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When she heard the knock on the door, she bounced up off the couch and opened the door. He stepped forward, a huge grin on his face and said, “Missed you.”
“Missed you too,” she agreed, as she tugged him further inside and shut the door. Pressing Jamie back against the door, Cora pulled his mouth down to hers, and nipped at his lips until his mouth opened over hers. When his tongue brushed across hers, she let out a pleasured sigh.
Jamie eventually broke off the kiss and said, “You have no idea how much it pains me to stop you but, you should know that Maureen’s waiting in the car.”
“No,” Cora moaned as she let her forehead fall to rest against his chest. “Tell me you’re joking.”
“I wish,” he said mournfully. “This morning her car wouldn’t start, so I went and picked her up. Ruined my plans, too.”
Intrigued, Cora asked, “You had plans?”
“I had plans to take you against the first flat surface I could find,” he said. Leaning back against the door, he said, “This would have done nicely.”
Cora sighed deeply and said, “I’ll get my bag.”
Jamie held her against him for a moment longer and then released her and said, “To be continued. As soon as humanly possible.”
Cora moved from his arms to grab her backpack from the couch. Jamie immediately took it from her and asked, “Ready?”
&nb
sp; “Yeah,” she sighed, unable to keep the slight sadness from her voice.
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth when he said, “Me too, baby. Me too.”
Slowly, they made their way out to the car, stopping to lock Cora’s front door. Maureen had moved into the backseat, so Cora slid into the passenger’s side and said, “Hey!”
Maureen greeted her and then apologized, “Sorry. I hope you don’t mind me intruding. My car died this morning.”
“Oh, that sucks. I hope it’s nothing serious,” Cora said, waving off her apology.
“Yeah,” Maureen said. “Me too. I feel like a dumbass for not taking the extended warranty. I’m about ready to trade in this piece of crap.”
As they made their way up the coast, the conversation flowed easily. Maureen regaled them with tales of the extensive repair history of her car. Both Jamie and Cora winced as she detailed the transmission replacement. It had apparently died in the middle of the freeway. She was able to pull over onto a very small shoulder while her car had leaked red goop all over the place.
“You need to get rid of that junker, Mo,” Jamie said as he pulled into a gas station. “Do you guys want some water or anything?”
When they both nodded, he slid out of the vehicle and walked toward the entrance. Cora watched, once and again appreciating how nicely he filled out the plain black T-shirt he wore. Maureen eventually spoke, breaking into her wayward thoughts.
“I’m glad you guys got back together. I’ve never seen him happier,” she said.
Cora drily said, “I’m sure the huge contract he booked the other day has something to do with the happiness as well.”
“I’m sure it doesn’t hurt, but, he’s a different person when you’re around, Cora. You didn’t see it, but I did. When he came home he seemed a little bit lost. He doesn’t anymore and I think it’s because of you.”
Cora studied her for a minute and then asked, “Is this the part where you warn me not to hurt your brother?”
“Not at all. I love you both and I just want you guys to be happy.”
“It’s good, Maureen. It’s early but...things are really good. We’re just taking it slowly.”
She nodded and said, “Seems wise.”
* * * *
Two hours later, Cora ran through the backyard, narrowly avoiding the cool streams of water coming from the family’s various water guns. She managed to avoid most of the major fire, and had soaked the majority of Jamie’s family. She considered it excellent retaliation for the bet.
Her hair was wet from where Will had gotten her in the back, but Cora was damned fast. Four years of high school track and years on an intramural track team in college had definitely paid off. It was time to rest, now, though.
