Battling the Best Man: A Harmony Falls Novel, Book 2 (Crimson Romance) (11 page)

Neither one of them had breathed a word of it since. With her phone in one hand and wine in the other, Kory went so far as to bring up his contact information. She drank as the dogs barked in the distance and she stared at the name and number, trying to decide exactly what she should do.

Eventually, exhaustion from the busy day fueled by wine set in, and she closed her eyes instead.

• • •

Will blinked at the lighted screen. He couldn’t say the caller’s name surprised him—he figured Kory would have something to say about the beds—but he was disappointed she resorted to calling instead of paying him another unannounced visit. He wanted to see her again.

“Hello,” he said.

Dogs barked in the distance and shuffling sounded on the other end, but no words returned his greeting.

“Kory? Hello?”

Nothing but more muffled sounds.
Butt dial
, he thought, hanging up, oddly satisfied by the idea of her butt picking him. But then another less satisfying thought hit him. What if it wasn’t a butt dial? What if something was wrong? He’d left the nursing home ten minutes ago, and her mother had been there. If something was wrong, Kory was facing it alone.

Will called her back.

When she didn’t answer, he decided a perfect gentleman would stop by her house and make sure she was okay. Never mind her house was five miles away and in the opposite direction from his. Never mind the inner voice accused him of using this as an excuse to see her again.

By the time his Mercedes was dodging potholes on the dirt road leading to Kory’s house, he had himself thoroughly convinced this was the rational, chivalrous thing to do.

Lights on. That’s a good sign,
he thought as he pulled down the long drive.

For some reason, he shrugged out of his jacket and draped it across the passenger seat before stretching out of the car. Humid night air stuck to his skin as he walked the pavers to the porch. He loosened his tie.

Perfect gentleman
, he reminded as his knuckles met a pane of frosted glass on the wood front door.

The dog’s barked, the sound getting closer, but still muffled by the door, and then a long, lean shadow flickered on the other side of glass.

Kory opened the door slowly, revealing just her hand around one dog’s neck first, and then her emerald eyes peaked around the edge. They widened as her brows lifted, and she pulled the door back. “Smith and Wesson, lay down.”

Will glanced at the dogs trotting from her side, and then gave her a full-body appraisal. “I see you’re okay,” he said, desperately trying to stick to the chivalry plan. It wasn’t easy. Tiny straps of a pale yellow, breast-hugging tank top bit into the curves of her shoulders, and a flimsy pair of plaid boxer shorts revealed miles of buttery leg. The vision sapped the chivalry right out of him.

“Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”

At the sound of her voice, he dragged his attention away from her body and back to her face. “You called me, but when I answered no one was there. I called back, but you didn’t answer. I didn’t know what to think.”

“So you drove all the way over here?”

“Yes.”

She rolled her green-eyed gaze to the porch ceiling and exhaled through pouty lips. “My call was a mistake. I didn’t answer when you called back, because I wasn’t ready to talk to you.”

She was always the straight shooter. He nodded. What could he say to that? Silence was the best option if he wanted to remain the perfect gentleman.

“But, since you’re here,” she continued. “We should talk about the beds.”

There was an “s” on the end of the word. He knew exactly which beds she was talking about, and yet the orb of immaturity masquerading as his brain wanted to talk about one bed in particular—the bed they could share.

“What about the beds?” he managed, stressing the “s.”

She squinted, looking at him funny for a minute. “Did you buy them with your own money?”

“Yes, I did. You needed beds, didn’t you?”

“I did, but I figured the purchase would be made through the business somehow. Fran says either I guilted you into it or you did it as a
personal
favor.”

“You didn’t guilt me into anything.”

“So it was a
personal
favor?”

Sort of, but he needed her to succeed, too, and his mother wasn’t going to approve of company money to help either of them.

Will exhaled, and for the first time in his life where Kory Flemming was concerned, he put it all out there in the simplest terms. “Yes, it was a personal favor. My mother refused additional company money for the nursing home. What was I supposed to do? You needed beds, so I bought them for you, and I believe with them you will succeed.”

Her face softened, her lips parted, and a blast of heat nearly knocked him off his feet. He reached for words to anchor him in the spot where he stood, because he was seconds away from wrapping her up in his arms and pushing inside in search of a bed of the non-hospital variety.

“That’s an expensive vote of confidence,” she said, her brows slipping beneath her bangs.

“You’re more than worth it.” He stepped forward, just a half inch, really, but damn it if he didn’t know he was about to screw things up. It didn’t matter. He stepped forward again.

Kory shook her head. “This is a bad idea, Will.”

“I’ve had a lot of them lately.”

“Me, too,” she said, exhaling, reaching out to graze his red tie with her bare fingertips.

It was so hesitant, so innocent, that it broke him. He grabbed her wrist as she grabbed his tie, and they collided just inside the open door. Their lips pressed together, and he watched from the awkward angle as her eyelids fluttered and closed.

This really was crazy, wasn’t it? Better take advantage of the lack of sanity while it lasted.

He opened his mouth and welcomed her in as he reached behind him with his foot, hooking it around the edge of the door and kicking it shut.

“My mom will be home at nine. Like clockwork.” Her lips slipped and nipped at his, while her heavy, wine-scented breath warmed him.

When was the last time he had to worry about a parent walking in on him? Something about that turned him on full blast, and every inch of him went hot and hard. He let go of her wrist and slid his hand around her waist to the small of her back where he dipped fingers beneath the elastic of her shorts. With his other hand, he reached up and yanked open his tie.

She had him shirtless in seconds, clawing his pecs and then her hands were on his shoulders, pulling him along as she walked them backward.

To the couch
, he thought when he opened his eyes for a quick look. But then her hands were on his face, and her tongue was deep inside his mouth and the consummate planner in him didn’t care where they were headed, as long as it ended up with them both naked.

He gripped the hem of her tank top and lifted it over her breasts, sliding his palms over the hardened points, letting the weight of her fill his hands. Blood rocketed through his veins, leaving a blazing trail in its wake.

She finished the job of removing her shirt, lifting it over her head and tossing it to the floor. “This can’t mean anything, Will. We already have enough to worry about without adding relationship overtones to the mix. It’s just sex.”

Fine with him, but he couldn’t help adding a, “What if I’m really good?” He rolled her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, reveling at the heavy-lidded look on her face.

She shuddered. “Then it was a really good nothing. Now shut up before I change my mind.” She dropped to the couch, pulling him along for the ride.

This was one time he wouldn’t argue. He’d keep his mouth damn good and busy to make sure of that.

It had been a while.
That’s how she rationalized her current position—flat on her back with Will Mitchell, the man who was now signing her paychecks, sucking her breast. She knew enough about human sexuality to know gaps in intimacy could lead some people to desperation. And she’d had gaps. Big gaps. Because sex wasn’t a high priority on her achievement list.

He flicked his tongue across her nipple while his fingers dipped between her legs.

Kory moaned.
Yep, desperate.
But at this point, why fight it? She was long overdue for an orgasm by someone else’s hand.

Letting go of thought, she drifted in a fog of pleasure, bombarded by sensation until she gripped him by his soft black hair to keep from floating away.

Orgasm pulled a guttural noise from her throat, and she lay tingling beneath him while he tugged her shorts from her hips.

“How much do you want to bet I can make you come again?” he asked in between kisses to her belly.

Kory’s eyes snapped open, and she lifted her head off the cushion to look at him. “You are not going to make this a competition are you?”

He smiled, dragging his mouth lower. “What if I did?”

She laughed, but when his mouth hit the still-warm spot between her legs, there wasn’t anything funny about it. She’d never had back-to-back orgasms. She wasn’t sure she was capable of it. Nobody else had ever tried. Biting into her bottom lip and writhing beneath the pressure from his tongue, she figured it was just like Will Mitchell to be the overachiever.

“What kind of bet is this?” Her voice raised an octave when his finger slipped inside of her. “Am I really supposed to bet against you?”

He glanced up at her, eyes dark. “Seems foolish,” he said with a wicked grin.

It did. She returned her head to the pillow, running a hand through his hair in surrender. This was one time she wasn’t going to mind losing.

The second orgasm took longer than the first, but that only made it stronger.

Will crawled over her, planting kisses on the path until he reached her mouth and plundered her. When he finally pulled back enough that she could look him in the eye, he was smiling. “I win.”

Kory smiled back. “Believe me. I’m more than happy to concede.”

He kissed her neck and stroked her inner thighs, skirting the throbbing center. “I wonder…”

Kory shook her head. “No. There is no way it will happen again.”

He looked at her, brows bobbing. “I love it when somebody tells me ‘no way.’ It’s the ultimate challenge.”

“Will,” she shook her head again as she worked to free him from his pants. “We’re running out of time. Nine o’clock sharp. Remember?”

A groan caught in his throat when she reached down and took him in hand.

“I’d like things between us to be reasonably fair.” She grinned as she stroked. “I mean, you can say you won all you want, but as it stands the score is 2-0 me.” She hit the “oh” a little hard and breathy. “Seems like you’re losing.”

He captured her mouth with his.

Seconds later, he was inside her, rocking them gently as he sucked a path from her ear to her breast. She wrapped her legs around him, urging him deeper, feeling her control slipping. Incredulously, she contracted again.
Residual spasm from the last orgasm
, she thought. There was no way she’d had three orgasms in such close succession. It was biologically impossible. Wasn’t it?

Will lifted his head and looked at her, long and hard while his thrusts became more frantic.

She expected some sort of braggadocios commentary, waited for it, but the words never came, just a flash of something that momentarily, irrationally frightened her, and then his mouth was on hers again.

This is nothing
, she reminded herself.

But suddenly she wasn’t so sure.

• • •

Will blocked a gush of ridiculous words by kissing her. He concentrated on the tangle of tongues and the wetness between her legs. The ache in his groin. The hammering in his chest. But the words circled his mind. It wasn’t
nothing
like she’d proclaimed it—maybe for her, but not for him. For him it was something, something he couldn’t name, but something more than impromptu sex on her parent’s couch followed by indifference the next day.

Whatever this was or wasn’t, it wouldn’t be the end of them.

Those were the words fresh in his head as he drove inside of her. Eventually, there were no more thoughts. Just the sounds of two people pushing each other to the edge. Closer and closer. With each thrust of their hips. And then he was there. Coming undone. Breathing heavy against her ear. She engulfed him with the sweet smell of her hair and the warm cushion of her body. She shuddered beneath, offering a happy sigh.

“That was the best damn
nothing
I’ve ever had,” he whispered.

“Same here.” She raked gentle fingertips over his back.

“I guess 2-1 isn’t a terrible score.”

“3-1,” she corrected. “It was faint, but it was there.”

He lifted his face from her neck. “Damn, I’m good.”

“Maybe I’m just sensitive to orgasm.”

“Maybe you’re just sensitive to me.”

She smiled. “I don’t know about that, but what I do know is you’re two orgasms behind.”

He laughed. “Then I better catch up.” Thank God, they’d finally found a healthy release for all the competitiveness.

“Not tonight, Romeo. My mom. Seriously.”

Will kissed the dip at the base of her neck. “You’re going to have to see me again, Dr. Flemming…so we can even things up a bit. After all, you said you wanted things fair.”

“This is crazy, Will. I’ve already been accused of using
personal favors
to land a job and more beds for the facility, beds that will not make your mother happy. What would people think if they knew about this?”

She was right. Being publicly, personally involved with Kory certainly wouldn’t earn him praise from his mother, and it could mean more aggravation for Kory from the nursing home staff. But what good was power if you couldn’t wield it once and awhile?

He pushed off of her. “As long as I’m still signing paychecks and making reasonably smart business decisions, I don’t care what people think.”

He certainly wasn’t going to let that stop him from seeing her.

• • •

Kory pushed a wheelchair behind her father who was walking slowly, painfully with help from Ben, his physical therapist, and a hemi-walker. “You’re doing great, Dad,” she said, because after almost two weeks in the nursing home it was progress to see him up and around. But thank God he couldn’t see her furrowing brow.