Page 26 of Cop-Off

“Well, after, y’know...we fell asleep, and then...and then I woke up in the middle of a panic attack. We’re talking like full blown shaking, can’t breathe, actual sobbing kind of panic.”

“Sugar,” her friend whispered as she placed a sympathetic hand straight to her arm, “you poor thing. And Cody? How did he handle it?”

“He was...amazing. Like, truly amazing. He just snapped into action. He helped me control my breathing and calmed me down. Then he held me. And soothed me. And kissed me.Butthere were no questions. He didn’t push me to talk about it. Didn’t even mention it. Nothing. Should I be worried?”

Rachel slowly pulled her hand back. Confusion written all over her face as she asked, “About what?”

“You know...that the reason he didn’t ask was ‘cos he’s done with me? Too much drama? It was only the second night we’dslept together, and I wake up having a panic attack in his arms! I mean, come on, that’s enough to scare anyone off.” Just thinking about it was making her want to have another panic attack.

Another puzzled expression was thrown her way. “The second night? Do you mean...you two...last Friday?”

Oh yeah. She might have left out the sleeping with him on Friday night part to Rachel. Until now.

“Yeah, we did,” Cat confirmed. “And before you ask, yes that was also amazing. All the times we’ve been together have been amazing. That’s not the problem, the whole freaking out in his bed, in the middle of the night is.”

“Okay, we’ll get back to that later.” Rachel’s hands were becoming just as animated as her now. “First off, don’t overthink what happened. Remember, Cody’s a cop, I doubt you’re the first or the last panic attack he’s witnessed. And as for not asking you questions, I reckon that has more to do with him not wanting to upset you than anything else. You were in a fragile state, the last thing you needed was an interrogation. He’s a smart dude, he would’ve figured that out.”

Cat let out the breath she’d been holding since last night. That’s what she needed to hear. She knew Rachel would have a sensible take on it. And let’s just hope that her friend was right. The thought of scaring Cody off was scaring her. Which was yet another sign she was in too deep, way too soon.

But she still wanted verbal confirmation. Just to be sure. “So, you think I didn’t scare him off?”

“No, sugar. I think it will take a lot more than that to scare off a man like Cody McBride.”

I hope so.

“And the questions thing...do you think he’s just not gonna ask?” She was well aware at how needy she was being right now, but she needed reassurance.

“Personally, I reckon he’s waiting for you to tell him.”

Yes. That made sense. He could have been worried that he would trigger another attack if he probed her too much. She had to explain. Hopefully Rachel was right, and it wasn’t too late.

***

Cat’s hand paused in mid-air. Before she knocked on Cody’s door, she needed one more pep talk.

While she’d been stressing out at Fairy Baked earlier today, Cody had been trying to call her. When she finally pulled out her phone she’d realized, not for the first time, she’d left it on silent. And he’d left her two missed calls and one message.

Cody: I want to cook you dinner, kitten. You free tonight to come hang out with me and Dylan?

Of course, she was free and of course she’d said yes. But that didn’t mean her panic attack wasn’t still fresh in her mind. She’d already decided she was going to talk to Cody about it. But doing and saying were very different things.

Just as she was about to begin her inner ‘you can do this’ speech, the door flung open, a sexy smirk staring back at her.

“You gonna stand out here all day, kitten, or do you wanna come inside and play?”

Good lord, he was still in his uniform.Play. Definitely play.

She didn’t answer though. She was too busy taking in the view. Damn, the man was fine. Even the way those navy pants stretched over his muscly thighs was pure sex.

“You about done checking me out, sweetheart?”

“No,” she answered honestly, taking her time to drag her gaze back up to those caramel colored eyes.

Cody simply barked out a throaty chuckle in reply. Even that gave her goosebumps.

“Cat! Cat! You’re here!” Dylan came running out, only stopping when his shoulder crashed against Cody’s hip.

That snapped her out of her lust-fuelled daze. There was nothing like a small child to kill your sex drive.

---