Ella pointed a finger in her direction. “In fact, a new organ is a big deal.”
“I’m fine now. I take my medicine every day, and my health is better than it’s ever been. But my parents treat me like blown glass, as if I’ll shatter under the slightest pressure. It’s why I moved to Starlight. I had to get away. I was suffocating.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I’m creating a new life here. One that I live on my terms.”
“That makes two of us,” Madison said, offering a surprisingly gentle smile.
“Me three,” Ella added.
“It’s official.” Cory drew in a shaky breath. “We’re a club.”
“Yes.” Tessa pumped her fist in the air.
Ella shrugged. “I guess hanging with you all is less pathetic than spending every night with my dad and his girlfriend.”
They all looked toward Madison. “Fine,” she grumbled. “I’ll teach you all to cook for your little club. We’re also going to have some ground rules. I’m willing to do it twice a month like Cory suggested, but not here every time. You all are going to have to open up your kitchens. I have a reputation to protect as a professional.”
“Actually, I think your reputation is something you need to fix,” Cory reminded her. “At least the customer-service part.”
“So we’re doing you a favor,” Ella said, then smothered a laugh when Madison threw her a dirty look.
“Chop It Like It’s Hot.” Tessa nodded. “That’s our name.”
“You’re joking,” Madison muttered.
“I like it.” Cory grinned at Tessa. “Every good club needs a name.”
Madison sniffed. “I’ve changed my mind.”
“No take backs,” Tessa said in a firm tone.
Even Madison couldn’t hide her grin at that. They finished the meal and cleaned up the kitchen until no one would be able to tell anyone had been there. Ben began to fuss and rub his eyes, a sure sign that the baby was ready for his nap.
Cory exchanged numbers with the women before heading back to Jordan’s house, hope blooming in her chest for the first time in ages. The idea of no take backs tumbled through her mind. So far she didn’t want to take back a single thing about her decision to come to Starlight. She sent up a silent prayer of gratitude to her grandmother. This truly felt like starting over, and Cory was one step closer to creating a life she could be proud of.
Chapter Ten
Jordan met Cory at the door of his house, a nervous smile playing around the corners of his mouth.
“How was your cooking class?” he asked, stepping back into the entry to let her pass.
“I brought you lunch.” She held up the take-home box of leftovers. “Madison is truly talented.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, scratching his jaw. “I just hope that will be reason enough to keep her around despite the attitude.” He reached out a hand for the infant carrier. “Let me take him.”
Cory tried not to look stunned. This might have been the first time Jordan had offered to take the baby from her. Not that he wasn’t willing to pitch in when she asked, but he still seemed too uncomfortable to do it on his own, even though he’d stayed with Ben during her first shift at Trophy Room without incident.
“You can’t fire her,” Cory said simply. “She’s actually quite nice.”
Jordan arched a brow. “Right. She’s cuddly like a grizzly bear.”
“She’s working on it,” Cory insisted. “I’m helping her.”
“You barely know her.”
“She gave me a job. I owe her.”
Ben interrupted whatever Jordan was going to say with a loud cry.
“Did I do something wrong?” Jordan immediately placed the carrier on the counter and took a step back like he’d hurt the baby.
“He’s tired. A nap will make everything better.”
“Right.” Jordan unclipped the boy from the seat and lifted him out. Ben whimpered and rubbed his face against the soft fabric of Jordan’s T-shirt. “About that...”
Cory frowned. “About a nap?”
“I have something to show you.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Jordan said cryptically. “Now I’m not sure. If you don’t like it, I can make any changes you want. I probably should have waited or gotten your opinion, but—”
“Show me.” Cory put a hand on his arm, unsure whether to be amused or alarmed by his sudden case of nerves. This was a new side of Jordan, one that was strangely appealing. Other than with Ben, he always seemed so sure of himself. She’d envied that confidence back in Atlanta, where she’d spent the better part of her life second-guessing every decision she made.
She followed him through the house toward the hallway that led to the bedrooms. When he flipped on a light in the spare room where they’d set up the crib, Cory gasped and placed a hand to her chest.
In the few hours she’d been gone, the space had been transformed into a soothing sanctuary. Instead of plain beige walls, the room was now painted a soft sage green that reminded her of Ben’s eyes when he woke in the morning. Two free-floating wooden shelves hung next to the crib, and a new bookcase sat on the other side of a wooden rocking chair.
“What did you do?” she whispered, awed by the transformation.
“I figured Ben needed a real room before my mom arrives,” Jordan told her, his big hand rubbing gentle circles on the baby’s back as he held him. A faint blush colored his cheeks, and the image of this giant man blushing made her heart skip a beat. “A friend of mine in construction came over with a couple of guys from his crew, so it only took about thirty minutes to do the walls. I made sure to get the natural, nontoxic paint, so there are no fumes.”
“I can’t even smell it,” Cory confirmed. She brushed away the sudden tears that sprang to her eyes. “It’s perfect.”
“Then why are you crying?” Jordan asked quietly. “I don’t want you to cry, Cory.”
“Happy tears,” she said with a watery laugh. “Ignore them.”
Ben gave another cry, arching his back and rubbing his eyes.
“He’s going to sleep so well in his new room.”
“Josh told me that he’d be fine in here because it’s environmentally safe paint. If you’re not comfortable, we can move the crib.”
“Lay him down, Jordan.” Cory tried to keep the emotion from her voice.
As Cory turned off the overhead light and closed the shades, Jordan placed the baby in the crib, which was now covered with a striped sheet that matched the throw pillow on the rocking chair.
Ben fussed for a brief second before relaxing to sleep.
His own room, decorated specifically for him. Something she’d only dreamed of providing for him.
She kept her gaze averted as she led the way back to the family room, still trying not to reveal how much the gesture affected her. As if her tears weren’t a giveaway.
Her legs felt like jelly, so she lowered herself to the sofa and took a deep, hopefully calming breath. “You should really eat the pasta before it gets cold. Even I’m amazed I could make something that tastes so good.”
“Did I mess up with the paint?” Jordan sat down next to her, so close that his leg brushed hers, sending awareness shivering all the way to her toes. “You’ve been dealing with so much for Ben. Everything, in fact, and it’s amazing. You’re an amazing mom, Cory. I just wanted to play a part. Stinky diapers might not be my comfort level, but I can slap on a coat of paint with the best of them. Like I said, if you want to change it, that’s fine. I’ll have the guys back out here tomorrow.”
Now she felt like an even bigger jerk for making him feel bad when he’d made such a wonderful gesture. Yet Cory still didn’t trust herself to speak without losing it completely. The last thing she wanted was to burst into loud, hiccuping sobs. If Jordan wasn’t freake
d out by her behavior already, that would do the trick.
Instead of using words, she did the only thing she felt capable of in the moment. She wrapped her fingers around his large, calloused hand and lifted it to her mouth, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. And then another and another, ignoring that her tears were slowly dripping all over both of them.
Cory didn’t like to cry.
After Ben’s birth, when the shock of having him whisked away overwhelmed her, she’d given in to one night of self-indulgent weeping. She’d spent hours in her hospital bed crying until she had no more tears inside her, then dry heaving over a hospital basin as the medicine from her C-section moved through her body and she tried to process her new reality. But that was it. After that night, she’d met with the doctors and begun the process of figuring out how to best help her precious boy, even when she felt helpless. She stayed positive in the face of whatever life handed her.
In some ways, it felt as if she’d poured out all of her tears and had nothing left to give. Even in the last few difficult weeks of her grandmother’s life and at the funeral. Or when her mother had callously informed Cory she had two days to vacate her gran’s house. Although tiny and cramped, it was the only home Ben had ever known. His crib had been shoved against the wall in the spare bedroom, and Cory had slept on an old twin mattress with no box spring only a few feet from him.
Sometimes late at night when she couldn’t sleep, she’d hack into the Wi-Fi of the couple next door and spend hours looking at houses on the internet. Homes with bright white kitchens and family rooms with vaulted ceilings and stone fireplaces. Master suites with beds so big they looked like they could fit an army of people, and nurseries that felt like harbingers of a happy childhood.
She’d lived in a huge house in Atlanta with Kade, but his taste had been modern and streamlined to the point it felt sterile. Her closet had been filled with clothes he’d picked up for her, and she’d had no say in any part of their home. She would have slept on that twin mattress for her entire life if the alternative was giving up so much of herself for a man’s whims and desires.
Jordan had decorated that room for Ben, but Cory was the one shattered by his thoughtfulness. She’d spent so long being strong and pretending like nothing fazed her, but what she hadn’t been able to give her son festered like a wound that wouldn’t heal. It stung at odd times, forcing her to block out the pain so she could keep going.
The simple act of creating a real space for Ben in his home had simultaneously helped to heal her and created a new, deeper cut across her heart. It brought her to her knees.
“You’re killing me,” he whispered, his voice rough with pain. “They don’t seem like happy tears, Cory. Please don’t cry.”
How could she explain what he’d unleashed inside her when she barely understood it herself? She lifted her gaze to his, ready to do her best, but the intensity in his brilliant green eyes unlocked another layer of the defenses she’d built around her heart.
Without thinking about the consequences—Lord, she was so sick of thinking—she leaned in and kissed him. Purposefully and with an open mouth, not wanting him to mistake her meaning. This wasn’t an accidental brush of the lips or her being swept up in the moment. The emotion pounding through her demanded a release, and this was the only way she knew to relieve the pressure.
Their breath mingled, and Jordan groaned low in his throat, as if her touch was as painful to him as her tears. But when she started to pull back, not wanting to make him uncomfortable, he cupped her cheeks in his big hands and shifted closer.
The kiss deepened, warm and wet, and Cory hummed her pleasure against his lips. He overwhelmed her senses, his soapy scent swirling around them and the scratch of his stubble at odds with the impossible softness of his lips. Cory gave herself completely to the moment, to the desire that blotted out everything until she couldn’t even remember her own name.
The longer they kissed, the less she felt anything but the deep satisfaction of his mouth against hers, his hands cradling her like she was something precious. No anger or guilt or worry could push its way through the bubble of desire that surrounded them. This might not be real, but it was now and it was everything.
So when he pulled her closer, it felt like the most natural thing ever for Cory to climb into his lap and press herself against him. His hands squeezed her arms and she moved her hips, just enough to feel that he was as moved by her as she was by him.
The realization only fueled the fire that had started deep inside her.
“Cory.” His voice rasped against her jaw as she ran her fingers through his messy hair.
“Are you reminding yourself who you’re with?” She tugged at the soft strands.
“I could never forget.” As if to prove it, he took her mouth again, a claiming more than an exploration. One she wanted with her whole being.
She grabbed the hem of his T-shirt, lifting it up and over his head. So much heat emanated from him, and she’d been frozen for so long.
Of course, she’d seen his body before. Hard planes and six-pack abs that distracted her from the simple task of breathing. She’d seen plenty of athletes without their shirts on at the pool parties Kade liked to throw during the hellish heat of summer in Georgia. But Jordan was different. This moment felt different.
It felt as if he belonged to her, even though it was only temporary and mostly pretend. Completely pretend, she reminded herself, but even that didn’t dull her desire the way she’d expected. Not when he seemed content to give her whatever she needed, like he understood she was a stick of dynamite and he held the match.
She ran her palms across the dark hair that covered his skin. His heart beat a frantic pace, and she could see his chest rise and fall in shallow breaths. It felt essential that she taste his skin, so she kissed the place where his clavicle dipped at the base of his throat. He rewarded her with a low groan, and she kissed his mouth again.
He tasted like all the things she’d convinced herself she shouldn’t want, not when her priority was Ben. As if sensing the emotions warring inside her, he gentled their connection, but Cory didn’t want gentle. She wanted to escape for a few minutes, to forget about everything but the way her body felt pressed to his.
“More,” she whispered against his lips, and bless him, he gave it to her. The air around them was filled with their wanting.
Her shirt was gone in an instant, and her skin felt hot everywhere he touched. She wanted him everywhere.
He rose from the sofa, lifting her in his arms like she weighed nothing. They continued to kiss as he carried her through the house, and she laughed softly at his ability to walk without running into anything. Cory wasn’t sure it was a feat she’d be able to manage.
“Normally women don’t laugh when I’m taking them to my bed,” he said, his voice hoarse.
“Do you make a habit of taking women to your bed?” she asked, then immediately regretted it. Did she really want to know about the other potential women in his life? He didn’t owe her anything, but the thought of Jordan with someone else made jealousy spike inside her.
He paused at his bedroom’s threshold, pulling back enough to look into her eyes. “No.” His gaze was clear on hers. “There have been no women in this house, Cory. Only you.”
Well, if that didn’t just slay her.
She wrapped her arms more tightly around him and nipped at his earlobe. There was no way she was going to allow him to see what those words meant to her.
The room was furnished with a bed and dresser crafted from some type of reclaimed barn wood, sturdy and clean. It was a perfect reflection of Jordan.
He pulled back the covers and placed her on the soft sheets, his hands smoothing along her torso. His thumbs caught in the waistband of her leggings, and he tugged them, along with her panties, over her hips.
“You’re beautiful,” he said even as she automaticall
y covered the C-section scar with one hand. His fingers tugged hers away. “Everywhere.”
She normally didn’t care about the three-inch line across her lower belly. Ben had been born as a result of that incision, and he was worth any trauma her body had to take. But it wasn’t exactly a signal of sexy times ahead, although under Jordan’s intense gaze, every part of her felt desirable.
“Do you want this, Cory?”
“Yes.” She wanted this more than she wanted her next breath. “But you’re wearing too many clothes,” she teased, needing to keep what was between them light. Hiding what was in her heart.
“Easily remedied.” He straightened and shucked off his jeans and boxers, taking a wallet from his back pocket before dropping his pants in a pile on the bedroom floor. He removed a condom from the wallet and then joined her on the bed, warmth radiating from his body like he was her personal space heater. She liked the thought of this man belonging to her, keeping her warm when the world got cold.
It was a fantasy she shouldn’t allow herself to entertain, and she pushed all thoughts of the future aside as he settled over her, one knee nudging her legs apart.
Jordan stilled, and their gazes met. She read the question in his eyes. Even now, he was giving her a choice. The recognition of having control moved through her like a cloud of fairy dust, making her feel light-headed with the joy of it.
“Yes,” she whispered, unable to put together a more coherent thought.
“Thank God,” he said with a rough laugh, his forehead against hers. He took her mouth with his, tongues melding as he pushed inside her. Cory gasped at the pleasure of it, the way her body awakened with longing and recognition.
She could feel the rapid cadence of his breath, like he needed a minute to get himself under control.
But she didn’t want control. This wasn’t a time for restraint or composure. She wanted to forget everything other than the sensation of the moment, and she didn’t want to go there alone.
She skimmed her nails down his back, taking hold of his hips and pressing him closer as she wrapped her legs more tightly around him. They’d only been together once before this, but somehow his body felt familiar to her. He was her perfect fit.
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