by Sabrina York
He tipped up her chin until their gazes met. “Sidney?”
“I’m sorry, Ben. So sorry. I wanted . . .”
“No. No.” He shook his head. “That’s okay. I get it.”
“It’s not you. It’s me.”
He grimaced and said with a laugh, “Please. Not that old chestnut. Anything but that.”
She took his hands in hers, because she really hated this and hoped to make herself clear. The last thing she wanted to do was to make Ben feel uncomfortable or rejected. “I’m serious. It is me. There was this guy I met in high school . . .”
“Let me guess. First love? Can’t seem to shake him?”
“Yeah. That’s about it.” She pulled away and fisted her hands. “It is so annoying. Why can’t I just forget about him?”
Ben nodded. “Sidney, I can relate. I fell in love with a girl in junior high. She broke my heart.”
“But you’ve moved on. Haven’t you?”
He clapped his hand to his chest. “Barely. I still moon over Jenny Smith.”
Liar.
“I can’t imagine anyone throwing you over. You are way too adorable.”
“Ah, thank you. But everyone gets dumped sometime, don’t they?” His grin was crooked, engaging.
“I suppose. It doesn’t make it any easier to get over it though.”
“True. But high school was a long time ago. What is it about this guy that you can’t shake?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. It has to be some kind of chemical addiction. I get close to him and poof, my self-control evaporates. My mind is clear. He’s not good for me. But I just can’t stay away. Unless I stay away. Literally.”
“Is that why you left Snake Gully?”
She nodded. “It’s also why I can’t go back.”
“But you went back for Hanna’s party—”
“And what a disaster that was.”
Too late, she realized she’d let something important slip. Ben’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. He was at the party?”
Blergh. “Kind of.”
He stilled and stared at her. “It’s not Cade. He would have graduated before you were in high school. And I know it wasn’t Logan. That leaves . . .”
“There were lots of other men at that party,” she said in a panic.
“Umm-hmm.” His grin made her shudder. “But they all came in from Dallas, didn’t they? None of them were local.” He tsked and shook his head. “Oh, Sidney. Don’t tell me you’re in love with Cody.”
“I’m not in love with him. I’m not.”
Clearly, he didn’t believe her, even though it was the truth. It couldn’t be love, because that would be the worst thing ever. He shot her a sympathetic smile, patted her hand, and said, “You have my condolences.”
If only condolences could make it better.
Chapter Eleven
It was only natural for Logan to throw a party for all his friends, celebrating his engagement. It was just a small crowd, the usual suspects. Cody and Cade drove over together, with Cade behind the wheel, which was nice, because Cody wasn’t in the mood to drive.
He’d had a hard time focusing on anything since Hanna’s party. Well, to be truthful, since Sidney left. He’d hoped she would come to the ranch to collect her things, but she’d sent her father in her stead. It was then he realized he probably wouldn’t see her again.
He’d been convinced that when she said she was done with him, that she never wanted to see him again, it was just a moment of emotional distress. It had been a rough day for her, for all of them. But now he had to accept the fact that she meant what she said. He would never see her, kiss her, hold her again.
What a horrible thought.
Even worse, what she’d told him that last night really hit him hard.
He’d taken her virginity and then dumped her.
Fuck.
How did a guy get past emotional baggage like that?
“Why are you such a grump?” Cade asked as he turned off the highway near Logan’s ranch.
“I’m not a grump.”
“You are. You’ve been galumphing around the house like a bear with a sore head.”
“I have not been galumphing.” He didn’t know what it was, but he was sure he hadn’t been doing it.
“Oh, please. You’ve been a complete ass to Mrs. Billingsly—and if she quits because you hurt her feelings, I’m gonna tan your hide.”
“She’s not gonna quit.” Mrs. Billingsly, their housekeeper, had been with the family for decades. She’d even stayed on when all the rest of the staff quit the day the Stud Ranch opened.
“Hell, you even barked at Claire. And then you didn’t even respond when Claire barked back.”
Claire always barked back. There was no reason to respond. “I’m fine.”
“Are you?” His brother shot him a glare. “Whatever it is, you better snap out of it. At least for the party.”
Cody grumbled something, just something to get Cade to shut up. It didn’t work.
“I’m serious. If you ruin Logan’s celebration I’ll knock you into next week. Now, smile.”
“What?”
“Smile.”
Cody offered his teeth.
“A real smile. Come on. At least try.”
“I will.”
“You’d better.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
Sadly, this scintillating conversation was cut short when they arrived at Logan’s ranch. They pulled into the drive and parked next to the barn.
“Looks like Ford is here too,” Cade said as he put the truck in park. “And the Wilders.”
“Yay.”
Cade smacked him on his shoulder. “Come on, brother. Put on that happy face.”
And so he did. He arranged his features into something resembling manic glee and followed his brother into the house.
As always, the table was set up for poker, but for once, Cody wasn’t in the mood. He tried to be sociable, greeting Rafe, Ben, and Brandon with effusive delight.
He might have overdone it, because they all looked at him askance.
After their greetings they grabbed beers and sat around the table.
“To Logan and Hanna,” Rafe said, raising his bottle. They all clinked and took a sip.
“Logan and Hanna!”
“So what are your plans?” Ben asked.
Logan leaned back in his chair. “Well, the first thing on the agenda is the official engagement party.” He shot a glance at Cody. “Guess where Hanna wants to have it?”
“Where?” Some fancy place in Dallas, probably.
“The Stud Ranch.”
Cody gaped at him. “You are kidding, aren’t you?”
“Nope.” Logan chuckled. “She thinks it’s poetic justice, having the party where we, um, met.”
“Technically, you didn’t meet there,” Cody felt obliged to mention. Though he was delighted to have the business. A booking was a booking.
“I think you get the point without me going into any details,” Logan said with a smirk. “Point is, Hanna is insistent.”
“Well, we’ll make it happen,” Cade said. And then with a nudge, “Won’t we, Cody?”
“Of course. Of course we will.” And then, with the heat of a thousand suns roiling in his gut, he realized, if Hanna had her party at the ranch . . . Sidney would have to come.
Sidney would have to come.
Holy God. He would see her again. He would have another chance.
All of a sudden, his smile wasn’t so forced.
“You should be pleased, Cody,” Ben said with a grin. “Since bringing Logan to that party was your idea.”
Something rose into his throat. Lodged there.
He glanced at Logan. “Did you tell everyone about that?”
“I didn’t tell a soul.”
Ben grabbed the deck and started to deal. “Naw, Sidney told me.”
The thing in his throat swelled. “Sidney?”
“Yeah.” Ben sent him a truly wicked smile. “On our date.”
A buzzing howled in his head. His vision dimmed. His heart thudded.
“You . . . you . . . you . . .”
“You’re dating Sidney?” Cade asked.
Why the hell did he sound so fucking thrilled? Cody glared at his brother.
But the others were crowing with delight as well . . . and he had to break away to glare at them too.
“Congratulations,” Ford said, reaching over to shake Ben’s hand.
“She’s a catch,” Logan said.
“Pretty as all get-out,” Brandon said. “I wish I’d gotten to her first.”
Ben shot a grin around the table. For some reason, it landed on Cody. “Well, you snooze, you lose.”
“I always did like redheads,” Brandon said.
“She’s not a redhead,” Cody blurted. Her hair had more of an auburn highlight. Auburn with little flecks of sunlight blazing through them. And soft. So soft—
Ben shrugged and picked up his cards. “Well, she’s redheaded enough for me,” he said. And when Cody scowled at him he said in a prissy voice, “Shall we play?”
***
Holy fuck.
Sidney was dating Ben Wilder.
Cody could not evict the thought from his mind.
It burrowed its way into his cerebral cortex and burned him from the inside out. Visions of the two of them together, in bed, tormented him throughout the evening, resulting in some nasty glares at Ben, who—for some reason—found them amusing. Those visions continued to haunt him through the drive home and all night long.
He barely slept a wink.
When he came down to the kitchen table the next morning, Cade and Claire were sitting there with solemn expressions on their faces. The two of them were rarely somber, so it was a little disconcerting. Lisa, Cade’s girlfriend and the ranch baker, who was puttering at the island, shot him a sympathetic glance and then turned away. “What?” he barked.
“Sit down,” Cade said in a growl.
Cody glanced from one to the other and then did as they said. He knew these expressions. Something was wrong. “What is it?”
“Family meeting,” Claire said.
“Family meeting?” They hadn’t had one of those for a while. “What’s wrong?”
“You,” Cade said with no preamble.
“Me?”
“You,” Claire repeated, though he’d heard Cade the first time. “This is an intervention.”
What the fuck? “An intervention?”
“Yes.”
He frowned. “What’s wrong with me?”
“You tell me.”
Cody stared at his brother. How was he supposed to know what was wrong with them if they wouldn’t even give him a hint? He shrugged.
“You’ve been a real ass for months,” Claire said. “And you’re not paying attention to details. It’s screwing up the business.” She gestured to the sheaf of papers before her. “Look at these orders. You ordered three birthday cakes and one case of champagne for the Wellington event.”
“So?”
“It was supposed to be the other way around.”
Crap.
“And look at this one. You booked fifteen dancers for a party of ten.” She punched a bunch of buttons on her calculator as though the thing had annoyed her. “That is one point five dancers per woman.”
“They had fun.”
“I’m sure they did,” Claire said sourly. “But it’s not good for our bottom line. So now, Cade and I want to know what’s going on with you. Besides the business stuff, it’s hard for both of us, living with you, and watching you be so unhappy.”
“I’m not unhappy,” he muttered.
For some reason, they exchanged sarcastic glances.
“You might as well tell us,” Cade said. “Are you worried about money?”
“Because screwing up orders won’t help with that,” Claire added.
Cade frowned at her and then sent Cody a goopy, compassionate glance. “We’re here for you, Cody. You can trust us. Tell us what’s going on.”
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
Shit, his sister never had believed him when he prevaricated.
But it was so humiliating to admit the truth.
Too bad he knew them both well enough to realize they wouldn’t let this go. He had to tell them something.
“Okay,” he said, staring at the table. “It’s a woman.”
Silence fell like an anchor.
He glanced up to find his siblings gaping at him. Even Lisa had abandoned her muffins to stare at him.
“A woman?” Claire said, her eyes wide.
“I swear to God, if you laugh, I’m out of here.”
“I’m not going to laugh.” But his sister did nibble her bottom lip. To keep from smiling.
Cade shook his head. “I don’t understand. You never have women troubles. They fall at your feet.”
“Yeah, well, this one hasn’t.”
“Oooh,” Claire cooed. “Who is it?”
He glared at her.
“You have to tell us who it is,” Cade said. “Or we’ll just guess.”
Cody waved his hand. “Guess away.”
“Mrs. Dunleavy,” Claire bleated.
“Seriously?” She was fifty if she was a day.
“Not Tibby.”
He scowled at Cade.
“Oh, it has to be Porsche.” Claire, sure of herself, nodded. “He’s in love with Porsche, and Ford threatened his life.”
“Yeah,” he said, “you got it all figured out.”
He should have invested a little more sincerity into his tone because his brother and sister looked at each other and, in tandem, said, “Not Porsche.”
“Who else could it be?” Cade asked Claire.
“I have no clue. I thought for sure it was Porsche.” For some reason she glared at him as though he’d offended her by not falling in love with the woman of her choice. “This all started after Hanna’s party, so maybe he was in love with her.”
“Oh, yeah. I could totally see that.” Cade frowned. “Except he really seemed pleased that the plan worked.”
Claire frowned. “What plan?”
“The plan to bring in a hot guy for Hanna, so she’d realize Zack was a dud.”
“Everyone knows Zack is a dud.” Claire sniffed.
“Right, but Cody and Sidney cooked up this plan to force Hanna to see she was making a mistake.”
“She was making a mistake.”
“I know.”
Claire stilled. Her gaze shot to Cody. Her lips parted. “Oh my God. It’s Sidney. Isn’t it?” Why there was a look of horror in her eye was a mystery. It was hardly any of her concern.
He shook his head and looked away.
“It can’t be Sidney. She’s dating—” Cade broke off and stared at Cody with an annoying hint of sympathy in his eyes. “Ohh.”
“It’s not Sidney!” he barked. A complete and utter lie, but he had to say it. Had to protest, if only against his fate.
Claire scowled. “It’s totally Sidney.”
“Totally,” Cade said.
“Well,” his sister said with a huff, “that does explain a lot.”
“It does not!”
Cade nodded. “It does. And she’s coming to Logan and Hanna’s engagement party next week. Are you going to be okay?”
“What?” Cody snorted. “Of course I’m going to be okay. I’m not broken.”
But he kind of was.
Sidney was coming to the party, and she was probably coming with Ben.
Damn.
Damn, damn, damn.
***
“Are you going to the engagement party?” Ben asked as he power-drove chow mein into his mouth with his chopsticks. They were sitting on the floor in Sidney’s apartment on either side of the coffee table enjoying a bottle of wine and several take-out boxes. One of the benefits of living in this tiny apartment was that there was an excellent Chinese restaurant downstairs. And Ben loved Chinese food. It was yet another thing they had in common.
Since their date, they’d spent a lot of time together, just hanging out. Nothing romantic, but it was wonderful to have someone like him in her life. A pity she couldn’t make herself fall for him.
“I have to go. It’s Hanna’s party.”
“You don’t have to go.”
“I do. She’s my sister. Besides, all my friends will be there. I miss them too.”
“I get it.” He took a sip of the Malbec. “But you know Voldemort will be there.” That’s what they called him, he who shall not be named.
Sidney grimaced. “I know. Trust me. I’ve been thinking about that.” A lot. “I’ll just avoid him.”
“That’s one idea.”
“You have another?”
“Maybe.”
“Well?” She leaned forward. “Spill.”
“I’m still working on it.” He sent her one of his mischievous glances.
She growled at him. “Do not torment me.”
“But it’s so much fun.” He leaned back and winked at her. “I love tormenting people.”
She forked more sweet and sour pork onto her plate. “I’ve noticed.”
He chuckled. “You should have seen him flip out when I mentioned we went on a date.”
Her heart lurched. “You told him we were dating?”
“He nearly popped his lid. That guy is nuts for you, you know.”
“Only because I don’t fall at his feet.”
“It’s a new experience for him, I suppose.”
“Humph.”
For some reason, Ben stilled and studied her for a moment. “Wait. Are you afraid that if he bags you, he’ll lose interest?”
“I’m not a five-point buck.”
“You know what I mean. Is that what you’re worried about?”
