Page 104 of Spurred On

Chapter Eighteen

It seemed to take forever before Sidney was finally able to come work at the ranch, though it was actually only a couple of months. Cody tried to be patient, because he knew she was worried about her father and she had a lot to do. He went with her to Dallas and helped her move out of her apartment, but they had little time to be alone, because Cade, Lisa, and Claire came along as well. While many hands made light work, he would much rather have had his hands on her.

And then, Henry’s recuperation took longer than expected. Though he tried to be all gruff and independent, it was a difficult façade to maintain when a man couldn’t come down the stairs without help. Though Sidney tried to protest Cody’s help—she was a lot like her father in that—he insisted on coming by at least once a day to check in and spend time with them both.

Again, he would have preferred to have alone time with her, but it was nice getting to know her dad better, and the three of them enjoyed many meals, chats, and snark-fests.

Cody discovered that Sidney had inherited her wicked wit and passion for really bad movies from her dad. He spent many nights with an aching gut from laughing so hard at their pithy observations and running monologues during execrable films.

It was a pleasant time, a time of renewal between them, learning each other all over again. And every day, he felt more and more convinced that she was the woman he wanted to spend his life with.

It bugged him that she seemed to be holding back though. There was ever and always some kind of wall between them. It wasn’t as stony as it had once been, but it was still there. He had no idea how to knock it down. Or even, if he should.

He opted for patience.

But damn, it was hard.

He was hardly a patient man.

Finally, the day came when Henry Stevens rebelled against his daughter’s coddling. The doctors had given him a clean bill of health—with restrictions, of course—and Henry was itching to get back to his life.

“Not that I don’t enjoy sipping tea with you,” he said to Sidney. “But I need to get back to normal.”

Sidney had protested, of course. Cody sensed that she’d really enjoyed this time with her father, that some sort of renewal had been blossoming there as well. But in the end, she had to accede that her father was more than ready to shake off the constraints of an invalid.

And it wasn’t just that he was getting antsy. He’d been watching Cody and Sidney together with growing interest. He’d even gone so far as to pull Cody aside and mention that, as men went, he was a fine one. He made it clear he wouldn’t object if Cody had the inkling to date his younger daughter.

Which was excellent.

One less hurdle at least.

Beyond that, Henry also approved of the idea of Sidney working at the ranch. She needed something, he said. Something more in life. It was pretty clear he liked having her close and wasn’t sorry in the least that she’d left her job as a bikini barista.

So finally—finally—Sidney presented herself for work.

And, as they expected, she fit right in. More than that. She seemed to have a second sense about what would be needed before anyone else thought of it. More than once, he’d gone to her to ask her to complete a task, only to have her smile and say, “Already did it.”

All this only validated his conviction that she was perfect for him.

Now all he had to do was convince her.

But he wasn’t sure how to do it.

Before they’d become friends he would just have seduced her. Cornered her in some quiet alcove and kissed her silly. But now, for some reason, he was leery to make the first move.

It was an unfamiliar awkwardness for him. He’d never second-guessed himself with a woman or a seduction before.

But it had never meant this much to him before.

It was much easier to make decisions when a man didn’t really care about the outcome.

Not the case here. Cody really cared about her, about their relationship, about everything. To the extent it nearly paralyzed him.

It took a lot of effort to remind himself to take it slow. Take it easy. Be patient.

One day as he and Claire were going over the bookings in the office, his sister threw him for a loop. “So,” she said, apropos of nothing. “How is it going with Sidney?”

He blinked. “What?”