EMMETT (The Corbin Brothers Book 3) (6 page)

It was an accurate description, as much as I was trying not to. I understood all too well what Avery and Peyton’s association might’ve been at the bar. My brother hadn’t been a married man for very long, and I understood that there had been a rough patch, right after the wedding itself, that he’d spent in town, bellied up to the bar, trying to forget about Paisley Summers entirely. Still, though. Why did I hate this development in particular? It made me feel like I was in danger of losing breakfast, and Zoe had worked hard on those made-to-order omelets. I refused to let those go to waste.

Avery raised his eyebrow again at me as I stood in the open doorway to the trailer. “More to you than meets the eye, Emmett,” he said.

“See you around, Avery Corbin,” Peyton said, amused at the two of us, and he climbed in his truck and left, checking, I was sure, in his rearview to see if he could catch anything inappropriate happening between Peyton and me. I hadn’t given him an explanation as to why I was meeting with Peyton at the trailer, and he hadn’t asked. What did he assume? That I’d called her here to have sex with her? That we were colluding against our families to carve out a business of our own? I honestly couldn’t figure out which possibility worried me the most.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, wondering when my stomach would stop lurching. Would it have to wait until the dust Avery’s truck raised driving away settled again? Until a week passed without any of my brothers mentioning anything to me about Peyton Crow and my intentions with her?

“Emmett?” I looked at her, at the hand balanced on her hip, the other one working its way through her long, dark hair, ruffling it before tossing it over her shoulder. “Relax.”

“I really didn’t know he was going to be here,” I babbled, well aware that I already sounded like an idiot and was just digging myself a deeper hole to languish in. “He’s usually on the other side of the ranch. He married Paisley Summers, after all. He’s never over here.”

“I really, really don’t care,” Peyton said, walking over and giving me a perfunctory kiss on the cheek. It was stupid of me, but that kiss was disappointed. It was possibly even less friendly than the hug she’d shared with my brother. Even as I thought that, I cringed at my own idiocy. Peyton wasn’t here for pleasure. It was purely business, purely horses.

“I just hope it’s not, um, awkward for you,” I said, showing her into the trailer and instantly regretting its inherent shabbiness. We should’ve met somewhere else — the house, maybe, or a little restaurant in town, or Peyton’s place. I realized that last option probably wasn’t viable. I imagined she stayed on her father’s property somewhere, and I couldn’t imagine it would end well for either of us if he found out we were meeting to talk about horsing operations — or anything else, for that matter. I just regretted this “bachelor pad” of a meeting spot. It didn’t feel appropriate, somehow, even if it was relatively private.

“I think it’s turning out to be more awkward for you than it could ever be for me,” Peyton said, ducking into the trailer. “Hey, this is nice.”

“I … it’s not awkward for me,” I said. “I just … I guess I didn’t know that you and Avery … knew each other.”

Peyton let her purse drop onto the bed. “Emmett, everyone in this town knows each other. It’s that kind of town, in case you missed it. Super small. Not very many people. Now, shut that door. You’re letting all the cold air out.”

I let the door close with no small amount of trepidation. “But you all seemed kind of friendly.”

“He was a regular at that bar before his wife snatched him up,” Peyton said with a shrug. “We saw each other there all the time. And he was a year behind me in school. We know each other. No reason not to be friendly.”

“Sure,” I said, not buying it. I didn’t buy a single word. “Whatever you say.”

“Oh my God, Emmett.” Her mouth dropped open and she openly gawked at me. “Are you serious right now?”

“I just can’t really cope with this, in this moment,” I decided out loud.

“I just told you that nothing happened between us,” she said. “Should I go into more detail? Do you want to ask him yourself?”

“I’m just surprised, that’s all,” I said. “Let’s talk about horses.”

“No. Uh-uh.” Peyton crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not talking business until we get this shit aired out.”

“There’s nothing to air out.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” she said, not the first one to tell me that. “I never slept with your brother. You know why?”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to know why.”

“Yes, you do. You want to know and I’m going to tell you.” Peyton leaned close, her eyes narrowed. “Because girls threw themselves at him. He’s never paid for pussy in his entire life because pussy falls into his lap. All the time.”

“Didn’t want to hear this,” I chanted, wondering if it would be too childish to stuff my fingers in my ears to ward off any more of my brother’s sexual history before it wormed its way into my mind for the rest of my life. Avery had always been pretty outgoing, but I didn’t need to know that he was a … pussy magnet, for lack of a better description.

“I saw him at the bar all the time,” Peyton said. “After his marriage, too, which was weird.”

“There was some stuff to work out between him and Paisley,” I said diplomatically.

“I don’t care,” she said. “Girls still threw themselves at him, but he wasn’t the same. He didn’t hit them up. I gave him a ride back to his house a couple times when I realized he’d probably kill himself or someone else if he tried to drive. He was passed out completely both times. And that is the extent of my sordid past with your brother, Avery.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. “What about Hunter? Tucker? Chance?”

“You’re shitting me.”

“Okay, you’re right. I am.”

“Except that you’re not.” Peyton pushed her hair out of her face. “You really need to know that I haven’t fucked any of your brothers.”

“It’s not like that.”

“It is like that.” She looked angry, and I regretted that I’d made her feel like that with my pettiness. “Should I quiz you about your previous sexual partners? Should I demand to know who, out of this entire town, you’ve stuck your dick in that I might talk to on a daily basis or cross paths with every so often? Do you see the difference here? The double standard?”

“I get it.”

“You get it. And yet you’re still asking me. You’re still dying to know.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “This is weird for me and not fair to you. I get it. I’m really sorry. If I knew how to stop, to say the right thing, I’d want to be doing that right now instead of babbling at you. Maybe let’s put a pin in it, save it for another time.”

“Oh, hell no,” Peyton said, putting her finger in my face, against my lips to keep me from talking. “I did not drive all the way out to your huge fucking ranch for my job to get in the way of a business meeting about a project we’re both excited about. Hell no. We’re having this meeting.”

“If you insist,” I said meekly.

“Good,” she said, her temper still hot enough to burn. “I think we should start small, with only you and me, testing the waters before we hire anyone else to help us with the operation. Agreed?”

“Just — just you and me,” I stuttered. “Agreed. Sounds good.”

“Jesus,” she muttered after studying me for a few beats. “Okay. Okay. I have a solution. This is going to make everything better. Ready? Are you ready for a remedy? A true resolution to this problem?”

“Okay,” I said uncertainly, trailing off.

“Turn around.” She pointed her finger down and spun it in an exaggerated circle. “Go on. Turn around if you want your solution. Close your eyes. Don’t open them until I tell you to.”

I waited a full breath until complying, wondering what miracle she had in mind that would put my fears and insecurities at ease. There wasn’t a damn thing I could think of doing to assuage my doubts. Peyton was capable of lying, and so was Avery. I didn’t think I would ever believe anything either of them tried to tell me about what had happened between them back in Avery’s crazy days. Did Paisley even know?

At the same time, I could easily recognize the ugliness inside of myself, just like Peyton had pointed out. It wasn’t fair for me to judge her in this manner. There were probably many more people I’d be more shocked at her sleeping with than one of my brothers. And yet that was ugly, too, judging her for it. She was right. It was her job. And I was letting her job get in the way of the horse rehab project.

At least, I was letting it get in the way of the business meeting we were supposed to be conducting right now.

“Okay,” she said. “Open your eyes. Turn around.”

I turned around slowly, and Peyton was standing in front of me, completely naked. My mouth dropped open immediately. I knew a gentleman would turn away, or at least avert his eyes from the display, but I was rooted in place, helpless to the magnificence that was Peyton Crow divested of every distracting fabric layer.

She was just as lithe and athletic as I’d thought she would be — even if I hadn’t realized until now that these were things I was actively thinking about. Peyton’s body was perfectly proportioned, long and lean and devoid of anything that didn’t matter. What at first I thought was a dark birthmark in her bikini area turned out to be, upon closer study, a small tattoo of a galloping horse, its mane and tail unfurling forever in a wind perhaps only Peyton felt. How many men had seen that small expression of her soul and truly understood it? How many hadn’t noticed it at all, preferring to lose themselves in the pleasure she offered them? Was I in danger of losing myself to her, too, becoming one more body in the trail she left behind?

I gulped and forced my eyes to meet hers, trying to convince myself that she wasn’t totally nude in front of me, that everything was normal.

We stared at each other for a few long moments, as if each of us was waiting on the other to make a move, and then Peyton smirked.

“What?” I asked, my voice sounding strange to my ears. “What’s funny?”

“You’re funny,” she said. “It’s like you’ve never seen a naked woman before.”

“That’s not true. I’ve seen plenty of naked women —”

“In person?”

I tried not to snap at her, tried to hold back on how badly that offended me. Just because I was the hardest worker out of all of my brothers didn’t mean that I never had time for company with the fairer sex. I wasn’t a virgin. I just didn’t have that many partners in my past. I hadn’t cared to. I had other pursuits on my mind — namely, the success of the ranch and the following of my dreams.

“I’m only teasing,” she said, doing a cute little pose that did absolutely nothing to relieve my anxiety. “What can I do to help you relax? I have a couple of things in mind. Do you have any suggestions?”

“You could put your clothes back on and we could talk business,” I said.

“Oh, now you want to talk business?” she asked, arching her eyebrows. “No, no, no. That’s just not going to be possible right now. We have some issues to work out, you and I, and they aren’t going to work themselves out. Strip.”

“Peyton, this is ridiculous —”

“Strip.”

What was ridiculous was that I couldn’t resist her. I found myself out of my shirt and unbuttoning my jeans before I second guessed what I was doing, but then it was easier to just go ahead and comply. When a woman like Peyton Crow told you to get rid of your clothes and join her in your most natural form … well, you fucking did it.

She smiled at my erection, but it was an appraising smile, not a mocking one. It should’ve made me feel insecure, but it didn’t. She liked what she saw, and she managed to convey that in a single expression.

“Let’s make this as uncomplicated as possible, shall we?” she said, sitting gingerly on the edge of my bed and looking up at me. “You’re hung up about sex with me — who’s had it, who hasn’t, whether or not you’ll ever have it. I’m offering it to you right now, Emmett. Right here.”

“The catch?” I asked, barely able to speak. She had to see that I wanted it. I wanted it so bad that I wasn’t even ashamed I couldn’t hide it.

“No catch at all,” she said. “I want a good working relationship with you, and I’m sure you want the same thing with me. Let’s just get this out of the way. Dispel any myths or rumors. My very first Corbin — my, oh, my. I can’t wait to see what this ranching dynasty is all about.”

I laughed at that, and she laughed right back. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Come here and tell me how ridiculous I am.”

I approached her, and without warning, she took my length completely in her mouth in one smooth, fluid movement. I gagged on my own breath, then coughed an exhale.

“Okay?” she asked, withdrawing and looking up.

“Just took me by surprise.”

“I’m full of lots of surprises. After this, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to focus.”

“I remember you saying that at the bar, offering me a hand job.”

“You’re a good listener.” She smiled. “And I told the truth. Let’s get down to business … so we can really get down to business.”

All of this because she wanted my undivided attention, devoid of suspicion or envy, when we talked about the horse rehab project. I’d take what I could get. There was no point resisting. I wanted this. With the gusto with which Peyton was sucking me off, covering every inch of me with her wet mouth, I almost believed she wanted this, too. Did she? She was a professional at this, something that I thought would be sort of a turnoff, but it wasn’t. Peyton knew exactly what she was doing, and I decided that the best approach I could take was to let her do whatever she wanted.