No Romance Required(5)

“I’m on a nature walk.” Smiling thinly, he reached up to adjust his lapels. “There are slim pickings inside, so I decided I’d head down to the water tower and see who I might come across.”

He’d poked that sore spot of hers intentionally. She’d been caught making out with the captain of the football team at the water tower in high school and people still joked about it. Small towns were like that. If you did something notable—or even better, notorious—be prepared to hear about it until everyone in town alive at the time of the incident died.

It seemed like a low blow, but there was a method to his madness. Better to annoy her than to hear her start sniffling again.

Victoria cocked her head. “Oh? You didn’t bring a date tonight?”

“No.” He tucked his hands in his pockets as he walked up the steps of the gazebo to join her. He figured, what the hell? Sparring with her always got his blood pumping. His work could wait. “Neither did you, it appears.”

“I didn’t try to arrange one.” The diamond stud in her nose sparkled madly, somehow matching her subtle air of irritation.

Cory lifted a brow, almost unconsciously moving closer to her. She smelled as earthy and mysterious as the grounds that surrounded them. That woodland fragrance always teased his senses, drenching him in her whether or not he wanted to be. “And you’re assuming I did?”

“You’re just the boring—oh, I’m sorry—traditional type who usually avoids attending social functions alone.” She grinned up at him. “What will the masses think?”

“You honestly think I give a whit about public opinion?”

“Honestly? Hell fuck yeah.”

He stepped forward before he registered the impulse, his pelvis brushing against hers unintentionally. She went still, then her witchy eyes flickered up to his. “You’re not serious. You’re actually ha—”

“Don’t say it.” It had been a tactical mistake to move so close. He gripped her arm, hoping that would silence her mouth.

No such luck.

“Oh, let’s discuss this. You have an erection. A nice-sized one, too, from all appearances.” She tapped her fingers against her glossy mouth and stared in the vicinity of his painfully aroused groin. “Could it be that you’re attracted to me, a real, flesh-and-blood woman? Have you ever enjoyed one of those?”

Her line of questioning skirted way too close to the conversation he’d had with his parents. This notion that he couldn’t get a woman made his blood boil. He certainly could. He’d even go so far as to say he could get just about any woman he wanted, at least for long enough to make it worth both their whiles.

Even this one.

She moved into his space again, getting right in his face with help from her ice-pick heels. “Not that I can compete with the vixens in your daily life. C’mon, what’s sexier than spreadsheets, projections, and ooh, those long, hard calculations—”

He stepped closer and she fell silent. His entire body pulsed with tightly leashed need. For her. She’d pushed him to this point. Had been pushing him for way too long. Why not take what he wanted for once? Besides, if she kept talking, his brain would simply explode.

So he shut her up the only way he knew how—he kissed her.

…

Cory’s lips were on hers. Softly molding, gently pressing. His tongue, tasting of fruit and mint and him, twisted around hers, toying with her flesh the way she now wished he’d play with her tightly beaded nipples. And between her legs? Complete forest fire, no extinguisher needed. She’d brought her own moisture, thank you very much.

Holy fracking fuck, she wanted him.

Then the jerk pushed her back and rubbed his wrist over his mouth. It was an oddly sensual gesture, the way he brushed her taste away while his smoldering silver eyes told her he wanted to taste every part of her. Slowly. Thoroughly. Until she died from the pleasure.

She was already halfway there.

Still, she knew better. Cory might be as delicious as sin and twice as hot, but he was also a workaholic who thought being emotional meant springing for a Hallmark card on holidays. Even though she wasn’t some spineless chick who was looking for a man to prop her up, she still had feelings. She waged a daily battle against the ghosts of her past that wouldn’t quite stay gone, and she was mostly winning, through lots of hard work and attentive self-care. That meant minimizing contact with disruptive influences.

Like Cory Santangelo. His wavy dark hair, gunmetal gray eyes, and sinfully sexy body added up to a lethal package. His cunning brain and razor-sharp wit only magnified the potential destruction.