Cody knew that wasn’t true, but he wasn’t going to call her out on it. From the way she’d described the court case, it sounded like she’d fled town with just the clothes onherback.
“I can take her over to Franklin’s,”hesaid.
“Great,” Madison replied. “I’m going to grab a quick nap whileyou’reout.”
“If you need anything else, let me know,” Cody said before turning to Abby. “Ready?”
“I can’t wait to get out of this suit,”shesaid.
He bit back a dirty comment. He’d seen enough last night to want to get her out of anything sheputon.
As they drove into town, he watched her out of the corner of his eye. The delicate slope of her nose gave her a beautiful profile. Everything about her called to him. He couldn’t decide who wanted her more—him orhisbear.
The creature hadn’t stopped leaping around in his chest all morning. He’d crunched on a couple of antacids, but it hadn’t been enough. What he really needed to do was let his bear run it off. Sometimes that was the only way to calmhimdown.
“I’m excited to see the town during the day,” Abby said, speaking for the first time since they’d left theB&B.
“You should have seen it during Christmas. The decorations committee really went all outthisyear.”
“I bet it was beautiful,” she said. “There’s still so much snow. We don’t get much in Dallas, and what we do get usually melts thenextday.”
“It won’t melt here until closer to May. You get used to it after a while,” he said, intentionally keeping the conversation as neutral aspossible.
He’d considered apologizing for putting her in such a compromising position the previous night, but had decided to let it go. Since he didn’t intend to invite her to the hot tub again, it would be pointless to bring it up. In a week she’d be gone. Only a fool would try to start a relationship under thesecircumstances.
“Do you want to shop for clothes first or paint?” heasked.
“Clothes.”
“Franklin’s and the general store are next to each other. I’ll wander around in there while you find something to wear. Take your time. They have some new tack I want to check out for the horses,”hesaid.
“Sounds good.” She jumped out of the truck and walked toward him. “Hey, thanks for not making things weirdtoday.”
“I’m sorry about last night. I had no idea they werecoming.”
“I hope they don’t think I’m a wild party girl or something,”shesaid.
“I highly doubt it,” he chuckled. “Don’t worry, my family is very laid back. They won’t hold itagainstyou.”
“That’s arelief.”
A smile spread across her face, illuminating her cheeks with a healthy glow. A bolt of desire zigzagged down his spine. God, she was stunning. A classic beauty, like the women in centuries-old paintings. If he’d had a lick of artistic skill in his body, he’d want to commit her to canvas. He had to force himself tolookaway.
“I’ll see you in a bit,”hesaid.
“I won’t take too long. I don’t want to take up too much of your day,”shesaid.
He stood rooted in place until she’d disappeared into Franklin’s. As much as he wanted to deny the effect she was having on him, he couldn’t. If he wasn’t careful, she’d leave a wake of heartbreak behind her large enough todrownhim.
Chapter4
After purchasingfour pairs of jeans, three sweaters, a fluffy down jacket, and a pair of proper winter boots, she hauled the packages through the door and into the general store. She had to find Cody before her arms fell off. She’d spent far too much time pushing a pencil around and didn’t have an ounce of muscular strength—unlikeCody.
God,thosearms.
She could still feel them wrapped around her body. And when she closed her eyes, the sensation of his tongue gliding over hers sent tingles into places she didn’t want to think about. She needed to stay focused. Today was supposed to be about doing something forherself.
“Can I help you with those?” Cody stepped out from behind a rack ofbackpacks.
