Page 8 of The Singer and the Silent Type

“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.”

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