Cora wished the floor would just open up and swallow her whole right about now. She even contemplated putting her finger down her throat to get sick so she could run to the car and leave. Desperation and fear were swamping at her emotions. She couldn’t meet Mike right now. He just couldn’t be this wonderful in his emails and this breathtaking in real life. That was an unfair combo – a one/two punch to the gut. What if he thought she was ugly? What if he wasn’t interested but she fell for him? She was practically there already mentally but still had wiggle room to justify the ridiculousness of it all, simply telling herself he was on the opposite side of the planet.
Not. Any. More.
He was right here, in the flesh.
The gorgeous, tanned, sexy flesh that was smiling at her.
Ohmygosh! Cora thought in sheer panic and jumped to her feet.
“I’ll be right back,” she yelped and ran from the room, locking herself in the bathroom down the long hallway. She stared panicked at the wide-eyed woman looking back at her. Her face was pale with fear of the unknown or feeling of impending doom. Mike was here! Grabbing a washcloth, she heard Daisy’s soft voice asking if she was okay as it was followed by a light knocking.
“Cora?”
“You didn’t tell me he was going to be here!” Cora whispered hotly.
“He has a name,” she heard a deep, masculine voice nearby that made her bones feel like jelly. “Come on out, Cora, so I can say hello.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I’m not the boogeyman. I’m your friend.”
“My friends don’t look that hot,” Cora chirped and slapped her hands over her mouth in dismay as she heard a deep throaty chuckle.
“This is obviously more than what she’s shared with me. Don’t run her off, Mike. Give her some space,” Daisy’s voice carried, followed quickly by Ethan and John urging her away from the door.
“Go away,” Cora instructed.
“Nope.”
“Well I’m not coming out.”
“I’ve got all night.”
“This isn’t a contest.”
“Nope, this is me trying to say hello.”
“Well you said it – now go.”
“Cora, be realistic please. Is it so hard to believe that the first person I would want to say hello to is you?”
“Yes – you are surrounded by your friends.”
“And you are one of them.”
“You aren’t going to let up, are you?”
“I don’t plan on it – no.”
“The bathroom is comfortable, you know. I could hide in here for hours.”
“…And I don’t have to pee in a toilet.”
“Whaaaat?”
“I’m just saying. I’m a guy and I could go find a bush or…”
Cora jerked open the door horrified and stared up at him in disgust. He was standing there with his arms crossed against his chest. His dark eyes sparkled with delight as he smiled.
“You are crass and utterly gross.”
“I said it to get a reaction out of you other than being afraid of me.”
“Well you got one.”
“Great.”
“Now, go away.”
“I’m here in Texas until almost New Year’s Eve.”
“Well then I will…”
Cora nearly collapsed in shock as her words were suddenly cut off by Mike. He grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her. His warm lips pressed against hers and she couldn’t help her body’s traitorous reaction to him. Her fingers tentatively touched his side, making him giggle against her lips, effectively breaking the kiss.
“I’m ticklish,” he whispered softly to her. Cora’s eyes flew open and stared at his inky ones just before the catcalls started from nearby. Glancing over, she saw everyone was standing clustered at the end of the hallway. Their faces were lit with knowing smiles and several incorrigible winks.
Backing away, Cora nearly fell into the bathroom doorway behind her but Mike caught her once again. She stood up and abruptly stomped on his foot, jerking her arm away from him. She walked up to the stunned gathering that was blocking her exit.
“Move please.”
Thankfully they parted and let her out because Cora felt mortified at having hurt Mike’s foot. She didn’t like the idea of an audience seeing her first kiss ever from a guy, nor did she want any of them to know it – especially Mike. He was pushy enough as it was without giving him any encouragement.
“Cora! Please don’t leave,” Daisy said quickly and Ava chimed in.
“Mike Cooper I told you to be on your best behavior with her!”
“I am! I swear it!”
“That wasn’t it!”
“Well she isn’t scared of me right now.”
“No, she’s mad,” Cora announced loudly, making everyone turn and look at her. “… and a little embarrassed by all of this.”
“I can handle both of those emotions – just not your fear,” Mike said, coming out of the hallway. “Now, would you like something to drink.”
“I don’t drink.”
“I do – Ethan! Do you have any Diet Dr. Pepper? Cora doesn’t drink fluids at all…”
“I never said that!” Cora protested immediately. “Don’t twist my words.”
“Don’t look for the worst in me all the time. I was trying to be nice.”
“Guys! I just got engaged!” Ava snapped, irritated. “Can you please do this on your own time, not when I want to celebrate with Colin and meet his family officially? I want everyone to spend the day with us happy – get it? Happy Thanksgiving?”
Cora sat down hard in a chair and felt almost chastised that she had to be told to calm down. Glancing up, she saw Mike looked away from her and disappeared into another room. Everyone seemed to finally spread out amongst themselves.
John Griffin, their former CPO from Afghanistan, was cuddling with his wife Lily nearby, whispering to her. Whatever he was saying had her smiling and blushing. Ethan had found his way towards Daisy’s side, his hand gently laying on her hip while congratulating Ava and Colin on their engagement. The two were engaged but had delayed their marriage for a bit for personal reasons. Ava’s daughter, Aurora let out a loud shriek of happiness followed by a sweet little giggle that made everyone turn and look at the baby in the older couple’s lap where they sat on the couch.
Everyone had someone – except Cora. She’d never felt more alone at this point. The only person remotely interested and got under her skin like no other, was currently missing. Clenching her hands together, she fought the urge to pick up her purse and simply leave. Doing that wouldn’t change the way she felt right now but it would enable her to finish up that website she’d been working on. She had nothing else going for her in her life and it had never hurt so much as it did right now.
A laden plate suddenly appeared in front of her face. It was about three inches from her nose, causing her to jerk backwards visibly. One wrong move and she would have pimento on her face. Glancing up, she glared at Mike.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to start over,” he said lightly, taking a seat next to her. He was holding the large plate laden with two of each different appetizer that had been set out on the counter of the kitchen. He was also holding two cans of Diet. Dr. Pepper.
“Would you like one?”
Sighing, Cora accepted the can and murmured her thanks. Why was he trying so hard and why couldn’t he simply get the idea that she wasn’t interested? And why are you lying to yourself? her mind chimed in quickly, making her blush.
“The brownie bites are really good. I think there is cream cheese in the center of them,” Mike said casually as he held out the plate again to her. Rolling her eyes, she picked up one and popped it in her mouth. If her mouth was full, she didn’t have to talk to him.
It was Thanksgiving and she could cheerfully gorge herself without question. This would prevent her from getting to know him or falling for him. Gosh, he was beautif
ul, she thought, practically sighing as the sweet chocolaty goodness exploded on her tongue in a sensory overload… kinda like his kiss.
“Stop it,” Cora muttered with her mouth full, sending a piece of brownie flying from her lips. “Sorry.”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh,” Cora flushed with embarrassment. “I was talking to myself.”
“I do that sometimes,” Mike admitted, smiling, “As long as you don’t hold a full-on conversation, I’m told that’s normal.”
“I bet you have big ol’ discussions with yourself all the time,” she chided and realized that she was teasing him instead of snapping at him. He must have realized it too because his dark eyes practically twinkled as he grinned, revealing a dimple on one of his cheeks.
“I like it when you smile,” Mike said quietly, suddenly looking shy. Cora felt her heart thump nervously and a flutter of panic well up. “I’m glad I got the chance to meet my friend on the other end of the computer. I don’t want you to regret writing me and I will try hard to keep things easy. If you are feeling nervous, it’s okay because I feel like I’ve got a runaway bullet train charging through my veins right now.”
“You do?” she whispered painfully, meeting his eyes.
“Oh yeah,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his head nervously. “I’ve already screwed this up a few times with you. I want to impress you, and messing it up royally.”
Stunned by the admission, her eyes watched him carefully looking for any signs of a lie. She knew what she was doing and couldn’t help herself. She ultimately felt like she’d been fooled once or twice in her life and was a terrible judge of character. She was afraid she was going to make a mistake again that could be detrimental to herself. As she looked at him, she saw there was no guise, no attempt to coerce her into anything – it was a painfully honest admission from a genuine person.
“Screwed up sounds so harsh,” she said suddenly, surprising herself. “Maybe we can just say ‘overly enthusiastic and a little on the aggressive side’. I’d rather you ask me or tell me if you are going to kiss me.”
“I like that,” he said shyly, “I promise, next time I will ask permission.”
“Thank you.”
“Was it so terrible?”
“No,” she confessed, feeling her face flush with embarrassment.
“Cora,” Mike said thickly, leaning towards her. She backed away almost immediately and glared at him, causing him to smile. “I was just going to tell you something – a secret.”
Nodding, she sat there on edge as he leaned in towards her ear. She felt his breath against her hair and thought she’d fly off the seat in an adrenaline rush of panic. Instead, she held still as her curiosity was piqued at the supposed secret.
“You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen,” he whispered reverently against the shell of her ear, making her shiver. “I’m sorry about the kiss but I couldn’t help myself.”
Cora pulled away slightly, but only enough to look at him where he was leaning close to her. His face was only inches away and she was immobile at the unfettered interest she saw in his eyes. What was it about this man?
“Mike, it was my first kiss – our first kiss - and it should have been special, not in a bathroom doorway.”
“Cora?”
“Yes?”
“You shouldn’t have said that. I’m so gonna kiss you again now,” he whispered intensely, his dark eyes holding hers.
In a panic, she picked up something off the plate and shoved it directly into his mouth. It was a large table cracker piled high with port wine cheese. The mulberry and bright orange of the cheese smeared on his lips and part of his nose. Instead of being upset, Mike simply cracked up laughing and backed away from her. He shoved the remainder of the cracker in his mouth and grabbed a napkin to clean his face, handing her one for where her finger was covered in cheese.
“You’re lucky it was a cracker this time, Coop,” Griffin guffawed from across the room. “Last time I broke your nose and my finger.” Everyone started laughing at the revelation, with several confused looks between those that didn’t know what John was talking about.
“You kissed John?”
“In Afghanistan several years ago. I was teasing him about Lily’s letters and did it on the cheek. He completely freaked out.”
“Apparently you do that to a lot of people.”
“Honey - I’m a lover not a fighter,” Mike teased good-naturedly bringing on another round of smiles and laughs. He winked at Cora and said affectionately. “You won this round but the war has just begun.”
Chapter 7
Cora was stunned by the intensity of the way Mike was pursuing her. There was no other way to describe it. Every time she turned around on Thanksgiving – he was there. He was ingenious about it as well, getting past her defenses. Instead of asking for her phone number, he claimed his new phone wasn’t working or picking up signal. Loving technology as much as she did, she instantly went to work looking at his phone, checking the settings and testing it with hers.
“It seems to be working okay.”
“I see that now. Thank you.”
Glancing down at the phone he retrieved from her, she saw him save her phone number immediately with a large smile on his face.
“You little sneak,” she breathed, impressed by how clever he’d been.
“I couldn’t have gotten it any other way, could I?”
“No, probably not,” she admitted, feeling herself smile.
There was something about him that made her instantly leery and she realized what it was now. He could read her probably better than she could read herself. He knew she was wary but he wouldn’t give up either. When he claimed that she’d won the battle, she foolishly thought that he was going to give it a rest for a bit, but that wasn’t the case. He was mingling around the room, chatting with everyone, but kept returning to her. It was flattering to see him being so attentive towards her. She didn’t even have to try; he was just there – for hours on end. At the end of the evening, he walked her to her car and stood there awkwardly beside her waiting in the dim glow of the streetlight.
“You can head back inside.”
“I know.”
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Yeah.”
“Then go on inside.”
“I’ll wait.”
“For what?”
“For you to ask me to kiss you.”
“No, Mike – I said you should ask me.”
“Okay. Cora, may I kiss you goodnight?”
“No.”
“See it doesn’t work,” he said in a disappointed voice. “Maybe I’m saying it wrong? How should I ask?”
“Just say something simple like ‘will you please kiss me’?”
Cora saw the smile on his face and realized what she’d just said aloud.
“You sneaky thing…” she started as he stepped forward. She backed up and bumped into her car. His arms slid around her waist, and he simply waited, smiling down at her.
“You are right. That was sneaky,” he admitted softly, kissing the tip of her nose. “Will you please let me kiss you? We aren’t in a bathroom doorway, and there is no one around. It’s just you and me – and I want to make our first kiss a little better than that rushed one. You can even stomp on my foot again,” he offered, making her melt a little.
“Maybe just a little kiss,” she conceded, wondering what a true kiss would be like from him if just seeing his smile made her feel giddy inside. He leaned down and hesitated again, his warm breath mingling with hers in the cool night air.
“Last chance, honey,” he breathed, “No take-backs now.”
Nodding, she closed her eyes and heard his breath hitch just before his lips touched hers tenderly. She felt herself melt into his arms as his hand slid up and cupped her cheek, the other arm holding her close to him. Cora reached out to put her arms around his waist and the second she made contact, he giggled again. She laughed in delight against his
lips.
“You really are ticklish, aren’t you?”
“Horribly so,” he admitted, smiling down at her. “Just go ahead and put your hands on my waist. Don’t be shy, that is what tickles. Grab me like you are picking up something off the floor.”
“Mike,” Cora said in amazement, chuckling. “Kissing you shouldn’t be like picking up something on the ground.”
“I’m glad you think that way,” he confessed, winking at her mischievously. “Go ahead and place your hands on me. I wasn’t done in the slightest.”
“So, if it’s too much, all I have to do is tickle you?”
“Sure,” he snickered, as she put her hands on his waist quickly. She felt the skin under his shirt clench under her fingers and nearly moaned aloud at the sensation it created inside of her. He was nothing but muscle under her fingertips as he settled in under her touch.
“Now, where were we?”
“You were trying to right a wrong – weren’t you?” she said boldly, reminding him of the impromptu kiss earlier that was so unexpected. This would be an afternoon she would never forget. Her world was in the process of turning upside down and it centered around this endearing, lonely soldier.
“Yeah, I was.”
The next several days were a bevy of text messages and phone calls just to check to see what she was up to. Mike was a massive distraction in her life – a pleasant one. Cora was invited over to dinner by Mike under the premise that everyone else was going to be there. He must have realized she was going to hesitate because he quickly volunteered the information over the phone. As she listened to him speak, she realized that he was telling the truth.
“Apparently, everyone is gathering together at a restaurant in town this evening about six tonight. Do you want me to pick you up? I could borrow Ethan’s truck,” he offered.
“No, I can drive myself.”
“Somehow I knew you’d say that.”
Remember Joy Page 6
