Page 34 of Cop-Off

“Girlfriend?” Jack puffed out his chest, clearly eyeing Cody with a new perspective. “You’re banging my sister?”

“Jack!” Both Cat and Libby scolded at the same time.

To Cody’s credit, he didn’t seem fazed. He simply turned to face her big brother and spoke in an eerily calm tone. “With all due respect, I don’t appreciate you referring to our relationship asbanging.” Cat stuck out her tongue as Jack shot her a look. “I care for your sister very much. Yes, we’re together. And I have no plans to let her go...in case you’re wondering.”

Yeah. Take that, Jack.

She resisted the urge to poke her tongue out again and settled on a smug smile instead.

“You love her?” Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “I mean, if you don’t plan on letting her go, I assume you two are in love, right?”

God, she really hated this overprotective streak in him.

“Enough!” Cat shouted.

“Yes, I love her,” Cody answered at the same time, taking the wind out of her perturbed sails.

What did he just say? He loves me? Cody loves me?

No. She must have heard him wrong. Her mouth must have been hanging open. No one was saying anything as she gawked at Cody, who was now moving toward her.

“Sweetheart,” he soothed, bracing his hands on her biceps as his amber eyes stared into hers. “This wasn’t exactly how I planned on telling you. But now it’s out there, I can’t take it back. I don’t want to take it back, ‘cause it’s the truth. I love you, Catherine Chloe Jones. I love everything about you. The way your eyes light up when you talk about the books you’re reading.How stubborn you get when you think you’re right. The fact you never back down from a fight. The kindness and generosity you show not just to the people you love, but to perfect strangers, too. The way you treat my son. The way you treat me. Hell, I even love your damn horse-riding jokes.”

“But it’s only been two months,” she lamely mumbled, her heart still painfully tight.

“It has. And my feelings for you get stronger every goddamn day. It’s kind of worrying, actually. Imagine what it will be like a year from now? I’m gonna end up buying you a fucking horse, aren’t I?”

“And a cat.” The smile she’d been fighting finally broke free. “Don’t forget the cat. I know you’re not allergic.”

It was Cody’s turn to grin now, blinding her with more than just those bright white teeth. “Does that mean I’ve not scared you away just yet?”

Jumping into his arms, he stumbled backward and chuckled into her hair as she buried her face into his shoulder. Folding his big arms around her, he squeezed tight, sending tingles everywhere.

“I’ll take that as anot yet.”

“Alright, lovebirds,” Jack interrupted, “shall we get on with this hike while it’s still light out?”

Shit.It was time. She slowly pulled back, Cody’s eyes following her every reaction with such intensity that she felt her heart pound in her ears.

No. Focus. This is Libby’s day, not yours.

“Where’s Zach?” In the corner of her eye, she noticed her friend swirl around, likely scanning the pathway ahead of them.

“He must have gone on without us,” Cat replied, dragging her gaze away from Cody, who was yet to let her go. “Why don’t you go on ahead and find him, we’ll be up there in a sec.”

Her friend simply shrugged and started back up the trail. When Jack tried to follow behind, both Cat and Cody’s arms shot out and they clung onto his shirt, holding him back.

Hiswhat the hell?expression was met with a glare, until he finally got the hint.

After filling Jack in, they all started back up the rocky path, Cat pulling out her phone to get ready for the money shot.

When they finally turned the corner, all the air whooshed out of her lungs. And it wasn’t just from the sight of the cascade of blue plunging down the mini mountain. At the end of the candle and rose petal-lined path, right in front of the waterfall, Zach was down on one knee and her best friend was clutching her heart.

“I knew the moment I looked into those big Disney eyes that you were the woman I’d been waiting for. You were the woman who would make me want to be a better man every day for the rest of my life. And I can’t imagine that life without you, princess. I want to show you every day how happy you make me. How much I love you. How I can’t live without you.”

Cat already felt moisture pool in her eyes as she listened to Zach’s speech.

“With that said, I’ve got a question I’d like to ask you, baby.” Zach pulled a velvet box from his pocket and presented a shiny diamond ring to a now sobbing Libby. “Will you please make me an even luckier man than I already am...and do me the honor of becoming my wife? Marry me, princess.”

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