by Sabrina York
They didn’t understand. They just didn’t.
He had breached the final barrier between himself and Sidney. It was all smooth sailing from here.
***
The party that weekend was a welcome one, and while Sidney enjoyed all her tasks, she enjoyed them even more when she was prepping an event for her friends.
This party was to celebrate Diane Wilder’s birthday and because of that, Hanna, Amy, and Porsche would be coming. Claire and Sidney chatted about the activities they’d planned as they made the beds, dusted the rooms and inventoried supplies. Claire didn’t mention Cody, or her budding relationship with him, but Sidney couldn’t miss those sidelong glances . . . or Claire’s occasional dour expressions.
Finally Sidney couldn’t take it anymore. She sighed and said, “Okay, out with it.”
Claire blinked. “Out with what?”
“You know.”
Her friend sighed and flopped down on a bed, one they’d just made, unfortunately. “I’m worried about you.”
“About me? I’m tough as nails.”
“I know you are, but . . .”
“But what?”
“What is going on with you and Cody?”
Sidney leaned against the doorjamb and tossed the dust rag over her shoulder. “I should think that was obvious.”
“Nothing is obvious with you.”
“Okay.” Might as well just blurt it out. It was hardly a secret anyway. “Your brother and I are having a . . . thing.”
For some reason, this didn’t ease Claire’s distress. “A thing?”
“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.”
And she meant it. She wouldn’t.
Not unless he broke hers first.
***
Once the party prep got underway, there was no time for Cody and Sidney to be together, which was annoying, because he’d wanted a chance to follow up on this new phase of their relationship. But between Lisa and Claire, they kept her busy and, try as he might, he couldn’t track her down.
It wasn’t until the traditional welcome reception that he even got a glimpse of her. She stood by the bar, looking adorable in the server’s uniform, with black slacks and a white blouse with a jaunty bow tie. But every time he started over to talk to her, he got waylaid.
Of all the parties he’d ever thrown, this one was the most challenging, probably because of the caliber of the guests.
Or, perhaps, because he’d never been torn between his duty and his desire before.
This birthday party was for Logan’s mother—which wasn’t awkward at all, hiring strippers to grind on his best friend’s middle-aged mom. Fortunately, Diane had a great sense of humor about it. She’d invited a bunch of her high society friends from Dallas, which was thoughtful of her, because it could bring in lots of new business. And judging from the behavior of these fillies at the welcome reception, they would probably be back soon.
Cody tried to hide his grimace. He was all about finding new customers, but some of these women were a little too predatory. He didn’t mind if they flirted with his dancers—that was what they were here for—but, as usual, he’d made it clear he was not on the menu.
Sadly, some of these women hadn’t taken the hint. There were a couple of blondes, with big hair and bigger boobs, who’d been following him around the room as he welcomed all the guests. A couple of times they’d flanked him and grabbed various body parts.
Usually he had no trouble fending off inappropriate overtures, but with them attacking both sides of him at the same time, it became a tussle. He lifted a brow at a couple of his dancers, urging them over. They knew the score and swept in like the freaking cavalry.
His friend Brandon, who was dressed as an old-time cowboy—in a duster jacket, leather pants, and suspenders—sidled up to one of them and engaged her in a flirty conversation, while Andy took the other. While the women were distracted, Cody made his escape, heading over to check in with Hanna and Diane.
Diane, the guest of honor, was effusive in her praise, and he enjoyed talking to her. Probably because she kept her hands to herself.
The next time he scanned the room—surely not to see where Sidney was—he spotted her with
Brandon by the bar. The little hairs on his neck rose as Brandon set his hand on her shoulder and leaned in to whisper in her ear.
Now, Brandon was an amazing guy, a veteran and longtime buddy of Cade’s, so it was a challenge not to march over there and rip his hand from Sidney’s shoulder.
He knew he was being unreasonable, because the second Brandon had set eyes on Porsche McCoy, all other women had ceased to exist for him. In fact, Cody was pretty sure something hot and heavy was going on between the two of them, which made him happy, because Porsche deserved a guy who was head over heels in love with her. And it seemed that Brandon was.
And, indeed, when he shot a glance at Porsche, it was to find her glowering at Sidney.
He bit back a grin and shook his head, starting in Sidney’s direction, but again, he was headed off at the pass by another guest.
And yeah, it was annoying being a host sometimes.
He finally had a minute to speak with Sidney once the guests had been herded into the dining room and were enjoying their dinner.
“How’s it going?” he asked as he joined her at the buffet table.
“Good.” She waggled the tongs. “We’re running low on salad.”
He huffed a laugh. “I mean the party in general.”
She shrugged. “Great.”
He eyed her. “That wasn’t a very convincing great.”
“Some of those women are . . .” She wrinkled her nose and made a face.
“I did warn you,” he chuckled.
“You most certainly did.”
“The superrich ones are the worst. They think they own you.”
“Tell me about it,” she snorted. “Did you know one of them commanded me to drive to Dallas and pick up her sunglasses for her? She’d left them at home. Egads. What a tragedy. Some brand I cannot even pronounce.”
He tried to hold back a grin. “Did you?”
“I referred her to Claire.” Sidney offered a snarky smile.
“I’m guessing she didn’t get her the sunglasses?”
“Claire quoted her a fee that made it financially unwise to purse the sunglasses issue.”
“Claire’s good at that.”
“Isn’t she?”
“Hmm.”
He checked his watch. “The show’s starting soon.”
“Is it?”
“I have to be onstage.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah. Ahem. Would you be interested in a moonlight walk after everything’s done?”
Her brow rose. “When everything is done? I have a list as long as my arm.”
She pulled a paper from her pocket and he perused it. It was hardly as long as her arm, but damn, there was a lot to do. His visions of a romantic evening evaporated. He’d have to talk to Claire about overworking the staff. “You don’t have to do it all,” he said.
She laughed. “Yes. I do. It’s my job.”
Rats.
And then, he had a brilliant idea. “I’ll help you.”
“Will you?”
“Yes.” He’d never actually done any of the housework before, that had always been Claire’s department so, fool that he was, he had no idea what he was getting into.
After the party ended, and the guests trooped out for the Starlight Hayride, which Cade was officiating, he and Sidney bussed the tables together, put the dishes and the cutlery in the industrial dishwasher, wiped down the counters, took out the trash, and prepped for breakfast. By then, the guests had returned from the hayride and were asking for a late-night bar service, and so they set that up as well.
When everything was finally done, they skulked off to the library—which was at the back of the house and rarely discovered by the guests—and collapsed on one of the overstuffed sofas together.
It felt good, holding her.
It felt good to have no more work to do.
“Thank you for helping me,” she murmured against his chest.
“Thank you for letting me.” He tugged her closer and kissed her. She responded sweetly, so he supped at her, a slow, gentle seduction. Which worked . . . until she snored into his mouth.
Poor sweet thing. She was exhausted.
Then again, so was he.
He grabbed a blanket from the back of the easy chair and rearranged them into a more comfortable position on the wide sofa, and hunkered down with her in his arms.
It was hardly the hot and frantic sex he’d been wanting, but it was, no doubt, the next best thing, falling asleep with her in his arms.
***
He woke up to a poking.
It was a sharp jab kind of poking, the kind of poking that inspired a man to open his eyes and glare at said poker.
It was Claire. Big surprise.
She looked furious. Nothing new.
“What?” he muttered, annoyed to have his dream interrupted, annoyed to wake up with a boner and really annoyed he was alone. Sometime in the night, Sidney had left, damn it all.
“What the hell are you doing?” Claire hissed.
“I was sleeping.”
“Here?”
He lifted an unapologetic shoulder. “Sorry. I was up late helping Sidney. I guess we fell asleep.”
“Here?” She glared around the room and her frown darkened even more. “Why were you helping Sidney?”
“Because you’re a slave driver?”
Claire blanched. “Did she say that?”
He stilled. The hairs on his neck prickled. “No, of course not. But it was past one by the time we were done, and that was with me helping her. We were so tired, we crashed here.”
She stared at him a moment, her jaw working, her cheeks red, and then she said, in a low snarl, “What were you doing with her?”
He frowned. “Sleeping.”
“And?”
“Sleep-ing.”
She narrowed her eyes. Almost as though she didn’t believe him. “Nothing more?”
It was none of her business. And it hardly mattered. Nothing had happened. Sidney had been worked into a freaking coma for Christ’s sake. And, for that matter, so had he. He pulled the blanket over his head. “Go away.”
She ripped it off. “Jesus, Cody. Get up, will you? We need to talk.” She fixed him with a ferocious glower to emphasize her point. “It’s serious.”
“It better be,” he muttered, slipping from that warm nest of blankets. He hated to get up, but Claire would pester him until she woke up the whole house, he was sure of it. He followed her into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. He yawned and glanced at the clock. Shit. It was only eight. He wasn’t on duty for hours. “What’s so important that you had to wake me up at the butt crack of dawn?”
“It’s hardly the butt crack of dawn.” Claire sniffed. “Most people have finished half their day by now.”
“I work nights. Honestly, Claire. Just because something’s crawled up your arse and laid an egg—”
She surprised him, whirling on him with such savagery. “What the hell are you doing with Sidney?”
Hadn’t they been through this? He raked his hair. “Claire—”
“You know you two aren’t serious. You know this is just a fling.”
“I don’t know that.” It wasn’t.
“I do.”
“What I do or don’t do—with anyone—is none of your business.”
“It is, if I see you heading off a cliff.”
“Sidney is a cliff?”
“She’s too much like you, Cody. You both avoid commitment. You both are afraid of settling down.”
“I’m not afraid of settling down.” He wasn’t. Not anymore. He pinned his sister with a solemn glance. “What’s this all about, Claire? What’s it really about?”
She heaved a great sigh and clomped around the room a bit
before she said, almost in an undertone, “You were supposed to marry Porsche.”
What the actual fuck? Cody gaped at his sister. Where the hell was this coming from? “What?”
“You were supposed to marry Porsche.”
“Says who?” he sputtered.
Claire leaned against the counter and flicked a look at him from beneath her lashes. “We’ve planned it since grade school.”
Planned it? Seriously? “Did it ever occur to you that I don’t love Porsche? And frankly, she doesn’t love me. Have you seen the way she ogles Brandon?”
Claire’s growl undulated between them. “That is your fault.”
“My fault? They look happy together.”
“You brought him here.”
“Technically, Cade hired him.”
She ignored this patent truth. “You threw them together.”
“And this is an atrocious thing because . . . ?”
“Because you were supposed to marry her. We were going to be sisters.”
“Claire, you gotta be kidding me, right?” This was nuts. But damn it, she wasn’t kidding. There were tears in her eyes. He cupped her cheek and wiped them away and sighed. “Claire,” he said, holding her gaze. “I am head over heels in love with Sidney.”
“But—”
“I’ve been head over heels in love with her since high school. And finally, finally now we have something great. Something that matters. Something that could last. And I’m holding on to it with both hands.”
She stared at him as his words sank in. Her expression deflated. “But Porsche is so cute,” she said in a small voice.
“I do adore Porsche,” he said. “But she’s like a sister to me.”
“She’s like a sister to me too.”
“There you go. You adopt her and make it official.”
“Don’t be flip. I’m brokenhearted here.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Claire, but my heart is lost. And”—he nodded out the window where Porsche and Brandon had just emerged from his trailer next to the barn and were staring into each other’s eyes—“I think hers is too.”
Chapter Twenty
Though she’d been on duty the night before, Sidney was scheduled to help out with the morning trail rides, so—against her will—she’d had to slip out of Cody’s embrace and head off to work first thing. She was tired, but it was a good kind of tired. The kind of tired that stemmed from having done a satisfying, full day’s work and having spent the night curled up against a handsome, delicious man.
