Page 50 of Free to Breathe
Louie grins, obviously relieved at being let off the hook. “Cori, get your fine ass outta here before you start any more trouble tonight.”
Flicking her hand at him in acknowledgment, she storms off, expecting me to follow. Princess to the peasant. Maybe it’s the lack of dress on that incredibly luscious body, but I can’t help the stirrings in my cock. Jesus, even in a snit, she’s fucking spectacular.
Before I can take a step, Louie stops me. “Sorry about that, man.” He holds out a hand the size of a side of beef. Slapping mine into it, he grins. “I’ve only seen her this mad because of one guy. So long as you’re not him, you should be safe. And hey, thanks for your service. My brother was in the Army. Made a good man outta him.”
I shake Louie’s hand and murmur my thanks before I set off after Corinna, because I know the truth. I am the man who drives her insane. The only man able to push her past all reasonable levels of sanity. Still, I smile at Louie before I walk out the club doors in search of a pissed-off princess who needs to get grounded in reality.
I manage to catch up to her by the time she makes it to my Jeep, the lone car in the lot that likely doesn’t cost a damn year’s salary to purchase. She’s leaning up against the side, waiting as
I saunter up. “You realize there aren’t any doors on my car, Corinna.”
Raking me from head to toe with a hot look, she counters, “You realize since you decided to jack another thing up, namely your vehicle, I can’t get into it without assistance.” She gestures to her outfit. “I had a different sort of ride to get here.”
Jealousy pounds deep. “Who is he to you?” We both know I’m referring to Marco Houde.
She turns her back to me as she says, “None of your damned business.”
I spin her back around. “That dance just made it my business.” Pushing her up against the hood of my car, I slide my hands over the silky smoothness of the velvet until my thumbs are just beneath her breasts. Her hands move up to my chest involuntarily. Both of our chests are heaving.
“Why?” she sneers. “You never wanted me, but no one else could either? Sorry, buddy, I had a life after you.”
And just like that, the reminder of Corinna’s past of a multitude of dalliances washes over me like a bucket of ice water. “Yeah, you did. Let’s go.” Moving my hands down to safer territory, I lift her into my Jeep before storming around the front.
Jumping in, I start the car and peel out of the lot.
How on earth did I think I could ever be friends with her?
Lunacy, that’s how.
But I will support her through her upcoming ordeal. That I can promise.
* * *
I makethe regular hour drive from Fort Washington to Collyer in about forty minutes. I’m pushing the Jeep hard, much as the silence in the vehicle is pushing me. Turning onto the farm’s main road, Corinna grabs the oh-shit handle, and not for the first time on the ride home. I drop the gear to slow down before the Jeep’s loud engine wakes all of the residents.
Pulling up in front of Corinna’s house, I start to unbuckle myself when she shoots me a death glare from eyes so dark, I can barely see the pupils. “Don’t bother.”
Slipping off her heels, she slides out of the Jeep before carefully picking her way across her stone driveway. My jaw locks and I grit my teeth as I see her move slowly over the stone. It isn’t until I hear a hissed “Shit” that I jump out and follow her.
Shoes crunching on the stone, I reach her in a matter of seconds. I hook one arm around her waist and toss her over my shoulder. “Damn you, Colby! Put me down!” She doesn’t bother to keep her voice down.
Without thinking, I smack my free hand against her ass. “Do you want to wake your family because you’re being a spoiled brat?”
“Me? Me?” Her shrieking is getting louder, so I deliver another swat. It works only to lower her voice a fraction. “I wasn’t the one who came in to something he didn’t understand and ruined my night. That’s all on you, buddy.” Her voice is full of bitterness.
I slide her down my body and back her against her front door. “And what about you, Corinna? Huh? What about you?” The dam inside me bursts. “I was halfway in love with you and knew I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. You were too wounded.”
“Instead you and that bitch Addison decided to discuss my merits as well as my poundage while plunging me back into a nightmare you promised me you’d never put me in. Thanks for that, by the way. And what, you just like fucking that bitch so much you went back for seconds? Yeah, sounds like a perfect match. The chickenshit and the cunt. Maybe they should start a reality series after you two.” Corinna’s drawl is so thick with her anger I almost can’t distinguish the words.
“Don’t sit there and tell me you were an angel, princess. From what I heard from Jack”—I lean closer—“you were quick to get over your issues after I was out of the picture.” My anger is vibrating off me. I’m angry at her for throwing away something so beautiful, something that after her past should have been cherished. Something that—right or wrong—I somehow thought might have been mine.
Corinna stills. “What are you accusing me of?”
I’m feeling so filled with wrath, I don’t even know where it’s coming from. “Too many men in your bed you don’t even remember their names?”
“Are you saying…” She starts to back away from me, shaking her head in disbelief. “No, Colby. I know the names of every man I’ve ever slept with.” She laughs, but I can hear her tears. “I’m just amazed that after Jack so thoroughly screwed you over that you’d still give credence to anything he’s said. Especially about me.”
Hesitantly, I reach out to touch her. “Corinna?”
