Page 37 of Deserving Cora
Cora turned her attention back to Chuck, who’d stuffed four peanuts into his mouth and was desperately trying to add a fifth. “I don’t know what I expected when I went to that auction, but it wasn’t this.”
“This?” Pipe asked.
“Sitting here at The Refuge, feeding Chuck, and feeling so damn grateful that you were willing to listen to me that I can’t even put it into words.”
“I want to say something, but I’m not sure if I should or not,” Pipe said.
Cora looked over at him. His gaze was still locked on her. “Please do.”
He licked his lips, and Cora’s attention was distracted for a moment. He really was a good-looking man. She’d never been with a guy with a beard as full as Pipe’s, but she had a sudden longing to know what it felt like to kiss him. To feel that beard on her face. She’d been impressed with all the things she’d read about him, but to meet him in person? To see for herself that he was polite, protective, attentive, and committed to helping her, a stranger, her esteem for him had only gone up.
“I don’t want your gratitude,” Pipe said.
Cora blinked. “You don’t?” she asked.
“When I stood in that ballroom and listened to that bitch say those horrible things to you, I wasn’t happy. I decided to walk you home to assuage my guilt for somehow letting her win the auction, instead of you. Which I know makes absolutely no sense. I had no control over that. But I still felt bad. And somehow, between the short time when we left the auction and reached that diner, my feelings about walking you home had changed.”
Cora held her breath as she stared at Pipe.
“You’re the most down-to-earth and open woman I’ve ever met. You didn’t blink at my physical appearance. And don’t think I missed the way you stepped closer to me when we entered that diner back in DC, as if you were trying to protect me from the suspicious looks the hostess was giving me. You respond to me like no other woman has, in fact. Others either flirt with me because they think I’m a bad boy and they want a walk on the wild side, or they cringe away and cross the street so they don’t have to pass me on the sidewalk.”
“I’ve learned over the years that someone’s outward appearance means nothing when it comes to what kind of person they are. Look at Eleanor. She’s gorgeous. She could be a model, and probablyhasmodeled before. She’s close to what society deems to be the ideal image of beauty. But she’s rotten to the core. All she cares about is herself, and she’ll walk on whoever it takes to get attention and to be in the limelight.”
“I agree. And you are so far from that, it’s not even funny.”
Cora winced.
“I didn’t mean that in a bad way. And if you think I’m saying you aren’t pretty, you’re wrong.”
Cora couldn’t help it. She laughed.
“I’m serious,” Pipe insisted.
“Pipe, I’m short and dumpy. I have boring brown hair and equally boring brown eyes. There’s nothing remarkable about me.”
“You’re wrong. Anyone who takes the time to look twice at you would see the same thing I have. You have an inner light that’s so damn bright, it burns. You’ve got walls, tall ones, but I’ve seen what happens when someone gets beyond them. People like Lara. You’d do anything for her. That kind of love and devotion is something people rarely experience. Your friend is damn lucky to have you, Cora. And in my eyes, that doesn’t just make you pretty, it makes you fuckingbeautiful.”
To her surprise, tears welled up in her eyes. Damn, she wasn’t usually this quick to cry, but more than once since meeting Pipe, it had felt like she was two seconds away from bawling. She blinked, trying to clear the wetness, and looked away from Pipe’s piercing gaze.
“Too much?” he asked.
She heard the humor in his voice. Cora nodded.
“I’ll stop then. You sure about staying with me tonight? I can get you a hotel in Los Alamos if you aren’t comfortable staying with anyone here.”
Cora stared at him incredulously. “And give up a chance to stay atTheRefuge? No way!”
Pipe chuckled. “Right.”
“You might not want my gratitude,” Cora said. “But you’ve got it anyway. I’ve had to work my ass off for everything good I’ve ever had in my life, and for some reason, you didn’t make me work for your help. I don’t really understand why, but I’m so thankful you’re helping me find Lara.”
“If you could have anything in the entire world…money being no object…what would it be?” Pipe asked.
Frowning, not sure what his question had to do with her thanking him, but willing to go along with his change of subject, Cora thought about it for a moment. Then said softly, “A family.”
Pipe made a noise in the back of his throat, encouraging her to continue.
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted. As a kid, I thought if I was prettier, cuter, nicer, quieter, more outgoing, less outgoing, neater…you name the adjective, I tried to be it, thinking maybe it would get me adopted. It never worked. Family after family returned me to the state. No one wanted to keep me, and I never understood why. The more I was rejected, the more I tried…for a long while. Until I eventually stopped trying altogether.
