33. Cody

TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OLD

THIRTY-THREE

The sun beat down as Cody hefted the wooden pole to place it into the slot between the two supporting posts. He'd been hired to put in fences around three pastures at Wagner Ranch, a place that had to be the most gorgeous property in Colorado.

Deep in the recesses of the woods, the dense thickets of soaring trees shrouded the area, giving it a quiet, secluded vibe.

He was already slammed for the summer, but he'd taken the project on, needing to stock away some extra cash since he was making his landscaping gig official. Applying for a business license and insurance and all that shit that would make him legitimate.

Allow him employees and expansion and a way to chase down those dreams that hovered just outside his reach.

Hoping to finally pay off his mother's house so he might one day be able to afford his own.

He grabbed the drill and began to drive the huge screw through the log to adhere it to the wooden pole, sweat dribbling down his back as he did.

He stilled, though, when he felt the presence.

When he felt the severity of those eyes that had been haunting him for the last two weeks snag on him from behind. Eyes that continually watched, peeking out from corners and peering through the expanse.

Crystalline eyes that speared him through.

He shifted enough to find her coming down the path toward the stables where she went every day.

Blonde hair braided into two pleats at the side of her head.

Not a lick of makeup, as pretty as could be, though she had that innocent vibe that he normally strayed away from because he didn't mess with that.

He romped and fucked and had a damned good time, but he had no interest in taking anything farther than that. He had his mother and sisters to worry about, a business to build, and he couldn't afford to get distracted.

And she looked like a farther kind of girl.

Besides, she was the ranch owner's daughter.

As off-limits as they came.

First thing the ranch manager had told him when signing on was to keep at least a hundred feet between himself and Douglas Wagner's daughter, and he'd heard the rest of the hands making jokes about the knockout girl that would get you lost in a shallow grave if you dared to even glance her way.

Forbidden fucking fruit.

Sweet fucking fruit, though, he'd bet.

He couldn't avert the power of her aura, the way it slipped through the air, infiltrating the oxygen.

She kept coming closer, though she wasn't alone. That chick Brooke he'd hooked up with at the river a few weeks back was at her side.

His stomach fisted.

That was a mistake.

She'd seemed totally on board that night, agreeing she wasn't looking for any attachments when he'd told her he was a solo-kind of guy, but he'd be game for a good time if she was interested.

He should have heeded the warning that spun at the back of his mind when she'd gone for a kiss as she'd been riding his dick in the bed of his truck. The way she'd pouted when he'd told her no. That he didn't kiss because it felt too damned intimate.

He'd had instant fucking regret when he'd seen her here on the ranch a couple days later, and she kept coming around, clearly looking for a repeat.

Guilt thickened his throat. He hated to be an asshole. Hurt someone.

But he'd been upfront and clear, and it seemed she was the one who wasn't being honest. Not with him or herself.

Brooke grabbed the other girl's hand, tugging at her and whispering something as she giggled, before she came dragging her through the field before they were standing on the other side of the fence he was building.

"Hey, Cody," Brooke drawled, no doubt trying to come off as sexy. Wearing the tiniest tank that barely covered her tits and didn't even offer the innuendo of it to her midriff.

She was gorgeous, no question, but something soured in his stomach when he looked at her standing next to Wagner's daughter.

"Hey, Brooke." He tried to keep looking at the dark-haired beauty, wondering what the fuck was wrong with him when his attention kept trying to slide to the blonde at her right.

"How's it going?" he asked, going for cool and casual.

Brooke groaned. "Terrible. I'm being a good sport and going out to the stables with Hailey since she thinks she needs to spend half her life with the beasts."

Cody took the opportunity to look at Hailey.

He'd never officially met her, only knowing her name by the mumblings of the hands.

"You like horses, huh?" he couldn't help but ask her.

He already knew she did. It wasn't like he hadn't been stupidly tracking her every movement over the last two weeks when she'd been out on the grounds.

He didn't know what it was about her.

What had him intrigued.

Probably the fact that she was forbidden, which was seriously fucked.

She was clearly innocent and sweet, the way she kept down casting that ice-blue gaze, her cheeks pinked, continually shifting on those dusty cowgirl boots.

He needed to leave it at that.

Hailey let go of a self-deprecating laugh. It was throaty and sounding of something that hit him entirely in the wrong way.

Like a low lash of seduction.

"I think you could say it's required of me," she said. "Formed somewhere in my DNA."

"I can see that," he told her.

"And I hate horses." Brooke wound her arm through Hailey's and tugged her close, trying to win back Cody's attention.

"You don't hate them…you're just scared of them." Hailey's voice was encouragement.

"Whatever you want to call it, just know I don't want to be anywhere near them, so you know I must love you if I'm willing to go out there with you." Brooke feigned a shudder, though Cody saw there was real affection for her friend. "Which means she has to go with me to the party at the river tonight. Are you going to be there, Cody?"

He'd avoided them since the night he'd hooked up with Brooke there, though he found himself nodding right then. "Yeah, think I'm going to be."

"Good." Brooke tucked Hailey's arm a little closer. "That means we'll be seeing you there."

Cody couldn't help but look at Hailey then. Take her in. The way she blushed and seemed to want to disappear into her friend's side.

Not a chance.

Because with that energy radiating off her?

She was the only thing Cody could see.

"Ma?" Cody knocked at the screen door just as he was pushing through and stepped into his childhood home.

It was late afternoon, and Dakota was home for the summer from college and would be at work downtown at the bakery, and his youngest sister, Kayla, would be at dance class.

But his mother's car was parked out front, and he'd wanted to pop by to check on her.

Silence held fast, though there was a disorder to it, the kind he always felt like a kick to the gut whenever he came in and his mother was distraught.

He had a sixth sense about it.

In tune.

He just knew when she was struggling since it'd been his job to look out for her. To take care of her. To help her the best that he could.

For so long of it, he'd been a kid, not really able to contribute all that much.

But that was about to change.

"Ma," he called again, and his chest clutched when he heard the telltale sounds of her crying.

The muffled sobs that she always tried to keep buried.

He followed them down the hall and to the bedroom at the end. His heart that felt like it was being crushed got obliterated when he pushed open the door to find her on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Ma." He was on the floor in front of her in a second flat, scooping her up and into his arms.

He sat down with her on the side of the bed. "What's wrong?"

She tried to hide the evidence. To swat away the blotchy mess that scuffed her cheeks raw, like she'd been at this for hours.

"It's okay, Cody. Just give me a minute." Her voice was hoarse from the sorrow.

"Not leaving you."

"Cody." She whispered it, slowly shaking her head. "You're always trying to take care of your mom."

She said it gentle, her eyes lighting in that affected way she'd always watched him with.

He squeezed her tighter. "That's right. That's what I'm supposed to do."

Saddened surrender filled her voice. "No, sweetheart, you're not, and I've been far too much of a burden for you. I hate that for even a minute of your life you thought you had to sacrifice. That you lost a day of your childhood."

His head shook in ferocity, his arms bands around her thin body. "Nothing is lost if it's given to you and my sisters."

A sob tore out of her at his words, his mother succumbing to something that Cody couldn't see. Something different than had been there before.

He pulled back so he could study her tear-stained face. "What's going on?"

Her mouth tweaked down on the side. "I tried so hard, Cody. Tried so hard to make everything work. To balance it. I'm so sorry."

Fear bottled in his chest, and the question ground off his tongue. "What does that mean?"

Hesitation brimmed around her before her shoulder drifted up to her cheek. "I have to let go of the house. I know this is the last place we had with your father, but?—"

Anger surged, not really at her, but at himself that he hadn't recognized it or realized how much trouble she was in.

"You told me you were set."

"I was…for a while. But with Dakota in college and now Kayla going in the fall…" She paused then said, "Something's got to give."

Cody gave a harsh shake of his head.

She'd been hiding it, trying to play it that she was fine without his help.

Little did she know he'd been saving.

"I can help, Ma. I have an extra five thousand dollars that I've stocked away."

Her bleary gaze traced over his face. "I can't accept any more money from you, Cody."

"Please."

She set her hand on his cheek. "Honey, you are amazing and wonderful and I'm so grateful, but that isn't going to be nearly enough. I need to let it go."

"How much do you need?" he demanded it.

"Way too?—"

"How much?" It boomed through her room. When she cringed, he softened his voice. "How much, Ma? I'm not a little kid you need to protect any longer. I need to know."

Her attention dropped to her lap. "I took out a big loan on the house a couple years ago. It fell behind and the house has gone into foreclosure. The only way I can recoup anything is to sell it."

"How much to get it back in standing?"

Her gaze dipped. "Sixty thousand."

"I'll get it."

"No—"

"I'll get it. I don't know how, but I'll get it." He pushed to standing and tipped up his mother's face.

Horrified embarrassment lingered there, like she was to blame when she'd given everything for them. "I'll get it. I promise."

Then he walked out, having no idea what that really meant.