Finding Our Forever (Silver Springs #1)(33)

“Heat of the moment,” he scoffed, but one finger traced her breast as if he’d meant every word.

“Fine.” She knocked his hand away. “I guess I’ll have to find someone who’s more...appreciative of my physical appearance.”

In a quick, easy motion, he rolled her onto her back, straddled her hips and pinned her arms above her head. “No way. You’re mine for the entire year, remember? And I plan to make the most of it.”

He’d already proved that... “Do you think we’re really going to be able to pull this off?” she asked. “Without people finding out, I mean? Without it turning into a big deal that...that comes to the attention of your mother?”

He bent his head to nuzzle her neck. “No doubt there will be talk.”

“You’re not concerned?”

Slowly, he kissed his way up to her mouth. “Not concerned enough to stay away.”

“So what do you propose we do?”

“Ignore it. As long as we’re both performing at our jobs, we shouldn’t have any problem.”

“Maybe I should go on the pill...”

He lifted his head at her abrupt change of subject. “Would you mind? I’m willing to be responsible for birth control, but I admit I’d love to be able to come inside you.”

She hated the way her heart seemed to beat in double time as she gazed up at him. She was getting in too deep. He’d told her he wasn’t capable of opening up, of making her feel loved and validated.

Was she about to learn what his other girlfriends had learned?

“Cora? Would you mind?” he repeated eagerly.

She drew a bolstering breath. “No.”

*

A bead of sweat rolled down between Cora’s shoulder blades as she stood on the wraparound porch of the large, two-story ranch house that belonged to Aiyana. A gusty breeze tossed her hair around, and she’d worn a light, flowery sundress, so she wasn’t overly warm; she was battling nerves.

“Relax,” she muttered as she knocked. She’d seen Aiyana’s home before, from a distance. Although built on the periphery of the ranch, it wasn’t far from the administration building.

Aiyana answered the door. Eli’s truck was already in the drive. Cora saw him the moment Aiyana showed her in, but she barely allowed her glance to skim over him as Aiyana introduced her to Dallas and Gavin, both of whom she’d met, of course, and Liam and Bentley. Cora had Liam as a student in one of her classes, so she was familiar with him, too. A tall, gangly boy with a bit of acne, he excelled in basketball, from what she’d heard. She’d only ever seen Bentley, who was African American, on the football field.

She handed the wine she’d brought to Aiyana as she said hello to everyone else.

Eli offered to pour her a drink, but she declined. After imbibing so much at the bar last night, she wasn’t interested in more alcohol. She accepted a bottle of water instead while listening to Liam complain about how much trouble he was having with the self-portrait he’d been assigned in her class. After some small talk with the others, she went up to his room to help with it while Aiyana put the finishing touches on dinner.

Leaving the kitchen and dining area gave Cora a chance to see more of the house. As she would’ve expected, every room was clean and tastefully decorated. Aiyana had pictures of her boys all over the place—senior portraits, family portraits and candid shots from their various sports. She saw a few of Eli. Like Bentley, he’d played football. But it wasn’t until after she’d helped Liam and set him to finishing the rest of the assignment on his own that she was able to look over those pictures more carefully.

She wandered down the hall, eventually winding up in the living room. She could hear Aiyana banging around in the kitchen and the boys watching TV in the great room but wasn’t in any hurry to return to the group, especially when she spotted the family photograph she’d been hoping to see of Aiyana with her parents and brothers. It was framed and sitting on an old 1960s piano.

She’d just picked up that picture when she heard someone come into the room behind her.

She turned to see Eli.

“You’re all finished with Liam?”

“I am. He’s still upstairs working, but I figured I should make him do as much as possible.” She almost put down the photograph. She felt guilty snooping around but was too curious about the people in that photograph, and her connection to them, not to take advantage of the opportunity. “These are your grandparents?” she asked, indicating the couple in the middle.

“Yeah. Hank and Consuelo.”

“Your mother mentioned that Consuelo is a Nicaraguan immigrant.”

“That’s true. She had one son when her husband left her to come to America. He promised he’d make a better life, then send for them.”

“And?”

“She never heard from him again.”

Cora felt her jaw drop. “He moved on without her?”

“He was killed trying to swim across the Rio Grande to reach Texas. She came looking for him as soon as she could cobble together the money. But she couldn’t find him. It was two years before she learned what happened. By then she was living in a small shack on Hank’s farm with her son—German, who was six at the time—picking fruit.”

“And Hank fell in love with her?”