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He turned to her with a concerned look. “You shouldn’t have walked up those stairs without my help.”
Sunny looked at Belle and shook her head. “He’s hopeless. Now let’s eat! I’m starving.” Belle started to make her excuses, but Sunny stopped her. “Oh, no, you’re not leaving me to eat alone with my overprotective brother. He’ll want to serve me in bed. You were nice enough to make dinner. It’s only right you should stay and help us eat it.”
Since Belle hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and was starving, she gave in. That and Gilley flat refused to come out of the cat condo. When Corbin tried to pick up Tay, he got a scratch.
“Stubborn females,” he grumbled before leaving the room.
Belle thought dinner would be awkward. And it would have been if not for Sunny. She was the complete opposite of her somber brother. She was talkative and funny and sweet . . . and loved embarrassing her brother.
“. . . I kid you not. He wanted to be a magician when he was eight and he was horrible at it. He did this card trick where you picked a card and he tried to guess what it was. He guessed wrong every single time, but he kept guessing until he finally pulled the right one out—even if it took going through the entire deck.” She winked at him. “But you did look cute in that cape you made out of Mom’s black satin negligee.”
Corbin’s cheeks turned bright red. “I’m sure Belle doesn’t want to hear about the stupid things I did as a kid.”
Belle smiled. “Actually, I do.” She had always thought his life had been so dismal. She was glad to know he’d had happy moments.
“He even asked for a white rabbit for Christmas that year,” Sunny continued. “But Daddy was allergic to animal dander so Cory got a stuffed one instead. Which was a good thing because when he swept off his top hat to show it was empty that stuffed rabbit went sailing.”
Corbin got up. “Enough magician stories. You need to lie down and rest.” Amid her protests, he lifted Sunny and carried her out of the room.
While he was gone, Belle cleared the table and started washing the dishes. She was drying the salad bowl when Gilley came racing into the room and jumped up to greet her with kisses. She set the bowl down and hugged him close, pressing her face into his soft fur that smelled a little like Flamin’ Cheetos.
“I can do the dishes.”
She looked up to see Corbin standing in the doorway holding Tay. His scowl was back and she figured she’d overstayed her welcome.
“I didn’t mind helping. You just need to wash the casserole dish.” She walked over and picked up her purse. She dug around in the side pocket until she found the key to the trailer and set it on the kitchen table. “Thank you for letting me stay at your trailer. I really appreciate it.”
He looked at the key and then at her. He started to say something, but then merely nodded.
When she and Gilley got outside, she led him to some bushes so he could do his business. But he didn’t seem to like their scent because he only gave them a couple sniffs before he started to whine.
“Fine. I’ll let you off the leash, but don’t dawdle. Or get anywhere near Mimi’s garden. You think Tay is tough, she’s nothing compared to my grandmother.”
“You can say that again. You don’t mess with Mimi.”
She looked up to find Corbin standing on the porch steps, cradling a sleeping Tay in his arm. Why did the sight always make her heart feel tight?
“You don’t want to stay at the trailer because of its bad condition or what I said at the picnic?” he asked.
She kept her gaze on Gilley who was taking his good sweet time finding a spot to pee. “I like the trailer. It’s cozy.”
“So it’s about what I said.”
“I’m not going to stay in your trailer when you think I’m trying to manipulate you to get this ranch. Like I said, I don’t want my family to have to leave a home they love, but unlike some people, I won’t do underhanded things to accomplish my goals.”
He came down the steps of the porch. “I didn’t do anything underhanded. Your daddy knew the conditions of the loan.”
“Well, I didn’t do anything underhanded either. I just kissed you because—”
“You wanted to. So you say. But why? Why did you want to?”
She didn’t have an answer for that so she took the offensive. “Why did you kiss me back? Because you did kiss me back, Corbin Whitlock. Both times.”
He was close now. So close she could see the five-o’clock shadow covering his jaw and the frown that tipped down his lips. And his eyes. His intense eyes that always made her feel breathless . . . and want to kiss him.
“You’ll stay here tonight,” he said.
She stared at him. “What?”
