Keep It Together

by Matthews, Lissa

  “I won’t. I promise.”

  “I’m the CEO of Corners Cookies.” It took a few seconds, but as per the usual reaction of people he told, her eyes widened.

  “Corners Cookies? As in the pyramid cookies with the cream in the center and the sprinkles on top? That Corners Cookies? The soft, chewy cookies with the artery-clogging creamy filling? That Corners Cookies? Are you serious?”

  Colt nodded, and Chrissie moaned. The sound made his cock jump. Maybe he could cover her in the creamy filling and eat her. “That’s the one.”

  “Oh my God. I love those cookies. I have three boxes in my pantry. Chocolate on chocolate. Chocolate with vanilla. Vanilla with chocolate. Russ never said a word about it. Your last name isn’t Corners, though.”

  “No. My father owned a company that bought smaller businesses that were headed for bankruptcy. Some were liquidated, some were re-branded, some simply need some fresh capitol and new management strategies that they couldn’t afford to supply on their own.”

  “Which one was Corners?”

  “In need of money and strategy. It was my favorite cookie growing up, and I couldn’t let them die.”

  “Makes sense. Why doesn’t Russ work with you? Amber does, though, right? That’s what Russ said. Damn, I’m a bit selfish for not having asked either of you when I met you what you did or really anything.”

  “You had other things on your mind at the two different parties we met at. Your mother throws an incredible party, by the way; however, I do believe my father and his wife threw one just as audacious. I don’t think I saw you sit at either gathering for longer than a couple of minutes. As for why my brother doesn’t work for me, I offered, but he wanted to remain with his law firm. He enjoys what he does too much to be hemmed in by corporate politics. Amber is the CEO of the family holding company. She shares in some of the responsibility of Corners Cookies, but I no longer work the family business. It’s all hers.”

  “Russ enjoys being a defense attorney. He loves the research, doing the work himself. He worked so hard all the time.” Chrissie looked toward the river. “He liked to play hard too, I guess.” She looked back at Colt, and whatever shadow might have been in her eyes was gone, replaced with a twinkle of delight. “And you make cookies.”

  Colt laughed. “Well, I don’t actually make the cookies, but I do love them. Do you want to know a secret?”

  Chrissie eagerly leaned across the table with her arms braced on top. “I’d love to.”

  “Now, if you tell anyone, I’ll know, and you’ll be in some serious trouble.”

  “What kind of serious trouble?”

  “I don’t know yet, but it’ll be trouble, and no one likes to be in trouble.” Chrissie nodded, her mouth twitching at the corners. She was about to burst, but she was doing her best to keep it in. “You are such a brat.” They were at ease with each other, and he couldn’t get over how good it felt just to be around her. He’d been thinking of little else since their kiss earlier in the day. If he’d had the time, he’d have laid her on the floor, set her up on the counter, bent her over the couch, and filled her delectable body with his, but being with her like this? He wanted to get very used to this level of comfort. “We’re going to be adding a chocolate chip pyramid cookie to the line in the fall, and we’re looking into opening physical stores.”

  “Chocolate chip cream cookies? Oh, man. I can taste them now. That will be awesome. But why stores?”

  She looked like Meg Ryan did in the deli scene of When Harry Met Sally. As though she was on the edge of an orgasm just thinking about the cookies. More and more, he was beginning to think he needed to get her laid. And more and more he was convinced he was the man for the job. “With the success of cupcakes and coffees, food trucks and outdoor shopping areas, and the decline in inside malls, I believe a little Corners Cookie store would be well received.”

  “Corporate stores?”

  “Mostly, yes. The cookies would be prepared and baked on-site. People love the smell of cookies baking. What better way to pull them in off the street?”

  “Uh-huh. And would you, ah…be considering opening a store here in Savannah?”

  She looked like the proverbial kid in a candy, or rather, cookie store with her eager smile and bright eyes. Would the rest of the patrons care if he pulled her across the table and had his way with her? God, she turned him on with nothing more than a smile. He was whipped, and she didn’t even know it. “We are. In fact, there’s a small storefront for lease on Congress Street that I’m going to look at tomorrow.”

  “I thought you flying down here was because of me.” The playful hurt look on her face, the faux pout was adorable, and he had to squash the urge to lean over and kiss her.

  “I was, but the conference call I had earlier had to do with the board’s agreement for me to look into a few properties while I was here. I made some calls to a local Realtor, and she’s meeting me tomorrow morning.”

  “Well now. Aren’t you just the man with all the answers and all the plans?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes.”

  “She’s gonna be a lucky lady.”

  It was said so softly and into the mouth of her glass that Colt almost missed the comment. He was beginning to pick up on that little trait of hers. She’d say something soft, under her breath, and mask it with a gesture or action to take away from what she’d said. It was odd, and he wasn’t sure why she did it. However, he was going to make sure he heard her right, each and every time. “What was that?”

  “The woman. The one you end up with. She’s going to be lucky to have you.”

  “I like to think we both will be.”

  “Got any prospects?”

  “Mmm. I have one, and she knows who she is. She seems to pretending otherwise about it though.”

  She toyed with the rim of her beer glass, running her finger around the edge. “You should put a stop to that.”

  “I’m quite certain I should, yes. Do you have any suggestions on how to accomplish that? I’d love to hear whatever insight on the subject you may have.”

  “Does she know how you feel?”

  “I haven’t been shy about it, but perhaps there’s room for more pointed clarification.”

  “For a woman, there’s always room for more pointed clarification.”

  “In my defense, I wanted to get a feel for how she felt about me first and if she was ready to move on from a broken relationship. Our connection might seem to some a little odd.”

  “The only way you’re going to find out is to tell her. Much as it’s rumored, we women can’t read minds.” On that note, Chrissie finished off her beer in time for the waitress to set the baskets of food and the two fresh beers on the table.

  She dug into her shrimp with gusto. Colt liked that. He followed her lead and started in on his as well. “Damn,” he groaned after practically inhaling the third one. “These are fantastic. I’ve never had shrimp this good.”

  “The best in the city as far as fried goes.”

  “I’ll take your word for it. So”—he swallowed down his bites of fried shrimp, which were incredible as well, and lifted his beer—“you think I should tell her? Everything?” He drank half of it down. The shrimp batter had a little kick at the end, one he wasn’t prepared for.

  “Yes, I do.”

  Colt pretended to mull it over in the silence that ensued while they ate and finished off their second beers. Only there actually wasn’t any pretending going on in his thoughts. Was she just playing dumb, as though she didn’t know who he was talking about, who she was talking about? He couldn’t imagine she wouldn’t know. She was odd, this woman who’d been on his mind for the better part of a year. He’d even go so far as to say self-deprecating, but he didn’t think even that term fit her. She was bold one second, laughing and teasing with him, and in the next, she was shy and even a little uncertain.

  “Gun-shy” might work if it weren’t for the fact that guns seemed to be the last thing in the world s
he was shy about.

  “Stop goofing, woman.” He winked. “You know it’s you.” The innocent look she gave across the table made him chuckle. The hand pressed to her heart in a classic show of Southern shock and surprise…

  “What? Me?”

  Colt just shook his head. “Really? Shame on you.”

  She flashed a cheeky grin. “Spill it, Colt. Say it. I want to hear the words. Spell it out for me.”

  He inched forward in his seat. ”You’ll wanna lean in close for this.” He waited while she sized him up, then mimicked his posture.

  “Okay. I’m ready. Let me have it.”

  And now she was challenging, almost defensive. He might need to invest in a mood ring or two for her. She was a country girl, and there were so many sides and facets to her personality that he was going to have to take notes on what set her off in one way or another. Otherwise, he’d never be able to keep up or even have a chance to catch up. She fascinated him, though from just shaking her hand the first time they met, he couldn’t have known she would. Something clicked for him. “I want you. I want to spend time with you. I want to take you to bed. I want to crawl up your body and bury myself in it so deep I’ll never find my way back out. I want to marry you.”

  Her mouth gaped and closed multiple times before something actually came out, and what she said was not what he’d been expecting. But then, so far, nothing she said or did was what he expected. “On his toes” was an understatement. “I’m your brother’s ex,” she said so softly the words barely made a sound.

  “I’m your ex’s brother.” The volume of his voice matched hers.

  She sat there, a stunned look on her beautiful face, and then grinned from ear to ear. “Touché.” She popped her last shrimp in her mouth and chased it with the rest of her beer. She slammed the glass on the table and raised her arm for their waitress. Colt followed her line of sight and saw the waitress nod.

  And just like that, she was back to who she’d been before they embarked on that bit of serious conversation. He didn’t know if what he’d said had made any kind of impact. He couldn’t read her eyes and definitely wouldn’t be able to read her mind even if it were opened to him. Though he wanted to ask what she thought about his rather blatant confession, he was just as content to see where and how things progressed. He was content to simply try and figure her out. “Secret code? Going to get me drunk and have your wicked way with me?”

  “Do I have to get you drunk for that? And no. I just wanted another beer.”

  “No, you don’t have to get me drunk for anything. I’m all yours.” He was afraid there were no truer words ever spoken.

  “All my what? And you know”—her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, and he made sure he was listening real close—“I have had two beers tonight and am about to have one more, so…I’m thinking I probably shouldn’t make that long drive all the way back out to my place.”

  Colt sat back and considered the woman sitting across from him. She was laughing and smiling at him and not for the first time, he wondered what in the hell was wrong with his brother. Chrissie was simple, incredible, and full of life. What man wouldn’t want her in his everyday life and in his bed? “Uh-huh. And what do think you should do instead?”

  “You could drive me home.”

  He nodded as though thinking it over, but there was no way he was doing that. “I could.” She wasn’t going anywhere except up to his room. “Or…you could stay with me.”

  Chapter Five

  Colt had Chrissie against the hotel room door as soon as it closed behind them. Once they got into the elevator, he’d been unable to keep his hands off her, and now that they were in his room, in private… “This wasn’t exactly how I’d planned this to happen.” The words rumbled up from his throat when he broke away from her mouth and trailed his lips down her neck.

  “Y-you had a plan?”

  “Mmm. Hmm. I had a plan.” He planted his lips against the pulse beating wildly in her neck. It fluttered against his tongue, and when he lifted her up on her toes with his knee between her thighs, it fluttered even more. “I’d planned to come back in a couple of weeks and ask you out again. Call you. Keep coming back until I’d worn you down.”

  “S-so this is not just a onetime thing?”

  Colt dropped his foot back to the floor and lifted his mouth from where it rested against her skin. Her hair was mussed, and her mouth looked thoroughly kissed. He wanted her bra and shirt gone; then he wanted her shoes and jeans and panties discarded. He wanted her naked and writhing on his bed for days, weeks, months, for the rest of his life. “No, baby. It’s not just a onetime thing.”

  Chrissie framed his face in her hands and pulled his head toward her. Her lips connected with his, and her tongue slipped in his mouth, and he’d never been so happy to be interrupted in his life. He inserted his knee between her legs again and urged her higher against the door again and devoured every inch between her teeth and cheeks.

  She nudged at his shoulders, and he slowly lifted his head. “I need something from you.”

  Now? She needed something from him now? Other than what they were currently doing? “What? Anything.”

  “Naked,” she breathed. “I need you to get me naked and then you…”

  Colt smirked. “Why do you get to be naked first?”

  “Because I’m the woman.”

  “Yes, baby, all woman,” he agreed. “Let’s get closer to the bed, though.”

  “You can’t screw standing up?”

  “I can screw you just fine standing up, thank you very much. However—” He turned them and twirled with her from the door to the wall next to the bed. She giggled and held on with her arms around his neck. The tips of her hair brushed against his hand, and her body molded soft and pliant against his as she let him lead her.

  “I’m a little woozy now,” she said as she buried her face at the base of his throat.

  “Yes, baby, I’m sure. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” Her voice held a dreamy note, and her breath was warm where it touched him. “I liked it.”

  “Good girl.” He slid his hand beneath her shirt, skimmed her skin with the pads of his fingers, and lifted the polo over her head when she raised her arms. His breath caught at what he’d revealed.

  The navy-blue lace bra was the prettiest, and the very last thing he’d expected of this very practical woman who did everything she could to hide her femininity. He trembled as he traced the edges of the cups.

  “Don’t make fun of me.” Her voice was little more than a whisper amid their heavy breathing. She was motionless against the wall, her hands still above her head. She wasn’t looking at him but rather toward the floor.

  “Make fun of you? Why would I?”

  “Because I wear lace under my clothes. Because I’m a girl.”

  Colt nudged her head up and stole a kiss from her pouty lips. “You are most definitely a girl. I was surprised by the lace but not in a way that I would make fun of you. It’s such a gorgeous contrast to how you project yourself, and I think it is very sexy.”

  “You do?”

  He nodded and whispered into her mouth, “I do.” He flicked his thumbs over her erect nipples and watched her eyes flutter until they were nearly closed, and her lips parted on a sweet moan. She was into frills, guns, doing good, hard work, beer, him, and she was horny. He was a damn lucky man. He was this fucking close, and he was that fucking hard.

  He teased his way to the closure on her jeans and unfastened the button and slid the zipper down. “Will I find matching lace down here?” he murmured. He didn’t wait for an answer and just barely caught her nodded response. “Good.”

  He knelt, urged her jeans over her hips and down her legs with his eyes riveted on the apex of her thighs. She’d indeed been telling the truth. Navy-blue lace panties just rode the top of her hip bones. It was a beautiful color against her pale skin, and he leaned close to place a kiss just below her belly button. Silky smooth, she s
ucked in her stomach at his touch.

  He wondered what she’d do if he…

  “Oh. God.”

  Colt, without prep or planning, lowered his head and sucked her clit and the lace crotch of her panties into his mouth. He kept her pressed to the wall with his hands cupped under her breasts, and the taste of her against his tongue was hot and full of musk. That, in and of itself, was a contrast to the frills of her undergarments.

  He worked the bundle of nerves over, sucking hard, then poking at it with his tongue, followed by a series of nibbles. Her thigh muscles fluttered, and her chest shuddered beneath his palms. She gripped his shoulders and used his body for balance.

  Her jeans were around her ankles, and she still had her sneakers and socks on, but she was the hottest, sexiest woman he’d ever had half-naked. She whimpered and pleaded with incoherent words for him to let her come. Wetness soaked the lace, and it thrilled him to be able to affect her so much that she lost her control.

  Her short nails dug into his skin through his shirt. Her hips bucked into his face, and he clamped his lips tighter around her lace-covered clit.

  “Colt, please… I need to…” No other words passed her lips, only a strangled cry, and his name followed repeatedly by the word “yes” in a couple of different octaves. She came, and he sucked harder at her. She threaded her fingers through his hair and tugged, pulling his mouth into her pussy, riding out the orgasm. He was only too happy to oblige, reveling in a lover who wasn’t ashamed or timid with what she wanted.

  She eased her hold on him and he slowly extracted his head from between her thighs. She leaned back against the door, her eyes closed. Her breath came in deep, and she panted for more air. Her cheeks were flushed too. She looked well fucked, but she wasn’t… Not yet.

  “Feel better?”

  A small smile crossed her lips. “I’m still not naked.”