by Haley Travis
The evening passed quickly, as I had another beer, then another coffee. It was always awkward for me to watch men have so many rounds of hard liquor. My dad was a whiskey man, and he was usually fuzzy-headed at night when my mom wanted his attention. He was never good enough for her, and I don’t think he took care of her properly.
I always swore that if I found a good woman, I would do everything in my power to care for her in every way I could. Since by some miracle Lorena was apparently interested, I would be getting to work immediately.
As I openly stared at her flitting around the room, I caught the eye of one of my regular clients, Max, who waved me over. “Cody, I’d like you to meet my son, John.”
I shook his hand, smiling at the eager, firm grip of a man in his early twenties with something to prove. “John has been learning carpentry, construction, and everything right up your alley,” Max said.
“Dad said that you’re absolutely the best,” John said. “I would love to apprentice with you, if you ever need an extra pair of hands.”
“You never know,” I said agreeably, entering his number into my phone.
“I’m really looking forward to some hands-on experience with larger projects,” John said. “Call me anytime, day or night.”
“Will do. Thanks.”
“Interesting night,” Max said, looking around the room. “That new little barmaid certainly has a voice, doesn’t she?”
I nodded. “That she does.”
“Do you know if she’s single?” John asked cautiously.
There was no proper answer to that question. It was far too early to make any assumptions.
Max saw my hesitation and shook his head. “Son, I think there’s someone who has his eye on her, so best not to get in his way if you’re looking for work.”
John put two and two together immediately, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Cody, I didn’t know.”
“I barely know myself,” I confessed.
We chatted about tomorrow’s big rodeo events, and wondered aloud how some of the local boys would hold up against the seasoned out-of-towners.
Eventually I excused myself and went back to my stool just in time to have Lorena join me for her break. “I see you know Max,” she smiled sweetly. “He comes in quite often.”
“I know everyone, more or less,” I shrugged.
“What is it that you do?” she asked.
I laughed suddenly, a sound unfamiliar to both of us. “I guess you could say I’m a problem solver , ” I chuckled. “I used to raise horses on my little farm, but there were already a lot of great breeders and trainers around here, so I started a new business. Technically, I do all sorts of construction and repairs. But there are many strange old buildings that have been renovated over the years by people with questionable skills. I’ve become a bit of an expert at fixing shoddy work. I also know how to get things up to code, even when it seems impossible.”
I realized that was the most I’d spoken at once to anyone in a long while.
“Wow,” she nodded. Then her dazzling smile just about knocked me on my ass. “It sounds like you are literally holding this town together.”
“The buildings, anyway,” I smiled back.
She finished her lime water, then began cleaning up her station. Iris rang the last call bell, but most people were already trudging out. They all probably wanted to get their chores done early in the morning since they would be busy in the afternoon.
It was always amusing watching Iris walking around her establishment like the belle of the ball, yet running everything with an iron grip.
Once I’d overheard one of the regulars asking her why she didn’t have any security here, and she had snorted. “If I hollered for security, would you stand up?”
“Of course.”
“You and at least five other men. So I’ve already got security handled.”
Every person in the tavern had laughed at that, and it stuck with me. That was the thing about Sunset Ridge – everyone kept an eye on each other.
When Lorena was finally done, I led her out to my truck, holding her hand to help her climb up into the passenger side, and tucking her in safely before closing the door.
It was sweet that she scooted over to unlock my side for me, but then she put on the seatbelt in the middle of the bench, so that she was sitting right beside me. As we cruised out onto the road, it felt completely natural to tuck my arm around her. “You were amazing tonight,” I said.
I felt her shoulders twitch. “That was terrifying,” she said.
“But you said that you’re a singer?”
“Yes. I want to find a band and sing regularly. I want to record, and maybe even do some commercials.”
“Well, I’m hardly an expert, but I bet you’ll get some work,” I said.
“I just have to get over the stage fright,” she said softly.
I nodded, trying to think of something helpful to say. “I remember the first time I drove up to a big job that I wasn’t one hundred percent sure of,” I said slowly. “My palms were sweating, everything felt itchy and too tight, and I honestly didn’t know how I was going to get through the day.”
“That sounds a lot like stage fright,” she nodded. “What did you do?”
Squeezing my arm around her, I looked down at her pretty angel face. “I got the job done. That’s all anyone can do. You do the absolute best job you can, and you deal with nerves later.”
Lorena nodded. “That’s what it was like tonight. It was a job, so I did it.” Her hands twisted around each other in her lap. “Maybe that’s the secret. If I just look at it as a job, not something so personal, maybe that will take some of the sting out of it.”
“Exactly. You would never walk out on a job. You would never do lousy work.”
Her head snuggled into my shoulder. “Thanks, Cody. That really helps.”
As I finally turned into her long driveway, she looked up. “How did you know where I live?”
“Just before you arrived, I heard some chatter that people had been coming and going at the old Little house. This is a small town. People tend to just hear things.”
After I got out of the truck, she slipped out on my side. Holding her by the waist, I swung her down, and she instantly wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank you for all of your help today,” she said, staring up at me with those magical eyes.
My hands slipped down to her hips, pulling her against me as we both melted into the deepest kiss of my life. Her mouth opened slightly, inviting me inside. Before I knew what was happening, I had her pinned against the side of the truck, her delicious lips sending flames straight through me as I caressed her sexy hips.
Lorena made a soft noise deep in her throat, sending all of my blood south, my arousal grinding against her shamelessly. Tipping her head up, I brought my lips down her neck, kissing along the silky skin while she quivered in my arms.
“Cody,” she breathed, “do you want to come inside?”
I froze. Hell yeah, I wanted to come inside. But I knew that if I did, I would drag her to bed immediately. That was absolutely what I wanted, what I needed. But that didn’t make it right. I had to prove to both of us that I deserved her. There were far too many men in this world that didn’t deserve good women, and I could never do that to Lorena.
“I do want to come in, angel,” I murmured, “but I think it might be better if I at least took you on a proper date first, don’t you think?”
She nodded and I released her, taking her hand to walk her toward the door. “Hey,” I asked, “May I take you to the–” I looked up to see the corner of her porch awning practically falling off the house. “Jesus, how long has that been falling down?”
“Oh. Yeah,” she said, looking uncomfortable. “I was given my Grandma’s house, and nobody had kept it up for years. So I just don’t go on that end of the porch.”
“If that collapses, it’ll likely take part of the roof with it,” I said gently, not wanting to frighten her.
“Then you’re going to get water damage straight into your front room.”
“Oh,” she whispered. I couldn’t stand how worried she looked.
Wrapping my arms around her, I kissed the top of her hair. “Don’t worry, angel, I’ll take care of it. This is the kind of stuff I do every day. All right?”
“Thank you,” she said, looking relieved. “I’ve been saving up every penny for repairs, so I can–”
“You can supply coffee for me,” I chuckled. “That’s enough.” Kissing her silky lips gently, I murmured, “I’ll see you soon, Lorena.”
I watched while she unlocked her door, and made sure that she locked it the second she was inside, as she waved to me through the window.
Walking back and forth along the entire porch, I did a quick assessment in the near dark of what needed to be done. Although it was probably far too soon to be thinking of her as my girl, no girl of mine was going to live in a house that was falling apart.
Chapter Five
~ Lorena ~
It took me over an hour to fall asleep since I was buzzing with adrenaline. Not only had my first public singing performance gone phenomenally, but Cody was also definitely interested in me. Both of those facts made my heart pound, and I had to admit that the thought of Cody kissing me made every single part of my body tingle.
I hoped he didn’t think that I had been too forward by sitting right beside him on the ride home, but I didn’t want to stop touching him. After the hug that had turned into our first kiss, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to stop.
As I desperately tried to fall asleep, my mind became tangled on the one point that I couldn’t make sense of. I was pretty sure that he had been about to ask me on a date when he had suddenly become distracted by the horrible condition of my porch.
I hoped that he didn’t think less of me because of that. I really was trying. It was just going to take some time to get the money to fix up the house.
All night I tossed and turned, thinking of what I could do to make some more money. My head began to hammer, and I wondered if I was getting a headache. Opening my eyes slowly, I realized I was hearing actual hammering.
Grabbing my housecoat and sliding on my slippers, I tiptoed out of the bedroom to look out the front window, but it was darkened. Something was blocking off both front windows, and the door.
Approaching the door, there was a sign taped to the glass, facing my side. “Fixing porch. Use back door.”
Sneaking out the back, I came around to the side of the house to see Cody with two other men, bracing the fallen porch frame with a couple of huge wooden beams.
My front room had been dark because they had covered my windows and door with a thick gray fabric that looked like a worn horse blanket. I guess it was for protection so that nothing would chip the glass.
It took all three of them to slip the brace into place, so I stayed silent until they all stepped back safely. It sounded like Cody was teaching the youngest guy, pointing out every step of the process.
Cody finally noticed me, and rushed over to give me a hug. “Hey there, gorgeous,” he smiled, kissing the top of my hair just in front of the messy top knot. “Sorry to wake you, but that lift was a three-man job, and I could only get the guys for an hour this morning.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I didn’t think it was that much of an emergency.”
“They’re calling for thunderstorms next week, but I also couldn’t stand the thought of your house falling apart with you in it,” he chuckled, his hand sliding down my spine to caress my lower back. “I’m going to keep the original structure, and paint everything exactly the way it was. You’ll just have four more thick posts across the front. Is that all right?”
“Of course – whatever you think is best,” I said quickly. I was so surprised that I instantly went into work mode. “You take your coffee black, right?” I asked, as Cody nodded.
He turned to call out to the others. “John, Max, how do you take your coffee?”
I rushed back into the house, brewing the coffee quickly, and carrying out three mugs, one black, and two with cream and sugar. “I could bake muffins, or make scrambled egg sandwiches if you guys are hungry?” I asked.
“Thanks, Lorena,” Max said, “But we’re going to be grabbing breakfast in town in about an hour.”
“All right. Thank you both so much ,” I smiled.
I turned to where Cody was sipping his coffee. He was staring at the rest of the house thoughtfully. “The roof definitely needs to be replaced, but I think the siding could last a few more years with a few patches and a good coat of new sealing paint,” he said, speaking more to himself than to me.
“I don’t have a lot of money yet for building supplies,” I said quickly.
He set his coffee down on the grass, pulling me into his arms for a quick hug. “Lorena, when I first saw you at the bar, I tried to stay away from you. I know that you’re a sweet young thing, full of life, and I’m a quiet old codger who is already sort of set in his ways. I don’t know how else to tell you how I feel about you, so just let me fix the place up, all right?”
I leaned in to kiss him, but he turned his face away. “Not on a job site, angel,” he chuckled, tweaking my nose with his finger. “Why don’t you go in and relax, and I’ll knock when we’re done, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Hurrying back inside, I fixed myself a cup of coffee, then took a quick shower. I got dressed, remembering that I had to work later that night. The tavern was going to be packed after the rodeo, so I pulled on a sleeveless blue flowered sundress. It was flattering, but fell just below my knee so it wasn’t too saucy, and it covered most of my breasts, to draw less attention to them.
Styling my hair so that it fell over one shoulder in waves, I was just finishing my makeup when I heard a knock at the front door.
I came out to see that the windows were now uncovered, and opened the door. Cody grabbed my hand immediately, pulling me out onto the front lawn. The other men had already left, and as I spun around, I couldn’t believe how nice the porch looked already.
“Once I get the new posts and cross beams painted, and give all of the wood a fresh coat of white so that it blends together, you won’t even notice it’s been repaired,” he said proudly.
“That’s amazing,” I said, giving his hand a squeeze. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you enough.”
“Will you come to the rodeo with me this afternoon?” he asked. As I looked up into those dark eyes, there was something serious about his request.
“I’d love to,” I said immediately.
“I just have to run home for a quick shower,” he said. “You can’t be seen with me all covered in sweat and wood dust.”
“You can shower here, and I could make us lunch?” I said. “That is, if you have fresh clothes in your magic duffel bag.”
Cody nodded, smiling widely. “If you don’t mind, that would be great.”
He darted to his truck to grab his bag, then we went back inside and I gave him a fresh towel, pointing him to the bathroom while I went to the kitchen. Thank goodness I had picked up groceries the other day.
I heard his chuckle before he shut the bathroom door. “I think I just time-traveled to the sixties.”
“Hey now,” I called back, “people pay top dollar for teal bathroom fixtures these days!” I heard him laugh again, then the water started running.
As I made lunch, I also took a moment to pack my purse and check my makeup. I almost put on lipstick but stopped myself just in time. I didn’t want anything to possibly stop Cody from kissing me as much as possible. While putting on another pot of coffee, carefully running the water at a trickle so it wouldn’t mess up the shower temperature, I tried not to think about the naked, muscular, wet body on the other side of the wall.
Obviously, I failed completely.
Chapter Six
~ Cody ~
As we pulled into the gigantic parking lot by the huge stables
at the edge of town, I glanced over and was delighted to see how excited Lorena was to attend her first rodeo. I couldn’t believe how attached to this lovely young woman I felt already. After watching how she cared for everyone in the tavern, I shouldn’t have been surprised that she made us such a spectacular lunch, waiting on me hand and foot with coffee and her special lime-spiked water.
Racing around to the passenger side to help her out, I locked the truck then took her arm. I wasn’t sure if her quick upward glance was surprise or excitement. It was the first time I’d ever taken a woman on a real date, so it was sort of a big deal for me.