she was done with relationships. What better way to indulge an easy, meaningless fling than with a hunky guy who wouldn’t be around long? Ideal situation, right?
Yet none of them had instantly excited her the way Corbin had.
Now she much preferred light brown eyes and warm brown hair. And those shoulders, those long muscular arms, that—
“Hey.”
Busted, Ivey realized he’d caught her cataloguing all the intriguing aspects of his awesome bod. Mentally, she shrugged. He shouldn’t look so good if he didn’t want her to notice. “Sorry,” she said with a grin, starting toward him. “You look good standing there framed in the light like that.”
His mouth curled in a very masculine smile. “One of these days, you’re going to make me blush.”
“But not today?”
“No,” he said, his voice gentle. “Not today.”
Whoa. When was the last time a man had looked at her with so much heat?
That’d be a great big never.
He nodded up at Hope’s windows. “Is she okay?”
Yup, Corbin definitely appeared to be the whole package, irresistible inside and out. “She is, for now.” Ivey tamped down the urge to jump his bones. “Do you think we could talk about that?”
“About Hope?”
She nodded. “If you have time?”
“If I know Lang, he packed enough for a lengthy visit. He’ll keep Justin busy helping him move in.”
“For good?”
He shook his head. “No, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he stayed with me for the summer.”
“You won’t mind that?” She couldn’t imagine anyone moving in on her, but then, she and Maurice were pretty set in their ways.
“He’s my brother,” Corbin said.
It must be nice to have close family like that. The thought led her right back to Hope.
“So let’s talk first, and then if you still have a few minutes, maybe we can do a little kissing, too?” Thinking that might need explanation, she added, “That kiss in your kitchen sort of rocked my world. I need to try it again to see if it was an anomaly or if you’re really that good.”
The promise was as much in his eyes as from his mouth when he murmured, “I have time.”
Oh goodie. Glancing around, Ivey wondered how far voices might carry. She took Corbin’s hand. “Let’s get in my car. If we stand out here, we’ll get chigger bites.”
“Wouldn’t want that.”
When she reached for the driver’s door, he opened the back door instead. “We’ll have more room here.”
In her little car, they’d still be crowded, but at least the console wouldn’t be in the way. “Good idea.” She climbed in first, but quickly scooted over so he wouldn’t have to walk around to the other side.
Once he closed the door, they were cocooned in deep shadows. He gazed at her. “Now, about Hope?”
Shame on her for nearly forgetting, but with him sitting there taking up so much space, his eyes glimmering in the darkness, the scent of him surrounding her... Well, forgetting to breathe would be understandable.
Ivey cleared her throat. “Lang was flirting with Hope.”
“Yes. I think she has him confused. He’s used to women actively reciprocating, but Hope seemed very skittish about his interest.”
“She’s not!” The last thing she wanted to do was discourage Lang, except... “That is, she is skittish, pretty much with everyone. But it doesn’t mean she’s not interested in him.”
“In some ways, she reminds me of Justin. Anxious to take part, but afraid of disappointment.”
Ivey let out a strained breath. That summed it up pretty well. “When Hope was seventeen, her sister’s fiancé tried to rape her.”
Corbin went very still. “I wish I was surprised, but I figured it had to be something that awful.” He reached for Ivey’s hand. “Please tell me the bastard is locked away.”
“Oh, how I wish I could.” His hand was big and strong, holding hers securely. “The assault was bad enough, but her family...they blamed Hope. Her sister didn’t want to break off the engagement, so they ordered Hope to keep quiet about it.”
“Jesus.”
That he didn’t question whether or not it actually happened meant the world to Ivey. To her, it seemed anyone could look at Hope and know she’d gone through a terrible ordeal. But on top of that, Hope had a great many facts to back her up.
“The man’s family has wealth and influence, and without her own family’s backing, Hope knew she didn’t stand a chance in court. If she’d told her family about it first, they might have talked her out of saying anything at all. But it happened at a swanky party. She went upstairs