Cocksure (The Cochrans of Cocker County)

by Walker, Shiloh

  I didn’t have a problem with that. I started to tell her that, but Sabrina was already talking.

  “Kelly, we already discussed this,” she said, her voice tight.

  “No, honey. You discussed. I listened, and I don’t agree. You got dragged into this and you’re not taking the blame,” Kelly responded in a hard, flat tone.

  “Kelly—”

  I cut her off. “Kelly, you do it however you have to do. It doesn’t matter to me. I started this mess, so I’ll be the one to take the flak from it.”

  “Luke—”

  “No, Sabrina.” She tried again, but I just ignored her, focusing on Kelly. “Listen, Kelly, the main reason I called was because there’s something you need to work into the statement. My sister...” Grimacing, I popped open the tab on my energy drink and took a long, healthy swallow. “She brought up that incident from a few weeks ago and asked how this thing between Sabrina and me happened.”

  “Let me guess,” Kelly said in a dry voice. “You panicked. Again.”

  “I had to tell her something,” I snapped, feeling defensive. “What was I supposed to do, say no comment to my sister?”

  Kelly sighed. “What did you tell her? I haven’t released the statement to anybody yet.”

  “I told her that after it happened, I ended up over at Sabrina’s and the two of us got into an argument and things got...heated.”

  “Luke,” Kelly said, her words slow and concise. “Please tell me you weren’t so trashy as to imply you went over to your assistant’s house the same night you were caught in a threesome and banged her...on the same night.”

  I shot Sabrina a look.

  Her cheeks were hotly red and she was squeezing the steering wheel so hard now, her knuckles had gone white.

  “Shit, Kelly. I’m a dick, but not that much of one. No. I just...I told her things didn’t go that far. But there were some fireworks. And stuff happened. A few days later, we talked and more stuff. It’s not like I drew out pictures or anything. She’s my sister, for fuck’s sake.”

  After a few slow, measured breaths, Kelly said, “I can work with this. How did Bella respond?”

  “She...um...hell, it was weird. She made some comment like she wasn’t surprised—she’d always thought there was something between us.” Now it was my turn to blush. “She made some comment about how I was clueless about everything until all of this happened. I dunno. It was weird.”

  “Weird.” Kelly made a low humming noise under her breath. “Okay. I need to make a few changes to the statement, then I’ll text it over for you both to read so you can stick to the story if you get cornered.”

  Kelly killed the connection before either of us could say anything.

  Sabrina reached for the drink in the console, fumbling as she tried to open it one-handed.

  I reached over and when our fingers brushed, she jerked back as if scalded.

  “I’ve put you in an awkward position,” I said, forcing myself to consider all of this, even though there were very certain, very specific positions I really wanted to have Sabrina in—very badly. Twisting the cap off the drink, I turned the bottle back over to her.

  “It’s part of my job.” She managed to say it in a calm, neutral voice as she accepted the drink and lifted it to her lips.

  I looked away, all because I didn’t need the torment of watching that pretty mouth.

  “Got any information about the place we’re looking at?” I asked. I didn’t really give a damn, but I needed to occupy my mind with something other than the memory of her nearly naked body.

  “Not much. The sales manager I spoke with said she had two units that were open for rentals for the next few months. I get the feeling the owners mostly use them for events around Derby time.”

  “Two of them?” For reasons I didn’t need to think about, that was very important to me. Sure, it wasn’t a good idea for some of the nosier people in my family to be around Sabrina and me much right now, because there was no way we could keep this charade up twenty-four/seven. But that wasn’t the main reason I didn’t want them around us just then—and I knew it.

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” My voice came out sounding far too gritty, far too hoarse, and I could feel her curious glance. I determinedly stared down at the cap for her coffee drink. Turning it around and around in my hands, I told myself to stop obsessing about all the things I wanted to do once I had a few minutes alone with Sabrina.

  But I’d never been very good at listening to advice, even when it was coming from myself.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sabrina

  LUKE HAD BEEN DESCRIBED as a force of nature in an interview once. An actress had referred to him as Hurricane Luke. The director of the first Sword movie referenced both of those descriptions, and agreed, saying that he came in, shook things up, and when he left, things may very well be in disarray, and there was no doubt he knew how to leave an impact.

  I’d have to agree with all of those things as well.

  I also knew he was a charming bastard and knew how to get the things he wanted and by the time he was done, the people on the other side of the table were often left scratching their heads in surprise, because they had no idea what had just happened.

  The sales agent, Meka, had that slightly baffled look on her face now. I resisted the urge to pat her on the shoulder, because I didn’t think it would help, and I suspected she’d get her bearings pretty fast.

  I was right. As Luke wandered around the apartment she’d just told him he could have tonight, Meka straightened the waist-length jacket of her sharp-looking skirt-suit and cleared her throat. She was a pretty woman, her black hair swept back into a loose, low ponytail, her smooth skin a warm, dark brown. She wore a pair of dark sunglasses over her eyes, and as her assistant had led us into her office, Meka had stood, pulling a thin, flexible cane from its position by the wall.

  The cane hung from her wrist now as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone.

  “Mr. Cochran, I am going to have to call the property manager and make sure he is okay with you taking possession of the unit tonight,” she said, her tone polite, but strict. Her gaze unerringly sought him out, following the sound of his shoes on the glossy marble floors even though he was on the far side of the unit, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows that ran the length of the wall, offering a view of the Ohio River and southern Indiana.

  He turned toward us, a frown on his face.

  I narrowed my eyes at him, speaking before he could.

  “That’s fine, Meka,” I said. “We totally understand. If there’s any problem, we’ll get a hotel room for the night.”

  Luke looked like he wanted to argue, but in the end, he just crossed his arms over his chest, a sulky look on his face.

  Meka’s expression conveyed a mix of humor and understanding that made me suspect she was excellent at reading a room, even if she couldn’t see what was going on.

  “I’ll just step outside,” she said, nodding at us.

  As the door closed behind her, I walked over to him. “Mind your manners, Luke,” I told him. “They’ve got papers and rules and other shit that has to be dealt with. Waving money around and expecting everybody to fall into line doesn’t work everywhere.”

  “I know that,” he said mildly. He studied me from under heavy lids. “It’s never worked with you, has it?”

  The expression on his face made my heart stutter and I realized I was far closer to him than I should be—far closer to him than I’d been since I’d left the hospital, actually. Well, we’d been pretty close in the SUV, but the console had been a decent barrier and I’d been driving, so he had minded his manners.

  That gleam in his eyes made me think he wasn’t concerned about behaving anymore.

  He reached up and touched his thumb to my lower lip, confirming my suspicions. “I haven’t been able to get that picture out of my head, Sabrina—seeing you wearing nothing but pretty, pale lace...”

  His ey
es tracked down from my face, lingering on the vee’d front of the red, wrap-style sundress I wore, as if he could see clear through it to the ivory lace bra he’d mentioned.

  “All I want to do now is...” He lowered his hand to my waist, grasping at the faux tie there. “Tug. Right here.”

  “It won’t do any good,” I said. My mouth was painfully dry.

  His gaze slid up to mine. “How so?”

  “It’s not really a wrap dress. It’s a side zipper. The tie is just for show.”

  “That’s called false advertisement,” he murmured.

  He was just a breath away now. When had he gotten so close? I had no idea, but he had. Close enough that I could feel the heat of him on my skin. Close enough that the scent of him flooded my head.

  He cupped my hip in his hand and tugged and I gasped as I ended up pressed against him from chest to knee. Instantly, I was wet. “Which side?” he murmured, his lips pressed to my neck.

  I swallowed back a moan as he slid his mouth upward.

  “Which side?” he asked again, this time with his mouth pressed to mine.

  “What?” I had no idea what he was talking about.

  “The zipper, Ina,” he whispered. “Which side?”

  “Okay, I talked to the property manager.”

  I jerked back at the sound of Meka’s voice. Luke was far more reluctant to let me go, but I pulled at his wrists until he released me. Face flushed, I turned to Meka. Her lips were moving, but the blood roaring in my ears made it almost impossible for me to understand a word she was saying.

  I waited until she paused.

  “I’m so sorry, Meka. I was...distracted. Um, could you say that one more time?”

  She cocked her head, lips pursed. The speculation on her face had me blushing furiously. Luke had an unrepentant grin on his face. I drove my elbow into his gut and smoothly sidestepped when he reached for me.

  “Of course, Sabrina. The property manager said as long as we can run a credit card securing first and last month’s rent, as well as the security deposit and the maintenance fees I explained earlier, he has no problem letting you take possession tonight. Of course, you do realize that absolutely no changes can be made to the apartments?”

  “We understand. Mr. Cochran has used furnished apartments on many occasions,” I assured her.

  A hand traced up my back. I shivered as his fingers slid along the edge of the dress, smoothing over the skin left bare.

  “Very well.” She hesitated a moment, then added, “Ah...he did ask one small favor.”

  “What sort of favor?” I asked.

  Her eyes shifted slightly to my left, unerringly seeking out Luke’s location yet again. I’d heard the faint sound of his shoes. I guess she was used to following such small cues. “Mr. Cochran, I explained to the manager that you’re dealing with a personal family matter...” Her face softened a little. “My assistant is a social media fanatic and she mentioned that she’d heard your mother was in the hospital. I hope it’s nothing serious. Anyway, my manager is aware that you might not have much free time, but if you do, he’d love for you and Ms. Maxwell to have a drink with him and his wife. She’s a...well, let’s just say she’s a very big fan. He promises he wouldn’t take more than twenty minutes of your time.”

  I choked on a laugh and turned my attention to Luke.

  He’d been staring at me the whole time.

  “Mr. Cochran?” I said blandly.

  I’d thought he hadn’t been paying attention, but the jerk managed to surprise me—again.

  He looked over at Meka. “Once things are settled with my mom, and I know she’s doing better, Sabrina and I would be happy to meet his wife.”

  Meka just clapped her hands, clearly delighted. “Excellent! All right then. Let’s go on down to the office. I’ve already sent a message down to Celeste so she should have the paperwork ready.”

  LUKE LEFT ME TO SKIM through the contracts as he swiped his debit card without even glancing at the total cost Celeste displayed on the screen of the tablet in front of us.

  I saw it and thanks to years of working with him, I was in no danger of swallowing my tongue. Of course, the figure was actually low compared to some of the places we’d stayed. Louisville and the surrounding area were far more affordable than many other parts of the country, including New York, Chicago and Atlanta, cities where Luke frequently traveled.

  Celeste had overcome her shock and shyness, although she was still a little shaky. As she took a few selfies with Luke, Meka turned over the keys to the two apartments, as well as keycards to enter and exit the garage and use various facilities offered by the property.

  “Would you like a picture?” I asked as her gaze wandered back in the direction of her assistant and Luke who were both laughing as they eyed Celeste’s phone.

  “I...well...” She tugged at her suit coat. “I do like his movies,” she confessed in a low whisper. There was something self-conscious about it, and I thought I understood.

  “There’s plenty to like,” I said. “Do the theaters here offer decent accessibility features?”

  Her face brightened. “They do! Especially a couple of the newer ones and they get better all the time.”

  “That’s good to know. Come on,” I said, offering my arm, nudging her just enough so she’d know it was there. “I’ll take a couple of pictures that you can show off to your friends and family.”

  She laughed. “Oh, man. My sister will never believe this—” She stopped hurriedly. “Not that I plan on telling. I mean, we work hard to keep the confidentiality of our clients—”

  “It’s okay.” I glanced at Luke. “One of the reasons I suggested this particular property was because of the security features. People are going to find out that Luke is staying here. You don’t need to advertise the fact but he won’t mind if you tell your sister you met him or post a picture on social media, will you, Luke?”

  “Not at all, ma’am. I appreciate all the work you’ve done to help Sabrina and me out...and my family. You’ve taken a lot off my mind.” As he moved to her side, I took position in front of them.

  “I’ll take a few pictures, then send them to the email address you provided. Will that work?”

  “Yes.” Her grin spread across her face and I snapped four pictures in quick succession, then encouraged Celeste to join her.

  Five minutes later, we walked out to move the SUV into the garage. I busied myself with making calls and sending texts, letting Luke’s various siblings know the address of the apartment and the second unit.

  Maybe I should have waited until we were in the confines of the SUV to do any of that, though, because by the time we reached the vehicle, I was done talking to Bella and all the texts had been sent.

  I mentally cursed my stupidity. Now I had nothing to occupy my time. I opted to drive, not even offering Luke the keys. Once he climbed in, I took off on a running monologue about the things we needed to do, including arranging for grocery delivery and the tedious tasks that involved the upcoming promo dates in New York.

  He placed a hand on my thigh.

  I caught my breath.

  “Are you still wearing those lace panties, Sabrina?” he asked, his voice rough.

  “My panties aren’t any of your concern, Luke,” I told him. The words came out all throaty and soft and I wanted to smack myself. That was not how I needed to sound if I wanted to keep any semblance of control here.

  He caught the material of my dress in his fist and began to gather it, slowing working it higher and higher. I cringed internally. I’d been in a hurry when I left the house and my mental circuits had been utterly fried. I’d completely forgotten to put on any Spanx. The full, flowing cut of the skirt disguised many flaws, but the dimpled skin of my thighs was more than obvious now.

  “Stop that,” I said, catching his wrist.

  “Why?”

  I turned into the garage, spying the perfect reason. “Because there’s a security guard, right there.”
/>   Luke heaved out a sigh, straightening and pulling his hand back.

  I showed the man the keycard and he nodded us on to the yellow machine a few yards farther in where I swiped it. The bar rose, allowing us entrance.

  Parking spaces were assigned, so I started on the search for our numbered spot.

  I hadn’t made it beyond level two before Luke’s hand was back on my thigh.

  “Luke!”

  “There’s no security guard,” he said in a perfectly reasonable tone.

  “I know that, but you...this...” I groaned, my face so hot, I thought I might explode.

  Other parts of me were just as heated and it only got worse as he pushed the material of my dress all the way to the tops of my thighs.

  “Spread your thighs for me, baby.”

  Now my face was heated for reasons beyond shame. “Stop, Luke. I mean it.”

  He did, but something in my voice caught his attention.

  “What’s wrong, baby?”

  I shook my head, humiliation burning inside me. “We can’t keep playing this game,” I said. I was proud of myself. I managed to deliver those words in a steady, level tone. Yay, me. I found the spot and nosed the SUV into it. We were tucked into a corner next to a big, flashy Cadillac and the wall, giving an illusion of privacy. I was desperate to get out. But as I reached for the seat belt, Luke moved in, draping one arm over the steering wheel, the other along the back of the seat.

  His heat all but surrounded me. Although I knew it was a bad idea, I turned my head and looked at him. The blue of his eyes beckoned me, pulling me in. I was already lost to him in so many ways and with him sitting so close, the promise right there in his eyes, my attempts at self-protection were getting weaker all the time.

  “Trust me, Sabrina,” he said, ducking his head until his lips were just a breath from mine. “This is no game.”