Fool For You

by Megan Noelle

  “Yeah sorry, Dee, but I mean just think about it,” Gabby added.

  “I thought you said the expansion was just a thought; you made it sound like it was a future endeavor not a tomorrow thing.”

  “Listen, Erik wants to proceed, the only reason he’s at all hesitating right now is, well…”

  With a sigh I finished her sentence. “Because of me.” I felt the pressure and tension swirl in a claustrophobic bubble around me. My head drooped into my hands. Corey must have felt the distraught feelings, over the revelations of more people depending on me, and decided once again to step in.

  “Well, Dani’s right—why can’t you find someone there?”

  “Have you ever seen Danielle in action, Corey?” Oh Lord—I quickly recognized this tone too. This was Gabby’s defensive best friend side coming out.

  “Yeah, we just worked a wedding together last night actually.”

  “No, no. Not what I meant. Danielle knows how to read people—in a business setting—very well.” I rolled my eyes at her specifications; yes I got it, I’ve picked some real losers—in a personal setting. Let’s please rub some dirt into my open wounds—that’ll make it better.

  “She was always in charge of pulling in new advertisers and new interest. People were drawn to her and willing to hear anything she had to say. Dee would read them and know what method of approach to use to gain their trust. Did that specific client want a more personal connection, or were they strictly business? No one understood how she did it, but her business sense is absolutely incredible. Her professional foot is always forward and it’s solely thanks to her that we are what we are.”

  “That’s not true.” I said, protesting. Everyone there deserved the credit. If the articles researched and written weren’t any good my “amazing sales pitches” as Gabby called them—would have fallen short.”

  “It is true Danielle. Corey, vouch for me, are you not painting her room because she used her powers of persuasion to get you to do so.”

  “I’m her friend.” Corey scoffed at the phone while he continued on to the next wall.

  “Yes, but I have a feeling right now you’re doing the painting, while Dani watches.” Corey stopped what he was doing and looked back towards me. My elbows rested on my knees with my palms pressed to either side of my temple. His lips turned into a smirk before returning to the job.

  “I’ll give you that one.”

  “And it’s not just a friendship thing. Dani just knows how to read certain people when she can chalk it up to a ‘business’ transaction in her mind.”

  Her words hung in the air, making me think of all the possibilities during my time here. The argument about the wine—I won, the red shirts—I won, the cigarettes—I let him win, and here he was now, painting my house. All those things were true and could be categorized in the way Gabby described. None of those situations or decisions involved my heart. It was the very sacred ones involving my heart, that made my head spin. It took everything in me to tell Corey the sordid details of my past even now it wasn’t easy knowing I had. Very slowly, I felt him slipping away and I wasn’t ready to let go. So, I gave all I could in those moments of light playfulness.

  Corey sighed with resignation, something gave me the feeling he too was thinking the same as I was.

  “Yeah, I’ll give you that. Dani is incredible when it comes to dealing with people. That doesn’t mean she’s going to leave the Inn—it is her family asking her to stay—not a company.”

  “I’m not going to argue about this anymore, because I need to run. I wanted to let you know that the possibility that Erik will call you with an offer, and much more money than you were making. Don’t be surprised when the call comes and try to have a decision made. We need you back, Dee.”

  “I’ll keep it in mind.” I conceded.

  “Great! Okay, well I love you and I miss you every day! Nice talking to you, Corey.”

  “You too, Gabby,” He grumbled back. “Bye Gabs, love you too.” I hung up the speakerphone and went back to watching Corey. He didn’t stop what he was doing and didn’t look back my way.

  The conversation hurt him more than he deserved and I wished he hadn’t been here to hear it. How was it that as soon as I thought I had a handle on my life, something flew in from left field and changed the whole game? The overpowering need to take Corey’s mind off the conversation propelled me forward. I climbed to my feet and wrapped my arms cautiously around his middle. His body stiffened for a moment before relaxing against my touch. I wanted to give Corey reassurance that I wasn’t going anywhere—but that would be a lie.

  He rested his free hand over top of mine and we stayed that way for a while. Hoping more than anything that I could take away the pain, fear, anger—whatever he was experiencing and protect him from it. No one should hurt over me—especially not Corey.

  * * * *

  We spent the rest of the afternoon finishing my room. The playful attitude from earlier was long gone. Every time my eyes locked with Corey’s, I saw something in them that made my heart skip a beat. The way he looked at me was as if he already knew I was gone. Every chance I got I let my arms wrap around him, longing to provide comfort in the only way I knew possible. When the room was finished I packed an overnight bag for Corey’s.

  After eating dinner we popped in a movie, that neither of us watched. We laid together on the couch, his arms held me protectively to his side. After the film we made our way to the bedroom where the cuddling continued but this time there was no sex. There was a piece of me that almost thought of pushing for it, using that as a way to stop the sinking feeling in both of us. But I couldn’t. The timing wasn’t right, and I knew Corey needed more than my body to make this better.

  He needed my heart.

  * * * *

  A few days passed since Gabby’s phone call and I found there was a subtle difference in the way Corey and I interacted. His touches were softer, our gazes lingered longer and he took any available opportunity to put his arms around me. Without a thought of the consequences, I let him. I wasn’t sure if it was because I knew how much he needed the contact or because I wanted it too.

  On Wednesday during work I got a phone call from Karly, while I was sitting at my desk.

  “Danielle Hamilton,” I answered into my phone.

  “Tell me you don’t have plans Saturday night!” She practically squealed into the phone. “I’m not sure—I don’t think so?” I responded my thoughts immediately flickered to Corey. We talked about getting together this weekend, but that was nothing new for us.

  “We’re going out!”

  “Whose we?”

  “My sisters, Jake and I—plus now you and Corey!”

  I snorted into the phone. “Does Corey know?”

  “Why do you think I called you first? It’s a lot easier to convince him to go out, if he knows you’ll be there.”

  “Clever,” I smiled.

  “Well duh, so what do you say?”

  “Where are you guys going?”

  “We are going to this night club. It’s the first night in a long time that we are all going to be able to hang out. So I really just want a night with everyone.” There was desperation in her voice that made it impossible to say no to.

  “Do you want to tell him or should I?” I asked, hoping she’d let me do it. Corey would probably not be the happiest about it either way. However, I felt he might take the news of plans—he had no choice about—better coming from me.

  “You can use your powers of persuasion. Just give me a call when you have his definite yes, so we can work out plans.”

  “Will do.”

  “Bye Dani, good luck! Not that you need it of course,” she giggled into the phone. I rolled my eyes with a smile.

  It wasn’t a surprise to me that the sisters knew I hung out with Corey—a lot—but something in her tone made me wonder how much they knew about us. When I talked to Abby or Karly on the phone we touched base about Corey and I. I wasn’t giving of
f the impression that we were going to be walking down the aisle anytime soon. Unless of course, Corey was saying something to them…I mean I knew they talk a lot as well, but—no. Corey doesn’t exactly share his life with people—even his sisters—so for him to be dishing stuff about our personal life was highly unlikely.

  My purse slumped on the floor next to my desk; I dug around in there until I grabbed out my cell.

  Hey Babe, call me when you get a chance. Need to tell you something—D.

  I sent my text to Corey and returned to the paperwork I was going over. It was that time of the week where I needed to approve everything for the weekend events. Things here have been phenomenal lately; every weekend there was at least one major event and even a few smaller ones. Birthday parties, business dinners, all were great for the Inn and it also kept my Gram out of my hair.

  The buzzing of my phone distracted me from my work.

  Yikes, why does that worry me?

  While I responded there was a smile planted firmly across my face.

  Nothing to worry about, I talked to Karly today is all.

  A minute later my phone buzzed again.

  Uh, yeah… that still worries me. Call you in 2.

  True to his word a couple minutes later my desk phone rang. Even though I knew it was Corey it was still habit to answer my work phone in a professional manor.

  “Danielle Hamilton.”

  “What did my sister do now?” I laughed.

  “You need to have a little more faith in your sisters, Corey. She wants us to go out to this night club with her and Jake. The cool thing is,” I didn’t exactly expect him to think it was ‘cool’ but worth a shot. “All your sisters will be there and I’m sure it’s been a while since you’ve all hung out.”

  Corey was silent for a few seconds.

  “Core?” I prompted.

  “I’m sorry; I was just waiting for the cool part.”

  “I’ll be there?” It wasn’t much, but it was all I had.

  “Dani, you told her we weren’t going to go right?”

  “Well…”

  “Shit. You know why it’s been a while since all four of us have been in the same place?” “Different schedules?”

  He sighed. “No, because something always goes wrong. The three of them together never stop bickering and then they all come complaining expecting me to mediate. You’d think they’d all grow out of it but—nope.”

  “Karly seemed really excited about it, Core.”

  “She’s always been that way.”

  “What way?”

  “She has always taken it upon herself to keep the family together. She was young when my dad walked out and had to deal with the fallout of that. Abby was in her own world of friends and boys, Lainey has always done her own thing and I was having issues of my own. So, Karly has always made it her responsibility to keep us as one big happy family.”

  Something in Corey’s tone made me want to reach out and hug him. “That’s not so bad is it? I mean just think about it, please? Karly seemed to be really looking forward to this and to be honest—I am too. I think it will be a lot of fun to go out with all of you.”

  “You do?” His tone was serious, as if he didn’t expect me to mean it.

  “Of course and I promise you, if you become really uncomfortable or want to leave—we will. No questions asked—I’ll even try to keep my whining to make you stay to a minimum.” A rich, hearty laugh echoed through my phone. The sound warmed my heart and I wondered if playing hooky today, wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  “Fine, we’ll go.”

  “Yay! Now, I told Karly I’d call her back, once I talked you into it. Do you have a preference on what time we go?”

  “Not really.”

  “What if I ask her to meet us at your place at nine, we can do a few pre-party shots. Then all share a cab?”

  “Why don’t I just drive us?” Corey offered.

  “No it would be better if we just shared cabs.”

  “Fine.” Corey was simply agreeing with me now to make me happy.

  “It’ll be fun, I promise!”

  “Yeah, yeah—we’ll see. You owe me for this.” “Fine.” I know I should have hung up and got back to work but I just couldn’t.

  “What are you doing for lunch?” My eyes dart to the wall clock, 11:45.

  “No plans, why?”

  “Come to the bar and I’ll make you something.” I couldn’t have said no, even if I wanted to.

  “Would you be offended, if I brought some paperwork I need to get done?”

  “Not at all.”

  “See you in ten.”

  Corey cleaned off a spot at the bar for all my papers and me. In between my amazing lunch, I filled out the necessary information. Corey spent his time eating off my plate and on occasion would pick up a report and question me about it. His genuine interest in my job was always something I enjoyed. He also had a great business sense and was able to point out things to me that I maybe wouldn’t have noticed before.

  On a few random occasions he would lean over the bar and surprisingly seal his lips over mine. I never yanked my head away and let him decide when he had enough. When I asked him about it, he just said it was only the beginning of my payment for making him go out with us this Saturday. Not that I believed it really concerned him. Truthfully, I think it bothered him more that he wasn’t that upset about a night out with his sisters.

  Pretending…If Only For a Night

  Saturday night rolled around and Corey informed me before heading to his place, that I would indeed be spending the night with him. Since I didn’t seem to be physically capable of walking away from that man, I had no problem agreeing.

  As strange as it seemed, I genuinely wanted to impress his sisters—even though I’ve already met them. I wanted to show up and look like a girl that deserved to be on Corey’s arm. Which of course was crazy, it shouldn’t matter to me what his sister’s thought. That didn’t stop me though from going the extra mile to get ready.

  There was only one dress that came to mind—it was the same shade of blue as my eyes. The dress clung to every curve and dip of my body, sitting high on my thighs. The front scooped down revealing a small amount of cleavage—while the back was practically gone and stopped an inch or so above my bum. The sleeves were long and loose with the shoulders left bare; I slipped on a pair of my black leather boots with a 4-inch heel.

  After blow-drying my hair, I took the time to curl the bottom couple of inches, letting the rest hang long. I kept my make-up natural with shimmers of browns, and gold’s lining my eyes with black liner and mascara. It was only 8:30 when I arrived to Corey’s place and the bar was already in full swing. The light was on in Corey’s apartment so I decided to go up to meet him instead of joining all the people that were inevitably in there. Before leaving the house I grabbed a jacket but decided to leave it in the car until needed. It was unseasonably warm tonight and I was going to take complete advantage of it.

  At his door I gave a few polite knocks before letting myself in. Just about every light was on in the place but the sounds of dresser drawers opening alerted me where he was. When I stepped into his doorway I watched him for a minute before saying anything.

  The man looked incredible—as always—and was only half-dressed. A pair of light wash blue jeans hung low on his hips and snug on his ass, a black belt held them in place. He hadn’t put a shirt on yet and with his back to me I got a mighty fine view. His muscles stretched deliciously, as he searched for something. My heart rate quickened and I seriously considered taking off my dress right there. Instead, I took a few silent steps forward and pressed my hands against his back, moving the pad of my palm up to his shoulders. A deep groan came from his throat and his head dropped down; his hands held onto the dresser for balance.

  It was my intention to only rub him once to get his attention, but with a reaction like that—I couldn’t stop. My hands moved back over his muscles as I pressed into him to work out hi
s tense spots. Every little moan, and groan he made at the feel of my hands made the muscles in my belly clench. I let my hands drift around to his front and interlock over his chest. He finally released his dresser and grabbed hold of my hands with a contented sigh. I loosened my grip enough so he could turn in my arms. His lips pressed down to mine in a sweet, warm kiss of thanks.

  “So, you’re wearing that tonight? Because let me tell ya—you’ll be the most popular guy there.” I asked, motioning to his very bare, very sexy chest. He threw his head back and laughed.

  “Nope, you distracted me from grabbing out my shirt.”

  “Well, hop to it—Karly and Jake will be here soon.” I let him go and turned to leave the room so he could finish— also so I wouldn’t get distracted. My legs only made it about three steps when I heard Corey.

  “Christ, Danielle.” His breath hitched, I turned my head over my shoulder to see him. Those intense and piercing blue eyes locked on my very bare back, and long legs. When his eyes finished their journey over my body, he looked up at me with burning desire in them—that made it near impossible to keep up an innocent façade.

  “Yes?” In a second he crossed the room and yanked me back into his arms, our mouths locked together with no chance of breaking. Our bodies were pressed together, while his hands moved slowly up and down my skin. The touch left a burning sensation that shot directly between my thighs.

  “You shouldn’t have worn that.” A husky whisper brushed against my lips, before he took my bottom lip between his teeth.

  “And why not?” I asked, in an irritatingly breathy voice.

  “Because, there’s no way I’m waiting for when we get back to take you.” His voice was a growl at my ear that left my body shivering with need. Any complaints I may have had about meeting up in the bar with his sister quickly left. Because let’s be honest—I wanted him just as badly as he wanted me.