“Um, okay.”
Yeah, he wasn’t going to check Ava Carmichael for ticks. But it was fun to tease her. And he just needed to get her smiling. And away from work.
He glanced at Cori and found her frowning at her sister. She must have felt him watching her because she looked over. Her frown didn’t ease.
And something in Evan’s chest warmed. He grinned. Her frown deepened. Cori was jealous of the idea of him and Ava together. He liked that. And that was a really bad idea.
“Okay, then. I’m going to head back upstairs,” Ava said. She looked back and forth between Cori and Evan. “Everything okay in here?”
“Completely,” Evan assured her. It was much more than okay. And so much worse.
“Yep,” Cori agreed. Though she was still frowning.
Ava nodded. “Okay. ’Night.” She turned on her heel, heading for the staircase.
When she’d disappeared up the steps, Evan slid off the stool. He needed to get going. He’d done what he’d come over to do. And if he didn’t leave now, Cori might end up on the kitchen counter after all.
“I’m going to head home,” he said.
Cori chewed on her bottom lip. Then she pushed away from the countertop. “I’ll walk you out.”
He’d been hoping she’d say something like that. Or stay. Or my bedroom’s the one on the right at the top of the stairs. Yeah, he needed to go.
He waited for her to round the breakfast bar and they walked to the front door together. She pulled the door open and he stepped onto the porch, but he turned back.
She propped her shoulder against the door, reminding him of the way they’d stood the first night in New York.
“Thanks for the pie,” he said, instead of all of the other things he wanted to say.
“I’m glad you stopped by.”
There was something in her voice, and her eyes, that made him step closer.
“You realize I could have called Ava and asked her out,” Evan said. Because he suddenly had to.
“I didn’t really think about that,” Cori said. “But yeah, I suppose you could have.”
“And she basically has to say yes to that kind of stuff, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“But I wanted to come over in person.”
Cori didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she took a step closer. “Why?”
“Do you think I should say it out loud? That makes it more official,” he said.
“I know.”
They were definitely on the same page. Something was happening between them and acknowledging it was going to make it harder to ignore.
Then she nodded. “But yeah, I think you should say it out loud.”
Okay then. Not going to ignore it. “I wanted to see you.”
She nodded. “And I really don’t want you to check my sister for ticks.”
“And I really don’t want to check your sister for ticks.”
Cori blew out a breath. “Thank God.”
“You didn’t really think I did, did you?”
“I keep thinking there’s no chemistry but then I think that maybe it’s because I don’t want there to be.”
He finally lifted his hand to her face. “There’s no chemistry between me and Ava.”
She covered his hand with hers. “You’re not attracted to her?”
“No.”
“She looks just like me.”
That was true. And yet…she didn’t. “Doesn’t matter.” He leaned in as Cori went on her tiptoes.
“You’re not attracted to me?” she asked.
Evan knew she already knew the answer to that question. “No,” he said sincerely.
“No?” But she didn’t move back.
“I don’t think attracted is the right word for it. Too tame.”
Her lips were nearly against his but they weren’t kissing. Yet. “What’s the right word for it then?” she asked softly.
Just her warm breath against his mouth made his lower body harden and heat. Several words tripped through his mind at her question. Words like lust and need and obsessed and desire. But none of that was accurate either. Because there was more. He liked her.
He loved just talking to her. He wanted to check her for ticks. With his tongue. But he also wanted to make her laugh and hear all of her stories and take her to a town picnic and to a movie and to a million other seemingly boring, usual things—because he knew that she would make them fun and new—and he wanted to watch her make a pie.
“Captivated,” he finally said. He slid his hand up her arm to the back of her neck and pulled her against his lips. “Completely fucking captivated.”
She sighed—a sweet, happy sound—and he felt her smile against his lips. “No one has ever used that word for me before,” she said softly.
“Good.” He wanted her to feel appreciated and liked and cared for, but he, by God, wanted to be the one doing it. He wanted to be something new and different for her too. But, instead of saying anything else that might complicate things even further, he kissed her.
It was a slow, leisurely kiss. Where the others had been hot and passionate and surprising, this was fully intentional and all about tasting and exploring. And with every long stroke of his tongue, he wanted more. With every sigh from her, he wanted more. With every flex of her fingers against his chest, he wanted more. She tasted like sugar and chocolate and something he could only call every craving he’d ever had.
It took minutes, long delicious minutes, before Evan even thought about lifting his head. When he did, he let her go slowly and rested his forehead against hers. He breathed in deeply, sucking her scent into his lungs.
“Boy I hope some of the neighbors were watching that,” she said huskily. “That was very convincing.”
He gave a soft laugh. “I should probably go before we convince them of anything more.”
She took a deep breath, then let him go, seemingly reluctantly. “I guess I’ll…see you.”
Yeah, she would see him. He was dating her sister. “It’s a small town.” There was that too. And the fact that there was no way he was going to be able to stay away from her.
“Right.”
Cori took a step back. “Um…thanks for sampling my pie.”
A wave of pleasure shot through him as she almost looked embarrassed for a moment. “It was my pleasure.”
She gave a little laugh, then stepped back and looked up at him. They stared at one another for a long moment.
“Cori!” One of her sisters—maybe Ava (and he should probably figure that out for sure once and for all)—called from inside the house. “Can I borrow your boots tomorrow night?”
Yeah, it was Ava. And she was asking about Cori’s boots. For her date with him. And he was hoping they were the short black ones Cori had worn her first day in Bliss. Because those were hot. On Cori.
Fuck. He ran a hand through his hair and Cori took a deep breath, then blew it out.
“Don’t let her borrow those boots.”
“Why?”
“Those boots make me…they’re your boots and I really want to kiss you, a lot, but I need to be her boyfriend, and…I’m just kind of messed up about what I should be doing and feeling here.”
Cori pressed her lips together as she studied his face. Finally, she nodded. “Okay.”
“And, because of all of that I should probably stop kissing you.” God, he didn’t want to say that. Or do that.
She simply nodded again.
He was rejecting her. That seemed like a harsh word for it, and she really seemed more resigned than devastated, but he felt like an asshole. This was all his fault. “I’m sorry, Cori. I shouldn’t have kissed you in the first place.” Fuck, he hated every word he was saying.
She gave a sigh. “You only kissed me in the first place because you thought I was Ava.”
She was right. They both knew that. But it felt like kissing Cori was exactly what should have happened.
“And I was the on
e that kissed you first tonight,” she added.
“Because of the neighbors.”
She hesitated, then shook her head. “Not really because of the neighbors.”
Yeah, he knew that. This was really complicated. Fuck. He dug deep. At least that’s what it felt like he was doing. It wasn’t like digging deep for the fortitude to be a better man was something he was all that familiar with. He used his gut, or his heart, more than he used his head. He went with what felt good, what seemed fun at the moment. He simply didn’t think much beyond this will be great very often. And being with Cori Carmichael, in every way, would be great.
“I just...I promised to do this thing with Ava. It’s what’s best for her and Jill and really both you and Brynn too. And I’m supposed to be making sure you don’t have casual flings and that you focus on your sisters and the shop. Kissing you and wanting to do a hell of a lot more than that, isn’t helping with any of those things. I need to think about that. What I should do, instead of what I want to do.”
Cori wet her lips—an action that shot straight to his cock—and nodded.
“You’re right. Being jealous of my sister because she gets to go out with you is not the way to get closer to her. Hoping that you have no fun and no chemistry with her is not the way to be supportive of what Ava needs to do for the trust and everything.”
Damn. He grasped the back of her neck and pulled her close. He rested his forehead against hers and said, “With the taste of you still in my mouth, it’s going to be very difficult to be…convincing…with Ava.”
She took a deep, shaky breath. And then she said, “Yeah. We need to be good. For everyone.”
He squeezed her neck gently, then let her go. “Yeah. Good. I’m working on that.”
She swallowed. “Goodnight, Evan.”
“’Night, Cori.”
She gave him one last lingering look and then turned and headed into the house.
As he watched her go, only one thing went through his mind. Please, God, help her remember not to loan Ava those boots.
8
“Is it just me or is this the most awkward date in the history of dating?” Cori asked.
“She definitely looks tense,” Brynn agreed.
“And he looks annoyed,” Cori said.
“He’s smiling,” Brynn pointed out.
Yeah, he was. But it wasn’t real. Maybe no one else in the restaurant could tell, but Cori knew that Evan was forcing it. He’d given Ava a few genuine ones too throughout their dinner. But this one was definitely fake.
“Well, you can’t really blame the guy, can you?”
Cori looked up as Noah pulled out one of the empty chairs at their table and dropped into it.
“Hey,” Brynn said, with a big grin, “what are you doing here?”
Cori wondered if Noah realized how unusual that grin was for Brynn.
“I’m here for the show, same as everyone else,” he said, reaching for a roll from the basket in the middle of their table. He pulled off a chunk and put it in his mouth.
“The show?” Cori asked.
“Evan’s first date with Ava, of course.”
Cori frowned and glanced around. “Everyone is here for that?”
He nodded as he chewed. He gestured around the room with the rest of the roll. “Ninety percent of these people are from Bliss,” he said. “And the other ten percent know Evan and all about Ava.”
“And she’s super interesting?” Cori asked.
“Well, she and Evan are super interesting,” Noah said, reaching for a cherry tomato from Brynn’s salad. Did he know that Brynn didn’t like tomatoes? “Ava is very different from Evan’s usual.”
Ugh. Evan’s usual. For some reason that made her stomach hurt. Because he had a lot of usual and because his usual women who were probably a lot like Cori. Him being with someone not like Cori was interesting to everyone. Great. Ironic that the woman so interestingly unlike Cori looked exactly like her.
“Well, he doesn’t look like he’s having a good time,” she couldn’t help but point out.
“There are two things going on over there,” Noah said, dipping the remainder of his roll in the house Italian dressing on Brynn’s salad.
Cori would be amused by how comfortable the two of them were together—if she wasn’t so unamused by her other sister and the man she was clearly uncomfortable with.
“What two things?” Brynn asked.
“One,” Noah said, “Evan has never been out with a woman he couldn’t charm before.”
“You don’t think he can charm Ava?” Cori asked.
“Can anyone truly charm Ava?” Noah asked.
Okay, that wasn’t a bad point. “What’s the other reason?” Cori suddenly wanted to know.
“He’s never dated someone while the woman he’s actually crazy about is sitting right across the restaurant.”
Cori swallowed as Noah focused on her. “I assume that’s because he always gets the woman he’s crazy about to go out with him rather than sit across the restaurant.”
But Noah shook his head and gave her a small grin. “That’s because he’s never really been crazy about anyone before.”
Cori felt her heart bang against her rib cage as yes went through her mind. But right on the heels of that burst of pleasure was a cold wave of dammit. She loved that Evan was crazy about her. She was feeling the same way. But he couldn’t be. She couldn’t be. She wasn’t supposed to date and, more, he was supposed to be dating. Ava. For Ava. For him.
“I should go.” She pushed back from the table, preparing to stand.
“What? No,” Brynn said.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” she said. “I’m distracting them. Making them uncomfortable. And it’s not like watching them on their date is making me feel good either. I’ll just go. Noah will stay here with you.”
“No,” Noah and Brynn both said together.
Cori frowned at them. “Come on. This is the date place.” Or so the guys had told her when they’d come in for their morning coffee. “You guys stay and—”
“No,” they both said again.
Cori shook her head. “Still no dating, huh?”
Brynn blushed, but she shook her head. “We’re just friends. Noah just stopped over to say hi.”
“I need to spend time with Brynn so I can figure out which guys would be the best ones to take her out.”
Cori lifted a brow. “I thought Evan was kind of in charge of that?”
“Evan seems to have his hands a little full,” Noah said drily.
“Okay. Whatever.” There was something going on there, but Cori wasn’t in the mood to get into someone else’s love life. She had her own problems. Not that this had to do with her love life. Because that would be ridiculous. She pulled her phone out. She’d text Ava and tell her to relax.
“Maybe they need to drink more,” Noah commented.
Cori looked up from her typing and followed his gaze. Evan was leaning in and Ava actually pulled back slightly, before clearly stopping herself, and giving him a stiff smile. Cori glanced around. Why was he leaning so close— but she saw the reason a moment later. Jill’s mother, Holly, had just entered the restaurant on the arm of the man Cori assumed was Jill’s father.
And Holly had already noticed Evan and Ava.
“Well, shit.” Yeah, they needed more than liquor. Or texts.
Evan reached for Ava’s hand, but rather than linking his fingers with his girlfriend, he bumped the bottle of salad dressing sitting next to Ava’s plate. The bottle tipped, hit the edge of her plate, rolled, and lost its stopper.
Ava shot back from the table but not before oily Italian dressing dripped onto her skirt.
“Shit!” Evan also shoved his chair back, standing, and reaching toward Ava with his napkin. In his hurry, his hand hit her water goblet as well, sending ice water splashing into her lap before she sprung to her feet.
“Oh, boy,” Cori muttered.
“This is a disaster,” Brynn said,
sounding a little more amused than she should.
“Okay, I’ve got this,” Cori said, pushing her chair back.
“You’ve ‘got this’?” Noah asked. “What’s that mean?” he asked Brynn when Cori stood up.
“Just…be cool,” Cori said. She caught Ava’s eye, then looked toward the hallway at the back of the restaurant.
Two minutes later, Ava pushed open the door to the ladies’ room. Cori pulled her inside, then shut the door and locked it. There were three stalls in the room, so the main door didn’t typically need locking, but Cori couldn’t risk someone joining them at the moment.
“You and Evan are screwing this up,” she told her sister. She pulled her shirt off. “And you can’t screw this up.”
Ava just crossed her arms. “What are you doing?”
Cori popped the snap on her jeans and pulled the zipper down. “I’m saving the day.”
That—or Cori continuing to undress—clearly surprised her sister. Ava frowned. “What?”
“I know, I know. Fixing things isn’t really my forte. But I can help.”
“How are we screwing this up? What’s this?” Ava asked.
“You and Evan are supposed to be falling for each other. But you have no chemistry. No one in that restaurant thinks you’re crazy about each other. And you have to pull this off, Ava. For the trust and the shop and for Evan.”
“For Evan?”
Cori took a deep breath. “He wants to do this because he promised you. And Dad, I guess. He promised to help make sure we fulfilled the trust and this is one way he’s doing that. If it doesn’t work out, then he’s let you and Dad down.” She frowned, remembering their moments on the porch from last night. “He said something about doing what he’s supposed to do rather than what he wants to do. I just get the impression he’s trying to prove to himself that he can follow through on this.”
“And that matters to you?” Ava asked. “That he feels good about this?”
Cori focused on her again. “He’s a good guy.”
“He is.”
“And I’m not totally sure he thinks he is all the time.” Okay, that was weird. That hadn’t really occurred to her, at least not as a full, complete thought, before just now. But yeah, she definitely got that impression. He was fighting against the urge to be irresponsible as hard as she was. Or maybe harder. Because she was completely ready to go out into that restaurant and have a ton of chemistry with him.
Diamonds and Dirt Roads Page 17
