Pretty Face (6 page)

“Nana?” Hunter perked up at the familiar word. “Sage calls her grandmother Nana.”

Quickly, Cody added, “Actually, this is my great-grandmother. Many people use the word nana in this part of the world.”

He took another spoonful. “This is ambrosia. I’m not sure what they were making in Colorado, but it wasn’t this.”

A bit of pride filled Cody’s heart. “I enjoy cooking Cajun, Creole, and Tex-Mex. It relaxes me.”

“Sage has told me all about the cuisine here. Louisiana cooking was one of the things I was looking forward to about the visit.” He took another bite, wondering if his trip was in vain. “She used to drive me insane telling me what she was cooking for dinner.”

Cody decided she would cook for him while he was here. “Well, I have to eat every day. Why don’t you just plan on joining me or taking a plate home every night? I’d enjoy having someone to cook for.”

“You’re very generous.” Hunter sipped some tea she’d prepared, the way she’d looked in that wet dress never far from his thoughts.

“Do you mind if I put on some music?” She thought it might take the pressure off them having to think of something to say.

“Sure, what kind of music do you like?”

Cody opened up. “I love jazz.”

So had Sage, he remembered.

“Of course, everyone does down here. Louisiana is famous for their soulful blues and spicy zydeco.” Immediately the air was full of a catchy tune with an engaging rhythm. “Do you dance?”

Hunter shook his head, that sexy mane of hair sliding over his shoulders. It was longer than the last picture she’d seen of him. “No, I stick pretty close to home.”

“I enjoy it, I don’t do it often but occasionally my girlfriends and I go to this club where they feature local bands.”

The idea of Cody and her perfect little body gyrating to the beat made Hunter hot with desire. Damn, he had to get a handle on this feeling. He was here for Sage. “I bet you have a good time.”

“Yea, I do.” She’d even been known to dance with a man or two if the club was dark enough to hide the details of her face. “Want to try?” Cody had no idea what came over her, but this seemed like the best excuse she’d ever have to get to touch him. Couldn’t blame a girl for trying.

Hunter almost said no, but her hopeful expression did something to him. “You’ll have to show me how.”

“No problem, I’m an expert,” she joked. Pushing the chairs and table to one side, they made room. She held out her hand and he took it. Standing next to him made her heart pound. So many times they’d fantasized about the first moment they’d meet. How they would act. The thrill of their first touch, the first kiss. Hunter would tell her how he planned to take her in his arms, push her against the door and run his hands up her thighs, aiming for the soft place between her legs that got wet every time she thought about him. Now, here she was. It wasn’t the same—there’d be no first kiss, no erotic play. But she could touch him.

“I don’t know the steps,” Hunter said as he pulled her close, her small hand in his. His palm settled just below her waist.

“They’re easy.” She took it slow. “Follow me. Slow, quick, quick. Eight beats, two mirrored beats of four. Shift your weight and turn.” It wasn’t hard, Hunter had natural rhythm, and soon he started leading. “That’s right, you’ve got it, you’re a natural.”

“This is fun. Thanks, I needed it.” He even twirled her around, and she gasped when Hunter held her even closer.

Instead of looking him in the face, she kept her head down on the pretense of watching their feet. Truth was, she just couldn’t handle his direct gaze into her face.

“Look up at me,” he spoke out of nowhere.

Was he a mind reader? Shyly, she did, but only about halfway.

“Don’t be so shy, I won’t bite.”

“It would be easier if it were dark,” she confessed.

“Dark, you dance better in the dark?” His tone was light.

“My partner has a better view in the dark.” Since honesty wasn’t necessarily her policy, Cody was surprised at her own candor.

Hunter didn’t immediately understand her self-deprecation. When he did, he didn’t like it. “Nonsense.” Her scar was noticeable and it bothered him because it appeared to be deep. The corner of her eye was pulled down just the slightest bit. At first, it was all he could see when he looked at her face but now he was more apt to notice how big and pretty her eyes were or how soft her lips looked. “Any man would enjoy dancing with you.”

That was all Cody could handle. “Would you like dessert? I have pralines.” She pulled out of his arms, turning away to pick up a dish off the table, holding it out to Hunter.

“Sure, thanks.” He took one of the delicacies and placed it in his mouth. He could see she was uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Waving her hand, she dismissed the idea. “Oh, you didn’t.”

Trying to gain back her favor, he changed the subject. “Tell me about your teaching job.”

Taking a deep breath, Cody settled back in her chair, pouring them both some more tea. “I was one of those kids who buried themselves in a book. I graduated early and lived in the lab. I’ve had a few articles published and made a few minor discoveries in the field of quantum mechanics.” Giving him a slight smile, she finished, “I’m head of the department.”

Hunter was floored. “My God, I took you for a teacher’s assistant. You’re a PhD!”

Cody laughed. “You say that like it’s a communicable disease.”

“Sorry, you just shocked me.” He stood up. “You don’t look like a doctor, you look like a…” He was at a loss for words.

“You don’t have to finish that thought,” she told him quickly, picking up their dishes and placing them in a basket to take care of later.

Hunter could tell he had offended her. “I was going to say you looked like a regular girl.”

“Oh.” She glanced at him. “Well, I suppose that’s understandable.”

“Thanks for the dance.” Hunter took her hand. “I was wrong, Cody. You’re not regular, you’re extraordinary.”

Her heart racing so fast, she felt dizzy. Cody accepted his caress. “You’re very kind.” She looked up into his face and his eyes met hers. He looked down at her mouth, then back up into her eyes. Slowly, he lowered his head…

Hunter was about to kiss her! Her! Of their own volition, her lips parted and she felt her body being drawn toward his. The anticipation was almost more than she could bear.

Lips would touch lips.

Breaths would mingle.

Her nipples would be pressed to his chest.

“Hunter.” She sighed, going up on tiptoe, offering him her kiss.

Hunter wanted the kiss so much. It had been two years since he’d felt a woman’s body next to his. Two years since he'd felt a woman’s lips. Two years since his cock had had any relief other than by his own hand. Sage. Sage. God! What the hell did he think he was doing?

“Sorry,” he blurted, backing up so fast he almost tripped. “I’ve got to work.” With that, he almost bolted to the kitchen.

“Well, foot,” Cody whispered, tears fast welling in her eyes. “That was close.”

Hunter stood in the kitchen trying to compose himself. He was shaken, hard, and horny. And not for the woman he’d come to claim for his own, but for someone else entirely. Feeling guilty, he picked up his crowbar and took his frustrations out on innocent wood and tile.

When it was time to go, he didn’t go tell Cody. There was nothing for her to approve. He’d only succeeded in clearing out the old to make way for the new. During the drive home, he tried to call Sage but there was no answer.

He tried again that night, more of the same.

She wasn’t on Facebook either.

Disgusted with himself and with her, Hunter went to bed and tried not to dream.

Hunter came early and worked hard. He began by framing the cabinets and cutting out the doors. Her preference was for clean lines and since there wasn’t a lot of router work, things would go fairly fast.

He’d rented a table saw and set it up outside. Mainly to avoid a pile-up of sawdust on the floor and in the air, but also to avoid his pretty little client while he tried to get a handle on how she made him feel. Sage had avoided him last night and to say he was teed off about it was putting it mildly. How could she ignore him like this? After all they’d meant to one another, he just didn’t understand it.

But he loved her, and you gave people you loved the benefit of the doubt.

When he stepped near a window, he could smell something out of this world. It was spicy enough to make his nose twitch and he bet it’d taste as good as it smelled.

About eleven the front door opened. “I have to go to class in a little over an hour. Would you like to knock off early and have lunch? I made jambalaya.” The way she said the last word was meant to tease—she used a lilt to her voice that made him take notice. God, sometimes she sounded just like Sage. This Louisiana accent must be prevalent.

“You bet, I’m hungry.”

He dusted himself off and went inside to the dining table. She had already filled a plate with a meat filled rice dish and crusty bread for him. Hunter tried not to notice, but Cody was cute in a slim skirt, a frilly white blouse and high heels. When she bent over to turn off the slow cooker, he almost groaned. God, how much he’d love to trace the curve of her ass with his palms.

What kind of man was he? He was cheating on the woman he loved as sure as shooting. But what was he to do? He was only human. Clearing his throat, he sat down, calming himself. Sage had promised to see him and he had to have faith.

“Tell me about your life in Colorado,” she spoke, joining him at the table, her voice carefully modulated, her face expressionless. Since she’d thrown herself at him yesterday and he’d run like a scalded tomcat, Cody had made a vow to keep her hands, lips, and emotions to herself. After he’d gone yesterday, she’d thrown herself on the bed and cried like a baby.

“Not much to tell.” He was being truthful. “My life pretty much consists of work and sleep. I have a few friends that I have a beer with occasionally, but my girlfriend is here. Most of my free time was spent with her online.”

Cody wished she hadn’t asked. “My life isn’t as exciting as yours, I’m afraid. My two best friends live in other parts of the state. Teaching takes up quite a bit of time, as does my lab work. I enjoy that most of all, I think.”

He took another bike. “Damn, this is good. I love the sausage.”

“Andouille.” She explained primly.

“Tell me what you’re working on in the lab.”

Cody was surprised. He seemed relaxed with her, like he’d made some type of decision to stop worrying. She hoped that was the case. “How much do you know about quantum mechanics, wormholes and the theory of relativity?”

“Only what I learned in the movie
Interstellar
,” he admitted with a grin.

“Well, you’re close,” Cody said, evoking a look of delight from Hunter. “Time travel isn’t happening anytime soon, maybe not in our lifetime, but we’re drawing closer. Even Stephen Hawking has changed his tune about it.”

Hunter didn’t need the details, but he was curious. “If time travel was feasible, I think I would return to the old west days. What would you do, Cody?”

Cody’s face grew serious. She fingered her scar. “That’s easy, I’d turn back time and not do some things that have hurt people I love.” She was talking about him. If she had to do it over again, she would do things differently.

Hunter wasn’t tempted to ask for details. He could understand having regrets, he had a few of his own. A few more bites and he’d cleaned his plate.

“Would you like more?” She held the bowl of jambalaya out toward him.

“No, but if you have extra, I’d like to take some home with me.” Cody’s cooking beat take-out any day. “What I do need is to you use your phone. I left my cell at the motel this morning and I need to call the hardware store and get them to order the flooring you’ve picked out. We’ll be needing it before you know it.”

“Sure, there’s one at the small desk by the media center in the living room. Feel free to use it. I’ll be in my office.” Gratefully, she made her escape. Sage had avoided him yesterday. She needed to decide what she was going to do. Cody could feel her time was running out.

Hunter went to the kitchen and found the materials listing. She’d selected hardwood, a beautiful golden oak. Settling down at the desk, he called the hardware store and was immediately put on hold. “Crap,” he mused. He hated to wait. As he sat there, his eye wandered over the books and DVDs Cody had collected. Smiling, he leaned forward. She read Cormac McCarthy, Michael Connelly, and Toni Morrison. Those were some of Sage’s favorite authors. He’d finally broken down and read
Beloved
, just because she’d asked him to. It was haunting, just like she said. The DVDs were even more interesting. Cody had a large number of movies, but all were the same genre. There wasn’t an action movie or a rom-com in the bunch. All of them were scary movies, thrillers, and some horror. Just like Sage. How odd. No wonder he seemed to be attracted to Cody, she reminded him of Sage on more than one level.

“Hello, may I help you?” Mr. Treadaway came on the line.

Hunter gave him the order and was given some delivery and payment information for Cody. “Hold on, I have to find a pen.” Opening the top drawer, he saw a pen and reached for it. There was a yellow sticky note right on top that contained two numbers—one was 782 and the other was 16. The numbers looked familiar. Shaking his head, Hunter wondered if he was going crazy. Everything seemed to contain a hidden message and he just couldn’t manage to make out what it said.

“Got it.” Mr. Treadaway gave him the info and Hunter stood. As he did so, a folder caught his attention. The Right One. Frowning, he picked it up. This sounded like Sage’s company. Sure enough, when he began to read, it was a dating service. The same one whose website he’d poured over with Sage. Had Cody signed up to find a date? And there was a photo in the side pocket. He knew he was snooping, but he pulled it out and there was Cody with two other women. A lot of The Right One information was scattered on a table in front of them. Apparently Cody had gone to some type of seminar sponsored by TRO. An odd uncomfortable feeling welled up in his chest. He didn’t like to think of Cody dating. Almost immediately he quashed the idea. He had no business feeling anything for Cody other than maybe friendship.

He was in love with Sage.

If he could ever find her…

*  *  *

The afternoon passed quickly. Cody drove to campus, taught her class, and returned. Everywhere she looked, there were signs that Mardi Gras was drawing near. The whole state of Louisiana celebrated the holiday. There was a time when Cody was in the middle of every party and every parade. Now, she kept to herself. Today she’d come home and prepared for the next day’s class before exhaustion got the better of her. When she’d put the finishing touch on the next day’s lecture, Cody closed her computer, folded her hands on top of the lid, and stared at the wide blue expanse of wall in front of her face.

Hunter hadn’t tried to contact her since last night. For the longest, he’d always left a message for her every morning—rain or shine—and now nothing. She ought to be glad, ought to be relieved.

She wasn’t.

Even though the damn man was in the next room, Cody missed him desperately.

In fact…she did something she hadn’t done in a while.

She opened the computer, logged into Facebook, and opened his message box.

Sage
: I hope you had a good day at work. If you want to, I’d like to talk to you later. Like we used to. I need you, Hunter.

Right after she hit enter, a spasm of guilt spiked through her belly. She was doing it again. Leading him on. God, she was so weak where he was concerned. He was like a drug to her system.

“Cody?”

The sudden noise behind her, Hunter saying her name, caused her to slam the lid, quickly hiding the evidence of Sage Donovan. Whirling around, she stared at him, her eyes wide, her chest heaving. “Hunter!”

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He looked innocently surprised. “What were you doing?”

She blushed furiously and said nothing.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I didn’t see anything.”

“Uh-uh,” she was stammering like an idiot. “I wasn’t doing anything.”

“Look.” He held up his hands. “It’s okay. I understand. Women have just as much right to have a good time, to look for love, in all the wrong places,” he actually sang the last five words, “as men do.”

Cody’s mouth fell open. He knew. “You know?” He knew about Sage. “Hunter…” She felt her face flame like a Roman candle. “I can explain.”

Hunter smiled. “You don’t have to. I saw the folder.”

“The folder.” She repeated. What folder?

“You’ve signed up for The Right One dating service. My friend, Sage, owns The Right One, that’s why the familiar logo caught my eye. What a coincidence, right?”

Like puzzle pieces, Cody tried to assimilate the data he was feeding her. He didn’t know she was Sage. He thought she’d joined a dating service and when he’d walked in just now, Hunter thought she’d been embarrassed because she was looking at men’s dating profiles.

But most important of all—he called Sage his friend, not his girlfriend.

Big difference. Huge difference.

“Oh, the dating service.” She nodded her head and smiled weakly. “Yea, that is a coincidence. And yes, I have the forms, but I’ve never activated my account.”

Hunter nodded his head, like he didn’t believe her, but he wasn’t going to push it. “I came in here to tell you the flooring is ordered and we put the total on your account.” He handed her a slip of paper with the amount written on it.

“Okay, but I have to tell you, I’m not using the dating service.” For some reason it was imperative that he believe her.

Hunter could tell he was getting to her. She looked like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “Cody, I saw the photo of you and two other women at some dating conference The Right One hosted. You were turned a little bit away from the camera, but I could tell it was you.” Nobody else he’d ever seen had a cuter turned up nose or sweeter rose bud lips.

With a couple of jerking movements, she moved her chair completely around. For the moment her scar was forgotten. The photo he was speaking about was of her, Marnie, and Trinity at one of their planning meetings at Willow Bend, a picture Lacy had taken. Since Sage had confided to Hunter that she owned part of TRO, Cody had to wiggle around the truth, but this much was flat fact. “I do have the papers, but I haven’t filled them out for myself. I won’t. I don’t date. Period.”

She’d been talking so fast, he’d had to concentrate to keep up. Instead of being mad that he’d snooped in her things, she was still trying to convince him that she wasn’t interested in meeting a man. “You don’t date? Why?”

Cody looked disappointed in him. She dropped her head. “Don’t patronize me.” Her voice was weak. She realized she was tired and discussing this with Hunter hurt more than she’d ever thought possible. “This is why.” She touched her scar. “Obviously this is why.”

He was about to argue with her, but a knock on the door prevented him from getting the first word out of his mouth.

“Excuse me,” she said politely. Cody waited for him to proceed her down the hall. “Let me see who’s at the door. I’ll be right back with you.”

Hunter felt like a jerk. He hadn’t liked it when he found the dating application, then he’d proceeded to tease her about it. But her sad answer had jerked the rug out from under him. Didn’t she realize how pretty she was?

At the front door, Cody was in shock. Talk about bad timing!

“Aren’t you going to let us in?” Marnie and Trinity stood there looking smug. “Didn’t you miss us?”

“Like a hole in the head,” she snarled, stepped out on the front porch, and pulled the door behind her. “Listen and listen good, I have to talk fast. Hunter is inside.” She had to hold her hands up to shush the pair. “He doesn’t know I’m Sage. He’s renovating my kitchen and he can’t know we own TRO. You can meet him, but you have to act like he’s my contractor. Only!” She emphasized. “And you can’t embarrass me in any way, shape, form or fashion. Got it?”

“Totally,” Marnie answered. There was a mischievous look in her eyes that Cody didn’t like.

“I mean it, you two.” Cody was stern, her face white with strain.

“Okay, honey, we got it.” Trinity hugged her. “Lead on, I for one can’t wait to meet this paragon of a man.”

Slowly, she opened the door and backed into the house, almost tripping over Hunter.

“Sorry, easy.” Hunter caught her, his hands on her shoulders, his hard hot body molded to her back.

Cody moved away from him like he’d burned her. Trinity and Marnie were watching the two of them with great interest. “Hunter, these are my friends, Trinity and Marnie. You saw them in that photo. We all attended the same dating seminar. Girls, this is Hunter Reed. He’s renovating my kitchen. He’s visiting Louisiana for a few weeks from Colorado.”