“My pleasure,” he said automatically, offering her his arm. As he did, he looked up.
Cordy was watching the two of them from the side of the building, her noodle dog on a leash next to her.
Guilt punched through Chance, although he didn’t even know what he had to be guilty about. And what was Cordy doing out by herself so late? Star Crossed Springs was a safe place, but still, anything could happen. With Cordy living alone, no one might know until too late.
“Evening,” he said to Cordy. He wanted to tell her to get back inside. He really wanted to march her up those stairs himself and make sure she was safe in her little apartment.
Chance wanted to be inside her front door when Cordy locked it for the night.
The realization had his expression going slack. Son of a bitch. He’d come out tonight to lose himself in someone and it turned out the only woman he wanted was Cordy. Who he absolutely couldn’t have.
Cordy inclined her head, her expression cool as the night air.
“Hi.” Pansy waved from under his arm. “I love your dog. What’s his name?”
Cordy immediately softened. “Thanks. This is Iggy. He’s the best boy ever.”
“Aww.” Pansy leaned into Chance’s side, her balance wobbly. “He is.” She looked up at Chance. “It’s so cute here, with people walking their dogs in the middle of the night.”
Pansy set her hand right in the middle of his chest. Cordy’s gaze flicked to it, then back to Chance’s face.
Cordy’s expression was knowing.Up to your old tricks.She wasn’t jealous or judgmental. More like she didn’t expect any better from him.
Chance put on his most charming smile, the one that reached his eyes after long years of practice. So she thought this was all he was capable of? Where the hell did Cordelia Johnson get off looking at him like that? All right, maybe his lifestyle wasn’t the kind that invited in kids and a marriage and a family and all that, but neither did hers when it came right down to it. He understood why she was trying to be that person—her baby had to come before everything—but she didn’t have to expect it of him.
“Very cute,” Chance agreed. “You ready to head back?”
“Sure.” Pansy wriggled her fingers at Cordy. “So nice to meet you.”
Chance nodded to Cordy, never quite meeting her eyes. But as he walked away, he felt Cordy’s gaze on him, as real and physical as the weight of Pansy’s hand curled into his chest.
eight
“You’re mad at me.”
Cordy tried to ignore Chance as he whispered into her ear. It wasn’t easy because her body did funny things when he was that close.
They were at birth class number two, huddling together in the hallway during the break period. She hadn’t said much to him tonight beyond hello, pretending to be absorbed in the discussion of early labor signs. Even now, she was jotting things down to avoid talking to him.
Not that she was jealous of him and Pansy Lawler—not at all. She knew he was a tomcat, and she had no hold on him. They had a platonic partnership, that was all.
No, the reason she had said little was because she was concentrating. All this early labor stuff was very important.
“I’m not.” Okay, Cordy’s prissy tone wasn’t selling it. She forced herself to laugh. “Why would I be mad?”
“Because you saw me go home with Pansy the other night.”
Ooh, just mentioning it made Cordy want to grind her teeth. Which she didn’t let herself do, because she wasn’t jealous.
“You’re not my boyfriend.” Cordy forced herself to focus on contraction timing.Ten minutes,she wrote.Stay home.“You don’t owe me anything.”
“You think I’m a ho.”
Something about the wordhocoming out of that cowboy’s mouth made her want to snort-giggle despite her mood. “I’m a bartender. I’ve seen things that would shock even you. So no, I don’t think you’re a… a…” If Cordy said it, she’d bust up laughing, so she didn’t.
“But you’re still mad.”
Chance watched her steadily. As he did, Cordy realized… “You don’t like that, do you? Having someone be mad at you?”
