Corey turned his eyes back to Taran in time to see Danny heading up the steps to her.
“I’m in love,” Danny said as he reached her.
She frowned at Danny. “Cut the crap. I’ve known you just over two weeks, and I’ve heard you say that to at least three different women, so don’t even start with me.”
Danny replied with a lazy smile that Corey had never wanted to wipe off the kid’s face so badly. “What can I say, doll? I wear my heart on my sleeve. And I’m not sure what’s more beautiful: you or the beer.”
Corey could have easily answered that, and it wasn’t the beer.
She sighed like Danny was her cross to bear and tipped one beer toward him. “Nick and Morgan have special drinks inside. I got Beth, Marc, Grant, Luke, you, and Clayton. Trish wanted nothing, and Genni said she and Will want to get their own drinks.”
Corey would have laughed at the sigh he heard from Will if he wasn’t twitching to hit something.
“Did you forget about me?” Corey demanded as he made his way up the stairs to Danny and Taran. He wasn’t sure if he was talking about a drink or something else entirely.
Danny turned and winced at Corey. Guess his face mirrored his current mood. Something sparked in Taran’s eyes, and Corey met her gaze head-on.
“How could anyone forget about Corey Matthews?” she asked dryly.
Corey turned from Taran to Danny. “I need a minute with your date.” The venom dripped out of Corey’s voice and he didn’t bother trying to hide that, at the moment, it was directed at Danny.
“You know what?” Danny asked with a smile. “Let’s just swap dates. You take mine. I’ll take yours, and it’ll be all good.” Danny shrugged like he didn’t care.
If Corey had brought a date, which Danny knew he hadn’t, Danny wouldn’t have minded just switching, even if he was “in love.”
“Excuse me?” The octave of her voice cut into Corey’s ears. He didn’t need to look at Taran to know she was offended. As annoyed as he was with Danny, Corey didn’t want Taran to think he’d treat women that way.
“Great plan. I didn’t bring a date, so just take the beers and go,” Corey snapped.
Danny complied taking the beers from Taran as Corey took a hold of her upper arm, moving a fighting little lady inside and away from the crowd.
“Let go!” she demanded for the third time before Corey did.
He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. He really wanted to do something physical. Shake her, hit the wall—or Danny, kiss her. But the last time he did that, he ended up kissing her like it was the last kiss he’d ever have, and he needed it to survive. To top it off, she seemed to have moved on to a different man quickly. Still, she was throwing those hot sparks out of her eyes, and he felt an ache inside him.
“I don’t know what makes you think you can just ignore me for weeks and then go all caveman.”
Corey raised his eyebrows. So maybe she’d been waiting for his call. He’d thought about calling. In fact, he’d gotten her number from Clayton. But he’d gone a different way.
“Someone upset about sitting by the phone?” Corey asked as he smiled down. Even in her heels, she barely came up to his shoulder.
He received a glare in return. “I’ve been too busy to sit by the phone.”
“Which was why I didn’t call, pipsqueak.” He watched her mouth open to reply, and then her brow pucker in confusion. She was cute when she was thrown off. “I knew you were doing your story on Clayton, and I figured I’d let you finish with business before the pleasure.”
She blushed before she regained herself.
“That’s a lot of assumptions, Matthews. I never said I was interested in pleasure,” she said and then paused. “With you. Pleasure with you.”
He put his hand against the wall just over her shoulder, boxing her in, and had every intention of reminding her exactly how interested she was when a couple entered the hall. Corey saw something like misery flash in her eyes, and he turned to the intruders.
They must have been Nick’s friends, because the man was in full Navy dress whites. But he’d never met Nick’s friends from the SEALs. Nick kept that part of his life very separate from his family. However, recognition flashed on the man’s face as soon as he had a good view of Taran. Corey didn’t understand, even as the woman came right up to them, and Corey stepped away from Taran.
“Thank you for protecting my heart, for sending him home to me,” she said, her hand on Taran’s arm. He watched Taran swallow and nod once as the woman released her arm and stepped back so the man could salute her before they both walked away.
As the couple disappeared, he turned back to Taran, who had wrapped her arms around herself like she was holding her body together. There was an emptiness reflected in the beautiful green eyes that Corey hadn’t seen before.
“Taran?” he asked, and she finally turned her gaze from the now empty hallway back to Corey. “What was that about?”