by Kim Mckade
“She’s crazy about him,” Corinne said definitely. “She’s just afraid to let him know it.”
“How do you know?” Toby’s voice was soft, cutting through all the commotion around them and arrowing straight to her heart.
Corinne was silent for a long time, not looking at Toby. “Just a hunch,” she said quietly.
She could feel Toby’s eyes on her, studying her. She couldn’t look at him. After a moment, he took a deep breath. “Obviously, he cares a lot about her, too. Even if she is giving him the cold shoulder.”
“He’s made no secret about it,” she murmured.
“No, he hasn’t,” Toby agreed. The unspoken words sang between them, words neither dared to say. “He’s made himself pretty clear. But I have a hunch of my own. He seems like a pretty understanding guy. I’ll bet he’d be willing to give her some room. She’s probably scared to do anything to encourage him, because she thinks he’ll read too much into it. But he’d back off, if that’s what she needed. Let her relax a little, have some fun. No strings attached.”
Corinne sorted. “You don’t know this guy, Sheriff. He can be very persistent. She smiles at him, and he thinks she’s in love with him. She laughs at one of his jokes, and he starts planning their wedding. It’s scary. For her,” she added as an afterthought.
Toby rubbed the back of his neck and sat up straighter, putting his hands on his knees. “It could be that she’s the one reading into things. It could be—and this is just a guess—that he wants her to have a little fun and that’s all. If she’d just relax and let her guard down for one night, goof around and act silly and just go with the flow for one night, he’d be happy with that.”
She faced him, saw Toby through the costume and dyed hair, met his gaze squarely. “No strings attached?”
He smiled, not the one he practiced to charm her, but a tender smile, just for her. “Not everything should have a price. No strings attached.”
She felt as if they’d been cocooned in a private world for the past few moments, but with his smile she felt her spirits lift, caught once again the atmosphere of gaiety around them. For some reason she couldn’t fathom, she was nervous.
“What if she can’t?” she asked him. “What if holding back has become such a habit that she can’t let go of it?”
“Of course she can,” he said easily. “Look, here’s a perfect chance to prove it.” He pointed to Luke, who stood at the head of the trailer, hooking his guitar to the strap around his shoulders. “A sing-along.”
“Oh, Toby, I can’t sing,” she protested, forgetting for a moment that they weren’t talking about her.
“Sure you can.”
“You’ve never heard me.”
Luke Tanner was dressed as Elvis, which wasn’t exactly a stretch since he had a lot of the King’s facial characteristics anyway. He stood on the floor of the trailer, one foot planted on a hay bale, and started in on “Heartbreak Hotel.”
The students joined in. So did Toby and Becca. Corinne glanced at Cindy. She was looking at Luke as if he were the corniest thing she’d ever seen.
Corinne gave a sigh of resignation and braced herself. She was a terrible singer, which was why she never sang. Not even alone in the car, with the radio blaring so loud she couldn’t hear herself.
She sang tentatively, cutting Toby an I-hope-you’re-happy look. He sang louder, gallantly covering her voice. Toby was worse than she was, but he didn’t care. It made it a little easier.
She sang. Off-key and with as much dignity as she could muster singing Elvis songs and “The Monster Mash.”
No one stopped what they were doing to stare at her. The sky didn’t fall. The world didn’t stop spinning on its axis.
When Toby scooted closer and cupped her shoulder, she let it pass. When he turned toward her and put one hand on her knee, she barely took the time to give him a perfunctory look, which he ignored.
She had to get out of the house more, she told herself. This was too much fun
The trailer bumped off the main road and onto a dirt back road. Luke stopped his song and began a story about an escaped murderer, who had once hidden out in the mesquite brush years ago, not far from where they were nding right now.
Several girls giggled nervously and scooted closer to their dates. Toby tightened his hold on Corinne, scooting closer to her. She smiled and kept her face turned toward Luke.
“They say he killed his whole family with his bare hands,” Luke continued gravely. “They never found his mother’s head. After he broke out of the asylum, there were reports of a man wandering around these parts, carrying what appeared to be a human skull.”
“I’m scared,” Toby said. “Maybe you ought to sit in my lap.”
“Hush, Toby, I’m trying to hear Luke’s story.”
“One night, about fifteen years ago, a group of kids were out here camping, and one of them heard a noise in the woods. He decided to go check it out. But he made a very big mistake. He went alone. After a while the others got worried about him. They were smarter. They stuck together They walked through the woods, dark as pitch, all huddled together and shaking. They couldn’t find their fnend. They heard a noise—”
One of the girls shrieked from pent-up adrenaline. Her friends shushed her. Luke looked around the group and paused dramatically. Toby scooted Corinne closer and took her hand in his. “Are you okay?” he asked in a whisper.
Corinne laughed. “Shh, I want to hear.”
“They heard a noise, a kind of flapping noise.” Luke leaned forward, his voice lowered for effect. “It was too dark to see more than five feet in front of them. They inched along, calling their friend’s name, shaking and scared. The flapping sound got louder. Then all of a sudden, the clouds blew off and the moon shone down, and there, not five feet in front of them, was their friend’s head, stuck on a pole!”
Luke yelled and flourished a stick with a dummy head on it. Suddenly there was a slamming against the outside of the trailer, right behind Corinne. She knew it was coming, and still she screamed and clung to Toby for dear life, falling into the bed of the trailer.
He dragged her back up. The trailer stopped. All around them, girls were screaming and laughing. Boys dressed in gruesome costumes ran from the bushes and surrounded the trailer. They waved fake weapons and dummies’ heads and yelled at the top of their lungs.
Corinne collapsed in laughter against Toby, knowing it was fake but not able to keep from being caught up in the moment. She wrapped her arms through Toby’s and clung to him, laughing and shrieking like one of her students when the monsters ran by and grabbed at her.
“Oh, Toby, can you believe—”
One of the monsters dragged her backward over the side.
This time her scream was genuine. Her petticoat flounced up and into her face. Strong arms wrapped around her, holding her arms pinned. She was dragged backward, struggling and screaming in earnest.
A hand clamped over her mouth, and another arm tightened around her chest, restricting her breath. She kicked, and hooked her heel on a ruffle of her petticoat.
Toby leapt over the side of the trailer and pounded after them.
“Let her go!” he roared. “Now!”
He grabbed at the mask the attacker was wearing and ripped at it. Corinne was dumped unceremoniously as the boy fled into the brush. She fell to the ground and fought for her breath.
Toby jogged a couple of feet after the boy, but came back quickly to Corinne He lifted her off the ground and studied her face.
“Sweetheart, are you okay?”
They stood behind a mesquite tree, fifteen yards from the trailer. The others were oblivious to the situation. For a bizarre moment it was too like another moment, when she’d been helpless and alone amid a group of people.
She tried to stand upright, but sagged against Toby, her knees weak and shaking. Her heart hammered, and she could feel herself about to lose control. Memories of being dragged into violence by a crazed man flooded her.
It
was the memories, too, that brought her back.
Because this wasn’t like that time. She was okay now. Toby was here. She was fine. It was just a joke.
“I’m fine,” she said in a quavery voice, then coughed.
“Oh, honey, no you’re not. Look at you. You’re shaking like a leaf. Are you going to have one of those panic attacks?”
“I’m fine, I said.”
“Who the hell was that?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t get a good look.”
“I’m going to have Luke turn this thing around right now. I’ll ask the other guys who it was.”
“No, Toby, don’t. Please. Don’t say anything. It was just a joke.”
“If it was just a joke, why the hell did he run off like that?”
“You probably scared him to death. You looked like you were ready to take his head off. Now really, please, don’t make a big deal of this.”
The kids on the trailer were calming somewhat, and Corinne knew it was only a matter of minutes before the trailer started back for the community center.
“Come on, Sheriff, relax. It was all in fun.”
“He looked like a pretty big guy. Did he feel solid to you? Or was that padding?”
“Toby, please. Let it go. Don’t ruin everyone else’s fun. It was no big deal. It’s Halloween. You’re supposed to get scared. See.” She held out a hand, hoping it would be steady enough to pass in the moonlight. “No more shaking. Everything’s line.”
She started back toward the trailer, and felt his hesitation. But he followed and helped her back into the bed. This time when he sat beside her, she was the one who planted herself close to him and pressed herself into the crook of his shoulder.
She listened with half an ear to the rest of Luke’s songs, trying to play along and have fun Trying just to be grateful that she hadn’t started wheezing and choking in front of her students. Trying not to think of the stocky body and iron-strong arms that pinned her.
Trying not to think of how much it didn’t feel like a joke.
Chapter 11
By the time they got back to the community center, Corinne almost had herself convinced that it was just a joke. She helped clean up the center, and Toby folded down tables and swept the floor He didn’t ask if he could take her home, but when she picked up her coat and purse, he followed her and led her to his car.
When they got to her house, Corinne flipped on a lamp and tugged at her dress. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get out of this dress.”
“Don’t let me stop you.”
His mouth twisted when she came back a few minutes later wearing baggy purple sweats.
“Something a little more comfortable, huh?”
She nodded and pulled the pins from her hair, shaking it out. “Much more comfortable. I’m going to have a cup of hot chocolate. Would you like some?”
He followed her into the kitchen and leaned against the counter while she heated the water.
“I think tonight was a success, don’t you?” she asked as she measured powder into mugs.
“Mmm,” he said quietly. He fiddled with a few things on the counter, his jaw tight. “Did you have fun?”
The memory of being hauled over the edge of the trailer flickered through her, giving her a momentary sense of panic. She gripped the spoon and pressed the feeling down. It was just a joke. Teachers were always targets for practical jokes. Nothing personal. Just a joke.
“Yes,” she said brightly. “I did, actually. Did you?”
He didn’t answer. He was probably still thinking about the prank. He was a little too sensitive where her safety was concerned, she thought. She wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t going to let herself be afraid.
In fact, the reason she didn’t want to turn around and face him had everything to do with fear, but not from the hayride.
But he’d promised. No strings attached.
She turned and held the mug out to him, smiling too widely. “Here you are.”
He took the mug without comment and set it on the counter behind him. He pulled the patch over his head, ruffling his hair so that one lock of it fell over his forehead, making him look even more rakish than before.
Corinne cleared her throat and sipped her hot chocolate. Toby’s gaze was steady on her, unwavering.
“What?” she finally asked, slightly irritated at his silence.
“You had fun?” he asked again.
She nodded.
“It doesn’t have to end now.”
Her heart stopped. She didn’t have to ask what he meant. The moment was here. She could hush the panicked voice in her head that urged her to get him out of the house, to be alone and safe again. She could close her eyes and walk into his arms and let the next step take care of itself. It had happened before.
And it had killed her to walk away. She wasn’t ready for that. Not again.
“You promised no strings, Toby,” she said.
“I know. And I’ll stick by that. It’s just one night.”
She shook her head and set her own mug on the counter. “Who do you think you’re kidding? Yourself? Because I know better. If we’re going to do this, let’s at least be honest.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay, let’s be honest. If you can look me in the eye and honestly say you don’t want me to stay, I’ll go.”
He took a step toward her, his boots on the floor sounding like gunshots in the silent room. Corinne opened her mouth to stop him, but the words didn’t come.
He took another step, his eyes blazing with an intensity that unnerved her, his face a mask of determination. Corinne took an involuntary step backward and found the counter at her back. The room shrank.
“Well,” he said softly when his face was inches from her own. “Be honest I’m not asking what you should do. I’m asking what you want to do.”
He framed her face with one hand and his thumb caressed her cheek. He braced his other hand beside her, effectively blocking her in.
Her mouth grew dry and she felt as if she hadn’t taken a breath since they walked in the house. Her blood hummed quickly through her veins, her heart beating a tattoo in her chest. His gray eyes remained on her, steady, not letting her look away, leaving her open and vulnerable.
“It’s just one question, Corinne. Just one night. A one-word answer. Stay. Or go.”
His thumb dragged along her bottom lip, his eyes holding hers captive the whole time. She swallowed, cleared her throat. She opened her mouth to answer.
But instead of a word, only a soft sound came from her throat. She put her hand on Toby’s wrist, closed her eyes, and brought his hand to her mouth. She kissed his palm, and opened her mouth to touch her tongue delicately to the sensitive skin there.
Toby’s breath hissed in, and she felt his grip tighten on the counter beside her. “I’m going to take that as ‘stay,’” he said as he tilted her head and kissed her.
For Toby it was the moment he’d always known would come, the moment he’d put his faith in. He fisted his hands in her hair and tilted her head back, meeting her eyes.
Corinne’s eyes were wide with mixed fear and longing. She closed them, and he kissed her eyelids softly, then her nose and finally her mouth. She sighed and drifted into him, melting a little in his arms. She opened her mouth and he took her offering greedily. His mouth moved over hers deeply, drawing her out, tasting.
He moved his hands down her neck, massaging and relaxing her in the way that he knew would have her purring like a content cat in a moment. His palms spread under the neck of her sweatshirt, and he felt her skin warming with his touch. He moved his kiss from her mouth to her neck.
He intended to take his time, savor every moment. He’d waited too long for this to rush it. But when Corinne moaned and dropped her head back to give him access, he could have swallowed her whole.
“Let’s go to the bedroom,” she said huskily.
“No.” He nibbled on her earlobe. “I’m not done with the kitchen yet.”
He closed his mouth onto the pulse at her throat and drew the skin in. She inhaled sharply. She probably didn’t expect him to remember. But he did He’d lost sleep night after night, remembering all the little things that drove her crazy. And he planned to ruthlessly use them all.
“Come on,” she said again. “Let’s go.”
He shook his head against her neck, nuzzling.
“I’ve waited for this for over ten years. I’m not going to rush it now.”
He wanted to sweep her off her feet in a moment of passion. He knew how to do it, too. He knew just the right places to touch, just the right things to say so that she’d forget all about the past and the future and focus on this moment alone. He wanted to make her safe, make her happy always.
At the same time, he wanted to take her now, roughly and quickly, on the kitchen floor.
He stroked her swollen lips with his thumb. She turned her head and took the tip of it into her mouth. Desire ripped through him, triplefold, sharp and hot. His breath shot from him, and he pulled her tightly against him.
“Corinne,” he moaned. He wrapped his arms around Corinne’s waist and brought her tightly against him, so tightly that he brought her feet off the floor. He kissed her deeply. Her arms went around his shoulders, and with a hitch of her breath, he felt the last bit of her hesitation fall away.
“Now,” he growled. “Now we can go to the bedroom ”
He cupped her bottom, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He walked her back through the dining room, through the living room. Her body blocked his view of everything else. He bumped into tables and knocked over chairs, and kept going. He didn’t care.
When his legs bumped the edge of her bed, he stopped and laid her carefully on it.
She reached for his shirt, her nimble fingers working quickly through the buttons.
Not quickly enough. Toby ripped at the material, rending the cloth off his body and casting it aside. He knelt over her.
Corinne spread her palms on his chest. Her skin felt cool on his burning flesh. She glided her hands up his shoulders, into his hair, and around to cup his face.