“Thank you.” Cora took the last of the dishes Justin handed her and lowered them into the sudsy water in the sink. She loved the feel of the warm bubbles. She was probably a little strange, but she liked washing dishes. She’d never fought with her siblings over that chore.

Others, yes. When it was time to rake the lawn or fold the laundry, she’d be the first to claim it wasn’t her turn, but washing dishes was something she was willing to do anytime.

Justin had tried to tell her he’d do them since she had cooked, but she wanted the calm right now.

“When is the funeral?” he asked, taking the clean dishes she’d set in the drain board and drying them. Cora’s small duplex didn’t have a dishwasher. She thought he might comment on it, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“I’m not sure yet,” she said. “Probably in a few days.”

“Let me know when it is, and I’ll go with you.”

Cora looked at him. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“No. I understand you want to be there for Ethan. I want to be there for you.”

Cora nodded, pulling the drain plug in the sink and watching the water wash down the drain.

Justin reached to put a frying pan on the shelf above the toaster oven. He’d watched her cook the meal, so he must have noted where she was pulling things from.

“A lawyer for Caufield’s Furniture held a press conference,” he said. “They said they will be able to produce a paper trail showing the metal drums that were dug up had been turned over to a transportation company that was hired to transport them to a chemical disposal company. He said the company demonstrated no negligence in the handling of their chemical waste. Even if they do show that, the cost of defending the suit long enough to clear them might take down a company of their size. They seem like a large company to the town, but on a national scale, they aren’t huge.”

Cora wiped her hands on a dish towel and they moved together to the living room to sit side-by-side on the couch.

She was glad for the strong arms and heat that wrapped around her as he pulled her toward him.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that today.”

She was sitting with her back to his chest. When he spoke, he lowered his head to graze a kiss across her neck.

She didn’t answer him. She moaned softly and tilted her neck to grant him greater access. This was what she needed. This was what would make the image of Mr. Knight’s broken body lying at the bottom of the stairs go away.

“Cora.” It was a whisper as he moved his hands to run up and down her arms. His mouth traveled up her neck to her jaw and then she turned in his arms and his mouth covered hers.

Cora lost herself in his kiss. His body was hard and unyielding beneath her and she could feel the evidence of what this kiss was doing to him. She was glad. She hated to think its effect was one-sided. It was a hell of an effect. Cora had gone soft and warm at his touch. Every part of her felt like a lightning strike of pleasure had run through her, sparking desire and need.

She ran her hands over his chest as his hands found their way to the buttons on her shirt. He was undoing them, but his pace was maddening. Cora wanted to take over for him, if only she could pull her hands away from him long enough to be effective.

She didn’t want to stop running her hands over him, though. The only thing better than touching his chest would be touching his bare chest.

She slid her hand under his shirt, feeling hot flesh over tight muscle. She meant to go to his chest, but her hand stalled on a six pack of abs that made her groan.

She could feel his lips pull into a smile as he broke their kiss but kept their mouths connected. “Right back at you, baby.”

Cora laughed but the sound was cut off when he put an arm around her and flipped them, rising over her on the couch. He leaned on an elbow and reached with his other arm to grab the couch pillows and toss them over the back side of the couch, giving them more room.

She lifted the hem of his shirt and he took over, pulling it over his head and off. Cora felt like she might swallow her tongue. The man was incredible. She wouldn’t have guessed he would be this cut under those buttoned-up shirts he wore to the office all day. She made a mental note to ask him what he had to do to maintain this body, then promptly lost herself in the feeling of his body moving over hers.

He kissed her as their hips ground together. Cora broke from his mouth and kissed the warm skin of his shoulder, then ran her mouth down his chest, letting her tongue explore as he hissed in a breath.

He caught her hand and held it in place. “We need to slow down or I won’t be able to stop.”

Cora grinned. There was something incredibly powerful in knowing she was pushing him to the point of losing control. There was also something incredibly moving in knowing he wanted to hold back with her. They’d talked about not wanting to jump right into bed even though they’d known each other for years.

She liked that, but it was a little hard to stick with that decision at a time like this.

He rolled to his side and pulled her to him, then lazily kissed her as his hands trailed over the skin he’d exposed above her bra.

“I like this,” he said. “I like just holding you and touching you and knowing it doesn’t need to go any further than this right now.”

“Me, too,” she said, and she meant it. It might seem a bit like high school to make out for hours, without even taking off all of their clothes, but she didn’t care. It felt right for them right now, and that’s what she cared about. This felt very right.