Page 20 of Cop-Off

People are staring. Stop freaking out and answer the kid.

“Uh, sure, Dylan. I’d like that. Snowcone is awesome.” She could feel the heat of Cody’s gaze on her, but she didn’t dare look. “How about tomorrow?”

Tomorrow was the right answer it would seem, as Dylan began bouncing on the yellow cushioned seat again. “Yes! Dad, can I? Can I?”

Cat still didn’t look at Cody. She impressively managed to do a whole scan of the Burger Factory without flicking to him as she waited for his deep voice to rumble.

“If it’s okay with Cat, it’s okay with me, bubba.”

Bubba? Oh god, he was killing her with this cuteness. That was it, she needed some air. Excusing herself from the table, she snuck out the front door and went about sucking in as much oxygen as she could. Maybe that would help her now very frazzled brain.

“Hey.” The next thing she knew, one of Cody’s hands was on her elbow and the other was under her face, tilting her chin up with a single digit. “You okay? What happened back there?”

Nothing but burnt amber held her in place. And not exactly helping her de-frazzle.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine. I-I just needed some air.” She winced at her own lie. For some reason, the way he was looking at her was making her want to spill all of her secrets.

“Try again, kitten.”

Goddamnit.

When she didn’t reply, he was the one trying again. “Please. Talk to me.”

Why whenever he was this close did her heartbeat make a very loud and abrupt appearance? Where was it the rest of the day...just chilling?

“I freaked out,” she whispered, still not believing she’d actually admitted that out loud to him. The man had actual magical powers.

“I got that, sweetheart. Wanna tell me why? Was it Dylan? You don’t have to go tomorrow if it’s too much. I’ll make something up to get you out of it.”

“No!” She was quick to protest. “It’s not that, I swear. I want to hang out with him. He’s a good kid.”

Damnit, that smile of his was at full wattage now, burning away what little sense she had left. “Then what is it?”

Fuck it. She wasn’t going to get any answers until she asked the questions.

“It’s just I, uh, I don’t know what the rules are here. Other than today, I’m not sure we’ve had an actual conversation, let alone defined what’s going on between us. Is it okay if I hang out with Dylan? Is there a certain amount of time you like to wait before you introduce him to girlfriends? Not that I’m your girlfriend. Or will be. Shit. This is all coming out wrong.”

Luckily, he put an end to her word vomit by covering her mouth with his. But he didn’t take her. Not the way her body was crying out for him to do. He just let their parted lips lightly brush against each other, capturing them, then letting them go, and repeating the process again. Every swipe of his tongue sending tingles down her spine.

She couldn’t take anymore teasing. She needed more. Guiding her hand to his face, she let her fingers run through his beard as she pulled him closer, trying to get deeper.

He let her take what she wanted, his own control faltering as their tongues tangled. With one big step, her back was against the cool concrete wall, a growl vibrating down her throat as she said goodbye to yet more of her senses.

When he finally pulled back, she felt like sobbing. It wasn’t enough. She remembered all too well what else he could do to her. What else he could make her feel.

Heavy breaths hit her lips as one of his hands went to the wall beside her.

“Just for the record, I like the idea of you hanging out with Dylan. Correction: I fucking love it. And I have no clue if there’s a set time when I’m supposed to introduce him to anyone, mostly because there hasn’t been anyone. Ever. As for what’s going on with us, all I know is that I want to keep doingthat. I’mtelling you now, whatever I have to do to be able to kiss you like that whenever I damn well please...I’ll do it.”

Lord have mercy.

It wasn’t long before his words managed to puncture through her lust-filled haze.Wait a minute...ever? Is he for real?That meant she was the first since he lost his wife. Or maybe he just meant girlfriends. Yes, that was it. It had to be. He hadn’t had any girlfriends, only casual relationships.

Before she could clarify, Zach was faking a loud cough next to them, forcing Cody to take a step back, just in time for Libby and Dylan to appear next to him.

“We settled up,” Zach announced. “Should we hit the road?”

Apparently, there was no more time for chitchat.

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