Rolling his hips, he stroked up gently. She met him with a roll of her own. This he could do. He could finish their lovemaking. Make her feel how much he loved being inside her. With great care, he shifted their positions so she was lying beneath him and he now had more control. Her eyes remained closed but her lips were parted and her tongue and teeth worked her bottom lip. He lowered his head to nip at its plump temptation.
Sweet and slow quickly turned to needy and fast. They came together, and he was so spent his arms shook as he braced above her. Hating to break the connection, he also didn't want to face-plant on her chest or squash her. He leveraged to her side and sank into the mattress.
He lost track of time as he cuddled Jolie to his side. Each time he touched her, each time they made love, it just got better and better. Her presence did wicked things to his body, but it also eased his soul. Cord just managed to swallow the snort that thought prompted. If he spent much more time around this amazing woman, his brothers and cousins would demand he surrender his man card. At this particular moment in time, he would have burned that sucker himself. He didn't want to be anywhere but here.
The shuffle of feet and heavy breathing caught his attention. He glanced toward the door and saw a shadow moving back and forth in the crack under the door. CJ. Who clearly wanted their attention.
"Jolie?"
"Mmm?"
"We need to get up, sunshine. CJ's waiting."
"Mmm."
"Why don't you grab the first shower."
"Mmm?" Her forehead crinkled, and he kissed the V between her brows. He liked it when she made that face and his lips smoothed the wrinkles away.
"Shower. You take longer to get ready so you go first."
"Oh. Right."
Cord didn't mention that he had ulterior motives-such as watching her walk to the bathroom, only to follow a few moments later so he could watch her through the fogged glass shower door. Oh, yeah. He would have to take care of the woody he now sported, but he'd wait for his own shower. If he got in with her now, their son would likely starve to death. His stomach rumbled. Cord would, too, if that noise was any indication.
The shower door slid open and Jolie's face appeared. "Are you watching me?" She sounded outraged, but he knew she wasn't.
"Damn straight I am."
"Pervert."
"Guilty as charged."
Her gaze traveled down his body, stopping at his groin. Something twinkled in her eyes, and Cord couldn't decide if it was lust or humor. "So why don't you join me?" she purred.
He laughed and palmed himself. "Trust me, I'd love to, but then CJ and I both would starve to death."
"Party pooper."
"Somebody has to be the responsible adult."
Jolie giggle-snorted and slapped her hand over her mouth to diffuse the sound. He widened his stance and crossed his arms over his chest. "I rest my case."
"Oh, okay." She muttered something under her breath that he couldn't decipher before she added, "But you're gonna get yours one of these days."
"I certainly hope so. And I hope that you're the one giving it to me because, honey? I promise I'm gonna be giving it to you."
Before he could react, a sopping sea sponge flew across the room and nailed him right on his pride and joy with a wet splat. Jolie's deadly aim had not diminished with the passage of time. "Careful, woman," he roared.
Stalking toward the shower, full of comical indignation, he plotted his revenge. Jolie cringed in the corner of the stall, which was more than large enough to accommodate two. She'd armed herself with a loofah. Cord plastered a smirk full of male superiority on his face, leaned in and grabbed the handle used to adjust water temperature. He cranked that baby to full cold, slammed the door shut and held it.
"Cord!" Jolie sputtered. "Dang it." She jerked the door handle on her side, and then beat on the glass with the palm of her hand. "Cord, please! It's freezing."
"Of course it is."
"Let me out, Cord. Before I turn into an icicle."
Relenting, he grabbed a towel that had been on the warming rack, opened the door and gathered her into his arms. Wrapping her in the towel, he offered to pat her dry. She impolitely refused.
"Get your shower," she grumped.
Laughing, he leaned in to readjust the temperature. "Sore loser."
"You bet I am. And you'd best remember that." She arched a brow and did her best to scowl at him.
Cord stepped into the shower, but looked at her right before sliding the door closed. "I remember everything about you, Jolie."
Fourteen
Dating Jolie was akin to walking a tightrope. Balancing her needs, CJ's needs and what Cord wanted was a real stretch. Two weeks of swallowing what he wanted in favor of what would win Jolie over. Two weeks of dodging his family, except where business was concerned. The hell of it was, he didn't know if he was making any headway with her. He deserved brownie points for tonight regardless.
They were at the bar of Starr's, waiting for their table. Jolie was doing Jell-O shots, which came under the heading of A Very Bad Idea. The fact that Cord was matching Jolie shot for shot with tequila qualified him as a finalist for Dumbass of the Year.
When he'd picked her up after work, she'd been in an odd mood-quiet and withdrawn. So here they sat. He needed to shovel some food into her. Preferably food with lots of carbs to absorb the alcohol.
"Drinking game."
A puzzled expression furrowed his forehead as Cord attempted to follow her non sequitur. "Drinking game?"
"Yesh. Let's play." She tossed off another shot and shook her finger in his direction. "Things you wish you hadn't done."
This couldn't end well, especially with her already starting to slur her words. "Jolie, you need to eat something."
That got an eyebrow waggle from her before she flagged down the bartender for another shot. When he returned with a fresh drink, she downed it.
"I'll start." She had to stop and inhale deeply before continuing, "Going to nursing school."
Cord didn't expect that to be the first thing out of her mouth. Before he could ask her why, she banged her glass to get the bartender's attention. "Your turn."
Leaving you. But instead of saying that out loud, he offered a wry smile. "Suggesting we get a drink first instead of going straight in to dinner."
"Oh, pooh. Doesn't count. This ish serioush." She gulped another shot, wiped her lips with the back of her hand and stared at the top of the polished bar. She didn't look up, but Cord watched color drain from her face as she said, "I killed a kid."
And there was the source of her rush to intoxication. "Jolie-"
"Don't Jolie me. A little girl died in the ER today. We couldn't save her." Her voice lost the drunken slur in the force of her emotion. "If I hadn't gone to nursing school, I wouldn't have been there. I wouldn't have been responsible."
"You aren't responsible-"
"I couldn't save her, Cord." Tears leaked down her cheeks, and he wanted to take her into his arms, protect her from the hurt in her heart.
"C'mon, sunshine. Let's go home." He tossed money on the bar and urged her to stand.
"Not telling you about CJ." Diamond-glazed eyes stared up at him as her voice firmed again. "That's my biggest regret."
"Mine's walking away from you." There. He'd said the words. Truth at last, but she didn't even glance at him.
He kept her tucked under his arm and moving, pausing only briefly to cancel their reservations. Neither of them spoke on the drive to her house, and whenever he glanced over, her eyes remained closed. He got her to the front door and rang the bell rather than dig through her suitcase of a purse to find her keys.
Mrs. Corcoran didn't say a word as he guided Jolie inside, his arm around her waist. When he tried to get her to walk toward her bedroom and she stumbled, he gave up and simply swept her into his arms to carry her. The older woman followed and wordlessly shooed him out after he'd placed Jolie on the bed. The woman was still tsk-tsking when she joined him in the kitchen ten minutes later.
"Good thing CJ is already in bed and asleep. He shouldn't see his mama like that." She glowered at Cord as if Jolie's condition was all his fault.
"She had a rough day. They lost a little girl in the ER."
That news knocked the wind out of Mrs. Corcoran's sails. "Bless her heart. She takes what happens at work so hard. Poor thing."
Her glower returned, and Cord raised his hands in surrender. "She doesn't have to work, ma'am. I'd support her and CJ, or her father would, but she works because she wants to."
"That may well be, but that little lady needs someone to take care of her."
"Absolutely."
Once again, he'd left her speechless-for a few minutes, at least. "So what're you gonna do?"
"My best, Mrs. Corcoran. I'm going to do my best to convince her that the three of us can be a family."