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She had thought her schoolgirl memory had made Corbin’s kisses more than they were. She was wrong. She hadn’t kissed a lot of guys in her life, but she’d kissed enough to know that kissing was an art very few men took the time to study. But Corbin had studied it. He seemed to know exactly how to angle his head to make their lips fit perfectly and how much pressure to apply and how much tongue to introduce.
He didn’t tug her into his arms or push her up against the door. He didn’t grab her butt or slide a hand over her breast. He just stood there holding her hand and tipping her world on its axis with the skilled slide of his lips and heated strokes of his tongue. When he finally drew away, it was a struggle to keep standing. There was no way she could deal with all the conflicting emotions that swirled around inside her. So she tugged her hand free and fled into the trailer.
Once the door was closed, she rested against it and listened to the wild thumping of her heart and the sound of his truck driving away.
Chapter Eleven
“If I’d known how grumpy you were going to be, I’d have given another man the pleasure of escorting me.”
Corbin pulled out of his thoughts and glanced over at Mrs. Stokes, who was sitting in the folding camp chair she had him put in the back of his truck when he and Sunny had picked her up for the Memorial Day picnic.
She wore a dress that hit her mid-calf, hose, and low-heeled dress shoes. In honor of Memorial Day, or possibly due to the heat, she had forgone her mink stole and instead had a red, white, and blue scarf tied around her shoulders. Her dyed red hair was styled in a huge bubble around her wrinkled face.
A scowling face.
He couldn’t blame her for being mad. He hadn’t been the best of escorts. His mind kept wandering back to Belle’s kiss. What really pissed him off was that he’d been in this exact position before. After Belle had kissed him the first time, it had taken him months to stop thinking about it. Yes, he’d been hurt and angry over the twin switch, but his hurt and anger had been mixed with something else.
A heavy dose of lust.
He had thought it had to do with him being a randy teenager.
He realized now that wasn’t the case.
It was Belle.
Belle bewitched him with her kisses.
“So you want to tell me why the glum face?” Mrs. Stokes asked. “As far as I can tell, you have everything a Texas man could want. Loads of money. A ranch. And two stunning women on a date.”
Sunny leaned over from where she sat on the quilt and socked him hard in the leg. “Yeah, Cory, what more could you want?”
Damned if an image of Belle didn’t pop into his head, which made him scowl even more.
Mrs. Stokes snorted and set down her paper plate that had once been piled high with fried chicken, potato salad, deviled eggs, and homemade sweet pickles, but now just held bones. “Come on, Sunny, let’s go find ourselves some pleasant men who will let a woman take a smoke if she damn well wants to.”
“Don’t you dare.” Corbin pointed a finger at her. “You gave me your word.”
“That was when I thought I was going to be with a man who knew how to entertain me with his business knowledge and dry wit. But you’ve been as boring as that clown over there trying to juggle three Hula-Hoops.”
Sunny set down her own plate and got to her feet. “You’re right, Fiona. Let’s go find ourselves some entertaining cowboys who know how to have a little fun.” She sent him a sassy smirk as she pulled Mrs. Stokes away.
“No smoking!” he yelled after them. “You either, Sunny.” He spotted Tay diving at Mrs. Stokes’ plate of leftover chicken bones. “No!” But of course, no female in his life listened to him and he had to wrestle the chicken wing away from the kitten.
“Good you got that away from her. Cooked bones aren’t good for animals.”
He glanced up to see Mimi standing there, her wide-brimmed hat casting a shadow over him and Tay. “Hey, Mimi. Enjoying the picnic?”
She sat down in Mrs. Stokes’ chair and patted her leg. Tay forgot the chicken bone and jumped into her lap. “It’s not as good as last year’s. Of course, that’s probably due to Sweetie and Cloe not ever hosting a big event like this before. Liberty and Belle were supposed to be in charge, but Liberty ran off to Houston and Belle is hiding out in your trailer.” She glanced around. “I thought she’d come today. She never has been able to resist a celebration. It looks like she still needs some time alone.”
Corbin wished he had left her alone. When he’d discovered her in his trailer, he should have turned tail and run for his life. He shouldn’t have joined her in her junk-eating-movie-watching. He shouldn’t have taken her for tacos. And he definitely shouldn’t have kissed her.
Not that he had kissed her. She was the one who had kissed him. But he hadn’t stopped her. At least, not soon enough to keep him from having dreams about the gentle pull of her lips and wet heat of her mouth.
“You hot? You look a little flushed.”
Mimi’s question pulled him out of his thoughts. “I’m fine.” He picked up his bottle of water and took a big slug. When he lowered the bottle, he noticed Mimi watching him with a smile on her face. “What?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking about you as a kid. You were always so focused. So intense. I thought maybe the ranch would help you relax a little.” She laughed. “Of course, it didn’t help my son relax either. The stress of ranching was what caused his heart attack.”
