coming to Thunder Canyon, however, she'd been guilty of so many deceptions and half-truths she wasn't sure she could even remember them all. And she feared that those half-truths were going to come back to haunt her.

Maybe she'd believed they were necessary. Maybe she still did. She couldn't imagine how the tightly knit community would have responded if she'd slapped the newspaper clipping down on a table at The Hitching Post the first day she'd arrived in town and proclaimed that she was related to some or all of the persons in the photo.

Instead, she'd taken a more subtle approach. She'd gotten to know the residents of Thunder Canyon and asked some discreet questions about the families in that faded picture. Unfortunately, the responses she'd received to those
inquiries had told her little. And although there was no shortage of skeletons in the closets of the residents of Thunder Canyon, she hadn't heard any murmurs about anyone losing a baby more than twenty-five years earlier.

And then, by sheer luck, she happened to be nearby when Grant Clifton pulled a picture of his sister out of his wallet. Coincidentally, that sister was born on the same day in the same hospital as Erin, and she had some similar features to each of Erin's brothers.

But Erin still didn't know what to do now, how to verify her suspicion that someone at the hospital had somehow mixed up those two babies.

A hand waving in front of her face jolted her out of her reverie. She looked apologetically at Corey. “Sorry.”

“Are you sure you don't want to talk about it, darlin'?”

She could hardly deny that her mind had been wandering again, so she only shook her head. “No, I'm not sure. But it's not something I can talk about. Not right now.”

“Will you keep me in mind, when you can?”

She wouldn't have blamed him for feeling dissed by her lack of attention, but he seemed more concerned than offended, and she was touched by his offer. “I will,” she promised. “Thanks.”