“Don’t what, Corinne?” He bit off the words, angry for the first time since she’d met him so many weeks before. He’d never sounded this angry, even when she’d nearly ended up in the burn ward at the hospital.
“I’m going to leave.” Coward, the voice in her brain shrieked at her and she gave her head a hard shake to shut it up. It didn’t work. Idiot, it continued. She pressed her hands over her ears.
“Don’t what, Corinne?” He jumped off the running board and yanked open her door.
She scuttled across the seat until her back hit the passenger side door. He was so angry, it frightened her. “Don’t do this.”
“Don’t be hurt that you’ve given up on us before we even had a chance? Don’t be angry that you won’t forgive words I said before I knew you?” He climbed into the cab and leaned across the seat until his face was only inches from hers. “Don’t think about you? About your smile when you catch a football, or your laugh when you sucker-punch your brothers? About threading my fingers through your hair, or the way you taste? Don’t want you so desperately I ache? Don’t what?”
She couldn’t breathe, not one single molecule. He was stealing all her air. She pressed one hand to her chest to stop the pain, and another to his to keep him back. “It won’t work. We’re too different, from completely different worlds.”
“Thank God for that.”
“Your mother would never accept me.” She couldn’t imagine ever being the sort of society bimbo who would fit in with that woman who’d borne Micah. Cori had a flash of herself in a business suit, hair in a French twist with perfect makeup and a manicure.
Never.
“My mother barely accepts me. I left home at eighteen because I refused to be squeezed into the plan she had for me. I never looked back. Cori, I love my mother but her opinions don’t affect my choices.” He broke into her thoughts with a laugh and covered the hand she had pressed against his heart. “None of that matters. Don’t you understand? You are everything I ever wanted. I just didn’t realize what I was looking for until we met.”
“You didn’t like me when we met,” she argued. “All you ever did was yell at me in class.”
“Because it was that or kiss you. Why do you think I walked you to your car whenever I could? So I could get to know you.”
She thought back and realized they’d had some very civil and occasionally funny conversations on those short trips between the classroom and the car. How had she forgotten? But, still, they’d only really gotten to know each other a few weeks ago. What she felt was impossible and most probably false. You didn’t fall in love in a few weeks. Her affection for him would go away in time, like a bad cold.
“Cori?”
She shook her head, mute. The warmth of his touch crept up her arm and into her body, making her shudder with awareness. She’d had her hand held by a dozen men. Why was he so different?
Because you’re falling in love with him, came that blasted voice once again.
Well then, she’d just stop. She didn’t want to be in love with him. Loving him was inconvenient and uncomfortable.
His thumb made small circles across her knuckles, his eyes boring straight through her pretense and directly to her heart. How could he see her so clearly when she barely knew herself anymore? “I think I started to fall for you that first day, when you used baking powder instead of baking soda. Or maybe when you set your apron on fire. You were so scared, but not of the fire. You were more worried about offending me. And there I was, terrified for you.” He laughed a little, a breath of air that reached out and caressed her face. “I yelled. I never yell, but I’d never felt so protective of anyone before. Before I even knew you, you were creeping into my heart. Sneaky wench.”
“Micah…” The word was a soft entreaty, but she didn’t know whether she was asking him to leave or stay. To hold her or let her go.
He smiled, just a slight quirk of his mouth, but the look was bittersweet. “You have to decide what you want, Cori. I can’t make up your mind for you. I know what I want.”
Why wouldn’t he take the choice out of her hands? She didn’t know what she wanted. Should she pull him close or push him away for good? The sudden belief that this was it, the deciding moment, that whatever she did right now would determine whether she would ever see him again, terrified her. Her life was at a crossroads in a way it never had been before. And, worse, she had to decide which way to turn, with no help from anyone else.
She had a sudden vision of the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz movie when Dorothy stood at the fork in the yellow brick road. That way is good, he pointed. This one is okay, too, and he pointed the other way. No help at all.
She was lousy at making decisions. She couldn’t decide between slaw or fries at the seafood place down the road, so how could she be trusted to make this choice? The outcome of this would change her entire life.
Why couldn’t he just kiss her or leave? Take the choice out of her hands?
Because he’d never be certain of her if he did.
The seconds stretched into hours as she considered. A life as a society wife? Please. A life without Micah? Bleak. She would lose her identity if she stayed with him, but would lose her joy if she left.
She closed her eyes and wished for an answer. His fingertips brushed across her cheeks, a gentle kiss touched first one closed eye, and then the other. In the next moment, the weight of his body lifted from her and the truck rocked back and forth.
He was gone.
Her eyes popped open and she scrambled across the seat. Micah was walking toward an understated silver Mercedes. And away from her. By making no choice, she’d made the worst choice of all.
“Micah!”
His steps faltered but didn’t stop. He was almost to his mother’s Mercedes.
Cori leaped to the ground, falling to her knees. Tiny bits of gravel on the asphalt dug into the palms of her hands, but she didn’t care. She jumped up, brushed them off and ran. “Micah!”
This time he turned. She didn’t think, just hurled herself into his arms. She knew he would catch her. He staggered back a few steps, but catch her, he did. She wrapped her arms around his neck and feet around his waist.
She pressed her forehead against his. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Don’t go.”
“Cori.” The single word carried a wealth of emotion. “I don’t want to leave you, but I won’t stay where I’m not wanted.”
“I want you.” She did.
“Will you still, a week from now? A month from now? A year from now?”
A little stunned, she loosened her grip. “What?”
“I’m falling in love, Cori. The ‘’til death do us part’ kind.”
Her legs turned to rubber and she sank to the pavement. “What?”
He squatted in front of her, slipped a hand on her cheek. “I don’t know why my heart chose you, but it did. There’s no going back for me, only forward. And I don’t have a map. I don’t know where I’m headed, where we’re headed. I hate being out of control.”
“Oh.” Cori pressed a hand over his. “I didn’t know.”
“You do now.”
She nodded. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you feel the same.”
She opened her mouth, but he pressed a finger over her lips.
“Only say the words if you mean it, only say them if you’re sure. That’s not something you should ever lie about.” He threaded fingers through her short hair, one calloused thumb caressing circles on her cheek. “What’s in your heart for me, Corinne Anne?”
“Oh, Micah.” She breathed the words out on a sigh. “Does it mean I’m falling in love with you when you’re constantly in my thoughts? When my heart aches at the thought of never seeing you again? When my skin quivers if I think about your touch? Does love make you miserable and happy at the same time?”
His thumb stopped moving against her face, and his fingers clenched.
“Yes.” His gaze never left hers.
/> “Is it love when I’d consider giving up everything I am to be with you, but know I don’t have to because you would never ask that of me?” She struggled to her knees and took his hands in hers.
“Yes.”
“Does it mean I’m falling in love with you when I can’t imagine a future without you in it?”
He nodded.
She shrugged and leaned in to kiss him, but he pulled back—just a few inches, but enough to keep their lips from touching. She vaguely heard the sound of cars coming and going, doors slamming, but it all faded to background noise.
“Say the words, Corinne. Words are powerful and magic.”
“I’ve never said them before.” She trembled slightly at the thought. Those words were irrevocable. She’d never said them, because she’d never felt them deep in her soul. Not like now. But she was terrified.
“I won’t hurt you, Corinne. Not ever, not intentionally.” He flashed a smile. “And I’d never said the words before, either. Turns out it’s only hard the first time.”
“Micah…”
“Are you falling for me, Cori?”
She filled her lungs with air and then blew it out in a hard sigh. He simply squatted there, staring, waiting. He wasn’t letting her slide around the subject. Damn him. “I’m crazy about you, Micah DePalma. And, yes, I’m falling in love with you.”
This time, the smile filled his face. “I know you are.”
At the smug satisfaction in his voice, Cori pulled back her arm and punched him. “Jerk.”
“Nag.” The affection in his eyes took the edge off the word. “I wouldn’t have you any other way.”
He kissed her then. It was different this time, full of emotion and not just heat, though the heat was there and plentiful. She threw herself into the kiss, matching him move for move, pressing her body against his until they fell against the door of the Mercedes, still embracing and oblivious.
Cori couldn’t get close enough, even pressed against him, and squirmed against his hard body. While their tongues swirled in a warm mating dance, one she wished was replicated with their naked bodies, she slipped a hand inside the waistband of his pants and tugged up his shirt just enough to touch skin. Her nails curled into his waist and she gave a soft moan against his mouth. He responded by cupping both hands around her butt and pressing her more firmly against his pelvis. She thought she’d go up in flames from the desire burning in her body.
When, after several minutes had passed, Cori finally lifted her head and came up for air, she noticed a crowd had gathered. A few of Micah’s students and two of her brothers. Dear heavens, her brothers. As the heat rose in her cheeks, they laughed and applauded.
“Way to go, Mr. DePalma!” shouted one of the students.
“Shameless hussy,” muttered Nick. “Ought to lock you in your room until you’re thirty.”
“A parking lot,” said Zach. “To think we were worried about her. Seems she’s attacked the poor man, here in public.”
Nick nodded. “Looks like she’s compromised Micah’s honor.”
Micah grinned and stood, pulling Cori to her feet along with him. “You’ll have to make an honest man of me. Or it’s quite possible my faithful seconds will challenge you to a duel.” He tucked his loose shirt back into his pants.
“Bet your boots we will.” Zach gave a sharp nod.
“Traitors,” she accused her brothers and then turned to Micah. “I suppose my hand is forced. But, Micah, we’ve never even dated.”
Micah cupped her face in his hands. “No time like the present, then is there?” And he kissed her again, a promise of forever in his touch.
About the Author
Marianne is originally from California but currently lives in much colder New Hampshire with her husband, daughter, dog and cat, as well as a few hundred wild birds, chipmunks and a backyard bear that keeps trying to grab the feeders. She can’t imagine a world without romance or not having stories rattling around in her brain, and she uses comedy to get her through the obscenely long winter.
To learn more about Marianne Arkins, please visit www.mariannearkins.com or her blog: www.reading-writing.blogspot.com, or you join her announcement only Yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MarianneArkinsNews.
Look for these titles by Marianne Arkins
Now Available:
One Love for Live
Liv is out to prove her high society fiancé is cheating on her. Can she do it without breaking a nail—or falling in love with Mike the mechanic?
One Love for Liv
© 2008 Marianne Arkins
Olivia “Liv” Leigh, wealthy socialite and spa owner, suspects her fiancé of cheating on her. Drastic steps are required to discover whether appearances are deceiving. And if those steps require a bit of stalking, a change of appearance, a hippo-sized dog named Spike, and sacrificing her manicure to clean house for a sexy-but-sloppy man whose neighbor is determined to break several of the strangest Guinness world records, why should that be a problem?
Mike, a happily single auto mechanic, is more than content sharing his bachelor pad with piles of laundry, dirty dishes, and a sneaky ferret. But when a half-crazed woman in a bad wig shows up on his doorstep, what’s a nice guy to do?
Why, invite her in, unknowingly help her in her search for the truth and, in the process, fall head over heels for a woman who’s never been less his type.
Enjoy the following excerpt for One Love for Liv:
Liv drove past the VW and parked around the corner. Nervous in these strange surroundings, she stepped out of the car. First one foot cautiously touched the pavement, then the other.
Litter dotted the sidewalk, and she sidled around a huge wad of pink chewing gum that glistened on the cement to her right, practically pulsating in the sunshine. The wooden fence beside her was covered in graffiti, mostly silly scrawls of people’s names and the objects of their affections.
With a glance over her shoulder at the beat-up sedan, she gave thanks she wasn’t driving the Miata after all. This neighborhood made her terribly uneasy, and her sweet car probably wouldn’t last an hour parked on this street.
She hurried up the sidewalk to the corner, grateful for the first time she was wearing sneakers instead of her usual pumps, and peered around to make sure Daisy wasn’t looking. Of course, she probably wouldn’t recognize Liv, but it was still good to be careful.
She trailed Daisy until the redhead turned up the walk toward the complex and moved behind some thick evergreen bushes. Liv broke into a trot, not wanting to lose her.
As Liv turned the corner, she nearly ran Daisy over. The woman had stopped to check her mail at the wall of mailboxes just outside the complex.
Liv leaped back and slipped between two parked cars, squatting down to hide for a moment until she realized she couldn’t see anything. She duck-walked up a few cars until she could lean down to peek underneath and watch Daisy’s feet to note when she moved on.
Utterly focused on the sight before her, she had no warning before the driver’s door beside her swung open, clipping her sharply on the head. She flew backward, sprawling into the street and thumping her skull on the pavement. Tires squealed nearby as a moving car whipped around her flattened body.
“What the—?” From a million miles away, a man shouted in surprise. She heard the thump of footsteps but couldn’t seem to open her eyes. “Hey, lady.” A huge, heavy hand shook her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Something warm and wet swiped her face, both reviving and disgusting her. She kept her eyes closed and limply swatted at it. Her hand hit fur. “Ugh.”
“Spike, back off.”
Spike? What was going on? She gave a low moan and tried again to force her eyelids to obey her will, finally succeeding after a Herculean effort. A tanned face covered in five o’clock shadow and smears of black grease swam in front of her. Next to him, its neck surrounded by a studded black leather collar, sat the biggest brown dog she’d ever seen. The creature had drool suspended
from its mouth and it looked as if it had swallowed a sneaker with the laces hanging out. Dear heavens, was that what had licked her?
The voice spoke again, and this time she saw the man’s lips move, though they seemed oddly out of sync with his words. The last time that had happened was when she’d seen Shoot the Piano Player in French with English subtitles.
“You don’t look so good. Maybe I should call for an ambulance or something. I whacked you pretty hard.” He touched her forehead and she tried to move away from those greasy hands. Did she have a smear on her skin?
“No, don’t call an ambulance.” Liv was dismayed at how feeble she sounded, but the last thing she needed was to draw more attention to herself. How would she explain that to Geoff or her father? “I’ll be okay. Just help me up.”
“If you’re sure.” Strong, firm hands slipped under her arms and pulled her easily to her feet. The dog leaned against her and shoved its head under her hand. She flinched at the feel of its bony, fur-covered skull even though she appreciated the support. It wasn’t enough, though, and her legs wobbled beneath her.
“Whoa there, Nelly.” The man tightened his hold and steadied her. “Maybe you should come inside and sit down for a couple of minutes. I could give you an ice pack for your head.”
Liv drew herself up to her full height, all five feet, two inches of it—damn, now she missed her three-inch heels—and declared, “I would no more go into a strange man’s house than…than…” She hated that the man only grinned and watched her sputter. She lost the little bit of strength she’d summoned and sank down onto the sidewalk. “I’ll sit on the curb. Just get your ugly dog away from me.”
“Spike? C’mon, he’s gorgeous.” He gave the monster a vigorous scratch all up and down its body. “And he’s not my dog, but don’t worry, he’s a marshmallow.”
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