“On it,” Luke says. “I’ll grab Ethan and we’ll build you whatever you need.”
“I’ll help you,” Cody offers easily.
Cody pushes his chair back after we’ve all been sitting for over a half hour. I follow suit, carrying my plate to the sink.
“Leave that,” Mrs. Lawson says. “I’ll wash since you baked.”
“Thank you,” I tell her. Then I glance up at Cody. “I’ll meet you out there. I just need to say goodbye to McKenna.”
He smiles and turns for the back door that leads out to the barn.
“I’ll call you and we can plan some time together soon,” I promise McKenna.
“Please do. I want to catch up. And not just about wedding stuff.”
“Me too,” I tell her, meaning it. I may be eager to see Cody—to find out what he wants to say. But she’s still my person. Being here this morning only served to remind me of what she means to me—what the whole Lawson family means to me.
I don’t run across the grass and dirt to the barn. My pace is measured, natural, controlled. When I walk through the barn doorway, Cody’s inside—alone. He’s leaning back on a low stall door, looking every bit the cowboy that he is.
“Hey,” he says, a soft smile growing at the sight of me.
“Hey,” I answer shyly.
“How are you?” He pushes off the stall door and walks toward me, meeting me in the middle of the barn.
“Good. You?”
“Good,” he smiles, slow and warm. “I’m actually asking about how you are since … you know.”
“Since?” I lift my brows, making him work for it just a little.
“The kiss,” he says, stepping fully into my personal space and knocking my flirtiness off balance. The air is warm around us despite the cool of the morning.
His breath stalls. He searches my eyes.
Doesn’t he know how I feel about him?
I’m so used to my feelings for Cody. They’re lived-in even though they chronically irritate me like a misplaced tag in a new shirt.
“I’m good,” I say. “After … you know.” I manage to stare into his eyes and softly raise my brow with a little flirtation.
He may not feel what I do, but this is my moment. I’m not backing down. I’ll eat humble pie later if he brought meout here to let me down gently. Everything in his gaze and the way his breath comes more quickly tells me he’s right here, in this with me.
He reaches down and cups my jaw.
“I’m good too,” he says. “In case you were wondering.”
I want to say something witty—or say anything—but I can’t find the words.
Cody’s brows lift lightly, his thumb brushes across my cheek, a feather-soft graze. His eyes search mine and I smile. My tongue darts out briefly, moistening my lips.
When his mouth descends on mine, it’s not careful and gentle like it was the first time.
He tugs me closer and holds me, quenching my longing and setting it on fire in the same instant.
My arms lift to loop around his neck and my fingers tangle in his hair. I explore him after years of wondering what this would be like, what he would feel like, how he would kiss.
Our kiss slows. Tender. Sure. Full of relief and need. His mouth dances along my skin with a familiarity that feels so right and yet so new. I lose myself in him and the feel of being held in his arms.
