Page 52 of Deserving Cora
Pipe dropped his hands from her face and pulled her against his side as he walked them toward the door. “What I want to get for my next tattoo.”
She giggled. “Why am I not surprised?” she asked.
“Because you know me,” he said simply.
He felt Cora’s gaze as they walked. “I’m beginning to think I do,” she said, more to herself than him.
Her words made him smile. He wasn’t exactly an open book, but he’d opened up more to this woman than he had with anyone in a very long time. He never talked about the reasons he’d left the military and the UK. And yet she hadn’t judged him. Had simply listened. Which was what he needed.
No, what he needed was this woman. He’d never met anyone like her, and he had a feeling he never would again. She felt familiar, as if they’d been together for years instead of less than two days. He connected with her on a level he hadn’t clicked with anyone else.
He’d be an idiot to let her go, and one thing Pipe wasn’t, was an idiot. They needed to figure out how to help Lara, and then he’d make it very clear, if he hadn’t already, that he didn’t want Cora out of his life.
She’d probably want to go back to DC with her friend, and he’d never ask her to leave the city where she’d lived her entire life. He’d need to talk to Brick and see if he could continue as an owner of The Refuge while living across the country. If he could, great; if not, then he’d sell his share.
He looked around as they walked…and was surprised to find the thought of leaving everything he knew in this country for a woman didn’t freak him out, even after just meeting her. He’d miss it, but he’d also do whatever it took to earn Cora’s loyalty, because he knew deep in his heart that it would be the best thing he’d ever done in his life. Hands down.
They continued toward his cabin, and somehow Pipe felt lighter than he had in a very long time. He had a plan. One that included making Cora understand without a shred of doubt that he was in this for the long haul. She wanted a family? He’d happily give her one. She’d never be alone again. Not if he could help it.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
“I’m so sorry!” Alaska said mournfully when Cora walked into the lodge later that evening.
Cora frowned at the angst in the woman’s voice. She didn’t like it. Not at all.
She’d actually been able to relax with Pipe earlier. They’d done just what he’d suggested…gone back to his cabin and sat on the rooftop deck, eating sandwiches he’d made and talking about Lara. Eventually, that conversation had morphed into talking about herself. What she liked to do in her free time, her job at the preschool, the best dive restaurants in DC.
They’d sat in the comfortable chairs, but Pipe had moved the table that sat between them and pulled his chair right next to hers. After they’d eaten, he’d held her hand, and Cora swore she could still feel the weight of his thumb moving over the back of her hand even now. It wasn’t until they’d stood up to head back down the stairs that Pipe had taken her into his arms and kissed her. It had been a tender kiss, one that made Cora long for more.
By dinnertime, she’d been looking forward to heading up to the lodge for the taco bar Robert was putting together for the guests and staff. It was hard to believe how…niceeveryone was. In her experience, she never really fit in with groups of people, and women rarely seemed interested in getting to know her.
But Alaska, Henley, Ryan, and Reese, along with the others she’d met so far, were the opposite. They seemed happy to get to know her. In some ways, Cora felt as if she was in an alternate dimension. Like any moment the bubble would burst and everyone would see the “real” Cora and turn up their noses at her.
As soon as she’d walked into the lodge, Alaska had made a beeline for her and immediately apologized.
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Cora told her.
“I do! I shouldn’t have ignored your emails and your phone message.”
“It’s okay.”
“In my defense, we get several emails a week from people who want to hire the guys. And they don’t do that. I mean, theycould, because they’re damn good at it. I should know. But I’ve never even thought about showing any of the emails to Drake because it wasn’t something the men were considering. I just skim them quickly and delete.” She looked miserable at that admission. “But if I’d taken the time to read your emails more carefully, maybe I would’ve mentioned it to Drake and the others.”
“I get it, I do,” Cora told her, hating that Alaska seemed so upset.
“I talked to Drake about it, and while it doesn’t help your situation, we agreed that I’d put any emails of that kind, from people wanting to hire the guys because of their backgrounds, in a separate folder, and Drake or someone else would review them and decide how to proceed.”
“Are you…Never mind,” Cora said, changing her mind about asking the question that was on the tip of her tongue.
“Am I what?” Alaska asked.
Cora sighed. “Areyouokay with that? I mean, having your boyfriend—ugh, that word doesn’t seem to fit Brick atall—doing something potentially dangerous to help someone else?”
The two women were standing alone in a corner of the great room. Pipe was talking with Owl and Stone off to one side, the guests were laughing and mingling, and Henley, Jasna, and Reese were going through the line at the buffet.
“Honestly? Yes,” Alaska said. “Drake and his friends were excellent at their previous jobs. I experienced it first-hand when they rescued me. Will I worry about him? Absolutely. But the thought of someone else out there desperately needing the kind of help I did, and not getting it, would haunt me. I don’t know how this is going to work. I mean, the logistics of it all. But we’ll see what happens. If it’s not something they ultimately want to do, they have some friends they can refer people to, or they can ask Tex for recommendations.
“And as for Drake being my boyfriend…” Alaska smiled and glanced across the room, at the man in question. “I think I’m ready for him to be my husband.”
