Page 39 of His Fifth Kiss

“No, sir,” Cord said automatically. “I just came out of the stables to head over here, and she’d saddled that horse completely wrong. I fixed that, and then she couldn’t get on her. So I got the stool. Just helping her.”

“Right.” Keith really drew the word out. “You know, I’ve thought about asking her out.” He looked back toward the stables, but Cord would not allow himself to do that.

“Great,” he said, the word sticking in his throat. “You should do that. You’re not related.”

“Neither are you.”

Cord looked up and found Keith watching him. He stared right at him. “I’m not interested in Jane Hammond.”

Keith looked slightly taken aback, and Cord pressed down on his attitude. His parole had ended eight years ago, and he hadn’t spoken to anyone from his former life since coming here, including his parents. Sometimes, the version of Cord who’d lived a much harder life than this one emerged, and he tamped him back into submission.

“All right,” Keith said, and the two of them got back to work. “It just sure looked like the two of you had something going on, that’s all.”

“We don’t,” Cord muttered. He kept his head down and got the job done, the same way he’d been doing for years now. He did glance over to the stables a couple of times, feigning the need to wipe his face with his handkerchief, as the temperatures had reached a high so far this summer. But he never saw Jane or Tucker return.

He told himself it wasn’t his business, and he agreed to be at Keith’s in thirty minutes so they could make the long drive into the city to see their friend. Then he got in the shower, his mind still stuck on the blonde-haired beauty he’d never let himself think about…until now.

* * *

Cord laughedwith Keith as they walked into the hospital, glad the intensity from earlier had disappeared. He’d decided he’d simply be more careful whenever he was around Jane, if he ever got himself into that situation again.

The last thing he needed was to alert Gray to his little, maybe-attraction to his daughter.

He and Keith took the elevator to the second floor, and the moment they rounded the corner, Cord’s heart sank into his stomach. Gray himself sat there, looking like the cowboy billionaire he was in a clean pair of jeans, a dark purple polo, cowboy boots, and a deep, dark black cowboy hat.

He didn’t look up first, but his brother, Colton did. “Hey, guys.” Colton got to his feet, his smile genuine. Out of all the Hammond brothers, Cord found Colton the most happy-go-lucky. He always had a smile and a quick laugh, and the man knew more jokes than anyone else on the planet.

Wes had always been warm and welcoming, and he was no different now, while waiting on a couch for his son. “Fellas.” He groaned as he got to his feet. “My wife and the kids are back there with him now. We’ll see what he says when they come back out.”

“If we can’t see him, it’s okay,” Keith said. He shook Wes’s hand, and Cord followed suit. Gray didn’t get up from the couch, but his smile felt kind enough. He’d been exceptionally kind to Cord over the years.

He nodded to his boss, his mentor, his friend, his father-figure. “Sir.”

“How’d things go with the new horses?” he asked.

“Good enough,” Cord said, words he’d said many times in the past. He’d learned that Gray didn’t need details unless things were really, really bad. Anything else went through Matt, and he would deliver any news to Gray. “She’ll fit in with the other horses as soon as Gloria gets her settled.”

“Great,” Gray said. “Keith, how’s your daddy?”

“Getting better,” Keith said. He sighed as he sat in a chair kitty-corner from the couch. “It was so hot today, and I think it’s getting to me.”

Gray reached over and patted his leg. “Get Gloria to keep you inside tomorrow.”

“Yeah, sure,” Keith said dryly. “My stepmom gives me special treatment. I’m sure she’ll do that.”

Cord smiled as he sat down opposite of Keith. “No one has ever thought she gives you special treatment.”

“Good.” Keith leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Because she doesn’t, and today was proof.”

Cord met Wes’s eyes. “You guys didn’t have to come. It’s a long drive.”

“I feel great,” Cord said, fighting a yawn. He failed, and that caused all the men on the couch to laugh, Gray included. Cord chuckled with them, adding, “I’m fine. Really. I’ve had way less sleep in the past.”

“Yeah?” Colton asked. “When?”

“When I was studying for my mechanic certificate,” he said. He never wanted to do that again. He wouldn’t have been able to do the assignments, the tests, any of it without Travis. The man had sat with him at night, reading the required texts with Cord and helping him study. Book work had never been Cord’s strong suit.

He’d earned his certificate, though, and he worked on all the machinery around the farm.

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