by S. E. Law
Matt
The smell of coffee drifting through the house stirs me from a pleasant dream and I grunt softly, wanting to remain in the fantasy.
In the dream, I’d been kissing Cora on the back of the neck while she made pancakes for us to have for breakfast. Her belly was round with a baby and another little one was sitting in a chair nearby, banging the tray table while beaming at his parents.
But now, wide-awake and aware that the scenario was just a dream, I feel a dull ache in my heart. Slowly, I sit up in bed, rumpled sheets all around me but no Cora.
I grin at the hazy memories from this morning. I guess I’d been dreaming about her, because when Cora made moves to get out of bed, I could have sworn I was doing everything I could to keep her in it.
Huh, I realize, did I really have her pressed against me like that?
I shake my head and wipe my tired eyes. Regardless, I’d slept next to Cora and it had been one of the best sleeps of my life.
It could have been because you spent the night fighting a fire and was exhausted from the endeavor, I chide myself. Or it could have been having Cora’s luscious body pressed into yours all night.
As if on cue, my cock gets hard. Down fella.
Ready to hunt down some coffee, I climb out of bed and immediately realize it’s freezing. I pick up my shirt from the night before, but it’s covered in ash and smells horrible.
Maybe there’s a flannel or something in one of these closets, I think as I cross the room. A quick search reveals only a few viable options.
Fuck it, I think as I pick out the warmest looking choice. I pull on the fluffy pink bathrobe and immediately feel warmer. Sure, I look ridiculous but it’s the best option there is.
I amble down the stairs, wondering what I’m going to say to Cora. I know I need to apologize to her, and then I need to get the ring and get out. But maybe some coffee first.
Satisfied with my plan of action, I make my way into the kitchen, and it’s like my dream from last night is unfolding before me, minus the kids.
Cora is standing at the kitchen stove, her back turned toward me. Next to her on the counter is a bowl of batter and the beginnings of a stack of pancakes. Even in her oversized sweatpants and shapeless sweater, I can make out her luscious curves. If anything, the casual look makes me want her more.
I clear my throat.
“Think we can trust you to use the stove?”
Cora jumps and turns around, clasping her hand to her chest.
“You scared me! I thought you were still asleep.” A deep pink blush creeps across Cora’s lovely cheeks, and I feel my heart turn upside down at the image. She’s beautiful as well as sexy.
“I was.” I shrug and shoot her a lopsided smile. “Good morning.” I keep my voice calm, despite my intense desire to press Cora against the counter and have my way with her.
“Wait. What the hell are you wearing?” Cora puts her hands on her full hips, arms akimbo as she looks me up and down. A flash of desire sparks in her eyes but just as quickly disappears.
My grin is her answer.
“Well, I was freezing, especially since you left me all alone in bed.” I tease casually, but actually, I’m watching her like a hawk. Does she remember anything from last night?
“Oh.” The furious blush returns. “The robe actually looks surprisingly good on you.” She smiles at me, a shy expression but also coy.
I laugh low in my throat.
“It’s hot pink and fluffy,” I say with a wry smile. “All I’m missing is matching slippers.”
Cora echoes my laughter with her own hearty chuckle.
“All I’m saying is, you’ve got the body and the skin tone to pull it off.” And watching the sexy brunette eye me like a forbidden piece of fruit, I can tell she means it. Hmm, maybe she does remember something.
I cross my arms and lean against the entryway frame.
“Your pancakes are burning.”
“Shit!” Cora turns around immediately to tend to the flapjacks and I eye her ample ass with appreciation. Nice.
Having tended to the burning breakfast, Cora grabs a mug from a nearby cupboard and pours a cup of coffee.
“Here.” She hands me the piping hot mug and I inhale its heady aroma gratefully.
“Thanks.” I sip it slowly, watching Cora as I do. She turns back to the oven to resume making breakfast.
“So,” she asks me in a voice that I can only assume is her attempt at being casual, “are you heading out this morning?”
I grin and decide to have a little fun with the intoxicating temptress.
“Wow. That’s some thanks I get for saving your life. No, it’s fine,” I growl at Cora as she spins around from the oven, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment. “It’s okay, I see how it’s going to be.”
Cora stammers and blushes even redder, and I’m enjoying this teasing.
“I’m so sorry, you’re absolutely right.” She crosses to me, spatula in hand. “Thank you, Matt, so much,” she nearly whispers, chastised.
I cup my ear and lean toward her. “A little louder, please.”
Cora steps closer. “Thank you, Matt,” she says with more enthusiasm. “You not only saved the cabin, but you probably saved my life.” Cora plants a soft kiss on my cheek and I’m thrilled that my teasing is eliciting this particular response.
“Now that’s more like it,” I tell her with a wink.
“You meanie!” Cora playfully waggles a bit and we both laugh. Unable to resist, I pull her into my arms for a solid hug.
“For real, though,” Cora’s voice is muffled against my chest. “Thank you.”
“Just glad I got here when I did.” I stroke her hair softly, and Cora sighs. I wish we could just stay like this, but reluctantly I let her go.
“First few pancakes are done, if you’re hungry.” Cora goes back to the oven and resumes making breakfast.
“Sure. I’ll get the syrup.”
We fall into an easy rhythm while we finish setting up for breakfast. Finally, we both sit down to eat the pancakes, and I decide to answer Cora’s initial question.
“I was planning to leave this morning.” She looks up at me, her large, pretty eyes questioning. “But in case you haven’t noticed, there’s still a massive storm outside. Wouldn’t be surprised if several of the roads are blocked.” I shrug easily. “So looks like you might be stuck with me for a while.”
Wide-eyed, Cora glances out the kitchen window. As if perfectly timed, a roar of thunder echoes loudly, and shakes the small cabin.
“Oh, that’s okay I guess.” Cora looks back down at her pancakes, using her fork to fiddle with the syrup. “I have plenty of food.”
“I mean, I could risk my life, if you’re uncomfortable having me here.” I cock one eyebrow, curious for her reaction.
“No, I don’t want you to do that, especially after everything,” Cora says, biting her lip.
I smile slightly.
“I’m kidding, I really can’t drive in this weather. It’s not safe.”
Outside, the rain is coming down in thick sheets and even though it’s well into mid-morning by now, the sky has a gray pallor. The wind howls through the trees, and I’m nearly certain the roads will either be washed out or covered in debris.
“Okay, good. I don’t want you to be in any danger.” Cora smiles at me.
I grin back at her, touched by the concern.
“So we’re trapped in this cabin together then,” I tell her, a hint of cockiness slipping into my voice.
“I… I guess so.” Cora stammers, that sweet blush sneaking onto her soft cheeks again.
We go back to eating the pancakes in amiable silence, me thinking about all the different ways being stuck with Cora in such close quarters is both thrilling and risky. Even now, sitting a few inches away from one another, I find myself tempted to touch her – her lips, her cheek, and in the valley between her breasts.
“So,” Cora clears her throat noisily, breaking the silen
ce. “How exactly did you end up in my bed last night?”
I grin at her question, which obviously makes her uncomfortable. “You can blame yourself for that one,” I tell her lightly.
“How so?” She looks up from her breakfast, alarmed.
“Well,” I pick my words carefully, not wanting to upset Cora about the fire. “After I helped you get to bed, I came back downstairs to see what damage there was, and to find a place to sleep.” Conveniently, I omit the fun I had with the beautiful girl while she was asleep. Then, I gesture in the general direction of the living room. “Unfortunately, the couch is wrecked. Completely waterlogged and I didn’t exactly want to sleep on a soggy sofa.”
“Ugh, please don’t remind me. But there are two other bedrooms, you know.” Cora raises her eyebrows at me, and I can tell it’s a test.
“Yes, there certainly are.” I counter, leaning toward her. “And just like the couch, they all seem to have water damage, too.”
Cora’s face falls and a look of genuine panic slips across her pretty features.
“No. Oh no. I have to tell my parents. They’re going to be so upset. I told them last summer the roof looked iffy.”
Instinctually, I place my hand on top of hers, in an attempt to quash her alarm.
“Hey, look. As a parent myself, I can tell you that while they won’t be happy about the fire, they’re going to care a lot more that you’re safe.” Cora nods, looking somewhat relieved by my insight. “Besides,” I lean back casually in my chair, “it gave me an excuse to crawl into bed with you.”
Cora reddens, and I want to laugh at her innocence, but I refrain.
“It really was the only place to sleep. But actually, I almost opted for the waterlogged couch at the last minute.”
“Why is that?” Cora is obviously trying to play it cool, but I can tell she’s unsure what she did wrong last night.
I laugh heartily, trying to ease her tense mood.
“Well I peeked into your room, and you were sleeping so softly and then, just as I was thinking what a peaceful night’s sleep we’d both get, you let out this massive snore that sounded like a freight train in an old west movie!”
“I… what? I do not snore!” Cora sputters out indignantly.
“Oh yes, you do.” I laugh again, bemused by her huffy reaction. “I almost recorded it, it was such a frightening and yet almost operatic sound.” I grin mischievously. “But I decided that wouldn’t be the gentlemanly thing to do.”
“I do not snore,” Cora sputters again, her entire face a lovely shade of red. “I don’t believe you.”
“Well, in any case, I decided I wouldn’t let your nighttime opera sounds bug me too much, seeing as I needed a place to sleep.” I shrug. “In fact, almost as soon as I got into bed you curled right up into me and stopped snoring. So I guess it worked out for both of us.”
I wink at Cora and she merely huffs at me.
“You’re ridiculous.” She sits up straighter and tries to look regal, which I find funny given that she’s wearing comfy clothes. “I was cold, so it only makes sense that I’d gravitate toward warmth.”
“Oh sure, completely reasonable.” I smirk again and Cora laughs lightly. I could listen to that laugh all day.
“So we’ll just agree that you needed a non-soaked place to sleep and I don’t snore.”
“Sure, I can agree to that.” I shake my head in amusement as I dig into my pancakes again.
After a few minutes of companionable eating, Cora again breaks the silence. “Please don’t take this the wrong way.” I look up mid-cut of flapjack. “But why are you here? We never really got that out of the way last night.”
I put my fork and knife down and look at Cora. I really don’t want to upset her, I realize, but I have to tell her. So I decide to preface my explanation with as much kindness as I can.
“Cora, I don’t want to upset you in any way, and I debated even coming here,” I begin, feeling strangely hesitant. “I mean, obviously I’m glad I showed up when I did, but trust me that wasn’t planned.” Okay, you’re rambling Matt. “I’m here about the engagement ring,” I state firmly. “The one Marky gave you.”
Cora blinks for a moment.
“The – oh, the engagement ring.” Cora’s whole body, which seconds ago was roaring with laughter, seems to wilt a bit.
“I don’t mean to hurt you, Cora. I know everything is still so fresh and raw.” I lean toward her across the breakfast table, but I refrain from touching her. “But the ring is a family heirloom, and I couldn’t risk something happening to it.”
Plus I really wanted to see you, I admit to myself.
She shakes her head.
“No, of course. I’m sorry I didn’t leave it at my mom’s house. I guess I didn’t even think about it?” Cora shakes her head and I can see that her normally joyous brown eyes are troubled.
“I wouldn’t have come if it weren’t so important.” I smile, trying to look confident, yet feeling awful inside.
“No, I’m glad you did.” She returns my smile with her own feeble one and looks down at her left hand. My eyes follow hers. No ring.
Alarmed, I look back up at Cora’s face, searching for any indication that she may have done something drastic, but she seems just as surprised as I am to see it missing from her slender finger.
“Wait, where is it?” Panic starts to seep into her gentle voice.
“Where’d you last see it?” I ask, trying to conceal my own concern.
“I don’t know. Wait, yes, I do. I think. I remember that when the fire started to get out of hand, I must have taken it off when I took off my clothes. It was so hot and smoky, and I guess I was getting confused…” Cora looks around the table, as if in a daze.
“It’s okay, we’ll find it. Things happened so fast with the fire. I’m sure it’s around here somewhere.” I try to soothe her, but to no avail.
“No, it’s got to be in the kitchen. I mean, I’m positive I was wearing it last night and then I definitely remember taking it off at some point. I think it was when I took off my sweater?”
Cora springs up from her chair and desperately begins searching the kitchen. She goes straight to the counter, shuffling around papers and boxes, but no ring. She frantically opens drawer after drawer, but no luck in those, either.
“Matt, I’m so sorry. I promise I didn’t do anything nefarious with it. I’ll find it. I will. I promise.” At this point in her frenzied search, Cora starts to cry hysterically.
“Cora, Cora!” I try to calm the agitated beauty, but she continues to tear through the kitchen on her mission to locate the missing heirloom. Finally, I pull her away from digging beneath the sink and reel her around to face me.
“Cora, big breaths. It’s going to be okay.”
“I can’t believe I lost it, I’m so sorry, about that, about Marky, about everything,” she says, wiping tears from those big brown eyes.
And just like I did last night, and again this morning, I give in and pull the shaking girl close. Because ultimately, the ring is just a piece of jewelry, while Cora is a lovely girl who needs someone to just hold her.
I run my hands through her thick, glossy hair and down her back, over and over again, shushing her while she continues to cry softly into my shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, Matt,” she mumbles, her voice small and muffled by the robe between us. “I won’t stop until I find it.”
“Hey, it’s okay. I know it’ll turn up. We’re stuck here for the near future, so we’ll find it together. I promise.”
And even though Cora has finally stopped trembling, I hold her for a few moments more. I don’t want to let her go, and if her own tight grip around me is any indication, she doesn’t want me to, either.
We stand this way for a while, each of us consumed with taboo thoughts and questions of what the next several days may hold for our strange relationship, together in this isolated cabin far from our former lives.
13
Cora
<
br /> A few days later.
It’s been eight days since Marky and I split up, four days since the fire, and three full days since Matt Harrison strode into my life in an entirely new way.
Watching him now from my perch on the window seat, I can’t help but feel a strange pull toward the handsome man. At first, I thought my fascination with him was because of loneliness, but now, over the past several days, I realize it’s something more.
Matt looks up from his own spot in the flannel armchair and smiles over the edge of his book at me. I smile and blush, abashed to have been caught looking at him. Feigning indifference, I lower my eyes back to my own romance novel but let my thoughts drift toward the real-life hero sitting across from me.
Matt is hands down one of the most attractive men I have ever known. And while he and Marky really could pass for brothers, Matt’s slightly more mature features only serve to make him that much more handsome. Ever since I’d met the older man, I had been constantly taken aback by his striking good looks – chiseled jawline, sweeping black hair, deep blue eyes – and by how much I hoped that Marky would grow up to look just like his father.
Well, now that Marky is out of the picture…
I flinch, embarrassed by my line of thinking. Matt looks up, perhaps distracted by my awkward jostle.
“You okay?”
I laugh, hoping it sounds easy and unforced. “Yes, just a shocking revelation in my book is all.”
“Hmmm, sure.” He grunts and goes back to reading his own novel.
I use his focus as a chance to study him further. Ever since he showed up a few days ago, Matt has been nothing but gorgeous and tempting, but also annoyingly polite.
I didn’t expect him to be completely at ease with me, but I’m disappointed by how tame our latest interactions have been.
Well, not all of them, I muse.
At times, it feels like Matt is trying to tease me, while at others he can be so serious. During breakfast this morning, he smeared pancake batter on my nose and we had laughed like naughty kids over the mess. But then, after breakfast, he’d nearly jumped out of my way when I needed to get around him to put some dishes away.