Hot for You (5 page)

“I didn’t give away too many of our secrets.”
Leigh said with a laugh. “Just enough to make him wonder.”

“Uh-huh.” Carilyn gave a look of mock
disapproval. “You know the code.”

“Code?” Mike wore an amused expression. “You
two have a code?”

Carilyn and Leigh both nodded solemnly. “The
girlfriend code,” Carilyn said.

Mike laughed. “I’m not sure that’s a code I’d
want to break.”

“Good,” Leigh said. “’Cause there’s no
breaking ours.”

Mike put his arm around Leigh’s shoulders.
“Why don’t you two join me and the boys for drinks Friday at the
Highlander?”

“Sounds great.” Leigh tilted her head and
smiled at Mike. She glanced at Carilyn. “Are you up for a little
fun tomorrow night?”

Carilyn nodded. “Sure. Why not?” She met
Cody’s gaze and he smiled at her. As she looked into his warm brown
eyes she felt a flutter in her midsection and she wondered if
spending time in his company was smart. She could fall for a guy
like him and that was not a good idea.

In a matter of moments, she found herself
alone with Cody, separate from Leigh and Mike. The other
firefighters had polished off the cookies, and after thanking Leigh
and Carilyn again, they went back to what they’d been doing.

Carilyn looked at the empty container. “The
two dozen cookies sure went fast.”

“They always do.” Cody inclined his head
toward the cabinets. “That’s why I put away the cookies you gave me
after eating a couple. I’ll break them out and share with the guys
later.”

“Can I ask what you found out about the fire
that burned up my car?” Carilyn asked.

He gave a nod in the direction of the kitchen
table. “Let’s have a seat and I’ll tell you what I can. If you
don’t mind, I have a couple of questions for you, too.”

Carilyn walked with him toward the kitchen
table and sat across from him. “What can you tell me?” she asked
when they were settled.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but we know it
was arson,” he said and her skin prickled. “We found an incendiary
device and your passenger side window was smashed in.”

An angry flush burned beneath her skin. “Why
would someone want to burn up my car?”

“It could have been random.” Cody held her
gaze. “But we don’t know for sure what the motive was.”

“I can’t believe this.” She clenched her
hands on the tabletop. “It’s all so surreal.”

“Did you see anyone around when you left the
café?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I saw people walking up
and down the street, but nothing seemed unusual. No one was near
the parking lot when I reached it.”

Cody looked thoughtful. “It’s possible that
one of the pedestrians could have seen someone coming from the
direction of the parking lot. We can hope someone will come
forward.”

“I’d sure like to see him caught, whoever it
is.” Carilyn ground her teeth. “Do you think this fire is related
to any of the others that Leigh told me about?”

“I assume she’s talking about the three cases
of arson we’re investigating now,” Cody said. “We do have reason to
believe they’re related but I can’t discuss that yet.”

“I understand.” She sighed. “Thank you for
telling me what you could.”

“No problem.” He seemed to be studying her.
“I promise to let you know what I can as we learn more.”

She pushed back her chair as Leigh and Mike
approached the table. “Thank you,” Carilyn said to Cody. “Leigh has
a hair appointment and I’m going to get a pedicure, so I imagine we
need to get going.”

“Thanks again for the cookies,” Cody said as
Leigh and Mike reached them.

Carilyn smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“See you Friday night.” Again he looked like
he wanted to say something else, but didn’t.

Leigh and Carilyn said their goodbyes and
headed out of the fire station and to Leigh’s car.

“See?” Leigh said with a laugh. “Cody has a
thing for you.”

Carilyn rolled her eyes. “You’re
incorrigible.”

Leigh grinned. “And I’m right.”

Carilyn shook her head. “Well, it doesn’t
matter if he does because I’m not going there.”

But no matter how she tried, she couldn’t get
the sexy firefighter off her mind.

* * * * *

After Leigh and Carilyn left, Cody went to
the fire station’s office to find it empty. He booted up the office
computer and opened up file folders and documents relating to the
arson cases. He pored over information collected from the first
three fires, which included interview results, witness statements,
scene photographs and videos, insurance inquiries, and forensic
testing.

He studied the videos Johnson had taken of
each scene. He’d recorded all of the details and had also panned
the crowd gathered around, just in case the arsonist was there,
perversely watching. No one stood out to Cody, but that didn’t mean
anything. He’d caught one arsonist in the past using this method
and it could happen again.

Cody and Reese had met with two of the
victims earlier in the day and neither woman had witnessed anything
strange since the fires. They hadn’t noticed anyone following them
or any individuals around who might make them suspicious.

Janice Barnhart, the third victim and owner
of the dress shop, hadn’t answered her phone when Reese had tried
to contact her and hadn’t returned his call. After the first two
interviews, Reese and Cody had stopped by her apartment but no one
had come to the door when they’d knocked. Reese planned to continue
trying to get hold of her, but for all they knew, she may have gone
out of town.

For all they knew, the arsonist could have
gotten to her.

Cody shook his head. He wasn’t about to jump
to any conclusions, and that included the possibility that one of
the women had been a victim of the arsonist again, only this time
not with fire. Still it nagged at him that Janice Barnhart hadn’t
answered phone calls and hadn’t been in her apartment—unless she’d
ignored their knocks. It all wasn’t sitting well with him.

He’d shared his theory with Reese about the
Barbie dolls’ hair color, and how each had matched the women who
were the victims of the fires. Reese had taken to Cody’s theory
immediately, and like Cody, Reese was now concerned for the women’s
safety.

Reese had already had police officers
interview employees at local stores that sold Barbies but had come
up with nothing that stood out. The arsonist was probably buying
his dolls in the Phoenix area, or on the Internet, and that would
likely be nearly impossible to provide some kind of clue. If the
case didn’t break soon, though, the police would have to go public
with the Barbie angle.

Frustrated, Cody continued to comb through
the reports. He was good at mentally compartmentalizing tasks and
other things, and he’d been able to set aside thoughts of
Carilyn—for the time being. He had a job to do and he couldn’t do
it if he was spending his time daydreaming about her.

When he’d finished going through the files,
he finally allowed himself to think about Carilyn. She’d been so
sweet to bake the cookies with no nuts for him. Images poured into
his mind of Carilyn wearing an apron and placing a big tray of
cookies on a table as children gathered around…two boys and two
girls. He’d always wanted a big family, and four kids would be
perfect.

“Whoa.” He shook his head, banishing the
images from his mind. Where had those thoughts come from? He’d
barely met the woman. But, damn. What a woman.

He pushed back his chair and stood. It was
getting late and he needed to catch some sleep. He’d be seeing
Carilyn tomorrow night and he couldn’t wait.

***

Laughter and music spilled out of the
Highlander and into the night as Carilyn and Leigh approached the
bar. All day Carilyn had found herself looking forward to tonight
despite the fact she knew she shouldn’t want to see Cody as much as
she did. It was only yesterday afternoon that she’d seen him and it
seemed like ages.

As if it might calm her nerves, she brushed
her palms down her black skirt that reached mid-thigh. Her entire
body felt jittery, as if she’d had half a dozen cups of coffee.

“I’m telling you, Cari,” Leigh was saying,
“Cody was a little tongue-tied when it came to you.”

“I don’t think so.” Carilyn shook her head.
“We talked about the investigation and he wasn’t that way at
all.”

Leigh grinned. “But when it came to you and
not some safe topic, he was a lot quieter than normal.”

Carilyn rolled her eyes. “You’re imagining
things.”

They reached the front entrance and went
inside the Highlander that was hazy with smoke. Carilyn scanned the
dim room and saw a bar directly in front of them, two pool tables
to the left, a mechanical bull on the right along with a jukebox,
and lots of high-tops scattered all over the place. Carilyn had
called it a “down and dirty” bar and said that’s where the
firefighters who weren’t on duty hung out every Friday night.

Leigh leaned close and spoke next to
Carilyn’s ear to be heard over the music and the crack of
billiards. “I hear there’s poker in the back, invitation only.”

Carilyn spotted Cody leaning up against the
bar, watching her, and for a moment she lost all sense of rational
thought. Something swooped in her belly as she got a good look at
him. He wore a western shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his
elbows, Wrangler jeans, and brown boots, along with a Stetson. He
looked every bit the cowboy that Leigh had said he was.

“Damn, he’s hot,” Carilyn said before she
could catch herself.

Leigh gave a laugh. “I knew you were
developing a thing for him.”

Carilyn glanced at Leigh. “Am not.”

Leigh nodded. “Are too.”

Before Carilyn knew it, she and Leigh had
reached Cody. She realized for the first time that Mike was there,
too, and he was giving Leigh a kiss.

“Hi.” Carilyn smiled at Cody.

His gaze held hers. “You look great,
Carilyn.”

“Thank you.” She felt both pleased and
self-conscious at once in the black silky blouse that scooped low
in the front and dipped down in the back. She and Leigh had picked
it out at a great dress shop they’d shopped at yesterday.

Leigh was clearly busy talking with Mike, so
Carilyn focused on Cody. No doubt Leigh was making a point of
giving Cody and Carilyn time to talk.

Carilyn’s gaze drifted around the room and
she noticed men throwing darts at a dartboard near the pool tables
where both men and women shot pool. She looked back at Cody. “So
this is where the firefighters hang out?”

“A lot of the guys come here to blow off
steam on a Friday night.” He leaned one elbow on the bar. “What
would you like to drink?”

“Rum and Coke.” She watched him as he turned
to the bar, caught the bartender’s attention, and ordered her
drink.

She started to pull her wallet out of her
purse but he shook his head. “I’m buying tonight.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she said. “I can
pay my own way.”

He put his hand over hers that still held the
wallet. His touch sent fire racing through her and set her heart to
pounding. “I insist,” he said.

She dropped her wallet back into her purse.
From the look in his eyes, it was a battle she wasn’t going to win
with this cowboy. “All right. Thank you.”

When the drink arrived she was glad to have
something to hold. After a few swallows of her rum and Coke, the
drink seemed to steady her and make her feel less nervous around
Cody. She noticed that he drank a Rolling Rock beer as he lifted it
to his lips.

Laughter and shouts came from the direction
of the mechanical bull and she glanced to see a cowboy riding the
beast. The bull jerked hard and the cowboy went flying. People
gathered around laughed and shouted as another cowboy helped up the
first cowboy.

She looked at Cody. “Have you ever ridden
that thing?”

He nodded. “My older cousin, Creed McBride,
was a professional bull rider and retired not too long ago. When I
was a kid I looked up to him and wanted to do everything he did, so
he taught me to ride.” He grinned. “Doesn’t mean I’m any good, but
I can hang on pretty well. Or at least I could—it’s been a
while.”

“I’d like to watch you.” Carilyn smiled. “See
if you’ve still got it.”

“I’ll probably end up on my a—” He corrected
himself. “On my butt.”

“Sounds like fun to watch.” She gave him a
wicked grin. “Come on, cowboy. You can make it eight seconds.”

He looked amused and set his empty beer
bottle on the bar top. “All right. Let’s go.”

She turned to head toward the bull then felt
the heat of his hand on her lower back as he guided her through the
busy bar. His touch caused a pleasant warmth to course through
her.

When they reached the bull, he wrote his name
on a chalkboard, beneath two other names. It wasn’t long before it
was his turn.

Impulsively she reached up and gave him a
kiss on the cheek. “For luck,” she said as she drew away.

His sexy grin had her sitting at the melting
point again. He winked and left her standing near the railing
surrounding the mechanical bull.

She set her rum and Coke on a high-top and
then gripped the railing as she watched him step down into the pit
and onto the straw-covered mat. He climbed up onto the bull,
gripped the rope around the bull’s chest and gave a nod to the
cowboy manning the controls.

Her heart started beating a little faster and
she wondered if she should have goaded him into riding. These
things could be dangerous, couldn’t they?

The bull started off with a wild spin and a
buck but Cody managed to hang on. He held one hand up high as he
held the rope with his opposite hand. The crowd cheered and some
called out his name. Onlookers gave shouts of encouragement or
taunted him, all in good fun.