Someone gasped. There was a “Why I never” followed by “What did you expect” and Shelby turned to see all of the Ladies of Sweet in linen and tennis bracelets, shaking their heads in shameful unison.
“Will you be quiet?” Shelby whispered.
“No, I will not.” Although she did lower her voice a half an octave. Not to spare Shelby, but it was because she was pouting. “You did the nasty and you didn’t even tell me.”
“It just happened. Several times. And what did you expect me to do, roll off of him and dial you? This is the first time we’ve had even a minute alone.”
“Mable’s Market!”
“You were with Logan. And Sidney.”
“It’s called a phone.”
Shelby sighed. She hadn’t told Gina because then she’d have to admit what a stupid decision it had been. And how, once again, she’d agreed to marry a man who saw her as nothing more than a teammate with benefits, a necessary condition to the daddy-package for a guy who wanted to do the “right thing.” Worse, she was in love with him.
Even worse yet, Cody wanted her to give up her job and home, and move to his big city where he could rub shoulders with the rich and athletic, and her life would be filled with nothing but him and Jake and expectations she couldn’t possibly live up to.
“Tell me everything?”
“Not here.”
Five minutes later, Gina was still sitting, elbows on knees, chin on folded hands, staring a hole through the side of Shelby’s head. It was unnerving. “Fine, he said no to the contract. That it was a stupid idea.”
“It was.” Gina shrugged at Shelby’s gaping mouth. “What? It was outdated, cliché, and a bad move all around. Anyway, go on.”
Shelby stared at her. “You know that I am talking about the contract you wrote up?” Gina faked a yawn. “Even though he said no to the contract, he thinks getting married is a good idea.” Gina said nothing. “I mean, we get along, have a son together, and the sex is beyond amazing . . . did you just groan?”
“Sorry, you said beyond-amazing sex, and it just slipped out. I’m in a drought.”
“What happened to barely legal cowboy?”
“He’s taking a summer class in Dallas.” Gina put her hands, palms face up, out in bafflement. “I know. And not even a grad class. He’s a third-year communications major. Communications! I should have known. They always have that so-gorgeous-they-must-be-pod-people kind of looks and talk like they’re a fricking self-help tape. So, back to you.” She wiggled her brows. “Was it worth blackmail and possible jail time? The sex, I mean. I’m already bored with the marriage talk.”
“I just told you he wants to marry me . . . correction, he
proposed
and then hasn’t brought it up since.” She wiggled an embarrassingly naked finger for a supposedly engaged woman. “First, we don’t even love each other. Second, he wants to move us to Austin when the year is up. And all you want to talk about is the sex.”
“Bullshit. Austin is a great city. And all
anyone
wants to talk about is the sex.”
Okay, so her love remark was only half true. Unfortunately, her being the half in love. Although she was adamant about Jake growing up in Sweet Plains, she was willing to consider moving to a different house, one that Cody could also call home. And as for the sex . . . “Fine, but I’m only telling you this because otherwise you’ll just hassle me. But if you groan again, I’m done. Got it?”
“Hello? What part of drought didn’t you understand? But it won’t happen again, continue.” Gina stopped her. “Only if it is about the good stuff.”
Now it was Shelby’s turn to roll her eyes. “He is the most attentive lover and his hands . . . Lord, Gina, he knows exactly what I like, what drives me crazy, and how to make me feel sexy and safe all at the same time. With Preston I never even”—Shelby leaned in and whispered—“orgasmed.”
“Never?”
“Nope. Not once. I thought it was because of giving birth or something. But with Cody”—she leaned in even farther—“every time. Multiple times.”
“Then why are you scowling at the field?”
“I’m not scowling.” She stopped because she was. “Fine. He’s perfect. Okay, there, I said it.”
“I feel your pain,” Gina deadpanned.
“No. Everything about the man is perfect. He kisses with the perfect amount of pressure and the perfect amount of tongue. His hands are firm but gentle. He says the right things at the right times. He worships my boobs.”
Gina crossed her arms and shook her head. “Bastard.”
“I breast-fed for over a year! It’s like he follows some damn checklist to ensure he’s the perfect lover. Sex should be spontaneous and about feeling. With him, he’s so busy trying to control everything, he forgets to enjoy it.”
“
He
is a guy. I’m guessing he enjoys it.” Gina cringed as she added, “Feelings notwithstanding. And,
you
hate being controlled.”
Hate wasn’t a strong enough word to describe how she felt about someone dictating her life. It wasn’t that she needed to be in control; she just wanted him to let go and be in the moment with her.
“So besides great sex with a man, who
you
proposed to and who actually wants to marry you, and JT having a full-time daddy, why, exactly, am I supposed to feel sorry for you?”
“Watch this.” Shelby looked at the field and caught Cody’s eye. Raising a hand, she gave a flirty little wave and smiled her best hey-there-cowboy smile. Cody looked around to see if anyone took notice of the transaction and then, face devoid of any emotion, gave a small, upward jerk of the head.
“Did he just—”
“Yup.”
“Ohmygod.” Gina grabbed Shelby by the shoulders. “He just gave you the brush-off nod. The I’m-just-not-that-into-you gesture that a man gives his mistress when he sees her in a bar and happens to be with his wife. It’s like when the freshman girl gives it up on prom night only to see the hunky senior Monday in the halls and he plays it off like she was just a—”
“I can come up with enough ego-shattering analogies on my own.” And she had.
“I’m going to kick his ass!” Gina jumped up, sending her sports-meshed penthouse crashing backward, dislodging the soda from her cup holder and splattering the sticky liquid all over the Ladies of Sweet. Who screamed while clutching their purses and hearts, in that order.
Shelby grabbed Gina by the arm, managed to apologize to the Ladies of Sweet without smiling at their root-beer-colored flats, and jerked Gina back to her seat.
“What are you doing?” Shelby hissed.
“Defending your honor.”
“My honor is intact, thank you very much. My standing in this town, however, is questionable after today,” Shelby accused, hearing the women behind her whisper. She knew—just knew—that she was the latest topic of scandal. “What I need is to make him so crazy he can’t see straight. Somehow get him to forget all of that constraint. He comes to bed like he’ll die if he doesn’t touch me, but then in the morning he acts like we’re roommates.”
“Do you blame him? In the daytime he can see.”
Shelby choked, looking down at her body. Okay, so she wasn’t as fit as she used to be, but she looked pretty damn good for a single, thirtysomething mom.
“Not you,” Gina said, irritated. “That house. It’s creepy. Beyond creepy. Getting it on in there would be like doing it in his mother’s mausoleum. Plus, growing up a Tucker meant he was the topic of a lot of local gossip, none good. So I’m not surprised he’s being all tight-lipped about your engagement.”
“He won’t even talk to me about it. Half the ladies want to set up their daughters with the prodigal Tucker, the other half think I’m living in sin, and he won’t hold my hand in public.”
“But he
is
the perfect lover,” Gina said with a smile, which annoyed Shelby more. “Okay, let’s tackle this in stages. First, you need to get him all hot and heavy in the daylight, preferably in a place on the ranch that doesn’t have his mom all over it.”
Shelby smiled. This could work on so many levels. If she caught him off guard he wouldn’t have time to put up all those walls. And if she gave him new memories to replace the old, maybe he wouldn’t be so desperate to pack up and move back to Austin.
“Gina.” Shelby hugged her friend fiercely. “You’re brilliant.”
“So they say.”
“Am I in trouble or something?” JT asked, lightly nudging Bandit with the heels of his boots as they made their way along the water’s edge. They had been picking their way slowly downriver back toward the house.
“Should you be?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a pretty sorry-sounding declaration of innocence if you ask me.”
“You’re just acting funny,” JT mumbled.
Cody shifted in his saddle, but shifting didn’t make him feel any more relaxed. It had taken him less than fifteen minutes to bring himself up to speed on his firm’s latest acquisition. Ten on the phone with his assistant to realize everything was running smoothly. And two hours of staring out the window before he admitted he had a problem.
Working remotely should have made things difficult. It hadn’t. He had a competent staff. The lack of foot traffic and phone calls actually allowed him to accomplish things faster. Still, he couldn’t get over the feeling that he was being smothered by his own skin.
Part of the problem was, he kept imagining Shelby naked and splayed out over his briefs. Being around her and not touching her was becoming damn near impossible. The only sane solution had been to avoid her. At least until JT went to bed each night.
“I’m sorry, partner.” Cody sighed. Which brought him to the other part of the problem, and the reason for this fatherson outing.
He’d been wanting to have a little man-to-man with JT for a couple of days now. But how did one go about explaining to a nine-year-old boy that one wanted to marry his mama?
“I’m acting funny, as you put it, because I want to talk to you about something kind of important and I’m not sure how exactly to go about it.”
“Oh.” JT wouldn’t meet his eye, instead picking at a hunk of dried mud caked to his jeans, scraping it to a fine dust and then brushing it onto the ground. Cody, for his part, had adjusted his hat more times than he could count.
“So, I ah, your mom and I uh . . .”
Not a good start.
“I asked your mom to marry me.”
There, he’d said it. Simple. To the point.
JT’s forehead furrowed and he looked back out over the river. Cody let out a slow breath, determined to be patient.
“Like you’d live with my mom?”
“Yes. But I want you to be okay with this, JT.” Cody studied his son’s face for some kind of reaction. Besides worrying the reins with his hands, JT sat perfectly still in the saddle. “I know this is all happening fast and you and your mom have been a pair for a long time. I also understand that sometimes it’s hard letting someone else in. I just want to make your mom happy, JT. Make us a family. And you being okay with this would mean a lot.”
JT was silent. Cody promised himself that he wouldn’t rush the kid. If he needed time to take it all in then he’d— “I think it’s awesome,” JT said, looking at Cody. A smile appeared on his face, so genuine his dimples caved in. Cody smiled back.
“I do too, partner.”
Hot damn!
He was marrying Shelby. And his son was happy about them being a family. Feeling giddy and capitalizing on the moment, Cody pressed on.
“So, your mom and I have been discussing living in Sweet Plains, and, well . . . what do you think of moving to Austin?”
Cody didn’t know why he asked, since staying wasn’t an option. Plus, he and Shelby still had to talk it through. But maybe if JT said he wanted to move, Cody wouldn’t feel so guilty when they did.
“Austin sounds . . . all right.”
All right?
Talk about a smack of reality. “But Coach said if I do good tomorrow in the game, we’d talk about me starting next season. Plus, Mom promised I could start rodeo when I turn ten. Huh, Bandit—” Jake leaned over and gave his horse a pat. “And if I moved, then I’d miss Ryan and friends and . . . everyone here.”
What a mess. JT didn’t want to move. Cody hated it here. And every time he saw something that was his dad’s, he broke out in a sweat. Which was probably why, even knowing that he should just drop it, he couldn’t.
“Well, Austin’s got football and stables. And I bet we could find you a great trainer there. It pretty much has everything Sweet Plains has. Only more. Movie theaters, malls, I’ve got a boat. Plus, Austin is only an hour away, close enough to visit,” Cody finished, suddenly feeling like it was so much farther than that.
JT’s smile grew even bigger and he was nodding so fast, Cody was surprised he didn’t nod himself right off the saddle. “And you said it’s got the big fish and the Longhorns and stuff. Plus, you live on a golf course. Right?”
“On the eighteenth hole. With a golf cart you can drive.”
“Sounds cool. And you and Mom will be married. And I can always visit here, I mean if I even want to.”
“Anytime, partner.” Cody should be flying high. JT was giving him permission to move the family to Austin, making the case much easier to take to Shelby. Problem was, he knew his kid wanted to stay, but was willing to move for the sake of the family. Another compromise. And it felt hollow.
Shelby did her best not to giggle. But she couldn’t quite pull it off as she shimmied into her new guaranteed-to-make-Cody’s-eyes-pop-out pair of see-through undies, in cobalt blue. His favorite color. Better yet, it came with a matching bra that wasn’t much more than two cups held together by twine, which was currently concealed beneath a fitted, barely-there tank top.
Her hair looked sexy. She’d blown it dry, used enough product to run a small generator, and the result was a tousled, curly mess that gave her that I’ve-just-been-ravished look. Feeling like a giddy teen girl on prom night, she slid into her slinkiest skirt and do-me heels and made her way down the stairs and out of the house. Without falling once.
When Dylan had mentioned that Cody was in the tack room, she’d felt herself warm from ears to panty line. And when she
click-clacked
through the stalls and smelled hay, she went damp. But when she opened the door to the tack room, she nearly passed out.