Chapter 15 Carli #2
“I know.” He sighs, pivoting slightly so he’s facing me a little more fully. His knee folds up so it’s resting against my thigh. His arm is still loosely draped over my shoulder. “Captain’s getting a promotion. He’s going to be the battalion chief.”
“I saw him at work,” I say. “He told me.”
“Did he tell you he asked me to consider taking his place?”
“Not in so many words. He said he encouraged someone to consider the spot. Of course I wondered if it was you.”
“It’s a big decision.”
“It is.” I sit quietly, cupping my mug in both hands. Cody seems so uncertain—I’m not used to seeing this side of him. I reach out with one hand and rest it on his knee.
“Do you want the promotion?” I ask.
“In a lot of ways, yeah. I do.”
“But?”
“But I’m afraid of what it will ask of me.
I never fully abandoned the family business.
I split my time between both demands—firefighting and ranching.
It’s nothing like the load you and Jace have to carry.
We’ve got hands who live on the property.
I don’t have to manage daily feedings. But I’m needed. And I make sure I’m available.”
“I’m guessing you still could be as captain. You’d still work the same hours, right?”
“Pretty much. But I’d be in charge of scheduling and other oversight. And I wouldn’t work as much in the field.”
“Would you miss that?”
“Yeah. I would. But I don’t know if I’d miss it as much as I think I would.”
We’re quiet. I don’t push him for more and he doesn’t offer it. My hand still rests on his knee. I take a sip of my cocoa and he sips his.
“I’ve found,” I say after a stretch of silence. “That if you let a decision sit long enough, it sometimes makes itself.”
“Hmmm.” He hums. “I have to decide whether to apply next week.”
“Well, I don’t see any harm in applying. You aren’t taking the job. You’re just offering to be considered for it.”
“That’s true,” he says with a single nod of his head.
“I was scared to death to apply for the inspector position.”
“They’d have been crazy not to hire you.”
“I don’t know about that. I was a ball of nerves. And I felt the same thing—like I was cheating Jace out of his chances to do something else. Leaving my parents to fend without me. All of that.”
“You get it,” he says, smiling warmly at me.
“I do.” I don’t offer him a solution. I’m not sure I even have one.
“Thanks,” he says, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on my cheek.
His stubble grazes my skin, sending tingles radiating.
My hands cup my mug so it doesn’t spill. He pulls away as quickly as he swooped in.
Cody stares at me, and I stare back, one hundred unspoken thoughts passing between us. Then he takes my mug and sets it up on the dash, next to his.
“Is this okay?” he asks me.
“Very,” I say, losing all sense of self-preservation.
I’m not going to worry about guarding my heart in the event this doesn’t work out.
Cody’s given me every reason to believe he’s as all-in as I am.
I’m not about to play coy, especially when times like these where we’re alone together without any pressure or prying eyes will have to be borrowed and guarded.
The space between us warms, charged with anticipation, our breaths mingling, eyes fixed on one another. Cody’s movements are softer, more reverent than in either of our barns. Tonight, we’ve got time. It’s just the two of us.
He brushes his hand gently down my cheek, his eyes following the path of his fingertips. Then he cups my jaw, slipping his hand behind my neck and giving a gentle tug. I lean in.
“I’ve been waiting to kiss you again,” he says softly.
“Me too,” I admit.
“You’re so beautiful, Carli.” His tone is so intimate. We’re only inches from one another.
“You’re pretty beautiful yourself,” I say.
His smile lights up.
He leans in, brushing his lips across mine and kissing me. He’s tenderness and hunger. Passion and restraint. His hands smooth my hair, cup my cheeks, one lands on my hip, bracing me. I loop my arms around his neck. The soft hairs tickle my palm. I run my fingers along his scalp and he hums low.
He smiles into our kiss and says, “Don’t stop doing that. It feels amazing.”
His hands hold me in place while my world shifts. We pause, barely breaking contact. His face is so close I feel the warmth of his breath across my still-sensitive lips.
“Carli.” His voice is barely audible.
“Cody,” I answer him. Then I run my hand through his hair again, front to back, dragging my nails lightly along his scalp.
His eyes flutter shut and he hums—a gravelly rumble from his chest.
“You’ve found my Achilles’ heel on our first night together,” he says with a smile. “I’m in big trouble.”
“I’ll definitely be using this to my advantage,” I tease him.
“Please do,” he teases back, leaning in to place a soft kiss on my lips again. I cup his jaw, running my hands over the stubble that’s been begging for my touch all night. He rests his forehead on mine, running his hand down my hair and sighing contentedly.
He pulls back, glancing at the truck clock and groaning.
“We both have early mornings,” he says. “I want to play hookey.”
“I wish we could.” I really do. “But as you said … we haul hay before you see your bae.” I barely get the words out before we’re both snort-laughing.
“Farm rap. Who knew?” Cody says through his laughter.
“Yeah,” I say. “I’m a woman of many talents.”
“This, I did know.” He says it with such determined confidence, my breath stalls.
“Thanks.”
He runs his hand down my hair again, letting his palm rest on my shoulder before he says, “We’d better go. I could stay here all night, but … you know.”
“Hay before bae,” I say again. And we laugh in a way that feels so familiar, but brand new.
Without another word, he pops his door open and jogs around to open my door.
“Such a gentleman,” I say.
“I’m definitely exercising restraint,” he says.
He clasps my hand and we walk over to my truck, our steps slow and deliberate. When we’re just outside my door, he leans in and gives me one more soft kiss, unhurried and tender.
“Good night, Carli,” he says, giving my hand a light squeeze.
I almost ask him when we’ll see one another again, but I don’t want to pop the bubble we’re living in with more reality.
He opens my door and holds it for me as I climb into the driver’s seat. Then he shuts the door and pats it once. I start the engine, my eyes never leaving his. I reluctantly back away from him, onto the dark road, lit by the same moon. Only everything’s changed now.