25. Hailey

TWENTY-FIVE

What the hell did I think I was doing?

Playing games with Pruitt was dangerous. I knew it all the way down to my soul. But the problem was I was having a hard time discerning what was real.

How I'd gone from promising myself that I'd never in a million years allow Cody Cooper to touch me because what kind of horrible person did that make me to him giving me the best orgasm I'd ever experienced Saturday night.

How I'd gone from him insisting on staying here for one night to make sure Pruitt didn't come back around to him kissing me like he'd actually meant it in front of the very monster out in that parking lot.

How I'd gone from hating my new neighbor to him out in the backyard putting together a playhouse for my daughter while I finished dinner inside.

Whatever game it was? I knew I was playing it with fire. A crackle in the distance that warned those flames were gathering strength. A few moments more and they'd make it over the ridge and completely consume.

So lost in my thoughts, I nearly jumped out of my skin when the back door burst open and a clatter of energy ripped through the air, though my smile was easy when I found my daughter racing into the kitchen, flapping her arms overhead.

"Mommy! We did it! We got my playhouse all the way done because Mr. Cody is so very strong and has the biggest, most giantest muscles I ever seen, and it's ready and we got the biggest surprise! You need to come see!"

The crash of words tumbled from Maddie, my little whirlwind grinning so wide as she jumped in place, all dimples and chubby cheeks and innocence, wild locks of blonde curls framing her sweet face.

She grabbed my hand and tugged. "Come on, you have to come see right now!"

True to his word, the second we'd gotten back, Cody had gone directly into the backyard and started putting her playhouse together.

"Okay, okay, give me one second and let me turn off this burner so we don't burn the gravy."

I flipped off the knob while Maddie kept tugging at my hand. "Right now, Mommy! Hurry!"

I laughed as she hauled me along. "Someone is excited."

"I'm the most very excited ever." She dragged me across the room and out into the descending night.

The air was grayed and cooled, the heavens colored in sweeps and swirls of fading color as the darkness wisped across the sky.

Maddie turned to face me as she led me down the porch steps. "Close your eyes, it's a surprise."

"A surprise, huh?"

"A really good one."

I peeked over at the playhouse that had been set up beneath the big oak tree that stood on the far end of the yard, its branches stoic and its reach wide.

Madison's playhouse was made to look like a cottage, the plastic shaped into planks of wood with a gray door and white-framed windows that were missing the glass.

She bounced all the way across the lawn until we were in front of it.

I knew the ceiling was basically only high enough for Maddie to stand in, so I was giggling when she threw open the door and demanded, "Keep your eyes closed all the way, Mommy, and follow me all the way inside!"

Trying to keep them closed, I got to my knees to crawl inside, squeezing through the narrow doorway as I patted my hands on the ground to guide myself.

When I made it through, Maddie shouted, "Open them!"

I was on my knees when I did, and a soft gasp escaped when I opened them to take in the scene. Blankets had been spread out on the floor and little twinkle lights were strung up on the ceiling, casting it in a soft, warm glow.

Her Princess Verona bunny and a couple other dolls were set up on the right side at the little table that extended from the wall.

And Cody…Cody had somehow wedged himself inside, the heap of a man curled up in the left back corner with his knees pulled to his chest and a fake pink pearl necklace around his neck.

"Surprise! We're having a party!" Maddie threw her arms up again.

"A party?" I barely mouthed as I looked to Cody, an apology in my expression.

"That's right," he rumbled in that dark voice, his rugged face so handsome in the shadows that played through the confined space. "We're having a party. I even got dressed up."

He gave a soft tug to the necklace around his neck.

"And we have to eat in here because it's a dinner party and I even got drinks but it's not wine because I'm not old enough." Maddie lifted a plastic teacup that brimmed with water, sloshing it over the side in her enthusiasm.

"Wow, this is amazing," I drew out, sending Cody another apologetic look when I said it.

He just smiled one of those easy smiles.

Like this was no big deal. Like he wasn't single-handedly wreaking havoc on my sanity. Or maybe he was just tweaking that sanity into something brand new.

My insides tumbled. God, what in the world were we doing?

That gaze shined, and beneath it, my lips tingled with the vestiges of that kiss.

That kiss that had wrecked me in the best way possible.

Made my knees weak and my head spin and sent my heart clamoring toward something that had felt so fundamentally right all while being intrinsically wrong.

That kiss that I needed to remember was only meant to send Pruitt a message.

"We have to go get the food now," Maddie ordered, tugging at my hand again, trying to urge me back to the tiny door.

"I think a dinner party sounds really fun, but where is Lolly supposed to sit?" I teased.

"She's gonna sit right here." Lolly's ragged voice suddenly echoed from the other side of the plastic. Disbelief hit me when I realized she had to be leaned against the outside wall of the playhouse.

"Is my grandmother actually sitting out there on the ground right now?" I all but demanded.

Maddie looked at me like I was clueless. "Well, of course she's got to sit on the outside because she's got a bad hip and there's no way she's gettin' all the way in here without breaking it."

Maddie nodded when she finished her spiel, proud of herself for issuing what was likely the exact same words Lolly had given her when she'd tried to get her inside.

Aghast, I moved to pop my head out the window. Lolly was sitting on the lawn with her back leaning against the playhouse, just as I'd suspected.

"Lolly, what in the world are you doing? You don't need to be sitting on the ground."

She sent me a droll smile, lips painted a bright pink today. "Well, now that I'm sitting here, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get back up."

Maddie scrambled over to my side and tried to poke her head out, too. "Don't worry, my Lolly! We got Mr. Cody, and he's got the muscles, so he can pick you right up."

"Well, I do like the sound of that," Lolly tossed right back.

Flustered, I looked to Cody who was quite literally backed into a corner. Only he let go of a coarse chuckle, amusement riding all over his handsome face.

"You just tell me when," he hollered.

"After dinner," Maddie proclaimed.

"Anytime, anywhere, I'll be right here waiting for you," Lolly said at the same time.

I inhaled a deep breath, searching for the best solution that wasn't going to ruin the excitement that blazed from my child and get my poor grandmother off the ground. "Why don't we have our party drinks right now, and then we eat our dinner on the patio table so we're close to your playhouse? That way Lolly can eat with us."

"Great idea, Mommy!"

Thankfully, Maddie didn't seem all that disappointed, and she hopped back to the table where she had the teapot and teacups. She poured another one to the brim and carefully tried to balance it as she brought it to me, even though she spilled half of it on her way.

Cody already had his, and he picked it up from where it sat on the floor next to him, mirth covering him whole.

Maddie moved back toward him in the confined space and lifted her cup. "To the best party ever, and to the best Mr. Cody ever, since he built my playhouse so super fast."

She clinked her teacup to his, then I put mine in the center, too, and whispered, "To Cody."

Those golden flecked eyes twinkled back at me when I clinked my cup to his.

Lolly suddenly pushed her teacup through the window. "Now I will drink to that."

"Goodnight, my very favorite Mr. Cody!" Maddie hollered toward the ceiling. She was in her bed and Cody had just unclicked the lock on the bathroom and stepped out into the hallway.

I wasn't able to see him since I was kneeling beside Maddie's bed, tucking her in, but I could almost feel the weight of his smile as he edged forward a little to come stand in her doorway, the weight of his presence pushing in on me from behind.

His aura profound.

That warm energy that felt like a refuge rippling through the air.

"Goodnight, Button. Thanks for throwing the best party I've ever attended."

I finally swiveled to peer at him from across her room, and my breath hitched at the impact.

Freshly showered, his hair darkened to a deep brown since it was wet. He'd pulled on a clean tee and a pair of black sweats, powerful and gorgeous.

Looking like a sea of temptation and a barrel of regret.

Maddie hugged Princess Verona closer to her chest and wiggled beneath her covers. "Do you really think so?" she asked him.

Cody lifted a tattooed arm and leaned it high against her doorframe.

So casual, though the movement hit me like pure devastation.

"Oh, yeah. I've been to a ton of parties, but never one quite like that."

Pride filled Maddie's face, and she shifted her head on her pillow so she was looking directly at me. "I think it was a very good idea that we came here, Mommy, because I think Mr. Cody was lonely and needed us to be neighborly, and now we get to go make even more friends on Saturday and I love it here the best. I don't ever want to go back to Texas."

Her expression dimmed, though hope lit beneath it.

My spirit cramped.

That ache that knew she hadn't been immune.

I brushed back a wild curl from her forehead. "I have no intention of ever going back, either."

I wanted to state it with confidence. Make her trust in it, to claim it like an oath. Still, my soul shook with the terror that lingered at the edges of my mind, lingered right outside the door, far closer than I'd ever wanted to allow them to be.

Maddie's voice went soft like a secret, uncertainty dimming her blue, blue eyes. "Texas is bad."

Dread swept in. "Why do you say that?"

Maddie hesitated, then hid her mouth beneath her covers when she confessed, "Because that's where my daddy lives."

My heart clutched. "And you think your daddy is bad?"

I was treading carefully, not wanting to shut her down but also not wanting to inject my own vitriol into the situation.

"Only when he whispers at you like he's really mad."

Those whispers echoed through my mind.

"You really think you can just leave?" Pruitt had hissed, his hand at my throat as he'd had me pressed to the hallway wall. "You keep forgetting who I am."

"Mommy?" I'd looked to the right to find Maddie standing at the end of the hall, her rabbit held to her chest, eyes wobbling with tears.

"It's okay, Maddie. Go back to your room and go to sleep. I'm fine."

How long had I been saying that?

I'm fine.

I'm fine.

I felt the floor shift as the man slowly approached, like he couldn't remain at bay for a second longer, persuaded by the sudden call of my daughter's fear. Or maybe he'd been compelled by mine, too, because Cody slowly eased to kneeling beside me.

After dinner, I'd bathed and changed into sleep shorts and a tank, and one of those big hands went to my waist, his fingers dipping just beneath the fabric while his other hand splayed out wide over my daughter's chest from over the blanket.

A covering.

A shield.

"You don't have to worry about that any longer, Maddie. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere." Cody grunted it in that low voice.

Don't make my daughter promises you can't keep.

I looked up at the man, so solid, so firm.

Impenetrable.

Immovable.

His gaze traveled to mine. "Mean it."

My nod was shuddery, and his was succinct.

The promise sealed.

Then he leaned in and lightly tickled my daughter.

"Cody, you got me," she squealed.

"Nah, Maddie, you got me."

Emotion crushed down.

A tumble of possibility.

A landslide of worry.

A lifetime of regret.

"Now get some sleep, little one." He leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to her temple.

She gripped the tops of her covers, beaming up at him. "Okay, my very best Cody."

Affection radiated from him, so distinct it filled the room.

I kissed her cheek and whispered, "Goodnight, Maddie. I love you so much."

"I love you, Mommy."

I remained floored as Cody pushed to standing.

Rising to his full, towering height.

Nothing but strength and fortitude.

He stretched out a hand.

I looked at it, divided, somehow knowing what it would mean if I accepted it.

But I did.

I let him enfold my hand in his, and he helped me to stand to my feet.

He watched me as he began to walk backward, leading me out.

I felt the ground shift, the earth canting to the side.

My heart no longer knew the safest way to beat.

I trudged through it like he wasn't destroying my resolve, like I didn't ache at the sight of him, like my belly wasn't in knots and my spirit wasn't in an uproar.

He eased all the way out the door, and I reached out to flick off Maddie's light. It tossed darkness over the house and triggered the small nightlight out in the hall to flicker to life.

I pulled Maddie's door closed a fraction.

Still facing me, he kept edging down the hall.

A lure.

Temptation.

Gravity.

My feet shuffled along the bare floor, and our breaths were shallow and too loud, as if they'd become an entity of their own. The air crackling though it was smooth and slow.

I finally spoke when we'd made it out into the living area with the faint illumination of the lights under the cabinets in the kitchen whispering around us. "Thank you."

It was the only thing I could say, the only truth I was brave enough to admit.

A gentle frown carved Cody's strong brow. "And what are you thanking me for?"

My huff was half awe and half disbelief. "For…everything. For putting that playhouse together and then going along with my daughter's imaginings. For making her feel…special."

"I've got news for you, Hailey…" He murmured it in that low, growly voice before he reached out and ran the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip. "Your daughter is special."

My heart nearly leapt out of my chest. Was nearly crushed. Was nearly freed.

I tried to shake myself out of the stupor, to knock myself out of the trance he held me under.

Hypnotized.

I jumped when my phone buzzed in my pocket, and Cody carefully watched as I shakily pulled it out.

Pruitt

You're going to learn what happens when you toy with me.

Alarm coiled like a snake, and a frown pulled deep between Cody's eyes. "What is it?"

When I found I couldn't make myself form the words, Cody gently pried my phone from my hand, and his eyes dipped to the message before they bore back into me.

"What that motherfucker is going to learn is that he can't have you, Hailey."

My throat was tight, and the fear I'd been running from erupted, breaking free of its barricades.

"I don't think I know what I'm doing," I admitted.

Cody tossed my phone to the couch before he took my face between two massive hands. He leaned in close, his lips a breadth from mine. "You're fighting."

I curled both hands around his wrists. "I want to be strong enough."

"You are, darlin'. You are. You've always been."

I gulped, and the air was too thick. Dense and heavy. Pulsing with that energy that in that second felt far more powerful than the demons that hunted me.

And his name rolled off my tongue, nothing but a desperate plea.

"Cody."