Page 9 of The Singer and the Silent Type

“Thank you,” I said. “I didn’t think it was that much of an emergency.”

“They’re calling for thunderstorms next week, but I also couldn’t stand the thought of your house falling apart with you in it,” he chuckled, his hand sliding down my spine to caress my lower back. “I’m going to keep the original structure, and paint everything exactly the way it was. You’ll just have four more thick posts across the front. Is that all right?”

“Of course – whatever you think is best,” I said quickly. I was so surprised that I instantly went into work mode. “You take your coffee black, right?” I asked, as Cody nodded.

He turned to call out to the others. “John, Max, how do you take your coffee?”

I rushed back into the house, brewing the coffee quickly, and carrying out three mugs, one black, and two with cream and sugar. “I could bake muffins, or make scrambled egg sandwiches if you guys are hungry?” I asked.

“Thanks, Lorena,” Max said, “But we’re going to be grabbing breakfast in town in about an hour.”

“All right. Thank you both so much ,” I smiled.

I turned to where Cody was sipping his coffee. He was staring at the rest of the house thoughtfully. “The roof definitely needs to be replaced, but I think the siding could last a few more years with a few patches and a good coat of new sealing paint,” he said, speaking more to himself than to me.

“I don’t have a lot of money yet for building supplies,” I said quickly.

He set his coffee down on the grass, pulling me into his arms for a quick hug. “Lorena, when I first saw you at the bar, I tried to stay away from you. I know that you’re a sweet young thing, full of life, and I’m a quiet old codger who is already sort of set in his ways. I don’t know how else to tell you how I feel about you, so just let me fix the place up, all right?”

I leaned in to kiss him, but he turned his face away. “Not on a job site, angel,” he chuckled, tweaking my nose with his finger. “Why don’t you go in and relax, and I’ll knock when we’re done, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Hurrying back inside, I fixed myself a cup of coffee, then took a quick shower. I got dressed, remembering that I had to work later that night. The tavern was going to be packed after the rodeo, so I pulled on a sleeveless blue flowered sundress. It was flattering, but fell just below my knee so it wasn’t too saucy, and it covered most of my breasts, to draw less attention to them.

Styling my hair so that it fell over one shoulder in waves, I was just finishing my makeup when I heard a knock at the front door.

I came out to see that the windows were now uncovered, and opened the door. Cody grabbed my hand immediately, pulling me out onto the front lawn. The other men had already left, and as I spun around, I couldn’t believe how nice the porch looked already.

“Once I get the new posts and cross beams painted, and give all of the wood a fresh coat of white so that it blends together, you won’t even notice it’s been repaired,” he said proudly.

“That’s amazing,” I said, giving his hand a squeeze. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you enough.”

“Will you come to the rodeo with me this afternoon?” he asked. As I looked up into those dark eyes, there was something serious about his request.

“I’d love to,” I said immediately.

“I just have to run home for a quick shower,” he said. “You can’t be seen with me all covered in sweat and wood dust.”

“You can shower here, and I could make us lunch?” I said. “That is, if you have fresh clothes in your magic duffel bag.”

Cody nodded, smiling widely. “If you don’t mind, that would be great.”

He darted to his truck to grab his bag, then we went back inside and I gave him a fresh towel, pointing him to the bathroom while I went to the kitchen. Thank goodness I had picked up groceries the other day.

I heard his chuckle before he shut the bathroom door. “I think I just time-traveled to the sixties.”

“Hey now,” I called back, “people pay top dollar for teal bathroom fixtures these days!” I heard him laugh again, then the water started running.

As I made lunch, I also took a moment to pack my purse and check my makeup. I almost put on lipstick but stopped myself just in time. I didn’t want anything to possibly stop Cody from kissing me as much as possible. While putting on another pot of coffee, carefully running the water at a trickle so it wouldn’t mess up the shower temperature, I tried not to think about the naked, muscular, wet body on the other side of the wall.

Obviously, I failed completely.

Chapter Six

~ Cody ~

As we pulled into the gigantic parking lot by the huge stables

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