12-Alarm Cowboys (177 page)

Cody sat up and gingerly touched his nose. Winced. “Why’d you do that?”

“Because you deserved it. God, Cody. You always got it all. Always got everything. Did you have to take her too?”

“I didn’t
take
her. She’s still there…”

“You know what I mean. And shit, do you know how much it hurt back then? To see you with her?”

Cody gaped at him. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“
I
wanted her.
I
liked her. And what did you do?
You
asked her out.”

“Wait. You liked her?”

“I had a
thing
for her.” A
huge
thing.

“You never said anything. I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t care.”

“Okay, this is totally unfair.”

“Isn’t it?” A hiss.

Cody stood and set his hands on Cade’s shoulders, which, frankly, was dangerous, because it left his vital organs utterly exposed. “Wait. Stop. Let me process this. When we were in high school, you had a crush on Lisa?”

“I told you I thought she was special. And you still asked her out.”

“Damn. I…didn’t realize.” Cody went pale. “Is that… Is that why you left? Why you joined the marines? Because I was dating the girl you liked?”

Hell. He hadn’t wanted anyone to know that. “I needed to get away.”

“Shit. Shit.” Cody dragged his fingers through his hair. “I am so sorry. If it’s any consolation, we didn’t date long. I…ah, well, I blew it.”

“I heard.” Hell, in a town like Snake Gully, everyone heard. “But that’s all history. It is what it is. What’s infuriating me now is that you kissed her
again
.” Of its own accord, his fist formed. Cody shot it a leery glance and backed away.

“Wait. Wait. Listen. Yeah. I did kiss her.” Oh. He needed to die… “But she didn’t kiss me back.”

Cade stilled, his fist poised to strike again. He stared at his brother. Swallowed. “What?”

“She’s not interested in me, brother. And she never will be. Never. Not. Ever.”

He let his arm drop. “How do you know?”

Cody laughed, but there was little humor in it. He scrubbed his face. “Because she told me. In no uncertain terms. I guess when her dad cheated on her mom, it hurt her really bad. I cheated on her and her husband cheated on her… It’s surprising she hasn’t given up on men all together.”

“Wait. Her husband cheated on her?” The fist was back. Too bad Guy Peckerwood wasn’t around to punch.

“That’s what she said. But listen, Cade. The point is, there’s nothing between me and Lisa, and other than a few school dances and a handful of good-night kisses on her front porch, there never has been.”

Cade glared at his brother, but his fury was slipping away. Try as he might, he couldn’t hold on to it. “How many kisses?”

Cody winced. “I don’t know. Seven?”

Seven?

Seven too many.

‡

L
isa spent a
totally enjoyable afternoon with Claire, which was surprising, because she was worried about what Cade had seen and how he’d reacted. She itched to talk to him, but he simply wasn’t around.

Thankfully, Claire helped distract her.

It was funny how some people could pop back into your life…and the two of you picked up where you left off years ago. Claire was a friend like that. It didn’t take long before they were laughing and joking and teasing each other as they had when they were in high school.

It was a wonderful feeling. Like coming home. After the misery of the past year, the loneliness, the isolation, it was exactly what Lisa needed.

Claire explained that they had a housekeeper named Molly, but she was visiting her daughter in Houston who’d had a baby, so Claire and Lisa made dinner together, which was uproariously fun. But that could have been the merlot. It was an excellent vintage of boxed wine.

While she loved to bake, Lisa wasn’t much of a chef, so she just followed Claire’s directions and tried not to ruin everything. In the end, they were howling with laughter.

Again, probably the merlot.

Despite Lisa’s disastrous attempts at tossing a salad, and a suicidal spud that decided to explode in the oven, they managed to put together a palatable meal of steak and potatoes.

They were still chuckling when the guys clomped down the stairs to join them at the dining-room table. Her attention snapped to Cade, of course. He’d showered and changed after a dusty day on the range and his hair was slicked back. While she preferred the carefree tumble of curls, the look emphasized the hard, bold lines of his face, making him even more striking. To her relief, he met her gaze and even smiled a little.

The moment hung between them until Claire shattered it. “What the hell happened to you?” she barked.

Lisa turned to Cody and stilled. A dark shadow circled his left eye. He frowned at her perusal. “Nothing.” A grumble.

Claire propped her fists on her hips, frowning from one brother to the other. “Were you two fighting?”

Judging from their chagrined flushes, they had been, but they both offered innocent looks and said, “No.”

Claire wasn’t fooled. “What was it this time?”

Lisa’s heart thudded when both men glanced at her and then quickly looked away. Hell. Had they been fighting about her? She wasn’t sure if she should be worried…or thrilled.

“We weren’t fighting,” Cody insisted as he took his place at the table and speared one of the steaks. One of the larger ones. Claire and Cade followed suit in a rush. Apparently, in this family, he who hesitated got the smallest steak, but Lisa didn’t mind. She doubted she could eat all of hers anyway.

“How’d you get that shiner then?” Claire was like a dog with a bone.

Cody scowled and sawed at his meat. “It was nothing. We were just…goofing around.”

“Right.” Claire pinned her frown on Cade. “You know it’s not fair for you to fight him. Not now.”

Cody huffed a breath. “We weren’t fighting—”

“It was one thing when you were kids. But now, you’re trained in lethal force.”

“Hardly lethal,” Cody muttered through a mouthful.

Claire’s attention whipped to Cody. “Come on. He was a marine. He can kill a man with his bare hands.”

Cade chuckled. “Where do you get these ideas?” he said, but Lisa noticed the flush on his cheeks had deepened.

“I watch movies.”

“Which are totally accurate.” There was a thread of sarcasm in his tone.

“Besides, you never talk about your time in the service.”

Cade went silent. He toyed with his fork. Then he said softly, “Trust me, Claire, you don’t want to hear about that.”

“Where were you stationed?” Lisa had to ask. She wanted to know. Needed to know.

He glanced at her and nodded; there were shadows in his eyes. “One tour in Iraq. Two in Afghanistan. It was pretty rough.” He blew out a breath and forced a smile. “But now I’m home.”

Claire lifted her wineglass. “Ooh rah to that.”

The conversation shifted then as Claire began recounting some of Cody and Cade’s more epic boyhood scraps for Lisa’s edification—much to their chagrin. The rest of the meal played out to the accompaniment of rollicking laughter and a great jockeying of position to tell an even funnier story. Lisa’s sides hurt by the end of it.

However, when it was time for dessert to be served, silence fell.

It was a near reverent hush, which Lisa found extremely gratifying, because she’d made her triple-chocolate-fudge cakelettes with caramel surprise. The surprise was, when you cut into each individual cake, a gooey blob of thick, handmade caramel oozed out.

“Oh. My. God,” Claire gushed as she took a bite, but those were the only words echoing in the room. The men said nothing; they said what they had to say with their eyes, their moans, the desperate scraping of their empty plates.

Cody tossed down his fork, picked up the plate and proceeded to lick it, lapping up each and every morsel. Cade did as well and, though Claire chirped at them to mind their manners, she quickly followed suit.

Lisa chuckled. “There’s more, you know.”

“Mmm,” Claire said. “Midnight snack.”

“Right. If you wait ’til midnight, it’ll be too late,” Cody said with a chuckle.

“You better not eat them all.” At that point, Claire and Cody launched into a frantic negotiation about who should get how many cakes and the dire consequences that might befall the person who hogged them all.

While they were thusly occupied, Cade leaned over to Lisa and whispered, “You are a genius, you know.”

Lisa affected a cocky smile. “I know.” But still, his praise was wonderful and warming. Quite a departure from her ex-husband’s constant criticism. It made her think her dream of making a go of a bakery could actually come true.

“We should hire Lisa,” Cade said out of the blue. His pronouncement startled her. She blinked.

It startled Cody and Claire too. They both fell silent and stared at her. But then, slow grins curled on their faces. “That’s a brilliant idea,” Claire said. “Can you imagine what her pastries would do to our breakfast menu? They would put us into a whole new league.”

Cody drummed his fingers on the table. “You’re right. People would come just for that.”

“Not to mention the desserts.”

“Right.”

The brothers erupted into an excited dialog, tossing thoughts on marketing and menus left and right.

Lisa lifted a hand to silence them. It didn’t work. “Wait,” she finally called. “Wait. I’m planning to open a bakery.”

“You can do that too,” Cody said magnanimously. “Once you’re up and running, you can cater our parties. We’ve been using that restaurant in town and it’s really not…well, not stellar.”

“Look at that.” Claire shot her a smug smirk. “You’re not even in business yet and you have your first paying gig.”

“Say you’ll do it.” There was something in Cade’s tone, something beyond a plea that she bake for his parties. “Just say yes.”

“Just say yes! Just say yes!” The chant went up around the table and it lit something within Lisa’s soul. A bubble of laughter ascended. A bubble of pleasure.

Cade took her hand in his. His grasp was warm, firm. “Just say yes,” he murmured.

And what could she do? What could she say?

“Yes.”

The delight in his expression transfixed her.

Dinner ended on
a high note, despite its rocky beginnings. Cade was excited by the prospect that Lisa had agreed to his proposal. He had hopes it wouldn’t be the first of his suggestions she would accede to.

But the evening got even better when Cody and Claire pulled the short toothpicks and had to do the dishes. By mutual accord, Cade and Lisa headed out to the porch to sit on the swing and enjoy the falling night. They sat in silence, listening to the chorus of the crickets and frogs as a soft breeze wafted by, carrying the scents of mown hay and wood smoke. It was peaceful and sweet, sitting there beside her, rocking gently.

It occurred to him that this was a moment he’d dreamed of many times. Just sitting beside her, close enough to touch. Still, he wanted more.

He was thinking about reaching out and taking her hand, perhaps broaching the topic of their conversation in the kitchen and the prospects of continuing it, when she spoke.

“So, Cody got a black eye,” she said.

He grimaced. Damn. He thought that topic had died. “Mmm hmm.”

“I, ah, don’t suppose you know how that happened?”

He glanced at her and his gaze was snared by the expression on her face or, perhaps, just her face. She was so lovely, sitting there in the soft light of the moon. Her hair tumbled over her shoulders in a silky fall, and her eyes shone. Her lips were slightly parted and they tempted him to take a taste.

Resolve and determination swelled within him. This was it. This was his chance. It was time for a declaration.

“He tried to take something I wanted.” He didn’t mean for his voice to drop so low, but it did.

She shivered. “Did he?”

“Yes.” And then, almost an accusation, “He kissed you.”

She threaded her fingers. “He did.”

His gut lurched. Even though he already knew it was true, he hated hearing it from her lips.

“But I didn’t like it.”

He stilled. His pulse kicked up. Something exhilarating shafted through his soul. “You didn’t?”

“Not at all. I told him not to do it again.”

Good.

Fucking good.

He’d hate to have to break his brother’s kneecaps.

She nudged his leg with hers. Barely touching, but it consumed his awareness. “He’s not the one I’m interested in.”

His pulse thudded. “He’s not?”

She met his gaze then, held it. “You know he’s not, Cade.”

He sank into the depths of her eyes, but still, some ifrit in his soul made him say, “Every, ah, every woman wants Cody.” He was handsome and charming and had an easy way about him. Everything about
Cade
was difficult and hard. Especially right now.

“That is not true.”

God, it was wonderful to hear her say that. He didn’t know why he pressed on. He should just accept that and be happy. But he couldn’t. He had to add, “Cody doesn’t have this.” He gestured to the scar savaging his cheek.