Cody’s boot taps my stocking foot. I glance at him and he carefully sends an undetected wink in my direction.
“Luke,” I say. “I believe the bride-price my dad has on my hand is way too high for you to afford,” I fix my gaze on Cody’s older brother. “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, Carli,” Luke continues. “I’d pay him a whole herd.”
“What are we going to do with a herd of cattle?” I say with a soft chuckle. “We can barely keep up with all these pregnant sows as it is!”
The table bursts into laughter.
“Stop hitting on my bestie,” McKenna says when the laughter dies down. “Go flirt with another woman. Carli’s mine. She doesn’t want anything to do with any of you Lawson boys. Can you imagine? My brother and my best friend? Just no.”
Cody’s boot finds my foot and rests right next to me, unwavering. His eyes find mine and we share an unspoken conversation.
“He’s only playing,” I assure McKenna.
In the spirit of teasing his baby sister, Luke says, “Am I, though?”
“Okay, now,” Mrs. Lawson says. “Who wants pie?”
Chairs slide backward and our conversation is forgotten.
We’re all digging into the dessert when Cody says, “I’ve got a little announcement to make.”
My stomach swoops.
All eyes are on him. “I applied for the captain position. David is moving up the ranks—taking over as battalion chief.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Mrs. Lawson says.
“Well,” Cody looks me in the eyes. “I actually already applied and they told me I got the position today.”
I smile widely at Cody. I would anyway, even if we weren’t dating. Everyone around the table congratulates him and then the conversation eventually drifts to other subjects.
After dinner, McKenna walks me out. I hug her and promise we’ll get more time together than we’ve had lately. She shuts the truck door and walks inside the house. I’m about to turn the key when I see Cody, coming around the side of the main house, heading straight for my truck. I put it in drive and roll forward so I’m away from the main line of sight from the front windows.
Cody walks up to my truck and I roll down the window.
“What are you doing?” I ask him.
“I had to see you before you left.”
He reaches in the window and runs his hand down my face. I lean out and he kisses me with all the pent-up longing that has been building between us since I first saw him out in the pasture. Being here all day without being able to touch him has been its own kind of torture.
“I can’t get enough of you, Carli. And I might have to kill my brother.”
“He’s harmless,” I assure Cody. But a warmth flows through me at the idea of him being so possessive and territorial.
“What are you doing now?” he asks, as if it’s not obvious.
“Driving back to my cabin.”
“I could come by.” His brows raise and the expression on his face is as vulnerable as I think I’ve ever seen him. As if I’d turn him down.
The question isn’t whether I’d like him to come over. It’s a matter of risk—and he knows it. Even sitting here in front of his childhood home, kissing him with my best friend right inside the house, is treading a thin line that could blow up any moment.
“My place? Isn’t that risky?”
He smiles. “If I drive in on the old back road—the dirt one that comes in from Smokehouse Road—no one will see me.”
