No Romance Required (16 page)

“If you stop acting like one, I won’t treat you that way.” He took back the proof
and spread it open on his desk. “Why don’t you see how it looks before you get your
panties twisted?”

She white-knuckled the edge of his desk to keep from hitting him—hard. It wouldn’t
be the first time, but she’d vowed to be cool in all further dealings with him, at
least until the crust of ice on her heart grew thick enough to stand on.

“How it looks isn’t the point.” Even through her narrowed eyes, the cover looked incredible.
He’d chosen well. Of course. “Our arrangement was that we’d mutually agree on what
photos were used. What happened to joint quality control? Or did that go out the door
the minute you fucked me?”

His jaw cracked. “Keep your voice down. This is a place of business, in case you’ve
forgotten.”

“How could I? It’s all that matters to you, isn’t it?” She started to whirl away,
but she got as far as a half step before he grabbed her elbow and whirled her right
back. How he altered her position with such force without hurting her, she couldn’t
fathom. “Let me go.”

“Make me.” He drew her up on her heels so they were practically nose to nose. “Speaking
of fucking, is that your problem? Do you need me to bend you over this desk until
you aren’t so edgy anymore? I told you to call when you needed it.”

God, he could be such an arrogant jack-off.
Edgy
? She’d show him edgy. “What I need you can’t give me.”

“Try me, Vic.” His breath coasted over her lips and made them part with want. He glanced
from her eyes to her mouth and back again. “Right now, I think I could give you plenty.”

“In your office in the middle of the day? With the blinds up? I highly doubt it.”

He had her bent over his desk so fast that she had no chance of countering the move.
Then his hand was under her dress and shoving aside her panties. Her shocked gasp
burst from her lips, silenced only by the knuckles he pressed against her mouth. She
bit him, but she didn’t even leave a mark.

Dammit, she couldn’t even make him bleed.

He didn’t waste time on pleasantries. This was a full-on sensual assault, his fingers
on overdrive, his mouth on the back of her neck. Teeth scraping her skin, breath hot
on her ear. “Do you see what you do to me? You make me into this, and I should hate
it. But I don’t. I want more.” He pressed her down on the blotter with his hand spanning
her back, forcing her to widen her stance for him. “Admit you want it, too. You want
me, Vic.”

Wasn’t it obvious how much she wanted him? Her body quivered with her longing even
as her throat closed around the words she refused to say. This wasn’t about her wanting
him. It was about him opening his eyes to all they could be, if he would finally just
face the truth.

She shook her head but couldn’t stave off the tingling sensation geysering up inside
her as he frantically thrust his fingers between her legs and sucked hard on the sensitive
flesh behind her ear. Sparks showered in her vision and her cries escaped against
his palm, trapped there so that her hot breath warmed her damp face.

He was on top of her, behind her, surrounding her. Kissing her, holding her still,
letting her fly.

She didn’t come so much as break apart, shattering into so many pieces she knew there
was no hope of ever collecting them all. Before she’d even sunk down to earth again,
he flipped her on her back, looming over her where she laid panting on his desk. He
gripped her chin with fingers that smelled of her, his eyes glittering slits of gray.

“
That
’s real,” he bit out. “If you can’t accept that, if you don’t want that like I do,
then get the hell out of my office. And don’t come back.”

She shoved him away, not able to breathe with his heavy weight imprisoning her. He
stumbled back as if he was surprised she’d actually demanded that he let her up, then
stepped clear as she yanked down her dress.

Her mistake—the latest one—was looking back. His fury and his confusion dragged at
her feet like stone anchors, imploring her to stay. She wasn’t her mother and he wasn’t
his father, and neither of them were quitters. Running from the one thing she wanted
more than her next breath didn’t make any sense. But this wasn’t about love, not for
him. He wanted her body. What she wanted went so much deeper she couldn’t accept any
pretty substitutes, even if it meant she’d end up alone.

If he’d asked her to stay, if he’d even said her name,
anything
, she wouldn’t have gone. Just once, she needed him to fight for her. To prove she
mattered.

But he just let her walk out the door.

Chapter Fourteen

Cory didn’t tell anyone they’d broken up. He didn’t tell anyone anything at all, not
even when his mom commented on Vic’s not coming to the packing party, because he had
nothing to say. She’d agreed to be his fake girlfriend and they’d fallen into something
very real that apparently didn’t matter one whit to her.

He’d looked into her turbulent brown eyes and he hadn’t seen anything there but the
desire to be free. Somehow he’d turned into manacles on her wrists and ankles, and
she’d grown tired of chafing at her bonds.

So he’d given her what she wanted: an open door. He hoped it hit her on her fine behind
on the way through.

Now he was out a lover, a designer, and his favorite person to fight with. Two of
the three were replaceable. The last wasn’t, and never would be. Vicky was the biggest
reason he’d looked forward to working on the magazine, even though he hadn’t been
able to admit it.

And those two people who’d been so damned determined for Cory to find a relationship
they’d driven him out to that gazebo the night of the Value Hardware gala? They had
other priorities now.

Like moving thousands of miles away. Leaving him here to deal with the fallout from
the mess he’d created. It would have been easy for him to try to point fingers in
his parents’ direction and blame them for what had happened, but that would’ve been
his guilt and regret talking. A year ago he might’ve cast his own actions in a better
light, even tried to paint himself as the aggrieved party. Not so anymore. He knew
exactly who was at fault—and he was looking at him in the hall mirror of his parents’
house.

Swallowing hard, he turned to face another slice of reality. Bit by bit the house
was being packed up, his childhood being put in boxes. His parents were radiantly
happy, on the cusp of their new adventure, while his world had gone blacker than the
inside of a tornado.

He’d never felt rage before. Not like this. For the most part, he didn’t suffer from
wild swings of emotion. There was work and more work. He didn’t have time for flights
of fancy, and he most certainly didn’t have time to rocket up his parents’ driveway
and slam through the door to confront them over his own stupidity.

But he’d done it, and now that he was there, no one was going to stop him.

He walked down the hall to the kitchen and came to a halt at the lack of…well, everything.
The place looked deserted. Over the past few weeks when he’d been occupied with loving
and losing Victoria, he hadn’t fully realized what his parents’ moving away truly
meant. The house wouldn’t be there for him anymore. The tree house still in the backyard,
waiting for phantom children who would never come; the porch swing, listing in the
fall breeze; the triangle of flowers in the pasture where they’d buried his dog, Rusty—they
would all belong to someone else, and he wouldn’t get to see them unless he asked
for permission. And the answer might very well be no.

Fuck that.

This was his home base, the place he felt most like himself. He’d be damned if he
let it be sold out from under him just so he could keep his sterile penthouse. He
didn’t want to be alone on top of the city anymore. He wanted this house. These memories,
mixed with all new ones he made with—

“Sweetheart.” His mom rushed into the kitchen. “You must’ve heard.”

“Heard what?”

“About Misty. She’s gone.”

He frowned. “But she was fine the last time I was here.” Over a week ago. He’d been
in the barn, but he sure hadn’t been hanging out there because of the horse. “What
happened?”

“She was old, honey.”

“Not that old. She was only…shit.” She’d been around his entire life. And he’d assumed
she would always be there, just because he wanted it to be so. He didn’t have time
to deal with her, but when he took that vacation he’d been putting off, he’d come
out here and spend a day riding. He’d make up for all the years he hadn’t so much
as stopped by to brush her or even sneak her carrots.

His life had turned into one big regret. He might as well just write his epitaph now.

Cory Santangelo meant to do better, but he died before he could spare the time.

“If you didn’t know about Misty, why did you come?”

She knew him too well. There were no visits simply to say hello, especially in the
middle of the workday. No trips out just because. There was intention, followed by
a strategy and its execution. Hesitation meant failure.

So he didn’t hesitate.

“I want this house,” he said, his voice clearer than it had been in months. Years.
“I’ll buy it from you. Whatever amount you deem fair.”

Corinne’s mouth trembled around her smile. “You really mean it?”

“Yes. Call the real estate agent, get the sign down out of the yard. It’s mine.” He
stepped forward and gripped her hands, bringing them to his mouth. “I’m sorry about
Misty. She was a beautiful horse. And I’m sorry I haven’t been around for a while.”

Her eyes filled. “You’ve always been around.”

“No, I haven’t. I was always in my head, in my work. Misty got older and I barely
even looked up long enough to notice. That’s going to stop.”

“You’re devoted, honey.”

“I’m a workaholic.” He gave her a half smile. “Isn’t that why you and Dad demanded
I get a woman?”

Something flickered through her gaze. “And you got one, didn’t you?”

“I did. And I lost her.” He let go of his mother’s hands and paced to the bare window
that looked out on the leaf-sprinkled side yard. It was time he come clean. All along
he’d known he would come to this moment, and he’d lied anyway. Delaying the inevitable.
“We weren’t really dating, Mom. We got together for the sole purpose of getting you
and Dad off my back.”

“We know, honey.”

“You’re not listening. I said we weren’t a real couple. She wasn’t ever my girlfriend,
we never—” Her response finally sank in and he swiveled to face her. “Huh?”

She shook her head, smiling wanly. “You always think you’re so much smarter than everyone
else. Your intelligence is both your saving grace and your biggest downfall, because
it only makes the holes you dig for yourself that much deeper and muddier.”

“You’re saying you knew all along,” he said flatly. “I mean, I know you all confronted
me at Sunday night dinner but I thought after we left you believed…”

“Not so much, sweetheart.” She sounded remarkably cheerful.

That rage he thought he’d tamped down on once he’d seen the utter barrenness of his
family home came roaring back. “You…you set this whole thing up? You knew I’d fumble
around for some woman just to get you off my back?”

“Not some woman. Vicky. You were the only one who couldn’t see how perfect she was
for you all along.”

Cory ground the heel of his hand into his chest. He must’ve finally drunk too much
coffee, or else his heart was trying to sear its way out of his body. “But you never
even nudged me in her direction. What made you think I’d head there on my own?”

“Faith.” If she smiled any wider, her cheeks would crack. “I figured that eventually
you would both realize what Dad and I had known for years. You’re both as stubborn
as…well, as each other. But you’re also both extremely smart.”

“How could you be sure I’d—that Victoria and I would—” Christ, he couldn’t think straight.
How could he have been maneuvered so easily? By his own mother?

Who hadn’t really done anything at all, even if it felt as if she had?

“We’ve watched you two dance around each other for years. It was time.” She shrugged.
“Besides, who else but Vicky could put up with you long enough to pretend to be your
girlfriend? That girl has the patience of Job.”

“I’m not that bad,” he muttered. Then he thought of that scene in the kitchen. “How
could you have assumed she would go for a fake relationship?”

“Seems like that benefit made it pretty real, doesn’t it? At least according to those
pictures.” At his sharp glance, his mom shrugged again, still wearing that annoying
little smile. “Desperate times, sweetheart. When you have your own children, you’ll
understand.”

“I’ll understand manipulation for some supposed good? I highly doubt it.”

Hearing himself, he frowned. For once he hadn’t denied he would ever have children.

“I don’t see it as manipulation at all. We never once mentioned Vicky’s name to you,
did we? Besides, you already understand that sort of manipulation quite well,” she
continued, ignoring his glare. “Think back to the Helping Hands benefit when someone
who won’t be named paid off Alexa’s rent bill so she and Dillon would have a chance.
I think they would’ve gotten there anyway, but you did what you could to nudge them
together.”

“That wasn’t manipulation. Exactly.”

“No? What do you call a man who uses whatever resources he has to try to help his
brother fix things with his woman?”

He groaned inwardly, not liking the conversation anymore. It was all going in circles,
when one road in particular was clear as day. Standing around chatting was getting
him no closer to getting Victoria. Now if only he could decide what would…

He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and looked away from his mom. “I don’t know
how to fix things with Vic,” he muttered, feeling like the biggest chump that had
ever lived.

Admitting he didn’t know something was akin to him showing weakness. He didn’t. Ever.
Yet he’d been driven to that point by his own needs.

Should he rejoice that he was human after all—despite all the evidence over the years
to the contrary—or curse and throw things or whatever other men did when they’d been
rejected?

No
. What he should do was stop stalling and come up with a damn solution.

“Oh, sweetie. Do you love her?”

Absently he rubbed his shoulder. The ever-present burn in his chest was slowly creeping
upward to encompass the rest of him. “I think so. I don’t have anything to compare
it to. What does love feel like? I mean, for the opposite sex.”

“Much the same as it does for anyone.” Her indulgent smile eased his embarrassment
for having to ask. “Except it’s about fifty times worse and a hundred times better.
So wonderful you can’t breathe and so agonizing that the thought of being without
them makes you want to die.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I figured it was either that or food poisoning. Since I’ve basically
stopped eating, I suppose it must be love.” He sighed. “Jesus, this fucking sucks.
Sorry,” he added.

She waved a hand and swept in to gather him into another hug. “You need to tell her
what’s real and what’s not, before she decides for herself. If she hasn’t already.”

“What about what she should be telling me?”

“That’s not your concern right now. You need to do right by her and let her choose
how to respond. Lay it all on the line.”

Yeah, pretty much the same conclusion he’d drawn. He needed to make his stand—and
he already had an idea how. It was a risky plan, but at least he had one. All he had
to do was put it into motion, assuming he didn’t suffer a cardiac event first.

He grabbed his gut as it snarled. “See? I have the plague.”

His mom laughed and tugged on his shirt. “Sit down. Let me make you some lunch while
you catch up your old mom on everything that’s going on with you.”

“Oh, I can’t. I have a meeting with—” He broke off and cast a glance at the ceiling.
“Reformed workaholic, reporting for duty. I’ll reschedule.”

“Good.” She pulled his face down to hers and kissed his forehead.

His mother had a point. He had to take a chance and put his feelings on the line.
He also had to move fast, before his window of opportunity closed. For that, he would
be enlisting help from Jill, who didn’t appear to hate him on sight.

And possibly from Bryan, who might. Bryan had always been extremely possessive of
his baby sister and probably hadn’t been too thrilled with Cory after the caught-on-camera
debacle.

None of that mattered. With help or without, he would get this done. This time, he
wasn’t giving up on Victoria without a fight.

…

She’d almost made it.

In under five hours, her flight to South Carolina would take to the skies and she’d
be leaving Pennsylvania behind for a few days. She’d had to do some juggling to shift
around her work schedule, but luckily Jill and Lorelie could pick up her slack. The
other nice thing was that her college roommate had been excited to have an impromptu
guest.

See,
someone
wanted her. It just wasn’t a sexy, dark-haired magnate.

She hadn’t gone away on vacation in forever, but there was no time like the present
to escape. Melly had been so consumed with the scouting trip for her new frozen yogurt
store and then just the day-to-day reality of running her business that they’d barely
had time to talk recently. Bryan was busy with physical therapy and he needed to stay
near the team doctors in Maryland. Her mother would be on her own at the group home.
While that bothered her, she couldn’t keep putting her life on hold forever.

Everyone would be fine.

Okay, that was a lie. She was miserable and missed Cory so badly she’d had to remove
his number from her phone to keep from calling him. When her final copy of
Simply Home
had arrived yesterday, with her own beaming face on the cover and a handwritten note
from Cory inside, she’d had to fight her impulse to see if the paper smelled like
his aftershave. Then she’d analyzed his note.

Victoria, here’s your first-edition copy. I appreciate all of your hard work on this.
I couldn’t have done it without you. C.

Yeah, not a lot to go on there. She probably didn’t need to call in the CSI team yet.
She was in danger of seriously losing it if she thought two hastily scribbled lines
could reveal someone’s emotional state.

Did he miss her, even a little?

Sighing, she glanced around the banquet hall near the Santangelo farm that she’d helped
decorate for the going-away party. She had no intention of actually staying for the
event, but she hoped they’d understand. Doing her absolute best on preparing the hall
had been her gift to them, and hopefully she’d get to stop in at the farm before they
left next week. She’d only be gone a few days.