Chapter Three
Once all his plans were in place, Cody couldn’t wait for the day of Hanna’s party to arrive. He must have been nervous as hell, because even his siblings noticed. And they usually never noticed anything if it didn’t have to with themselves.
Claire eyed him warily that morning at breakfast. “What is up with you?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said. Surely it wasn’t a lie.
But Cade snorted. “You’re bouncing around like a cat on a hot tin roof.”
Cody plopped into a chair and attempted to still his twitching. The last thing he wanted was for Claire or Cody to get a whiff of his excitement. To know what he was planning.
For one thing, they would take great pleasure in cock-blocking him. For another—for some reason—he didn’t want them to know. Didn’t want anyone to know. His feelings for Sidney were far too raw to share. Especially with them.
He’d never told anyone about his one long-ago tryst with her. Certainly never let on that he’d never stopped thinking about her. He didn’t dare.
“It’s just another party,” Cade said, grabbing a biscuit. It was a mistake, because—since Lisa, the ranch baker and Cade’s main squeeze, had gone to visit her mother for the week—Claire had made the biscuits and they were hard as rocks. He tried to take a bite and then dropped the monstrosity on his plate with a clang. “Why are you nervous about it?”
“Don’t you know?” Claire said with a smirk. “Cody’s girlfriend is coming.”
Cody froze. His pulse stalled. He gazed at his sister. How had she known? “I . . .”
“Oh right!” Cade chuckled. He leaned in and whispered conspiratorially to Claire, “We need to make sure we give her a room near his. You know. For convenience.”
Holy crap! Did everyone know his business?
“Oh yeah. But why make it easy for her? Everyone knows, Tibby loves a challenge.”
“That is true.” Cade winked at him.
Tibby? They were talking about Tibby?
Relief gushed through him . . . until he realized what they were saying. Until he remembered. Tibby was coming. To stay at the ranch house. Overnight.
He made a mental note to check the locks on his door.
“I can’t believe you agreed to let her come,” Cade said with a tsk. “Don’t you remember last time?”
Of course he did. Last time had been horrifying. Not just Tibby showing up naked in his bed—which had been bad enough—but her crazy friends had practically stalked him too. They were like those chirpy little dinos in Jurassic Park that popped up looking all innocent and cute and then turned on a guy when he least expected it, ripping out his flesh and savagely groping his very private parts.
He’d have to be on alert all weekend or he might get molested.
“You guys have to have my six,” he said. “Warn me when she’s creeping close.”
“You know I have your back,” Cade said with a chuckle. “Even though this is your fault.”
“It’s not my fault! Hanna wanted Tibby to come.”
“I can’t believe Hanna wanted Tibby to come,” Claire said.
“Well, she didn’t have a choice then. Tibby will be her sister-in-law, after all.”
Claire shuddered. “I can’t believe she’s marrying Zack.”
“No one can believe it,” Cade said. He took a long sip of his coffee.
Cody sucked in a deep breath. “Well, it’s our job to make sure she has the best bachelorette party ever.”
“Right . . .” Something in Claire’s tone caught his attention.
He frowned at her. “What?”
His sister batted her lashes. It made a cold shiver run up his spine. “It’s up to you guys. I’m not going to be here this weekend.”
“What?” Both he and Cade howled in tandem.
Claire tipped her chin into an intransigent angle they all knew well. “I’m going to visit Grandma at the home this weekend. Didn’t I mention it?”
“No. You most certainly did not.” This weekend? This weekend?
Cade stared at her. “You’d rather spend a weekend feeding applesauce to old people than helping your brothers run a party?”
“This party? Yes.”
Cody put out a lip. “But we need you.” Claire was the only one who understood her booking system.
She shrugged with a nonchalance only a bratty younger sister could pull off. “Sorry, bro. But you should have known I would duck out when you agreed to allow the Spawn of Satan onto the ranch.”
“Come on. Tibby’s not that bad.”
Claire shot him a look as dry as the Kalahari.
Cody tried another tack. “But isn’t Hanna your friend? Don’t you want to be here for her?”
Claire pursed her lips in a lemony moue. “Hanna knows damn well how I feel about her marrying Zack. She won’t mind if I boycott the festivities.”
“But Claire . . .”
Apparently she was not in the mood to hear any more. She stood with the screech of her chair. “Sorry. You should have thought about all that before you invited the Gorgon to our party.”
“I didn’t invite Tibby.”
“That hardly matters.”
“Claire . . . Wait.”
She didn’t wait. She flounced from the room and picked up the suitcase in the hall. “See ya,” she called. But then she stopped and turned around. Relief flooded him . . . until she added, “Don’t forget to lock your door.” Yeah, Claire was a past master at sarcasm.
Only she probably wasn’t kidding.
The slam of the screen door echoed throughout the house, like a death knell, or something.
Cade glanced at him as silence fell on the kitchen. “Well,” he said after a long while, “I guess it’s just you and me.”
“I guess.” Cody pushed away from the table.
“Where are you going?” Cade asked.
“The guests will be arriving soon,” he said. “I have some errands to take care of.”
And by errands, he meant installing another dead bolt on his bedroom door. Because honestly, this weekend, the last thing he wanted to deal with was Tibby’s nocturnal wanderings. Especially if he had Sidney in his bed.
Which was, of course, the plan.
***
The plan went south as soon as the party bus pulled up and the women started filing off.
Thankfully Cody had all the guys assembled in the yard and he’d prepped them on all the rules for this weekend, with a special codicil to keep their hands off the tall, curvy woman with reddish brown hair—hey, it didn’t hurt to warn them off.
But he didn’t count on Sidney.
More specifically, Sidney flirting with all the guys.
It made his jaw hurt to watch her with Billy and Rex, to see her touching their bare chests.
And why the hell were their chests bare?
The fact that he’d told the guys to look sexy was hardly the point.
“Why are you making that noise?” Cade asked.
Cody frowned at his brother, but didn’t take his eyes off Sidney. She looked gorgeous. Her hair was down and she wore tight jeans and, damn, those heels made his mouth water.
“What noise?”
Why wasn’t she looking at him?
Was she deliberately not looking at him?
“I don’t know. You sound like a bear.”
“No, I don’t.”
“A bear in pain.”
“No I don’t.”
“Why are you scowling?”
“I’m not.”
“You are. This is supposed to be a party, remember? Lighten up.” Cade scanned the yard. “That’s Hanna Stevens, isn’t it?” He nodded to the redhead who had—thankfully—snagged Sidney’s attention.
“Umm-hmm.”
“Who’s that with her?”
“Her sister.”
Something in his tone made Cade glance at him. Cody had no idea what it was. Surely he hadn’t snarled the words.
“Her sister?” He could feel Cade’s attention on his face. “Sidney?”
“Yes.” Nearly a growl.
“Wow. She’s . . . matured. Last time I saw her, she had braces and pigtails. But now? Wow.”
Something rose within him, something boiling and biting that tasted like bile. He whirled on his brother. “Keep away from her.”
Too late, he realized Cade had been baiting him; his laugh gave it away. “Woah, brother. Back down. Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on here?”
“Nothing.”
“Riiiight.” He looked at his watch. “And how long have I known you?”
Cody had no idea what the watch had to do with anything, but then, he had no idea about much of anything right now because his brain was on fire. “Leave off.”
“This party’s not really about Hanna, is it?”
“Of course it is.”
“And the sister?”
“Sidney?”
“Right.” His eyes narrowed in the way they did when Cade was thinking. God help him when Cade thought. “She was the one girl you never dated, wasn’t she?”
“No.” He’d dated her. For a day.
“Hmm. Methinks something is afoot.”
“Methinks you should shut the fuck up.”
“You might as well spill it, Cody. You know I’ll find out.”
Damn it. He was right. Cade always figured things out. It’s like he was psychic or some shit. “Okay. All right. So Sidney booked this party.”
“Sidney, the one hot girl in high school you didn’t date.”
“Right.” A growl. “But she asked me for a favor.”
Cade’s brows rose, and Cody had the unholy urge to smack them off his face. Instead, he leaned in and hissed, “She asked me to try to ruin Hanna’s engagement.”
“Wait. Wait. She asked you to throw a bachelorette party for her sister with the goal of breaking the couple up?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s . . . different.”
“Don’t look so judgey.”
“I’m not judgey.”
“You look judgey.”
“I swear. I’m not.” He was. Cade was such an Eagle Scout. It was annoying having a brother who was perfect in all things, especially when Cody rarely got anything right. “So how do you plan to do this?”
“Another guy.”
“Really?” Cade scanned the yard. “There are plenty here. But you know Hanna . . .”
“Right. It couldn’t just be a dancer. It needed to be someone . . .”
“Oh shit.” Cade started to laugh. “That’s why Logan is here this weekend.”
Cody smacked him. “Quiet. I don’t want anyone to suspect.”
“You’re trying to matchmake.”
“Shut up.”
Cody stilled. Sidney had hooked arms with Hanna and they were now heading for the house. Shit! He needed to talk to her. He’d hoped to have a chance when she arrived. He could hardly go tromping up to her room.
“Didn’t Logan have a thing for Hanna in high school?” his brother asked.
“Yeah. He still does.”
This time, when Cade looked at him, he didn’t seem judgey in the least. He looked . . . proud. He slapped Cody on the back and said, “Hanna and Logan? Okeydokey. Let me know how I can help.”
Their warm moment shriveled up when a high-pitched squeal heralded the onslaught of Tibby and her friends. They’d spotted Cody and were making a beeline across the yard.
“Oh. Wow.” Cade’s nostrils flared. He looked at his watch again. “Gotta go.” And he sprinted off toward the house, leaving Cody alone with a veritable swarm of barracudas.
So much for Cade’s promise of support. Cody was inundated in seconds.
***
After they checked in and settled in their rooms—Hanna and Sidney sharing one and Hanna’s friends Amy and Porsche the other—they headed down for the first event on the schedule, the Hunky Hayride.
“Seriously?” Hanna said as she made her way down the stairs, as though her shoes were filled with mud. “A hayride? How cliché is that?” She’d been whining about every aspect of the party since Sidney had given her the agenda.
“Hush, hush,” Amy chirped. She was like a little bird, bright, curious and hopping around. “It’s a Hunky Hayride. With hunks.”
“Trust me,” Porsche said, patting Hanna’s arm. “You’ll enjoy it.”
Hanna put out a lip. “Hay makes me itch.”
“No worries. These hotties can scratch any itch,” Amy said as they stepped out onto the porch. Indeed, the lawn was practically swarming with hot dudes.
Granted, they’d already scoped out the options when they’d arrived, and discussed them all at length. But to Sidney’s way of thinking, none of them were even close to Hanna’s type, which only made her ire rise.
If Cody had flaked on this one thing, the whole weekend would be for naught. She’d have his guts for garters.
Amy tugged on Hanna’s arm, leading her toward the tractor, which was hooked up to two trailers festooned with bales of hay. “They should have let us watch the guys tote these bales,” Amy said. “That would have been a show.”
Porsche snorted. “No, it wouldn’t have. I happen to know for a fact that Cody has his real ranch hands set these things up. The pretty boys can’t be bothered.”
“They’re probably too busy doing their hair,” Hanna muttered.
Sidney frowned at Porsche. “How do you know that?”
In response Porsche tossed her head. “This is hardly my first, ahem, rodeo.”
Why her blasé attitude made Sidney’s jaw clench was a mystery.
“You’ve been to one of these parties before?” Hanna asked.
“Of course. I came here for my twenty-first birthday.”
What a shock.
“How was the party?” Amy asked.
“They do a great party. No worries about that.” Porsche gave an evil chuckle. “Just ask Crystal.”
“Crystal?” Sidney wrinkled her brow. “Your boss?”
Porsche’s grin was a little too shit-eating for comfort. “Yup.”
“The woman your brother is dating?”
“Yup.” She shot a minxish smile around the circle. “Crystal met Ford at that party. I didn’t plan it or anything, but there you have it.”
“Why was Ford at one of Cody’s parties?” Hanna asked with a laugh. They all knew Ford. He’d rather pull out his two front teeth with a pair of pliers than attend a party at the Stud Ranch.
“He was protecting me, of course.” Porsche preened. She took great pride in tormenting her overprotective brother. It was amazing Ford still had his sanity, trying to keep a bead on Porsche’s wild ways. Of course, he had started going gray—a sexy salt-and-pepper sprinkling on his short-trimmed sideburns. A happenstance no doubt attributable to his younger sister.
“Oh look,” Amy said in something of a squeal. “One of the hotties has a kitten.” A chorus of coos rose and they all headed in that direction like filings to a magnet.
Sidney didn’t follow, but she did roll her eyes. That scene was so ooey-gooey-staged it made her pancreas hurt. Cody had even gone so far as to have a photographer there to snap pictures with the kitten-toting stripper and the guests. A line was already forming.
Brother. If it was going to be like this all weekend, she might want to carry around a bowl to throw up in.
“There you are.” An annoying, scintillating voice rippled around her like the kiss of a warm wind. She suppressed her shiver. “Have you been avoiding me?”
Sidney glanced over her shoulder and frowned at Cody. Damn, he was cute. So cute she had the sudden urge to smack him. “I haven’t been avoiding you.”
“Really? You got here and ran up to your room like a frightened rabbit.”
The reference made her skin prickle. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Prove it.”
She glowered at him. “How?”
“Sit with me on the hayride.”
“That’s ridiculous. Why would I sit with you?”
He gave that heinous dimpled grin. “To prove you’re not afraid of me.” He cocked his head to the side and affected a patronizing moue. “Are you paying attention to this conversation?”
Oh God, he was so adorable it made her jaw ache.
“I’m paying attention just fine, diploid. But I’m here for my sister’s bachelorette party. So why would I sit with you?”
He frowned as if her logic confused him. Or ruined his plans.
If it did, so be it.
In fact, ruining his plans was an added bonus.
“You can’t spend every minute with her, or our strategy won’t work.” Oh yeah, he was grabbing at straws.
“And speaking of our strategy . . .” She skated a glance over the men assembled for the hayride. Most of them wore open flannel shirts. Many were oiled up. Some of them were glittering. “Which one is he?”
Cody blinked. “Huh?”
“Which one is he? What tempting hunk did you bring for Hanna?” Because none of them were all that tempting. And none of them were Hanna’s type. If he’d lied to her, or done some half-assed job—inviting some dumbass friend of his to take the role—she’d snatch him bald.
The thought of her fingers in his hair distracted her for a moment, but she searched for and found her melting resolve. “Is it him?” She pointed at a hottie with a ponytail, pretending to “ride” one of Tibby’s friends. “Or him?” Another dude rubbing up against Amy. “Oh him?” God no. Not the dude with the kitten . . . “Because none of them will do. They just won’t do.”
Honestly. She should have known better. Should have known better than to trust him. He was—
“There he is.” Cody pointed to a figure coming out of the barn, and Sidney’s breath caught in her lungs. He was tall, dark, gorgeous . . . and fully clothed. And still, he was the second sexiest man here.
Not that Cody counted. He didn’t count.
She needed to remind herself of that.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “Who is that?”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Cody’s cheek flex. His glare scorched her face. “That’s Logan.”
“Oh my.” She fanned herself with her fingers, not because Logan was so hot—though he was—but because Cody’s irritation provoked her, made her want to play this up. Torment him, maybe, just a little. She turned to him with wide eyes and gushed, “Where did you find him?”
Cody frowned. “He’s for Hanna.”
“Sure. Sure. I get it. But, where did you find him?”
“He’s my friend. Hell, you probably remember him.”
Sidney turned to gape at Logan, who just got better-looking as he got closer. “No. I definitely don’t remember him.”
“Logan? Logan Landry?”
“I don’t remember . . .” Oh wait. The image flashed in her brain. The nerdy kid from high school who kept to himself. The one who up and left town one night and was never seen again. “I do remember him. Where did he go when he left here?”
“Dallas. And stop looking at him like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you want to eat him up.”
She waggled her brows. “He is delicious. I think I better go and introduce myself.”
Cody caught her arm. “No,” he said. “He’s for Hanna.”
“Right.” She tried to wiggle free. “I can help push them together.”
“I mean it, Sidney.”
Something in his tone caught her attention. She shot him a searching glance.
“Logan has had a crush on Hanna since high school.”
Her stomach dropped, then flipped around in some weird kind of dance. A strange emotion swelled in her chest. Elation, maybe. “You . . . picked him because he had a crush on Hanna?”
“Um, yeah?” Holy God. That was so . . . sweet. So fricking sweet. Who knew Cody had it in him? “I thought it would be good for both of them.”
“That was . . . very thoughtful.”
Maybe she shouldn’t have let her voice go so soft, because he stilled, and then leaned in.
When his breath caressed her lips, a trickle of trepidation dribbled through her. That it was twined with excitement sent a flare of disquiet through her. She couldn’t let him kiss her. Not again. She simply didn’t trust herself to stop him. So she sucked in a resolute breath and said nonchalantly, “So is this your kiss?”
“What?” He blinked.
“Is this the kiss you’re going to claim? Right here? Right now?”
He pulled back and glanced around the yard, crowded with partygoers, and his jaw firmed. “No. This is not that kiss.”
“Well fine then.” She pulled her arm free. “Because I need to join my sister.”
To her shock, he yanked her back and kissed her anyway. It was a hard, quick buss—so quick she doubted anyone saw it—but it singed her to her core and left her spinning. Bemused and bewildered, she forced her feet to move. She walked through the fog, away from him, to the hay-filled trailer where Hanna was standing beside her hunk. To Sidney’s surprise, they were gazing into each other’s eyes.
Well, glory be. They’d just met, and it already looked as though this crazy scheme might work.
She shot a glance back at Cody and was shocked to see him marching toward them with a determined look on his face, so she quickly slipped onto the trailer, urging Hanna to sit beside her. Naturally, her hunk followed. Cody stopped, frowned at her, and then turned back to the tractor.
Sidney had no idea why he looked so put out.
This was the plan and she was going to make damn sure it worked. Come hell or high water.