Secrets from Her Past: Scandalous, Book 2

by Jules Bennett

  “She’s going to be just fine,” she sniffed into his chest. “The doctors said it was a ministroke and they’re keeping her for observation. Dad is staying with her.”

  She eased back and looked up at him. “I need to stay for a while. Would you mind if I called you to come get me if Dad doesn’t want to leave later? I hate to bother you, but—”

  He placed a finger over her warm lips and smiled. “You are no bother. Call me anytime and I’ll come get you.”

  He kissed her on the cheek and walked away, all the while feeling like this was definitely more than sex, more than friends helping friends—and the call he’d just made to purchase an empty building proved his point. He was living in a pipe dream right now and he feared any second it would burst. But he was taking the chance and nothing would prevent him from trying once again to have the future he wanted, needed and dreamed of.

  “Looks like you and Dylan are getting reacquainted.”

  Corinne glanced up from her magazine to her father who was across the hospital room, next to his wife’s bedside. She set the magazine on her lap and shrugged.

  “We’re just friends,” she told him. “That’s all.”

  Wow, so an actress she was not. She didn’t even sound convincing to herself, and apparently, from the look her father was giving her, she hadn’t convinced him either.

  “Honey, first of all, I know that look in your eye. I know when you’re happy, I know when you’re confused, and I know when you’re in love.”

  Corinne’s eyes held his. She swallowed, refusing to respond when he’d so hit the nail on the head—because she was all three emotions where Dylan was concerned.

  “Are you planning on staying here?” he asked.

  “I’m staying until Mom is better and back home.”

  He picked up Inez’s hand and began to stroke it while she slept on. “I know you’re not comfortable with going back to Miami just yet, but please, don’t let me or your mother get in the way of you getting your career back on track.”

  “You two are much more important than any career…not that it’s really able to be labeled as such right now.” She came to her feet, tossing the magazine in the seat behind her. “I couldn’t leave until I know you two are fine. Besides, I can’t leave with a hole in your house.”

  As she’d hoped, her father smiled. “You’re right.”

  Corinne sighed as she watched the pulse ox fluctuate slightly and the stream of her mother’s heartbeat cross the black screen.

  “But I do love him,” Corinne whispered. “God help me. I don’t know what to do.”

  “You can either tell him the truth or you can leave him be,” her father said in a soft, yet stern tone. “But you can’t have a relationship with the man with a lie this big settling between you.”

  Even though she knew she couldn’t have it both ways, hearing the harsh truth from her father only made reality sink in a bit more.

  “He can never know the truth,” she insisted, taking her gaze from the screen to her father. “How could we ever have a relationship if he knew? He’d hate me forever.”

  Carl leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his broad chest and sighed. “Well, that’s a chance you’ll have to take. But, by not telling him, you’re automatically assuming his response, and you’re killing any chance the two of you would have.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “I just can’t tell him. I’d rather live without him than have him hate me. And the fact that I know who killed his parents would certainly be reason enough.”

  Corinne jerked toward the door, thinking she saw someone, but there was no one there. Mercy, she’d have to choose her words better next time, especially in public. There was no way anyone could know that her biological father, the spawn of Satan himself, had killed Dylan and Evie’s parents while in a drunken rage after he’d gotten behind the wheel of his truck.

  Corinne looked once again at her peacefully sleeping mother, the woman who’d risked so much to protect her. Yeah, there was no way the secret could ever come out. Not even for love.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Heard you bought a little piece of property.”

  Dylan paused, beer halfway to his mouth, and stared at his sister across the patio where she lay all spread out on the chaise.

  “Don’t try to deny it,” she said, smiling beneath her wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses. “I was talking with Marsha at Potter’s Real Estate office and saw the paperwork lying on a desk. I’m going to remodel their offices.”

  Dylan inwardly groaned. Was nothing sacred or a secret anymore?

  Oh wait. Scratch that. Yeah, some things were obviously still a secret. Like whatever the hell Cori was keeping bottled up.

  “Care to tell me what you’re going to do with that empty building?” his sister prodded.

  Taking a long, hard pull of his beer, Dylan opened his mouth, but Vin, who had been sitting in another chaise, piped up.

  “Evie, don’t badger him. If he wanted you to know, you would know already.”

  Evie tipped her dark glasses down and eyed her fiancé. “If I don’t badger him, he’ll think I don’t care.”

  Dylan laughed. God, he loved his sister so much. And, yes, he wanted to tell her his plans, but at the same time he truly wanted this to be kept under wraps until he knew if his ultimate plan would come into play and pan out.

  “I did buy it,” he told Evie as he turned the steaks on the grill and glanced at his watch for the third time in as many minutes. “No, I don’t know what I’m going to do with it, so don’t ask.”

  “You have something in mind or you wouldn’t have bought it to begin with,” Evie argued. “So, what, you’re opening a gym? A shoe store? A brothel?”

  Dylan put his grilling tongs down and turned toward his sister. “You got me. It’s a brothel. After we eat I’m going to get some gold chains to complete my pimp look.”

  Vin laughed while Evie narrowed her eyes. “You’re such a smartass.”

  “What do you expect when you ask stupid questions?”

  “I just wanted a straight answer without begging for it,” she muttered.

  “It was a good price,” he defended. “Who knows? I may flip it after I fix it up, or I may turn it into my office. I really don’t know, but it had sat for sale for a while and the location was good. I offered them a cash price and they accepted. End of story.”

  Evie pursed her lips as if she didn’t quite agree with him, but that was fine. She may want to continue the battle, but he could wait her out.

  He glanced to his watch again. Damn it. He was like a horny high school boy. Cori said she “might” stop by. He knew she’d been staying at the hospital some to give her father a break, but Dylan kept urging her to come to the cookout so she could meet Evie’s fiancé, Vin.

  Of course, he knew her meeting the “family” was not a logical step in their…whatever the label was on this newfound relationship…but still. She was going to be here for a while and she’d gone to a dress fitting with Evie. She should at least meet the guy.

  “Hey, guys!”

  Cori walked up from the beach side, looking like an angel with her long raven hair, simple strapless sundress and carrying some type of casserole dish.

  “I told you not to bring anything,” he told her, stepping forward to take the dish from her. “How is your mom?”

  With a smile, she handed over the warm pan and nodded. “Better today. That’s why I’m late. I threw this in the oven to bake for a few hours and went to see her. The doctors are optimistic that this ministroke didn’t cause any more damage. She’s going back to the therapy center tomorrow.”

  “That’s great news,” Evie chimed. “Corinne, this is my fiancé, Vincent.”

  Vin came to his feet and extended his hand. “Call me Vin. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  She shook his hand, her smile widening, and for a split second Dylan found himself jealous of that smile directed toward another man. Of course, the woman made
her career by smiling and being a little flirty, but the selfish side of him wanted all that sexy attention directed toward him.

  “The big wedding is next weekend.” Cori turned to Evie. “Are you all excited, nervous, or just ready to get it over?”

  Dylan turned the steaks again as his sister and Cori discussed more wedding details. He couldn’t believe his baby sister was actually getting married. He was so thrilled for her, especially after the nightmare she’d faced in her life all alone, thinking there was no one she could turn to. Dylan was just thankful Vin had figured everything out and brought the secret to light.

  “Looks like your lady friend has settled back in nicely here,” Vin whispered as he came up to stand beside the grill. “Evie has been speculating about you two and after seeing the way you looked, like you wanted to rip my head off when she smiled at me. I’d say Evie wasn’t too far off the mark.”

  Dylan closed the lid of the grill and turned off the burners. “I didn’t want to rip your head off.”

  “You at least wanted to punch my face.”

  Dylan grinned. “Maybe just to mess it up a tad.”

  “So is this serious?”

  “What are you, a woman? I don’t know what the hell this is. All I know is that having her back is more than I’d expected…and that was after the shock wore off.”

  “How long is she staying?” Vin asked.

  Dylan sighed. Wasn’t that the question of the hour? He had no clue how long she’d stay. It depended on her mother, depended on what was going on in her career. And it depended heavily on the timing of his surprise bombshell. But he would have to ease her into thinking his idea was her idea.

  “She says until her mother is home and doing better,” he answered.

  Vin nodded. “You don’t seem convinced.”

  “I think she’s settling in here more than she wanted to, and I think she’ll find it hard to leave.”

  “Wishful thinking?”

  Dylan flipped Vin the one-finger salute and called the ladies to come to the table to eat.

  No surprise—Evie and Cori huddled together and laughed and chatted like they had as teens. He remembered coming home several times from baseball practice to see the two of them giggling over some movie or teen magazine. Dylan knew when Cori left, Evie had been hurt and confused as well.

  But their parents’ death had trumped the void created by Cori’s abrupt departure.

  “Oh my God, Corinne, this is amazing.” Vin chewed his food and pointed to his plate with his fork. “This recipe has to be shared. Evie and I love to try new things in the kitchen.”

  Dylan laughed, earning a smack from his sister.

  “He means recipes, jerk,” Evie said with a grin. “Seriously, Corinne, what is in this?”

  “It has a lot of cream cheese, powdered sugar, caramel and some other equally healthy ingredients.”

  “Cooking like this, I don’t know how you don’t weigh three hundred pounds,” Evie said as she scooped up another bite. “I gained five just listening to that. But it’s so good I don’t care.”

  Cori smiled. “You’re gorgeous and have a killer curvy body, Evie. Weight is no problem for you.”

  “Thank you, Corinne,” Vin chimed in around a mouthful of dessert. “I try to tell her that all the time, but she doesn’t take my word for it.”

  Dylan eased back in his chair, utterly full from an amazing dinner. He wondered how in the hell he could sit here, absorb all of this fellowship and happiness, and not get wrapped up in it.

  When Vin started taking the dishes inside, Cori offered to help, leaving Dylan and Evie to clean up outside.

  “You’ve fallen for her, big brother.”

  Dylan held up a hand. “Not now, Evie.”

  “I think it’s great. I’m not criticizing. But I worry about you and I hope you’ll fight for what you want.”

  He gathered the trash of napkins, beer bottles. “I already have a plan in motion to fight for what I want.”

  Evie quirked her brow. “This plan have anything to do with that building you purchased and are so secretive about?”

  He dumped the trash into his large can beside the back door. “My plan, my building, my business. I’ll let you know as soon as there’s something more to tell.”

  Evie came up, wrapped her arms around him, and he was such a sucker, he hugged her right back.

  “Don’t pout,” she told him. “I only pry because I care about you.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I know. I was going to ask her to come to the wedding. I hope that’s okay.”

  Evie eased back, her smile wide. “I already invited her, so she’ll need a date.”

  Vin came back out and started picking up another set of dishes.

  “Put those down,” Dylan said. “I’ll get them.”

  “Is that code for ‘Get the hell out so I can be alone with the supermodel’?” Vin asked with a knowing grin.

  Dylan laughed. “It’s more like ‘Get your ass out, you’ve overstayed your welcome’.”

  “Let’s go, Vin.” Evie moved across the patio to her fiancé and looped her arm through his. “I’m ready to get you all to myself anyway.”

  Dylan put up both hands. “Things the big brother does not want to hear.”

  Evie and Vin’s laughter followed them into the night and Dylan glanced into the kitchen through the glass patio doors. The sight inside was something straight out of a movie—where one character has an epiphany, a life-altering moment.

  Barefoot, wearing only her little red sundress was world-renowned supermodel Corinne. She was stunning on the pages of the most popular magazines all over the world, but right now she stood at his sink, with sudsy hands from washing dishes, very little makeup, her hair long, loose and straight, and she looked…perfectly at home.

  His heart clenched at the thought of just how wonderfully brilliant his plan was. If Cori could see this is where she belonged, then she wouldn’t have a reason to run back to Miami, to a loveless career where people didn’t truly appreciate her the way he did.

  And, God Almighty, he loved this woman. Loved her more than he had at seventeen. Loved her more than he thought he had in his dreams since she’d left. He loved her in bed, in his kitchen, spread out in glossy magazines. He truly, honestly loved every aspect of Cori. Now he just had to prove to her that his love was enough for her to stay.

  But he wouldn’t force her. He wouldn’t even reveal his emotions. He wanted her to stay because that was her decision, not because his love or his plan guilted her into it.

  Dylan stacked high the remaining dishes and slid the door open with his shoulder.

  “Oh, I thought you were Vin,” she said, looking up from her scrubbing. “Just set those down and I’ll get them. I already loaded and started your dishwasher, but wanted to get the rest of these washed up so your kitchen was clean.”

  Without a word, he set the dishes beside the sink, reached out to grab her shoulders and turned her toward him, not caring her soapy hands were dripping all over the tile, all over his feet and hers.

  Her eyes widened as he drew her in, close enough that his lips barely caressed hers. He slid his tongue along the seam until she opened for him. God, he wanted in more than she could ever know. And not just in her physically, but he wanted deeper into her mind, her heart.

  “The dishes,” she murmured against his lips.

  “Can wait.”

  With his arms wrapped around her waist, he lifted her, flush against his body, and carried her into the living room. There was nothing more important right now than making love to Cori. That smack of reality he’d had when he’d finally realized he was in love with her needed to be marked. He needed to feel her against him, needed to feel that love even stronger. And even though his thoughts and emotions were his own, he wanted that bond to go deeper because even without the words, she would still be able to tell his actions were different.

  This was so much more than sex. So. Much. More.


  He set her on her feet, making sure to slide her down his body, inch by agonizing inch.

  Her wet hands came up to frame his face as she searched his eyes. “Everything okay?”

  “Everything is exactly as it should be,” he told her. “Stay with me. Tonight. In my bed.”

  Her eyes closed as she sighed and leaned her forehead against his. “You’re making me want things I shouldn’t,” she whispered.

  “That makes two of us. Stay.”

  She nipped at his lips. “I hadn’t planned on leaving.”

  Now, if only he could get her to say those words about the town, and not just about his bed.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Corinne turned a circle in her bedroom. She realized this chaotic mess was worse than when the tree had torn up her living room.

  Clothes were strewn around the room, across the bed, in the window seat, half hanging in her meager closet, and she still stood before her floor mirror in her strapless bra and panties.

  And the wedding was starting in just over an hour.

  Thankfully, she’d fixed her hair and done her makeup, so she literally just had to choose something in this mess.

  When Dylan had asked her to attend as his date, she’d been in a blissful state of euphoria after making love—and there was no other term for it. That night after the cookout, he’d taken her into the living room and made love to her as if she was the most precious thing in his life. Something had changed that night—she didn’t know what, may never know—but she could tell a difference in his touch, his kiss and the way he looked at her.

  He’d asked her to be his date to his sister’s wedding and she’d accepted without fully thinking this through.

  How could she be comfortable in anything, with most of the town and politicians who were friends of Evie and Dylan’s godfather, a US senator, in attendance?

  Corinne settled a hand on her stomach as nerves settled in. And what would Senator Carter think of Dylan’s choice in dates?

  This whole thing was a bad idea, but the man had asked when she’d been in a state of euphoria and bliss…no hadn’t been in her vocabulary at the time.