Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
His features softened. “I was happy to help, Hailey. It’s what any good neighbor would do.”
He said my name the way he used to, and his gaze shifted into that soft familiarity he used to watch me with. He peered at me from across the room, the gold of his eyes glinting beneath the light that shined from the ceiling.
The air tugged hard as I stood there in the silence, no clue what to make of him all while knowing I shouldn’t be putting in the effort to make anything of him at all.
I needed to stay away from him. Reject whatever old feelings were trying to climb their way out of the vat where I kept them sealed.
“Where’s Maddie’s father?” He asked it like he had the right to know.
Point-blank.
I choked over the question. Apparently, we weren’t going for surface pleasantries.
“I left him three months ago.” I forced it out around the lump in my throat, unable to keep the spite out of my voice.
“He’s a prick, yeah?”
My laughter was raw, a shot of disgust and disbelief. “You could say that.”
Leaving the hand-truck standing on its own, Cody took a step my direction.
Another then another until he was standing in front of me.
The air shivered and lashed, tension binding the space.
I stumbled back until I was pressed to the wall.
Intensity radiated from his flesh.
All the easiness had vanished.
I could almost feel something vicious pulse through his veins.
He leaned in, so close that I could smell him.
Spice and cedar and the earth.
“I can’t stand the thought of some asshole doing you wrong.” It rumbled from him like a threat.
Shivers raced, and I was worried he could feel the way I was shaking.
I’d been done wrong, but not in the way that he imagined.
“You don’t even know me.”
“I remember you. Sweet. Innocent. Kind. You had everyone on that ranch wrapped around your finger.”
How could he say that after what had happened?
My lungs quaked. “I’m not that girl anymore.”
Gold-hewn eyes blazed, and he reached out and touched the divot on my chin again.
A fire lit in my belly.
“Aren’t you?”
“You don’t know anything about me,” I attempted again, the words ragged.
A smile wobbled on his face, somewhere between a grimace and a grin. “Then I guess I’m going to have to get to know you better, aren’t I, Shortcake?”
My stomach clutched.
God.
Did he remember?
It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter.
I shook my head to jar myself out of the trance he had me under.
Defenses locked, I said, “I think it’s probably time you went home.”
He edged back, just a fraction, enough to memorize every line of my face. Then he went back to the hand-truck, grabbed it by the handle, and began to wheel it toward the door.
Unfortunately, that meant he had to come back my way. He got to within a foot of me, and he paused there, at my side, his voice so low as he muttered, “I’m sorry you lost her.”
Without saying anything else, he walked out, while I remained nailed to the wall, unable to breathe or speak or move.
I startled when a shriek of joy suddenly carried through the house. One compliments of my daughter, her feet pounding down the hall. “Thank you, Mr. Cody, for getting all my very favorite things and putting all the boxes and my desk in my room! And we even got a couch. You are the very best neighbor I ever met, and I’m very glad I got a house next to yours.”
Somehow, I managed to stagger to the doorway. It was just in time to see my daughter throw her arms in the air.
Without hesitation, Cody swept her up.
Lifted her high.
Made her squeal and giggle and laugh.
“It was my pleasure, Button.” He set her on her feet and poked her in the belly.
She squealed again, shining all her belief and sweetness in his direction as she grabbed at her tummy. “You got me!”
Everything about him softened, and he knelt a fraction as he touched her nose. “Nah, Button, I think you got me.”
Then he straightened and pushed out the front door without looking back.
I glanced to the side to find Lolly grinning victoriously, mouthing, You’re welcome, again.
My gaze slid back to the door he’d disappeared through. Nerves rattling and something else vying for position.
Crap. I was in trouble.
So much trouble.
But I couldn’t let a man like Cody Cooper get the best of me.
I would never commit a betrayal that great.
SEVEN
HAILEY
“Beginning next month, I’d like to add an additional fifteen minutes of instruction before trail rides.”
Sherry, the equestrian activity coordinator, scrawled the notes on her iPad. We stood in the big, open middle section of the stables running through the typical processes taken with guests when they interacted with the horses and discussing how we might improve systems.
“I know we can’t require hours of riding lessons because they’re going to grow impatient, but the more training they have, the safer it is for both our guests and horses,” I added.