With Strings Attached (8 page)

The answering curve of her lips rewarded him.

“Sounds perfect,” she agreed.

Dylan shared a concerned glance with Matt as they followed Corey out of her apartment.

“You make chocolate bunnies for Easter?” Dylan asked her once they were inside Matt’s vehicle, and was again rewarded with her laugh.

“No,” she said. “That’s not my thing.”

“I guess not chocolate Santas either then.”

“No. No chocolate Santas. I do quite well at Valentine’s Day, though.”

“Ah. And do you triple your prices at Valentines’ Day, like the flower shops, so as to take advantage of poor guys who don’t have a clue what to get their girlfriends other than roses and chocolate?”

Another peal of laughter that was like music to his senses. It made him feel good that he could make her laugh, cheer her up. “No, I don’t. My prices are pretty high to begin with.”

“No shit! Thirty dollars for that little box. That’s robbery!” He kept his tone teasing, though.

“But it’s worth it, don’t you think?”

He grinned at her over his shoulder, him in the front passenger seat with his leg stretched out, her in the back. “Yeah, totally. I would’ve scarfed them all down if you hadn’t warned me to slow down and ‘savor’ them.” He dragged the word out to emphasize it.

“You have a sweet tooth?”

“You could say that. I like sweet things.” He winked at her and her smile went crooked and sexy.

“I’ll bet you do,” she murmured.

“Seriously, I gotta say, they didn’t taste like any other chocolate I’ve ever had. It really was incredible.”

“She won an award last year in some prestigious chocolate competition,” Matt said.

“Awesome. I consider myself fortunate to have tasted the wondrous offerings of chocolatier Corey Fenwick.”

“You should,” she said. “And more people could, too, if only I could open a store.”

“What’s stopping you?”

She held out her hand where he could see it and rubbed thumb and fingers together.

“Ah. Gotcha.”

“I’m saving up,” she said. “I just need to find the right place at the right price. Pretty soon, I hope. Except my stupid car keeps breaking down.” She sighed.

“I’ll fix it tomorrow, Corey, it won’t cost much,” Matt said.

She nodded, that faintly glum set to her mouth returning, and Dylan hated that she’d remembered her busted-down car. He kept talking and making jokes until they got to Matt’s place. They sat outside on the wooden deck behind the house, overlooking Matt’s small backyard. A weathered wooden fence separated his place from the neighbors on either side. On one side, the neighboring home was a big two-story house; on the other, a smaller two-story with an open veranda with surfboards propped against the railing. That made Dylan heave a sigh of regret as he lowered himself into a comfy chair.

“You okay?” Corey asked.

“Yeah.” He jerked his head toward the neighboring house. “Seeing those boards made me feel a little bummed.”

“Ah.” She nodded and took the seat next to him. Matt appeared with three beer bottles clasped in his hands and she took two, handing one to Dylan. “You miss surfing, don’t you?”

“Hell, yeah.” Though he had to admit, worrying about Corey had taken his mind off his own troubles. At least for a while. It kinda felt good to have someone else to care about. Not that he was selfish. Okay, maybe he was. A bit. It was just that he was focused on his goal. Single-minded. He didn’t have time for relationships and getting all involved in other people’s lives.

But being there with Matt and Corey and caring about their problems and feeling their empathy for him was strangely easy. It fit, like a perfect wetsuit. Snug, warm and protective.

Jesus, his busted foot was making him all sappy. He focused back on Matt and Corey and their debate about what to do with the steaks.

Matt was heading back into the house when he noticed Mrs. Kedding next door wrestling with the tap on the side of her house.

“Hey, Mrs. Kedding. Need some help there?”

She looked up, her white hair standing up on end around her head, her face red. “Fecking tap is stuck shut.”

Matt hid his grin and vaulted over the wood fence between their yards. “Let me try.”

Yep, the tap was good and stuck.

“I’ll get a wrench,” he said. “Be right back.”

In his garage he found what he needed. He returned to the deck where Corey and Dylan sat all cozy, drinking beers and munching chips. “Hey, guys, I’ll be right back. Gotta help my neighbor with something.”

They basically ignored him, so he shrugged and jumped back over the fence, quicker than walking around and using the gate. He smiled at Mrs. Kedding and held up the wrench. “Here we go.”

He fought with the outdoor tap and finally got it loose and turned the water on. “It’s kind of rusted,” he said. “Might need a new tap. But in the meantime let me spray some lube…er, I mean lubricant on it.”

He caught Mrs. Kedding’s little grin and with a hot face he returned to his garage to find the WD-40. Jesus. The old lady was no prude, as he well knew, even though she was in her eighties.

He got her all fixed up and got the hose going so she could water her flowers. “Thank you, Matt,” she said. “You’re such a good neighbor. What would I do without you?”

He grinned. “Not a problem, Mrs. K. You know to call if you need anything.” The old girl lived on her own, like his mom except thirty years older, and she too insisted on staying in that big house alone. Ha, next thing he knew, Mrs. K. would have a boyfriend too.

Back on the deck, his friends were now sitting even closer together, Corey’s chair pulled up to Dylan’s, and she was leaning into him and laughing at something he’d said.

“Surfboards’ curves never sag,” Dylan said, and she laughed harder.

“What?” Matt asked, picking up his beer from the small table where he’d set it.

“I’m telling Corey why surfboards are better than women.”

Matt grinned.

“Surfboards don’t get pregnant,” Dylan continued. He took a pull on his beer. “And you can ride a surfboard any time of the month.”

Corey groaned and fell back into the cushioned chair. “Omigod.”

The guys clinked their bottles together, and Matt sat on the arm of Corey’s chair and nudged her. She was a good sport. Hanging out with the guys and telling dirty jokes never fazed her.

“What were you doing over there?” she asked, smiling up at him. The sun gilded her hair around her face and shoulders into a golden halo and highlighted her golden eyelashes and the light freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks. Her green eyes glowed.

“Helping Mrs. Kedding. Her tap was stuck.”

“He helps his mom, he helps his sister, he even helps his neighbor,” Dylan said with a faintly mocking tone in his voice. He saluted Matt with his beer bottle. “Cheers, Matt.”

Matt repressed a sigh. Yeah, yeah, he was a good guy. A nice guy. He was getting kind of sick of hearing that.

“Were you helping your mom today, Matt?” Corey asked.

“Yesterday,” he muttered. “And not exactly.”

“Did you go see your sister too?”

“Yeah. Jenna. Did some stuff for her. Played with the kids a bit.”

“She probably had a list a mile long of things for you to do.”

“No, she didn’t.”

Corey thought Jenna took advantage of him. He tried to tell Corey how overwhelming it was with two kids and no husband around most of the time, but she, being so stubbornly independent, didn’t get it.

“What about your younger sister?” Dylan asked. “She still in town?”

“She’s back. She was off travelling for a while.” He grimaced. “Who knows what she was doing? Apparently she worked in coffee shops wherever she went.” He rose from the chair. “Hey, I’m gonna put the rub on the steaks. Come help me.”

Corey rose too and followed him into his kitchen through the open French doors. “I want the biggest steak,” she said.

Matt laughed. “As if.” He unwrapped the meat in its butcher paper. “Grab the oil and that brush there.”

“Seriously. I’m hungry tonight.”

“They’re all the same size. See?”

“What happened at your mom’s place? You sounded mad.”

“Oh, hell.” He let out a groan. “I caught her in bed with a man.”

“What?” Corey dropped the brush and stared at him openmouthed. “You’re shitting me!”

“I shit you not. She’s been dating this guy for a little while apparently. Jesus. I walked in on them.”

“Into the bedroom?” Her shocked tone made him smile.

“No. Not like that. But I did interrupt them.”

“Wow. That’s…amazing.”

“Yeah. You could say.”

She studied him as he reached for the small brush she’d dropped. “You okay with it?”

“Doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“Aw.” She slid her arms around his waist and hugged him as he brushed oil over the steaks. “It’s okay.”

He smiled, a hot softness in his chest. “Yeah. I know.” He kissed the top of her silky head.

“I thought you were cooking in here,” Dylan drawled, hopping into the kitchen on his crutches. “But I didn’t think you were cooking
that
way.”

Matt waited for Corey to jump away from him, but she didn’t, just shifted behind him and laid her cheek on his back and hugged his waist tighter. Damn, it felt good, her breasts pressed to his back, her hands on his abs. He got a little hard from it. And it felt good, too, that she didn’t mind Dylan seeing them like that.

“Cooking up a storm,” she said lightly, and then she released him and moved away.

“Hey, I need a hug too,” Dylan complained. “I’m the one with the busted foot.”

Corey laughed, but she moved across the kitchen and hugged him too, and Matt glanced sideways at them, watching Dylan lean a crutch against the counter so he could wrap one arm around Corey’s slender body and pull her close. Seeing her being held by another guy like that was…hot. His dick swelled a little more behind the fly of his cargo shorts. Annoying too. But hot.

“You guys are the best,” she said, and Matt remembered her own family shocker earlier that day and knew Dylan had been trying to distract her by flirting and joking around. Maybe that was what she needed.

“Hey, if you guys are going to hang out in here, you can help.” He got Corey scrubbing the little potatoes he’d bought at the market and Dylan cutting up the vegetables he’d already washed.

Dylan held up a baby yellow zucchini, not much bigger than his thumb. “Hey, you know what this reminds me of?”

The wicked gleam in his eye told Matt exactly where the asshole was going with that, but Corey turned and said, “What?”

“Matt’s dick.”

“Oh har,” Matt said. “Very funny.”

Corey snorted though. “As if.” She moved over to the counter where Dylan sat on a stool, and picked up a large green zucchini. Really large. “I’d say more like this.”

Matt grinned and nodded. Dylan laughed. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot you two are
friends with benefits
. Of course you’d know all about that.”

“You must have been thinking of your own junk,” Matt said, nodding at the tiny squash.

Corey laughed again and so did Dylan. “Bullshit.”

“I can’t believe we’re talking about the size of your man parts,” she said, reaching for a towel to dry her hands, the potatoes all scrubbed and in a pot. “Men. You guys are all so insecure about your size.”

“I’m not insecure,” Dylan protested.

“Sure,” she said with patent patronization. “Uh-huh. The more you protest…”

“Hey. You want me to whip it out right here?”

“I dare you.”

Matt held up a hand. “Stop! Not in the kitchen, for God’s sake.”

But damn, sexual tension shimmered in the air. He was suddenly achingly aware of the size of his dick, which had grown again, and from the sparks flying, he sensed Dylan was probably equally aware of his own. And Corey standing there in her little plaid shorts with long bare legs tanned a smooth golden brown, her snug T-shirt with the glittery pink rose on the front hugging her firm breasts, hard little nipples sticking out, didn’t help. At all. He met Corey’s eyes and saw the heat there too. He wanted to jump her bones, right there, right then, and if Dylan hadn’t been there, he knew he and Corey would be running to the bedroom.

He took a quick shallow breath and let it out, glanced at Dylan, who was staring at Corey with hungry eyes. Fuck.

They both wanted her.

Chapter Five

Corey felt that deep tugging ache of sexual arousal low inside her. With all the flirting and teasing and dirty talk, it was no wonder. But the fact that it was
two
hot guys doing the flirting made it even hotter. Sure, she and Matt had discovered a surprising sexual chemistry, but oh wow, Dylan was hot too, so sexy and charming and wicked. She eyed him sitting there, all big muscles and darkly tanned skin, the heat in his light gray eyes unmistakable. Her nipples tingled and tightened even more.