Page 20 of Spurred On

He had earned it, after all.

Her decision had nothing to do with the coiling desire in her belly. It was simply the fact that they’d made an agreement, and since Cody had held up his end of the bargain, she should too.

She’d have to make sure it was somewhere public, and that she had toughened up her resolve and all that, but she couldn’t deny the thought of kissing him gave her a huge thrill. And, of course, scared her to death.

It only seemed logical to partake in a little liquid courage. Porsche had brought a bottle of tequila, so, between the hayride and the coming Hottie Hoedown, Sidney did a couple of shots.

Oh, not enough that she might lose her mind and motorboat Cody or anything, but enough that her feet felt light and her mood was elevated as she made her way down to the dining room for dinner.

It was nearly a letdown that he wasn’t there.

The dancers were there, milling with the women, and Cade was setting up the sound system, but of Cody there was no sign.

She knew he had to show up at some point, so she sucked in a deep breath and willed herself to be patient.

And when he did arrive, she would need to be super blasé. It was essential to remain so. She couldn’t allow herself to go and drool all over him the way the other women did. By God, she would never be one if his groupies. She’d give him his kiss and thank him for all he’d done and that would be that. The party would be over on Sunday. She’d go back to her boring life in Dallas and forget about him all over again. And everything would be wonderful.

“Where do you want to sit?” Hanna asked.

Sidney shot her a look. Her sister had been even more reserved than usual since she’d come back from a walk earlier; Sidney suspected she’d gone to meet Logan and if she had, that dreamy look in her eye was a good sign. “Anywhere’s fine.”

“Great. Let’s sit here.” She gestured to a table in the back of the room.

“You can’t sit in the back of the room. You’re the guest of honor,” Porsche insisted.

“Oh please.”

“I think she’s right,” Sidney said, and, taking Hanna’s arm, headed for the front of the room. Before they reached their table a hubbub arose. Sidney looked over her shoulder and saw the cause of it.

Cody Silver had arrived.

Like he was a fricking rock star or something. Most of the women milling around the room deserted their half-dressed hunks and swarmed him.

“Brother,” Porsche muttered.

Sidney nodded. “I think I’m gonna barf.”

“Not on the table, please,” Hanna said with crisp sarcasm. She excelled at crisp sarcasm. But then her smile faded and she paled. “Oh, shit.”

Sidney blinked. Hanna was usually the one to lecture other people about the use of profanities. Naturally, she had to turn and—

Oh, shit.

Tibby was heading their way like a heat-seeking missile.

It really had been a mistake to let her come. For one thing, she’d been hovering around Hanna like a mother hen. Or a Russian spy determined to discover the microfilm. Whatever.

If this thing between Hanna and Logan was going to have any chance at all, someone was going to have to distract Tibby.

And it wasn’t going to be her.

“I’ll be right back,” she said shooting her sister a quick smile, and then she did the one thing she swore she would never do.

She headed for Cody Silver. Just like all the other lemmings.

***

“Do you have a minute?” she asked, sending him a speaking glance.