Cody Read online

  She thought about that for a minute. “I mean getting engaged or planning a wedding. I’m not seeing anyone else either.” Of course, she hadn’t seen anyone in twelve years, but that was beside the point.

  “How about this then? I’ll do my best to stop proposing until your brother is home. I can’t make any promises, because every time I see you I feel the need to ask you to marry me. It’s become a habit.”

  She laughed. “I never thought a man could tell me that proposing to me is a habit.” Cody wasn’t the smoothest talker she’d ever known, but he did make her laugh.

  He grinned. “Am I still allowed to tell you I love you?”

  She swallowed hard, looking into his eyes. “I’m afraid to say the words back. At least until my life is settled down a little more.” She knew she loved him though. Why was she making him wait for the words?

  “Am I allowed to do this?” He lowered his head brushing his lips across hers.

  She wrapped both of her arms around his neck letting her sandals rest against his back. “How could I say no to that?”

  His hands wandered down her back toward her bottom pulling her against him. He was determined not to pressure her into anything she wasn’t ready for, but he was ready to go as far as she’d allow.

  She felt the familiar warmth course through her body. She wanted him. Was it so wrong for her to take a week out of time for herself and do whatever she wanted to do? She pulled her head back and looked at him, taking his hand in hers.

  Leading him back toward their bungalow, she knew neither of them would be sleeping in the small bedroom tonight. When they were inside, she didn’t say a word but simply pulled him along into the room she was staying in. She threw her sandals into the corner of the room and turned to face him. The lights were out, but she could make out his features by the moonlight streaming in the open curtains.

  Without speaking, she slipped her hands under the hem of his tee-shirt, sliding them up to caress his chest. After a moment, she helped him out of the shirt altogether and pulled her tank top over her head. The top had a built-in bra, so she was bare from the waist up.

  She unfastened her shorts and pushed them to the floor moving back to him. When she brushed her lips against his again, she whispered, “I sure hope you were smart enough to bring protection, because I’m not on the pill.”

  “In my pocket.” He pulled her to him, his hands roaming her bare back before moving around to her front to gently squeeze her nipples in his fingers. “Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “I’m living for myself this week.”

  He pulled the condom from his pocket and put it on the nightstand before stepping away from her to remove his shorts and boxers. Reaching out to her again, he caught her panties with his thumbs and slowly pushed them down over her hips and down her legs until she stepped out of them.

  She took his hands in hers and sat on the edge of the bed. She pulled him down beside her turning to him fully to press her lips against his. His tongue immediately sought hers as his hands roamed her body.

  She’d never touched a naked man before and found she wanted to take her time exploring his body. She pushed him to his back on the bed. “Hold still.”

  “You bossin’ me around?” His voice was husky, belying the grin on his face.

  “Absolutely.” She got to her knees on the bed beside him and started with his neck, noting the thickness of it as she ran her hands down it to his shoulders and chest. He wasn’t a man who worked with his hands, but he obviously lifted weights or something, because his body was thick and covered with muscles. “Do you lift?”

  “Yeah. Three mornings a week.”

  “I can tell.” Her hands roamed down to his abdomen which was flat and taut. Her fingers barely touched it as she moved down to his hips and thighs and down to his feet. She kissed one of his toes softly and ran her finger along the base of his foot. He jerked his foot away. “Ticklish?”

  “Real men aren’t ticklish.”

  “Sure.” Her hands moved back up his body along the inside of his legs going up to his inner thighs and onto the thick rod rising from his pelvis. She gently stroked up and down it, feeling the soft skin covering the hardness beneath.

  He let out a low groan grabbing her hand and dragging it away from him. “If you keep doing that, it’ll be all over.”

  She laughed, loving the effect she had on this powerful man. He flipped her onto her back. “I can play that game, too, you know.” His hands moved to her breasts teasing her nipples as his mouth played with the skin at her neck.

  He moved a knee up between her legs nudging her core. At her moan, he moved one hand down to her slowly inserting it between her folds and into her softness. His finger moved in and out of her slowly causing electricity to shoot through her body.

  Her hands clutched his shoulders as he continued the movements and brought his mouth back to hers. Their kiss was harder this time, and wilder than before.

  She cried out, clenching around his finger, and he rolled to the side of the bed to slip the condom on. He settled between her legs and entered her slowly, watching her face for any sign of discomfort.

  Once he was seated, he remained still for a moment to make sure she was adjusting to him, and then began slow steady movements inside her. She wrapped her legs around his waist to bring him closer, and moved with him, enjoying the friction of their bodies as they ground together.

  Within moments she was clutching his shoulders again and crying out his name as she climaxed. He followed her quickly collapsing on her for a moment before rolling to her side, pulling her against him. He rained kisses over her face whispering how much he loved her.

  She lay snuggled up against him with her head on his shoulder trying to force her breathing to slow. Was there a way to tell him being with him was the most incredible experience of her life without getting his hopes up? She kissed his shoulder and sighed happily. She was so glad she’d come with him.

  “Be right back.” He went to the bathroom and disposed of the condom and came back, settling into bed with her. “Am I allowed to sleep here?”

  She nodded her head sleepily. “I’d miss you if you weren’t beside me.”

  Chapter Seven

  The whale watching excursion was more fun than Amber had imagined. The three women got along beautifully from the first moment, and talked up a storm in the boat. Amber asked Bailey about the baby, and got a more coherent answer than Cody had given her.

  “My sister, Angela, dated Steven for a few weeks last year. During that time, she got pregnant, and instead of telling him when she found out, she came home to Hamlin and stayed with me. They’d already broken up by the time she knew she was pregnant.” She let out a gasp and pointed to a spot in the water where a whale had come up just a few feet from the ship. The clear water made every movement visible. “Anyway, she had the baby, but she wasn’t much of a motherly sort. I took care of the baby almost exclusively from the very beginning. And I supported both of them. When Faith was two months old, Angela went out with some guy and they were coming home late and were killed by a drunk driver. Then it was just Faith and me.”

  She stared out at the ocean for a moment remembering. “Faith got really sick, and I couldn’t take her to daycare, so I stayed home with her. I got fired for missing too many days, and we were about to be evicted, so I sold everything I could and packed up my car with everything I had left. I made the drive from Hamlin to Southlake and went to Steven’s house. I needed child support, or there was no way I was going to be able to feed Faith. I was hoping he’d start paying something in the way of child support, and we could go stay in a hotel for a while. I was planning on hunting for a job and finding her a daycare, but instead, Steven told me he wanted to keep us. He hired me as her nanny, and we’re living in his huge house with a housekeeper and everything.”

  Amber stared at Bailey in disbelief. “How long ago was that?”

  The corners of Bailey’s mouth turned up as she answered. �
�Oh, a little over a week.”

  “That’s about how long I’ve known Cody, too.”

  Sarah smirked. “She rear-ended him.”

  Bailey laughed. “Don’t tell me! Knowing Cody, he probably offered to buy you a new car.”

  Amber sighed and shook her head. “A new truck. I told him no, but he bought me one anyway.” She spread her hands palm up in front of her. “He had it delivered on Monday morning. I didn’t know what to do, but he talked me into keeping it. I told him no more gifts!”

  Bailey nodded. “I get it. Steven told me I couldn’t take his daughter out in the rattle trap I drove, so he bought me a Cadillac Escalade! I went from driving a 1994 Ford Fiesta to a 2012 Cadillac Escalade overnight. It’s ridiculous!”

  Amber’s eyes widened. “Hey! All I got was a Ford F-150. Maybe I should complain!”

  Sarah laughed out loud. “Justin just drives me everywhere. He thinks I need to quit taking the bus. And he keeps feeding me. Every time I turn around he’s taking me to a different restaurant. I’m glad he hasn’t bought me a car, though.”

  “Give him a week,” Bailey said with a deadpan look on her face.

  All three women dissolved into peals of laughter. “What is wrong with them?” Amber asked. “I’ve never had a man try to take care of me like Cody does. I rear-ended him and within five minutes he’d offered to buy me a truck, an engagement ring and dinner.”

  “An engagement ring?” Sarah looked at Bailey. “No one offered me an engagement ring, you?”

  Bailey shook her head. “I guess you have us beat.”

  Amber sighed. “I keep telling him no, but he’s proposed at least once every day since I met him.” She looked down at her hands. “It’s not that I don’t want to marry him. Despite the fact that he’s more than a little crazy, I think I’m in love. I just promised myself I’d wait to have any kind of serious relationship until the ranch’s mortgage was paid off and my brother was home from college.”

  “Then stick to your guns!” Sarah squeezed Amber’s hand. “Wait until you’re ready. If he’s worth anything, he’ll stick around.”

  The rest of their “girl day” flew by. They talked about getting together for lunch when they got back to Dallas, and she knew she’d made some genuine friends.

  Throughout the rest of the week, the six of them spent time as a large group and as couples. Mostly they sunbathed on the beach and spent time in their bungalows. Their time on the island was cut short by a day because Justin and Sarah decided to marry in Las Vegas on the way home.

  Sarah approached Amber on Saturday afternoon. “Will you stand up with me for our wedding? It’s just going to be a short ceremony in Vegas, but I want you there.”

  Amber squealed and hugged her friend. “Of course, I want to be there with you!”

  The two couples spent the night in Las Vegas before flying home. On the trip home from Vegas, Justin and Sarah were so absorbed in one another Amber felt a little uncomfortable. She knew that’s how Cody wanted to be with her, but she couldn’t bring herself to act that way.

  Once they were in the truck on the way back to her ranch, she breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m not sure I could have watched them much longer.”

  Cody laughed. “I understand. It was getting pretty intense in there.” He reached over and took her hand as he drove. “What did you think of Vegas?”

  Amber shrugged. “It was fine. I hate gambling, so it was a little weird, but the wedding was fun. It was cool they got to get married by Elvis.” She was surprised by how emotional she’d been at the wedding. With it being an elopement, she hadn’t expected to go through the tears she usually did at a wedding, but she had.

  “I can’t believe Justin agreed to that. I would have thought of the three of us, I’d be the one getting married by Elvis. Justin and Sarah just don’t seem like the couple you’d see marry that way.”

  “I agree. You? I could see you getting married by a space alien, but Justin and Sarah are more the quiet little church where Sarah has attended all of her life types.”

  “You want to get married by a space alien?”

  “Not particularly. I’m more of a get married on horseback on my own ranch type.”

  “That could be fun!”

  She eyed him skeptically. “What if I said I wanted to wear a long white dress and get married on a beach somewhere?”

  “I’d do that!”

  “What if I want to get married while sky-diving?”

  “Okay!”

  She sighed. “You’d agree to anything wouldn’t you?”

  “As long as it meant I got to marry you, I would!”

  She sighed staring out the window into the darkness. “No pressure, right?”

  He shook his head. “No pressure.” He squeezed the hand he was holding as he pulled into her driveway. “I said I wouldn’t pressure you, and I won’t, no matter how much I want to!” He put the truck in park and pulled her into his arms. “I hate to return to reality.”

  “Me too. The whole week was magical, and I’m so glad you invited me.” She rested her head on his shoulder hating that it was over. Now she had to find a way to get everything she needed to do done, and still have Cody in her life. “I’m not going to have a lot of time for you now, you know.”

  He nodded. “I’m living for the day your brother comes home.”

  She smiled. “Me too.” She had a huge day ahead of her and she knew Tanya was still there because her car was parked out front. “I wish I could invite you in, but it’s late, and I think my student is spending the night here again.”

  “Okay.” He was disappointed, but understood. “I’ll see you in the morning for my lesson.”

  She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. “I’ll be here.”

  He watched her as she ran up to the house, determined he’d respect her by giving her the space she needed. He needed her in his life, and if by backing off, he could keep her, he’d back off.

  Chapter Eight

  Her life settled into its familiar routine with one interesting addition. Cody was there as soon as it turned dark most evenings, and stayed until it was time for her to go to bed. She didn’t feel comfortable with Adam seeing his car parked there overnight, so he slept at his own house.

  One night in mid-May he brought the ingredients to cook a meal for her and slipped into the house while she was still with her students. She saw his truck pull up as she worked with, Kaitlyn, an eight year old girl on her riding technique. Kaitlyn was determined she was going to spend her life racing horses. She reminded Amber a lot of herself when she was her age.

  Amber wondered why Cody was there when he knew she had another couple of hours with students, but she couldn’t go ask, so she continued her work.

  After her last student was gone for the evening, she checked over each of the horses and walked to the house, wondering what she’d find when she arrived.

  She walked in and saw the entire house was filled with lit candles. Cody was in the kitchen wearing a chef’s hat and a huge white apron. The whole kitchen smelled of the spice she thought of as Mexican food. “Whatcha makin’?” She leaned over his shoulder to peek into the huge pot he was stirring.

  “We have fifteen minutes until it’s ready. Go get cleaned up.” He made a shooing motion with his hand.

  “Okay, but don’t start without me!” She rushed out of the kitchen and upstairs to her bedroom. Going straight into the bathroom, she took a quick shower. She dressed in a pair of old sweat pants and a tee-shirt, before going back to the kitchen where he was putting bowls of soup onto the table.

  “What did I do to deserve this?” she asked with a grin.

  Smiling at her, he slipped into the chair across from her and picked up his spoon. “You said Mexican was your favorite, so that’s what I made. We’re starting with tortilla soup.”

  She picked up her spoon and took a bite, closing her eyes at the explosion of flavor on her tongue. “This is fabulous! I’ve always loved tortilla soup.”r />
  “I think when I get sick of being a billionaire I’m going to open a restaurant.”

  “When you get sick of being a billionaire? How long do you think that’s going to take you?”

  “Oh, not more than a few thousand years.” He took a bite of his soup. “How was work today?”

  “Good. The twins didn’t cry for the first time ever,” she said, referring to the five year old twin girls who had been taking lessons for a month. She’d talked to him about all of her students in the months since they’d started dating.

  He shook his head. “I can’t figure out why their parents are making them take lessons when they’re afraid of horses.”

  “I really couldn’t tell you, but they pay me well, so I just don’t complain. Their mom had an errand to run today, and they did so much better without her there.”

  When they had both finished their bowls of soup, Cody stood up and went to get the next course. He’d made chicken enchiladas with sour cream sauce, refried beans and Spanish rice. After setting their plates on the table, he sat back down and picked up his fork.

  She took a bite of the refried beans and smiled. “You actually boiled the beans and everything, didn’t you?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “What else would I have done?”

  “Opened a can and warmed up the contents. These are better, though.” She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “Thanks for making me dinner tonight. It was nice not to have to try to figure out what I was going to warm up.”

  He laughed. “You know, you could use your crockpot, and never have to eat another TV dinner again.”

  “That would require thought. I’d have to think about what I wanted to cook, buy the ingredients, and actually put the food in to cook before I went to work. Much easier to let the shelf in the grocery store freezer do the work for me. I just have to nuke it.”

  “But it doesn’t taste nearly as good!”

  “Well, if you’re the one doing the real cooking it doesn’t taste as good. If it’s me, we’re better off letting Marie Callender do the cooking.”