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“I didn’t mean that—what I meant was—” Ah, to hell with it. An answering laugh rose in him before he could stop it. Then
he glanced up at her pale fingers, still wrapped sinuously around the wooden pole. “Put your hands on me.” His voice came out more rough than he’d intended.
“Aww, feeling neglected already?” She drew her wicked nails along the back of his neck and rocked against him, squeezing him where he was still lodged deep. “We can fix that.”
“Next time,” he kissed her hard, “you better save those scratches for me.”
Only when she smiled did he realize what he’d said. Next time.
Impishly, she fluttered her lashes. “How do you feel about this time, part two?”
With one flex, he was buried to the hilt again. “Bring it.”
…
After another round of vigorous post sex, an impromptu tickle-fight, and a walk through the pasture, they finally made it back to the house. They crept in the back door like guilty children, but as soon as they turned around and saw the three stern faces staring back at them from the table, Vicky swiftly realized they shouldn’t have bothered.
“We wondered where you two had disappeared to.” Corinne pushed two mugs of hot cider across the table. “Your drinks are getting cold.”
Vicky tugged uncomfortably at her dress. “Oh, we were just out talking—”
“We went for a walk—”
“You don’t need to continue this ruse any longer.” Corinne folded her hands and looked at the table. “We know you’re not really dating.”
Vicky tossed a frantic glance at Cory, whose attention rested squarely on his parents. “Says who?” When they didn’t respond, Cory’s focus shifted to Dillon. “Oh, I get it. Your golden boy has decided I’m lying. Why are you so curious about my love life, Dill? Do you want me out of the company or what?”
“Get a grip, man. You know this isn’t about that. We care about what happens to you. Jesus, I’m not at the damn hospital with my girlfriend right now because I thought this was more important—”
“Hospital?” Vicky and Cory echoed in unison.
“Nellie was having contractions,” Corinne supplied. “Most likely only Braxton-Hicks since she’s only in her sixth month, but they’re new parents and understandably nervous. Plus Nellie had gas. She called it pelvic pressure, but I’m almost certain she’s been reading too many baby guides.”
“She went to the hospital for gas?” Cory asked, clearly perplexed.
“And contractions,” Dillon put in. “Better to be safe, right?”
Corinne nodded. “Alexa and Jake went with her and the rest of the guests decided to go. We waited for you, thinking you wouldn’t be long—”
“Where did you go? Back to the office?” Raymond put in.
“Or were you huddling in the barn, hoping everyone would leave so you wouldn’t have to keep up your pathetic acting jobs all night?” Dillon added.
Cory’s lips thinned into a flat line. “Do you want to know why we were gone so long? Do you really want to know?”
Vicky didn’t know if they wanted to know, but she could say with one hundred percent certainty she didn’t want them to. She laid a hand on Cory’s arm and frowned at the tension flowing through his pores. A little while ago, they’d both been as relaxed as could be. Now he seemed ready to chew nails.
“Baby, take it easy.” She used the endearment for Cory’s benefit, not theirs. She hated seeing him so angry. “We’ll just sit down and talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. They’re accusing me of lying, when they haven’t the foggiest clue of what’s going on.”
“Sweetheart, if we’re wrong, just—”
Cory ignored his mother and glanced at Vicky, his eyes firing with an unholy gleam that made her take a step back. “Come here.”
Self-preservation kicked in, hard. “No.”
He stepped closer to her and yanked back her collar. She didn’t know what her neck looked like, but judging from the collective gasp that rose up from the table, she guessed it wasn’t pretty. Hickeys and stubble burn, the duo of champions. She immediately smacked his hand away, though she knew it was too late.
