The Cowboy And His Baby. Sherryl Woods

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       Chapter Three

      For the past two days Cody hadn’t been able to stop thinking about his brief meeting with Melissa at the funeral. She looked exactly as he’d remembered her, her long hair a tangle of fiery lights, her body slender as a reed except for the lush, unexpected curve of her breasts.

      Even before he’d heard her voice, in that instant when he’d caught her to prevent her from falling, he’d known it was her just from the way his body had reacted to touching her. He had hated that reaction, hated knowing that his desire for her hadn’t waned at all despite the months of self-imposed exile. That seemed like the cruelest sort of punishment.

      Late that night after the funeral he’d been pacing downstairs when his father had come out of his office and caught him. Harlan had guessed right off that his agitation had to do with Melissa, though he’d been uncommonly cautious in broaching the subject.

      “I thought I saw Melissa at the church today,” Harlan had said casually after he’d pulled Cody into his office and they were both seated in comfortable leather chairs in front of a blazing fire, glasses of whiskey in hand. At the reference to Melissa, Cody had put his aside without tasting it. He’d feared if he got started, he’d never stop.

      “She was there,” he’d conceded, his voice tight.

      “Did you get a chance to talk to her?”

      “We have nothing to say to each other.”

      “I see,” Harlan said. He’d let the silence build for a bit, taking a sip of his drink before adding nonchalantly, “I heard she’s been working at Dolan’s Drugstore, running the soda fountain for Eli. Doing a good job, too. Eli says business is up. The kids are hanging out there again instead of driving to the fast-food place out on the highway.”

      Cody hadn’t even acknowledged the information. He’d just tucked it away for later consideration. Ever since, he’d been considering what to do about it.

      He could drive into town, march into Dolan’s and confront Melissa about what she’d done to him, something he probably should have done the very night he’d found her with Brian. He could raise the kind of ruckus that would be the talk of the town for the next year. It would go into the textbook of Cody Adams lore that had begun when he was barely into puberty. If half the tales had been true, he would have worn himself out by the time he was twenty.

      Sighing, he conceded he couldn’t see much point to adding another wild exploit to his reputation. A scene would only rake up old news, embarrass Melissa—not that he cared much about that—and tell anyone with half a brain that Cody wasn’t over her. Otherwise, why would he bother to stir up the cold ashes of their very dead relationship?

      No, for the sake of his own pride if nothing else, it was better to stay the hell away from town. He repeated the advice to himself like a mantra, over and over, until he should have gotten it right.

      Even as his old red pickup sped toward town late Tuesday morning, he was muttering it to himself, swearing that he’d have lunch with Luke and Jordan at Rosa’s Mexican Café, then turn right around and go back to White Pines. A couple of beers and a plate of Rosa’s spiciest food would wipe all thoughts of Melissa straight out of his head.

      Unfortunately he hadn’t counted on his brothers getting into the act. He’d been certain that they would leave the subject of his love life alone. He hadn’t counted on the fact that both of them were now happily married and apparently intent on seeing that he took the plunge, too.

      “Hey, Cody, why don’t you drop by Dolan’s as long as you’re in town?” Jordan suggested after they’d eaten. He said it with all the innocence of Harlan at his matchmaking best.

      “Any particular reason I should?” he inquired, refusing to fall into Jordan’s trap.

      He lifted the cold bottle of beer to his lips and took a long, slow drink just to show how unaffected he was by the prospect of seeing Melissa, whom Jordan clearly knew worked at Dolan’s. This was probably the whole reason his brothers had suggested meeting in town in the first place rather than gathering at White Pines. They’d been plotting behind his back to try to force a reunion between Cody and his ex-lover.

      “They still have the best milk shakes in the whole state of Texas,” Luke chimed.

      “We’ve just eaten enough food to stuff a horse,” Cody stated flatly.

      Luke and Jordan exchanged a look.

      “Worried about your handsome figure?” Luke taunted.

      Cody scowled at his oldest brother’s nonsense. “No.”

      Luke went on as if he’d never spoken. “Because if that’s it, I’m sure they have diet sodas in there, served up by the sweetest gal in all of Texas, or so I hear.”

      “I don’t want a milk shake. I don’t want a diet soda. There is nothing that drugstore has that I want,” he said pointedly, scowling first at Luke and then at Jordan.

      “Sounds to me like a man who’s protesting too much,” Jordan observed. “What does it sound like to you, Lucas?”

      “Definitely a man who’s СКАЧАТЬ