by Scott, D. D.
“Yeah. I’m here. Sorry, honey. I think the boy’s tuckered out.”
Jules laughed. “We don’t have time for that anyway. We’ve got decorating to do.”
“Oh wait. The ‘Ole Boy’s coming back.”
Cody got a firm handle on his hardening groin muscle, keeping the blood moving by placing her hand along the shaft and showing her what he wanted her to do.
“You help me with those trees, and I’ll take care of him too.”
She shut off the water then tossed him a towel.
“Promise?”
He dried off, careful not to get the guy too keyed up. It looked like he was in for a long night before he got any action.
“But I thought since you were allergic to the trees, we were off the hook.”
“That’s what you get for thinking without my input. We’ll donate the real trees. I’ll call and get them picked-up for area shelters. In the mean time, you and I are off to Hobby Lobby for six, seven-foot or better artificial trees.”
“Hobby Lobby? I soooo better get laid for this.”
• • •
Naked with Jules, underneath the last of the six trees they’d decorated, and now basking in the aftermath of his Hobby Lobby reward, Cody was sinfully spent and cuddled close to Jules under a blanket.
Turns out she was allergic to evergreens, but definitely more than okay with all-things chocolate.
The Lover’s Paintbox full of chocolate body paint that Tulip had given him came in pretty handy. The sweet, sensual powers of the rich dark chocolate, creamy milk chocolate and the heavenly white variety too, along with the dangerously supple body brush, allowed them to create deliciously tempting and scintillating designs in the most interesting places. Using each others’ bodies as their canvases, Cody now had a huge respect for the Picasso types of the world. Reveling in artful indulgences of this kind might just be his new, favorite pastime.
When Jules had painted the hard and ready tip of him — tickling his skin with that wicked brush — he’d damn near come undone. Even replaying the thrill in his mind got him worked up for another masterpiece.
He looked at the glow from the fireplace in Jules’ great room and the gorgeous, twelve-foot tree they’d done together. It was three in the morning, but he couldn’t shut off his mind. Jules’ head resting on his chest, he played with her soft, silky hair.
“Are you asleep, Sweet Man?” She whispered, her soft fingers lacing through his chest hair.
“No, baby. What’s on your mind?”
“Where are you on the whole produce market thing?”
Cody’s stomach clenched. You’d think something that had been his lifelong dream would bring excitement and joy. But not the market mess. It had brought nothing but gut aches and turmoil.
“I found the perfect building, but I’ve rescheduled the damn closing twice,” he said, unable to hide his disgust with his indecisiveness.
“I wondered. You hadn’t said anything so I wasn’t sure if I should ask.”
“You can ask me anything. And even if I don’t want to talk about it, I probably should. Those kinds of things, I’d only discuss with you anyway so ask away.”
Another thing he loved about her, he thought, rubbing her sexy, solid shoulders. He could tell her anything, knowing she wouldn’t judge him or put him down.
“So have you changed your take on the penis food marketing idea? Or perhaps added chocolate to your inventory?”
Although ribbing her for her opposition to his and Tulip’s aphrodisiac angle, he took her playful jabs in the good-natured, albeit a bit serious way he knew she meant her criticism of the venture. He did hope, though, that she’d change her mind and give him the support he needed but would never push her for.
“Wait a minute, Cowboy. I didn’t say I was for the idea. I’m simply following-up on your progress. Can you really picture your life without the diner?”
Jules looked up at him, her eyes wide with wonder. Her skin creased between her brows like it did when something was bothering her.
“First, the only thing I can’t picture not in my life is you,” he said kissing her lips, feeling her once more melt into him.
“Thank you for that,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome. But as far as the diner, yeah, I can picture no longer running it. I love the cooking. But I’ve always wanted my own market. Although I can’t stomach Mom and Grams’ disappointment with my decision to sell. But I know I can’t handle both gigs.”
If only he had a bit of Jules’ bull in the china shop gusto, maybe he could succeed at both.
“I’ve got an idea,” she said, popping off his chest as if she’d had a full night’s sleep and was raring to go.
“Uh-oh.”
Where did she get her energy, he thought. Must be some byproduct of her crystal healing hocus-pocus.
“Yeah. Yeah. Roll your eyes, funny boy.” She laughed and thumped his chest with her fist. “Would you take Tulip and I through the building tomorrow?”
“Sure. I think I’d enjoy that. I’ll call my realtor to set it up.”
Not sure where this was going but knowing she’d never tell him until she was ready, he put her head back down on his chest.
“And let me guess, you’re not going to tell me anymore now, are you?”
“No. We’d better get some rest, though. We’re going to need it.”
What had he gotten himself into?
Crazy thing was, with Jules leading the charge, he couldn’t wait to find out. He trusted her with everything in him. If she wanted to run with an idea, he’d be right beside her, cheering her on. No doubt she’d do the same for him.
He was a lucky man. If only his luck and hers didn’t run out.
Chapter Fourteen
“So I want it all,” Jules admitted to Roxy and Audrey between bites of a cinnamon chip scone. “What’s wrong with that?”
Sitting in Raeve’s dressing room filling their stomachs before trying on Roxy’s latest collection, Jules searched for life’s answers along with new pieces to add to her closet.
“If you know what you want and how to get it, nothing’s wrong with your philosophy,” Roxy said while rolling in a rack filled with her winter collection must-haves.
“Are you happy with the way your life is right now?” Audrey asked, always the pragmatic realist.
“I think so,” Jules answered, replaying her day-to-day existence in her head, looking for anything to justify her response.
Pleased to spot several joy-filled aspects, she inhaled with gusto. Lucky for her, positive thinking usually paid-off. Maybe not perfectly, but at respectable and acceptable levels.
“Well then, that should count for something,” Audrey said, rubbing her small stomach that unlike Jules’ could remain a petite size despite Sweet Destiny’s delectable temptations.
“She’s right, you know,” Roxy added, filling both Jules and Audrey’s dressing rooms with the garments she wanted them to try. “And really, how can we know what our future holds?”
And she should know, Jules thought, looking forward to catching up on Season Two of Roxy and Zayne’s Reality TV dance show. As soon as the wedding was over, she was all about a gargantuan bowl of organic popcorn, a gin and tonic and some serious bootscootin’ on the tube. Audrey had recorded the episodes to use on Raeve and the saloon’s websites so Jules would be all set.
“So, c’mon, you’re killing us here.” Roxy yanked back the red, raw silk drapes of each fitting room. “Tell us how things are going with Cody.”
“He’s a good man. No. A great man. He’s loyal. Says he’ll always have my back. Says he loves me. And shows me that love every day.”
And Jules did believe Cody was a great man.
But she couldn’t get herself out of the ‘want to believe’ purgatory regarding the rest of his promises, even though he always made a believer out of her despite the persistent pain of her past.
“But — what? That’s exactly what all your ‘say
s this says that’ prefaces mean, right? What’s the big ‘ole but this time, Jules?” Audrey asked, not about to let Jules get by with less than a complete gut spill.
Not that Jules resented Audrey and Roxy pushing her for the whole truth. She was lucky to have great friends she felt safe with to examine her insecurities. And boy did she have some huge obstacles to believing anyone’s forever.
“It’s not so much a ‘but’ thing,” Jules said, looking for a way to describe the nagging doubts she could comprehend but couldn’t conquer.
“Personally, I think he’s got a great ass,” Roxy said then tossed her head back and let out a hearty laugh.
“I’ve told you before, Funny Girl, it’s not about a man’s butt, it’s all about his chest hair,” Jules added, not about to let Roxy off the hook without stating her preference.
“So Cody’s got that perfect bit of silky smooth, bury-your-head-in-me stuff?” Audrey rubbed her hands together in that ‘yummy’ way. “I’m so jealous.”
“Yes he does. Along with a fine butt.” And what Jules wouldn’t give to be cuddled up with both of his most fabulous features right now, although she needed time with the girls.
Between Sienna’s wedding, Sweet Destiny and Cody, she hadn’t spent near the time with them she wanted to. Their borderline sane but a bit neurotic takes on life always came in handy. She counted on their at-times-twisted opinions to evaluate her life choices.
“So what’s up with the no potty mouth trash talkin’ girl I idolize and emulate?” Roxy asked, a four-letter-word gun-slinger worthy of any quick-draw foul mouth contest.
“Tulip’s trying to reform me into a southern lady.” Jules couldn’t even say it without choking on her coffee.
“You’ve got to be shitting me?” Roxy shook her head then laughed.
“That’s a bunch of doggy doo,” Audrey added and giggled.
“Absofuckinglutely,” Jules said, borrowing her favorite Sex and The City Mr. Big phrase and earning high fives from her compadres.
“So back to crap or get off the pot.” Roxy took a stab at ladylike verbiage, but neither the words nor the diction were agreeing with her Manhattan-raised, cab-driver mouth. “See? It just doesn’t have the same impact, does it?”
“We want to hear more about Cody. Not your Mother Theresa-speak attempts. Don’t we, Audrey?”
Roxy walked behind Audrey and nudged her butt with the tip of her boot.
“Ouch. Yes. Whatever she says,” Audrey said, feigning injury. “Get your head out of your butt, Jules, and tell us something of substance so Roxy will leave her boot out of my behind.”
“My head’s not in my ass. Thank you very much,” Jules said, a bit annoyed they’d think that although she understood why they would.
No woman would even consider not firming up her relationship with a man as terrifically loveable as Cody Weiss.
“I don’t do anything half-assed and you both know it. I want somebody who can keep up with that. And Cody can. But I don’t —”
“Here we go,” Roxy flailed her arms as if “completely exasperated” was the charades clue she was acting out. “I don’t need a man to love me.”
Before Jules could answer Roxy’s sing-song-style dig, Audrey joined in the frenzy. “Don’t fool yourself that you have to have a man to be complete. I mean, look at Roxy. She’s got Zayne, and she’s still a complete mess.”
That got Audrey another boot in the ass.
The two of them were relentless, Roxy thought. And she was no fool. She knew exactly who was to blame for their textbook perfect Intervention. Aunt Tulip. Only the relationship guru of her family would have recruited her best friends to attack her with such good-natured and timely shoves into the love nest.
“Okay. Back off. Yes, I’ve never wanted a relationship to make me feel complete. And I thought I was comfortable not living the couple-dom status quo. But Cody has changed that. So get off my ass.”
Now she had their undivided, although quite shocked focus.
“I do need him. Yes. I — need - him.”
There she’d said it, out loud, in front of the firing squad — so the somewhat absurd notion must be true.
“Oh my God,” Roxy said, the wind blown out of her raucous sails enough that her words only came out in a tiny whisper.
“So let me just get this out before both of you faint and miss the moment,” Jules said, noticing Audrey looked like she was about gone too.
“I believe Cody every time he says he loves me. I believe him every time he says he’ll always be there for me. I believe him when he says he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. I believe that he means it when he says he’ll never hurt me or leave me. And most of all, every time we make love, I believe what he says and shows me with soul-satisfying tenderness and a hungry heat promising more to come.”
Done with her sappy soliloquy, Jules had Audrey wiping tears from her eyes with her breakfast napkin and Roxy still stuck in a stupefied, wax museum freeze.
Jules herself was in awe of her admission.
She’d been so happy as a little girl when her parents were alive and they’d been a family. But their time together had been taken away on a foggy, rain-slicked curve.
Why should she risk losing her heart again?
She loved Cody with that same fierce need she’d been afraid to acknowledge and satisfy ever since the accident. She didn’t doubt her and Cody’s love. She was afraid of what that kind of emotional dependence meant. Especially if fate once again dealt her a hand she couldn’t face playing a second time.
But loving him while she had the chance had made her heart, three times broken, now complete. Maybe she should risk losing him and facing broken promises. She trusted him, had learned to take comfort in relying on him, and had opened every part of her heart to him.
“You’ve always gone for it, Jules, like no one was looking, except when it came to love,” Audrey said squeezing Jules’ hands. “I’m so happy you’re finally following your heart.”
“Shit. Look at us. We’re self-made, powerful women,” Roxy said sucking up her perfect dancer’s abs and sticking out her ample cleavage. “It’s time we own it.”
A little, well, more than a little unnerved by her resolve to follow through with her love for Cody, Jules wasn’t sure of owning up to anything except needing more therapy. She didn’t have the stomach or time for the after effects of the liquid courage variety so decided on the retail option instead.
“Speaking of owning it. What do you say we get started buying Raeve out of inventory? This stuff looks fabulous, Rox,” Jules said.
Ready to do some major soul searching via her American Express, Jules cleaned up the aftermath of their scone soiree and headed for the dressing room Roxy had filled with her fabulous designs. About to close the curtains and survey Raeve’s treasures, she stopped.
She’d heard heels clicking against the boutique’s hardwood floors.
Looking up, seeing Sienna sashay into full view, Jules wished the curtains would swallow her.
“Am I interrupting?” Sienna asked with such a please-don’t-shut-me-out plea even Jules took pity.
“Sort of. But we can make room for you I suppose.”
Jules stepped out of her dressing room and crossed to Sienna, not oblivious to Roxy and Audrey’s befuddled stares.
Jules had seen the dysfunction of Cruz Control. She knew how lucky she was to have people around her — like Roxy and Audrey - to love and who loved her back. She may not share a biological connection with the people in her inner circle, except for Tulip, but Jules shared their hearts and always would.
Her parents’ love would always be a part of her too, something else Sienna would never have.
“I stopped by the bakery but your staff said I’d find you here.”
Sienna took off her Jackie O-style sunglasses and shook her head, her jet black hair, now straightened and sleek, falling around her perfectly copper-toned shoulders.
“Best be having a ta
lk with your staff,” Roxy said, flanking Jules like a mother bear protecting her cub. “I’d kill mine if they out-ted me that way.”
“I’m really sorry to intrude. Maybe I should just go,” Sienna said, her mouth no longer holding the perfect pout of her career-making images.
“No, it’s okay. What’s up? We weren’t supposed to meet and I spaced it, right?”
Jules knew better. Without checking her planner, she knew her schedule. But she wanted to put Sienna at ease. She was an important client.
Although, when the timing was right, Jules would be letting her know her disdain regarding what she’d done to Cody. Important client or not, she’d be damned if she wasn’t saying her peace on that front.
“No. No. We didn’t have a meeting scheduled. That would be Jacques who leaves me hanging. Not you,” Sienna said, her demeanor perking up taking in Roxy’s designs.
“Okay. Maybe there’s hope for you yet,” Roxy said then sighed. “Any person slamming Jacques is worth my time.”
“How very Zen,” Audrey piped in. “That will get you good karma, Rox.”
“Hey, Jules is the Buddhist, not me,” Roxy said. “I could care less about my karma. Trust me, for the evil thoughts I’ve harbored against that asshole, I’ll be some butt ass ugly, hideous animal in my next life.”
Figuring she’d better salvage what was left of Roxy’s charming nature, Jules turned the subject to Raeve.
“Have you been here before, Sienna? Roxy’s stuff is fantastic.”
“No, I haven’t. But it looks really terrific.”
“Well let me give you a tour then.” Audrey, always the saving grace angel in awkward situations, whisked Sienna away.
Once Audrey had Sienna out of earshot, Jules knew Roxy would be all over her. She’d bet her bakery on that.
“Why are you befriending that plastic porn Barbie? Buddhist or not, you’re nuts to kiss her ass.”
“I’m not kissing her butt. I’m doing the right thing, Roxy. That girl needs a friend.”
Jules couldn’t hate Sienna even though she wanted to for how badly she’d hurt Cody. After spending time with the Cruz family, Jules wondered if Sienna did some of the crazy things she did just to act out against her family’s unrealistic expectations and control.
