Page 112 of Spurred On

“Yes.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“How much more specific do you want me to be? He is your brother, after all.”

“Is it . . . a fling? Or something more serious?”

Sidney didn’t know the answer to that. “We’re taking it one day at a time.” It was as close to the truth as she could come without singeing her tongue.

Claire nodded, but didn’t meet her eyes. “He likes you,” she said in a strange tone, one Sidney had never heard before and wasn’t sure how to interpret.

“I like him too.” That was a fair assessment.

“I . . . wouldn’t want him to hurt you.”

“I think we’ve established, I’m tough as nails—”

“But I don’t want you hurting him either.” This Claire said with a sharp glance that nearly cut Sidney in half.

“Hurt him?” She forced a laugh. “He’s a horndog. When he’s done with me, he’ll move on without a second thought.” He’d done so before. It only made sense to prepare herself for that eventuality.

“Is that what you really think?”

No.“Yes.”

“Because he’s more than that.” Claire leaped to her feet. “He’s a wonderful person. He’s caring and kind. He goes out of his way to help other people. He’s tender and gentle and, frankly, more sensitive than you seem to realize.”

Claire’s rabid defense of her brother made Sidney feel like a heel for clinging to her old assumptions of him, but that wasn’t prejudice. It was self-defense. Wasn’t it? “I know all that, Claire.”

“He hasn’t been seeing anyone.” Claire’s announcement echoed through the room. “He hasn’t seen anyone for months. Not since Hanna’s bachelorette party. Not since you came back.” Somehow she made it sound like an accusation. And Claire’s intensity made her uncomfortable.

“What are you implying?”

“That he cares for you more than you know. That this is not casual for him.”

“Oh, hush.” Everything was casual to Cody. It was the way he approached life. Careless and free. “He’s not the marrying type.”

Claire frowned. “Are you?”

Sidney stared at her longtime friend as the question trickled through her. Was she? Was she the marrying type? On the surface, the answer was not only no, but hell no. But those recent, warm, addictive moments she’d spent with Cody—that had nothing to do with sex or seduction—made her question that belief about herself.

With a revelation that stunned her, she suddenly saw the truth. As though the clouds had parted and a tantalizing vista came clearly into view.

She saw herself and Cody, together in some fantastical future, with beautiful children running riot all over the ranch. She saw them sharing holiday meals with the tribe, with everyone gathered around and full of joy. And she saw the two of them sitting on the porch swing and holding hands as the sunset fell.

It could be for them. That could be for them.

If she had the courage to allow it.

The big question was: Did she?

“Well?” Claire growled. “Because there are women around who love him completely and accept him for who he is. And are the marrying type. The type that could make him happy without crushing him.”

“You’re talking about Porsche.” Of course she was. That was hardly a secret either.

“Porsche loves him.”

Another well-known truth. But Cody had never showed as much as a whiff of interest in Porsche. If he had, Sidney sure as hell would never have acted on her desires with him. She shot Claire a smile, but it might have been a hollow one. “Don’t worry, Claire. I won’t break your brother’s heart.”