Rumours
Page 26
‘Go on into town,’ Cody said after we’d been ensconced on our own for nearly a week. The only time we’d been apart was when he’d gone into Raysville for supplies at the feedbarn. ‘You can pick us up some treats at the Cowpie.’
I nodded, happy to have an assignment. My brain felt as if it was overloaded, and a mindless task was much appreciated. When I got to the Cowpie, I ordered a cup of coffee, as always, and then looked over the delicious array of snacks. I was surprised when Elsa handed me my French Roast coffee in a pretty red pottery mug, and I started to protest that it wasn’t mine.
‘Sure it is,’ she insisted.
‘But –’
‘Cody dropped it off last night. He said he wanted it to be a surprise.’
I smiled. I couldn’t help myself. My grin was huge. I’d done it. I’d actually managed to become a regular. And Cody had surprised me yet again – but I had something to shock him with, as well.
I didn’t say a word as I entered the old farmhouse. I just walked up to Cody and placed the Levee Road News on his kitchen counter.
‘Turn to page six,’ I said, ‘or rather, turn to pages six and seven.’
He did what I said and, when he opened the weekly, he saw the newest output from NUDE. It was pretty clear that I made out the first part of the ‘N’ in ‘No More Bush’. As Cody stared at the photograph, I thought of those men in the Cowpie on my first day in town. The ones who were poring over the most recent NUDE spread, trying to pick out the women that they knew.
‘There’s more than that,’ I said, and he glanced up at me. ‘It’s running in the New York Times this weekend, and it’s been up on CNN’S website, as well.’ My voice wavered. I hoped that he liked it.
‘You knew what you were getting into when you agreed to do the shot, didn’t you, Charlie?’
Had I?
Maybe.
He bent to kiss me. ‘And you knew what you were getting into when you decided to be with me.’
‘Did I?’
He smirked. ‘Would it have mattered?’
‘Well, maybe. Maybe if I knew you were the one who owned the movie theatre, and the cabin, and half the town. Maybe that would have affected my decision.’
He tilted his head at me.
‘I’m kidding, Cody.’
‘You know, I don’t think you’re all that funny.’
‘No? Then what do you think of me?’
‘I think you’re asking for a spanking.’
‘How’d you get that?’
‘From your tone of voice.’
‘I didn’t hear anything bratty in my tone.’
‘You don’t have the exceptional hearing that I do.’
He gripped me by the wrist and led me up the stairs to his bedroom. As always, my legs went weak, but I forced myself to behave. In moments, I was spread out on the mattress, my clothes off and a pillow under my hips to lift my ass.
‘Taste of the belt,’ he said. ‘That’s what I think you’re yearning for.’
Afterwards, he pulled me after him, across the porch and down the stairs, and we rode into town together in broad daylight. When we finally made an entrance, I saw Alden’s truck outside of Sheila’s house, sealing the deal for good. So that was that. Made sense, after all. She might actually be able to give him what he needed, while I could only play-act the role for him. It was the same way with me and Cody. He could give me what I needed, once and for all.
As Cody parked on Main Street, I realised that we’d be the gossip of the day. But that’s all we’d be. The gossip of the day. I understood that now. It’s what Mia had been trying to tell me. What Alden had tried to explain.
Without a doubt, people would be talking about something else tomorrow.
And, if things ever got really bad, we could always call in Joelle.
Coming soon from Alison Tyler:
MELT WITH YOU by Alison Tyler
Dissatisfied with the lack of romance in her life, Dori returns to her hometown with the hopes of healing her wounded heart. But the small town has changed: it is restored to its former beauty. And not only that, much to her chagrin, Dori finds she’s been transported back to the 80s!
She now has the opportunity to fully make the most of her teenage years. She even ends up dating a young teacher from her local high school. With time on her side, Dori not only has the chance to save her town from ruin, but also her heart . . .
Red-hot romance . . .
www.rougeromance.co.uk
DARK SECRET LOVE by Alison Tyler
‘I knew what I wanted – Someone who wouldn’t laugh or scowl or turn away in disgust when I confessed my darkest fantasies. Someone who had a brush, and a belt, and a set of cuffs and was not afraid to use them.’
A story of a submissive and her quest for the perfect dominant, Dark Secret Love is a modern-day Story of O with a kinky fairy-tale twist.
‘a sulphurous personal memoir of past sexual activities which put Belle de Jour’s timid exploits in the shade.’ The Guardian
The Uk’s leading erotic fiction imprint . . .
www.blacklace.co.uk
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First published in 2005 by Cheek, London
Published in the UK in 2013 by Rouge, an imprint of Ebury Publishing
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Copyright © 2005 by Alison Tyler
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