by Zoe York
“Nope. Just going to use a little loophole. Or two.”
Evan was nearly out of his mind. Cori had run off over thirty minutes ago and wasn’t answering calls or texts.
“What the hell?” he asked Ava for the seventh time.
Ava frowned at him. “I’ll shove you into that mud pit, Evan. Don’t think I won’t.”
Evan had no doubt. “She just ran off. She—”
Suddenly Parker pulled into the park in his truck. He drove right past the ticket table where Evan was pacing. Evan frowned. Parker didn’t do parties. He didn’t even let them call football parties, parties. He preferred “gathering” or even better, no label at all. He didn’t understand why they couldn’t just get together and watch a game without calling it something. As he pointed out every time. Which just made it even more fun to call their get togethers shindigs and bashes. And Parker definitely didn’t do parties with kids’ movies being shown. But before he could ask his friend what was going on, he saw Cori in the passenger seat. And nothing else mattered.
She jumped out as Parker stopped the truck and ran to the back of the truck. Evan stalked forward, intent on getting his hands on Cori before anything else happened. But she dropped the tailgate—and Evan got distracted. “What the hell is this?”
“This is a kiddie pool filled with pie filling. It’s all different kinds. We didn’t have enough of any one kind. But that’s okay.”
Cori climbed into the back of the truck and shot him a grin as she bent over to push the pool to the edge of the tailgate.
Parker moved to grab it and Evan found himself taking the other side as they lowered it to the ground.
“Why?” was all Ava said.
“This is what the winning tug-of-war team will pull the losing team into,” Cori said.
“We’re having a tug-of-war?” Ava asked.
“We are. The starting high school basketball team against some of the starting football players.” Cori jumped out of the truck and wiped her hands on her skirt.
“Where do you want these?” Hank came up to Cori carrying two pie plates.
“Oh, in the pavilion,” Cori said.
“What’s this?” Evan asked, his heart suddenly racing. He didn’t even care really. The look on Cori’s face made him want to pull her into that kiddie pool for some pie filling wrestling.
“Those are whipped cream pies,” Cori said, almost triumphantly.
“Why?” Ava said again.
Cori kept her eyes on Evan as she said, “There’s not much that I do that doesn’t involve whipped cream.”
Her grin was mischievous and insured that Evan would be getting a can of pie filling on his way home. “What’s going on?”
“For two dollars you can throw a pie at a prominent Bliss citizen,” Cori said. “If you hit Parker in the face, you get a free breakfast. If you hit Noah, you get a free oil change. For Principal Tompkins, you get a Bliss Bandits sweatshirt. And if you hit Mayor Hank in the face, you get to have coffee with him every day for a week.”
“This is—” But Ava apparently didn’t know what this was. Or at least what to call it.
“I thought we were maybe missing some demographics. We’ve got the kids and parents, but now the basketball and football team will get their friends up here and a bunch of Hank’s friends want to see him covered in whipped cream.”
“Not in the dirty way,” Hank said. “Except maybe for Maggie Collins.” He winked as Cori snorted.
And Evan had never wanted someone as much as he wanted her.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her close. “Amazing,” he said in her ear.
“Well, if I’d had time I would have painted the pool to look like a pie crust,” she said with a shrug.
“Of course you would have.”
“And we didn’t have time to—”
Evan cut her off by wrapping his arm around her, dipping her back, and kissing her. In front of everyone.
She gripped the front of his shirt and opened her mouth under his, but when he lifted his head, she just said, “Evan.”
“I love you Corrine Michelle Carmichael,” he announced loudly. He righted her and turned to face the people who were watching.
“Then you do realize that the woman you’re kissing isn’t your girlfriend?” Holly Morris came to stand right in front of them.
“Evan!”
Evan turned, taking Cori with him. To face his mother. “Hi, Mom.”
“What are you doing?” Diane looked from Evan to Cori and back. “That’s not Ava.”
Evan grinned at Cori. “No. It’s definitely not.”
“But—”
“This is scandalous, even for you,” Holly cut Diane off. She crossed her arms. “I don’t believe you’ve ever cheated on someone with her sister before. But—” She looked Cori up and down. “—anyone who is as free with her sprinkles as this one, probably gets a lot of guys into trouble.”
Oh, no. He was not going to let her insult Cori like that. He was not going to let this bitch ruin this day for Cori. “Listen, the only thing you need—”
“Holly.”
The quiet but firm voice stopped him from speaking and Holly from scowling at him. They both turned to face Diane.
“What?” Holly asked her old friend.
“Shut up.”
Evan felt his eyes widen and Cori start with surprise. Holly looked like Diane had just slapped her.
“Excuse me?” Holly asked.
“Evan has always been one of the happiest people I know,” Diane said, calmly. She looked Evan directly in the eye. “But this…how he is since meeting Cori…is so much more than he’s ever been before.”
Evan heard a tiny gasp from Cori and felt her arm tighten around his waist. But he couldn’t look away from his mother.
“So,” Diane continued, looking at Holly, “if you have anything to say to him other than ‘I’m very happy for you, Evan’, then you need to just shut up.”
Evan felt shock rumble through him. But right on its heels was an incredible feeling of relief. And then contentment. His mother was sticking up for him. It was late. It was just this one moment. But it still mattered. He didn’t care what Holly thought, but Diane did, and she was standing up for him to her friend.
More, she saw his happiness, what Cori had done to him. And that mattered.
Evan looked at Holly. “You’re not the only one who is going to wonder what happened,” he told her. “And I’m sure you’re all going to talk about it.” He glanced at Hank and Walter, knowing they would definitely help spread the story. “But it’s very simple—I was dating Ava.” He had been. His intentions had been good. And he and Ava had definitely spent time together. “But that meant I saw a lot of Cori too. And she’s…” He glanced at her, his chest filling with warmth and desire and love. “…amazing,” he finished, though it didn’t seem like a strong enough word. “I fell for her completely. Yes, it might seem ‘scandalous’ to go from one sister to the other, but Ava and I were nothing more than friends and Cori and I are so much more than a weekend fling.”
“And it would take an idiot not to see what was happening between Evan and Cori,” Ava said, coming to stand next to her sister. “They belong together and I’m thrilled.”
Cori leaned over and hugged Ava, and Evan gave her a grin and a wink over the top of Cori’s head.
Holly narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. Diane stepped forward and Evan leaned down so she could kiss his cheek. Then she kissed Cori’s, sniffed, and said with a wobbly smile, “I hope we can all get together soon.”
“I’d love to make you a cup of coffee tomorrow,” Cori told her. “And maybe we could talk for a little while.”
“I’ve never had sprinkles on my coffee,” Diane said. She glanced at Evan. “But that sounds like something your dad would have loved.”
Evan felt his throat tighten and he could only nod.
“Well, I might even have to pull out my blowtorch for this,” Cori said.
> Diane’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Really?” Evan asked her.
Cori grinned at him, then at Diane. “Toasted marshmallows aren’t only for pie. I make a fantastic s’mores latte.”
And Evan wanted to throw her over his shoulder and carry her across the park, in front of everyone, and straight up the road to his house.
“Well, that sounds wonderful,” Diane told her.
“It’s a date then.”
“And that better be the only date you’re going on.”
They turned to find John McCormick standing behind them.
Evan sighed. “Grandfather.”
“Evan.” He looked at Cori. “Corrine, I presume.”
She gave him a single nod. “You can call me Cori.”
John looked at Ava. “And you’re my grandson’s latest ex?”
Ava gave him a cool look. “Your grandson’s very good friend.”
“Ah.” John looked back at Evan. “I see you’ve screwed this up too.”
Evan ran his hand up and down Cori’s back and shook his head. “Actually, I think I’ve gotten this more right than anything I’ve ever done.”
Again, he felt Cori’s arm tighten around him and he heard her sniff. This time he did look down at her, much preferring her smile to his grandfather’s expression of displeasure.
“That was pretty great,” she told him softly.
“But there is the one, not so small detail of the trust,” John said before Evan could respond.
He looked back to his grandfather. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve broken one of the main stipulations,” John said. “Cori wasn’t supposed to date anyone, for six months.”
“We haven’t broken anything,” Evan said calmly.
“Then how do you explain how you are together?”
Evan shrugged. “Rudy didn’t want Cori to date. Since he didn’t define what ‘dating’ entailed, I assume he meant he didn’t want Cori to have relationships with men like she’s had in the past.”
“And you are somehow different?” John asked.
“Cori?” Evan asked.
“Oh, there’s no question things with Evan and me are different,” she told John. “I typically hang out at dance clubs or party on yachts or do crazy stuff like rock climbing or scuba diving with the guys I date.”
“You party on yachts?” Evan asked.
“Shh,” she told him, giving him a little pinch. “I’m making a point.” She addressed John again. “And if I’d taken my shirt off in any other guy’s car, I definitely would have gotten lucky.”
John’s eyes widened and now it was Evan that pinched her. Right on her ass.
But Cori went on. “And if I was dating Evan, it would already be over. We’re past the two-month mark here. Guys never make it that long. And I’ve baked for him. I’ve never baked for any other guy.”
Evan liked that. A lot.
“And I’ve never told any other guy about my childhood. Or anything else important,” Cori said, her tone softening a little. “I’ve never paid enough attention to anyone else to know that he prefers half and half to milk in his coffee. And I’ve definitely never met anyone else’s mother…or grandfather.”
Evan grinned, the warmth in his chest—and the need to throw her over his shoulder—growing stronger.
“What I’m doing with Evan is definitely not dating. It’s making a commitment.” Cori looked up at him. “And I can assure you, that’s absolutely something different.”
Evan kissed her quick and hard on the mouth, then focused on his grandfather again. “And I can promise we haven’t done any of the things I typically do when I date someone either. Cori and I haven’t been to a single movie, barbecue, or street dance. And I promise we won’t be doing any of that for at least another three months or so.”
John stood, studying them both, for several long seconds. Then he gave a nod. “A loophole.”
“A loophole,” Evan confirmed.
“Fine,” John agreed. “But, Evan,” he added, looking at Cori again. “You need to take this girl miniature golfing as soon as you can.”
Evan couldn’t believe it. His grandfather had not only agreed with him about the stipulations in Rudy’s trust, but he was giving his blessing to the miniature golf course. Evan swallowed hard and extended his hand. “I’ll do that.”
John took his hand and gave it a long squeeze. Then he said to his daughter, “Can I buy you a pie, Diane?”
She smiled brightly. “I’d love that.”
They moved toward the pie stand and Cori turned to face Evan, her eyes wide and her face lit up. “Wow. That was awesome. This day is perfect, Evan.”
“Actually—”
“Look out!”
Noah’s shouted warning came just as a large ball of fluff came tearing toward them. Barking.
“Now it’s perfect,” he said with a grin.
Cori froze in his arms. “Is that—”
The puppy was coming straight at them but as Evan leaned to grab him, he veered off, heading for the mud pit. “Stop him!” Evan shouted with a laugh.
Cori gave him a huge, stunned smile. “You got me an actual St. Bernard?” she asked, wonder in her voice.
Evan started to pull her close again, but Noah shouted, “Evan!” as the puppy plunged into the mud.
“It’s only fair after all of the amazing figurative St. Bernard’s you’ve given me,” Evan said.
“I hope you know what you’ve done.” But her face was full of joy.
“I told you,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I can handle chaos and messes.”
He looked over as Noah lunged for the dog—and missed. The puppy ran happily through the mud until Cori put her fingers to her lips and gave a sharp whistle. The dog, and all of the humans in the vicinity, paused. She knelt on the grass and the puppy yelped once, then made a beeline for her. The dog jumped up on her, covering her clothes with muddy paw prints and her face with wet, sloppy kisses.
“That might be the hottest you’ve ever looked,” he told her taking in the muddy paw prints on her shirt, the streaks of dirt on her legs and the huge, happy grin on her face.
“What’s his name?” she asked as the dog wiggled free and suddenly headed toward Ava.
Ava shrieked and stepped behind Parker just before he scooped up the wriggling ball of fur.
“I think Rudy.”
Cori looked up at him. She stretched to standing. “Really? A messy troublemaker? Does that fit?”
Evan brushed her hair back and looked into her eyes. “A big ball of happiness that makes everyone around him smile.”
Her eyes suddenly got misty. “I like that idea of him.”
“It was him. I promise.”
She sniffed and then wrapped her arms around his neck, getting mud all over him too. “I love you, Evan Stone.”
He settled his hands on her butt and squeezed. “I love you too. Which is why I got you a puppy. He’ll make it harder to leave in nine months.”
“Well, no worries,” she said, smiling though her voice was thick. “I only leave after we hit the high point, remember? And I have a feeling there’s always going to be more of those to come with you.”
Relief, love, gratitude—and yes, lust—washed though him. “Well, I might have learned a little bit from Ava about plans and schedules and deadlines, but—” He dipped his head and put his lips against hers, “—high points are my specialty.”
Then he kissed her as her St. Bernard, Rudy, went barreling toward the table full of whipped cream pies.
Thank you so much for reading Diamonds and Dirt Roads! I hope you loved Cori and Evan’s story!
* * *
Next, find out what happens when Ava reminds Parker that she’s technically his boss…
so he has to teach her to bake!
* * *
Of course, once the kitchen door closes, it’s pretty clear who’s really in charge.
* * *
Grab High He
els and Haystacks now!
https://bit.ly/HighHeelsandHaystacks
* * *
The Billionaires in Blue Jeans series
Diamonds and Dirt Roads
High Heels and Haystacks
Cashmere and Camo
* * *
And more at ErinNicholas.com
Part IV
Falling Into Forever
by Elena Aitken
About This Book
He's falling for a beautiful stranger.
* * *
She's guarded and unsure.
* * *
The truth of her past could destroy their new love.
* * *
The last thing Officer Rhys Anderson expects to encounter at the end of his quiet Sunday afternoon shift is a beautiful stranger stranded on the side of the road.
* * *
All Kari Fox wants to do is run as far away from her life--and her controlling ex-husband--as possible. She never planned on ending up stuck in a small mountain town, and she definitely never expected to fall for the handsome police officer whose helping her out.
* * *
With a new job, some new friends and a steamy new relationship, things are finally beginning to go right for her, and Kari even start to believe that she might have a future in this sleepy little town--and with Rhys.
* * *
But Kari has secrets. Secrets that threaten to destroy everything she's trying to create, including her new relationship. As the truth comes to light, will their connection be strong enough to withstand the truth of her past?
Chapter 1
The last thing Officer Rhys Anderson wanted to be doing on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Cedar Springs was responding to a random call out. Particularly considering he was almost finished with what had been a very long workweek.
