Battling the Best Man: A Harmony Falls Novel, Book 2 (Crimson Romance) (22 page)

The thought made her smile.

Fine, if she was going to be seducing him in a coat checkroom, she should probably look…seductive. Her stomach tumbled again. They didn’t teach seduction in medical school. She glanced at the white oxford hanging loosely over denim capris. If she were Alice, she’d ditch it all and sprawl across the armchair naked. She was so not Alice. Instead, Kory unbuttoned the top three buttons of her shirt and leaned forward at the waist, propping her breasts into place. All the while her brain teased her, because she couldn’t be this smart and not see how dumb she looked.

Standing with a huff, she tied the blouse at her waist, revealing plenty of skin, and tugged her jeans lower on her hips. That was as seductive as she would get.

And then she heard voices.

Her heart stopped as she held her breath. Was it Wren? Maybe her grandmother was feeling better and she decided to come after all. Kory’s face heated with embarrassment. As much as she liked Wren, she wasn’t sure she liked her enough to let her in on this sort of thing.

She pressed her ear to the door, and a familiar deep voice buckled her knees.

Shit. Shit. Shit.
She looked around for an escape. Why did she let Alice talk her into this?

But it was too late. Kory closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths and backed herself into the corner. What was the worst that could happen? He’d laugh at her. Not like he hadn’t done it before. Embarrassing images from high school flashed in her mind, but they’d come too far for her to give credence to them now.

Kory exhaled and flashed a nervous smile. Will Mitchell started something in a coat checkroom two months ago, and tonight, in this one, she was going to finish it.

• • •

Will rolled his eyes at his sister-in-law. “Why can’t I just go up and talk to her for a minute?”

“I said I’ll get her for you. Why are you being such a pill?” Alice huffed. “Besides, I need you to lift a heavy box off the top shelf in that room.” She pointed across the lobby as she moved in the opposite direction. “Top shelf. About this big.” She held out her hands, shoulder width apart. “Breakable stuff, so be careful. And take your time.”

If he wasn’t mistaken, she giggled. He turned around to call her on it, but she was gone, the only sign of her was the slowly closing door that led into the theatre.

Will shook his head. She was up to something. Maybe Kory was too. The more he thought about it, the more Kory had sounded funny on the phone. The question was, did she sound funny good or funny bad? He couldn’t remember. He’d been content to hear her voice.

If he survived this night, it would be a miracle.

Inhaling, he pulled on the doorknob of the room Alice pointed to, and stepped inside.

“Surprise.”

It was a soft unexpected sound, and he stepped back, more than surprised. Maybe even a little scared. He didn’t often walk into rooms and find…

Kory perched on the arm of an overstuffed chair, smiling like she wasn’t sure she should be smiling. The result was a cockeyed grin that socked him right in the groin.

“What’s going on?” he asked, taking in the rest of her. A white oxford shirt knotted seductively at her waist and unbuttoned enough to show off perky boobs. Faded jeans slung low on her narrow hips and led to blessedly bare feet. Hell, he couldn’t even remember why he was here. He was just so damn glad he was.

“Well…”—she stood, took a deep breath and wiggled those hips toward him, her blue jeans sliding lower—“…you started something in a coat room once, and I’d like to finish it.”

The sultry words and movements were in direct contrast to her raised brows and her teeth worrying her bottom lip. It was an intoxicating combination. Will swallowed a groan, but a gruff noise still managed to escape.

She smirked at the noise, realization of the power she had over him written on her face. As if she could get any more beautiful… He groaned again as she slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, locking them behind his neck.

To think he’d spent the drive to town scared beyond reason to face her.
Her.
And here she was with her arms around his neck and her luscious lips smiling up at him, when twenty-four hours ago he thought he’d lost her forever.

Was he dreaming this? Was there something in that lemonade?

“I love you,” he whispered, deciding to really test the limits of his good fortune.

Under the circumstances, his announcement was a little abrupt, so he wasn’t surprised when she opened her mouth and released a squeal. The meaning of the squeal was indiscernible, but even if it was meant to be a negative noise, it was better than a slap across the face. And when she didn’t step back, out of his reach, he took that as an even better sign. Now, if she’d just say something to put him out of his misery.

“I love you, too.” Her face wrinkled. “But you beat me to it. I wanted to say it first.”

Of course she did.

He wrapped her up in his arms and chuckled against her temple. “We’re going to be battling like this for the rest of our lives, aren’t we?”

“I hope so,” she whispered. “Because honestly, I need you to call me out occasionally. For instance, remember when I said this was
nothing
?”

Will nodded. “I remember that night very well.”

“Yeah, see, I was wrong.
Nothing
ended up being
something
, something really amazing.”

“I tried to tell you that.”

“Did you? I don’t remember. Your mouth was kind of distracting.”

He pulled back and cupped her face in his hands. Her lips glistened in the overhead lighting, drawing his mouth like a magnet. “So is yours,” he said.

Kory stopped the kiss with her fingertips. “Wait. I have more to say.” Eyes wide, lips straight. The playfulness had left her face.

His stomach bottomed out, like maybe the things she had to say wouldn’t be things he wanted to hear, but he was holding her, looking her square in the eyes, and she loved him. How bad could it be? Whatever it was, he could deal.

“I lost the job in Chicago.” Her eyes flashed downward, but then she looked up at him with a full-blown smile.

It confused the heck out of him. “I’m sorry?” The inflection of his voice mirrored his confusion.

“Don’t be. I’m not. I mean, I was, but then I thought about what it really means.” She played with his collar, her gaze flashing from his throat to his eyes. “It means I have some unexpected freedom after fellowship, and I can decide what comes next.”

He hated to jump to conclusions. He’d never been that kind of guy. He’d also never wanted anything more than this, so it was probably reasonable he equated her unexpected freedom with them building a life together. Marriage didn’t seem like such a bad deal, now…if it was what she wanted.

He’d give her anything.

Will’s hands had a mind of their own, dropping to her shoulders, and then over her back, smoothing the bare skin of her midriff. He remembered the last time he grabbed her there, holding on for dear life, giving more of himself than he ever thought possible. A wicked heat spread over him, and he pulled her hips against him.

“Have you decided what comes next?” he asked, swirling his tongue around his dry mouth, eager for her to get to the point, so he could get to his.

“Well, first, let me say I believe in finishing what I start.” She grinned as she unbuttoned his shirt.

“Thank God,” he said, exhaling.

“I have to go to Chicago for the next month and finish my fellowship.” Her mouth landed on his Adam’s apple. “In the spirit of finishing what I started. It will be a busy month, and I won’t have time to visit.”

He had a busy month, too, which sucked, but he could handle the separation if afterwards they found a way to be together.

“I understand,” Will said, his voice gruff beneath the pressure of her lips. “And then what?”

He reached around to the knotted cotton below her breasts, and worked to unfasten it, startling when she yanked his collar down, over his shoulder, and her tongue tipped the bruise she’d left the night before.

“And then I’m coming home. For good.” She looked at him, her brows high on her head. “And when I do, Lance Palmer will not be welcome in my nursing home unless he’s a patient. Understand?”

Will laughed, filled with an overpowering joy. This woman was made for him. She loved him. And she was coming home.

Any lingering bubbles of doubt popped, leaving him buoyant. He lifted her off the ground into a crushing hug. “I love you,” he said, and then he said it again. Because he felt like it. Because he could. Because he never imagined it would be the wrong time or place to say those words again.

• • •

Kory pressed her mouth and nose against Will’s neck and breathed him in as he held her off the ground. Normally, this wasn’t a position she’d be comfortable with, but at the moment, she didn’t care if he ever put her down.

Will Mitchell loved her, and she loved him. She almost laughed, because nobody who knew their history could’ve seen this coming. Maybe that’s what made it so special. All the days and months and years her path was strong and straight in the absolute opposite direction of Will, but then life shook things up, shook her up, and put him square in her path. She could’ve been happy in Chicago, but she was so much happier here.

That was what her father was trying to tell her, wasn’t it? Despite the altered course of his life, he wouldn’t change a thing. Funny how, even though it was in a different context, history had a way of repeating itself.

“Let’s get out of here,” Will whispered as he lowered her to the ground.

Any other time, Kory would’ve followed him. But standing here, looking up at his smiling face, she couldn’t imagine letting the opportunity go to waste. She scoffed as she tugged the shirttails from his pants and unfastened the lower buttons. Euphoria was one heck of an aphrodisiac.

“Didn’t we just talk about the importance of finishing what we started?” she asked.

He tipped his head toward the door. “But Alice...”

“Won’t come back. She promised to go and stay gone.” Kory smoothed her palms over his warm belly, up to his chest.

Will closed his eyes and smiled. “You set me up, didn’t you?”

She laughed. “You are a slow learner,” she said, pushing the shirt from his shoulders, watching it slip from his arms. To think there was ever a day when she felt out of her league with Will Mitchell. “Lucky for you, I’m obscenely smart.” She inched her face closer, bringing her lips almost to his. “And I don’t mind tutoring a struggling man.”

In a whoosh of motion, he lifted her again, this time depositing her onto the armchair amid mutual laughter.

“We’ll see about that,” he said, looming over her. “If I remember right, my I.Q. has a good ten points on yours.”

“Will, Will, Will,” she clucked, gripping him by the waistband. “Don’t you know anything? It’s not the size of your I.Q. that counts. It’s the size of your…”

He cut her off with his mouth.

Laying beneath him, warmed by his body and an unmistakable inner glow, she realized life would be filled with countless choices…but never a better choice than this.

Elley Arden is a born and bred Pennsylvanian who has lived as far west as Utah and as far north as Wisconsin. She drinks wine like it’s water (a slight exaggeration), prefers a night at the ballpark to a night on the town, and believes almond English toffee is the key to happiness. Elley writes contemporary romances with flirt and flair for Crimson Romance. For a complete list of Elley’s books, visit
www.elleyarden.com
.

Alice shoved her feet into rhinestone-studded pumps, checked her teeth for smudges of red lipstick and dashed out the door onto the porch. She had exactly twenty minutes to get to church. Digging into her late mother’s beaded clutch, Alice cursed her missing keys and walked as she rummaged, wishing a chat with the mail lady hadn’t put her behind schedule.

Ruff.
Mouse ran a zigzag pattern across the front yard, brushing filthy fur against her toile skirt.

“Stop it. You’re dirty.” Alice waved the dog away, but he brushed by again, causing her to stumble and step in a pile of …

“Crap!” She threw her handbag to the ground and stared at the clump of brown on the tip of her shoe. “Are you serious?” She tossed her head back and roared at the cloudless sky. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Stomping her way back to the porch, she kicked off the shoe and scraped the toe in the too-tall grass. Dog doo smashed between the rhinestones. Alice growled, dropped the shoe to the ground and limped into the house, heading straight for her only other pair of remotely matching heels … character shoes. Wearing beige stage shoes wasn’t the fashion statement she hoped to be making today, but she didn’t have a choice. She was already late, and the only place to buy shoes in Harmony Falls was the thrift store, which was closed for the congressman’s wedding.

These were the moments when Alice missed her mother most. She kissed fingertips and pressed them to Mama’s face, smiling at Alice from behind dusty glass. “Tough day, Mama. Wish you were here.”

With a frown, Alice hastily fastened the shoes, leaving too much slack. At least the whole day hadn’t been a bust. Shirley had delivered mail early on account of the wedding, and in her hand was a letter from the Arts Foundation. Alice’s application was a finalist, which put her one step closer to opening an honest-to-God theatre in Harmony Falls. No more
The Sound of Music
in the park pavilion. No more
Peter Pan
in the church social hall. No more Poor Little Alice Cramer, the girl with impossible dreams.

She sighed and then smiled, determined not to let the bad parts of the day drown out the good.

Ten minutes remained, and Alice still had no idea where to find her keys. For all she knew, Mouse stole them again so he could chew on her lucky rabbit’s foot. When she rolled her eyes, she noticed her brother’s keys hanging on the hook by the door where he’d left them when he rode off with a group of deadbeat friends. Her nose crinkled. Charlie’s car smelled like cigarettes and was littered with trash, but it would get her to the church faster than walking.