Cody (2 page)

“Not at all.” He turned to
her and winked and she felt a shiver run through her at his naughty
boy grin. “I just know what I want in life and I go after it. I
thought I told you that earlier!”

He pulled into the parking
lot of the Waffle House and parked the truck. They got out together
and he opened the door for her. She slid into a booth off to one
side, ready to start some serious people watching. There wasn’t a
big crowd this early in the evening, but she knew there would be
after the bars closed, even on a Sunday night.

She picked up the menu and
started looking through everything on it, realizing she was hungry
after all. “Is it okay if I order dinner? I ate five hours ago, and
I think I’m hungry after all.”

“You can order everything
on the menu as far as I’m concerned.”

She laughed. “I’m not
quite that hungry.” She quickly scanned the menu and decided what
she’d eat while he ignored his. “You just getting
dessert?”

“Yeah, but you get what
you want. I just had dinner with my two best friends after the
Super Bowl.”

She grinned. “I spent the
day with a group of friends watching the Super Bowl. I picked the
winning team!”

“I love that feeling. So
did I.” He didn’t mention that because of the software his friend
had developed which had revolutionized the sports world, he’d
picked the winner in August, though.

She leaned back in her
seat. “What do you do?”

He made a face, trying to
figure out the best way to describe his job. “I guess you could say
I’m an idea man and a salesman.”

“What exactly does that
mean?”

He sighed, not wanting to
talk too much about his job. “I started a business with my two best
friends while I was in college to help sports coaches put together
the best possible team. I came up with the concept and travel
around talking to the different coaches selling them the software.
My friend, Steven, writes the software, and my friend, Justin,
manages the company.”

“What’s the company
called?” She liked sports, so maybe she’d heard of it.

“Sports Prognosticators
Incorporated. We call it SPI.”

She blinked a few times.
“I think I’ve heard of it.”

He shrugged. “It’s a big
company now.”

The waitress came then and
they placed their orders. When she was gone, Amber looked at him.
“So, where do you live?”

“Decatur.”

“Really? Have you always
live there?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I moved
away for college, but moved back after. I have a house in the
country. I’ve thought about ranching, but know nothing about it,
and I make enough money from the business.” He picked up his water
and took a sip. “Have you always lived in Corral City?”

“Yeah, well, kind of. I
lived there when I was little, but I went to a boarding school for
high school. I was all set to go off to college when I found out my
parents had died. There was no one to raise my little
brother.”

“So you did it.” It wasn’t
a question. She had an air about her of doing whatever she needed
to do to make things work.

“What else could I do?”
She took a drink of the tea in front of her. “He’s eight years
younger than I am.”

“I hope he appreciates the
sacrifice you made.”

She smiled. He didn’t know
the half of it. “He appreciates the sacrifices he’s aware of. He’ll
be coming home from college to run the family ranch in
May.”

“You’ve been running
it?”

“Before my parents died, I
thought we had an unlimited supply of money. I rode horses and
showed them, but more than anything, I was a snotty little rich
girl.” She laughed softly. “I found out shortly after their death
that my father had been gambling heavily for years. The ranch,
which had been in our family for a hundred years, was mortgaged to
the hilt and they were about to foreclose.”

He blinked. “That’s
rough.”

“I sold everything I
possibly could and let all of the servants go. The only person I
kept on was Adam, the ranch’s foreman. He’d been there since before
I was born, and agreed to a huge pay cut. He’s been running
everything and doing the work of three men ever since.” She
stretched her legs out to rest next to him on his seat in the booth
across from her. “I started giving riding lessons to help pay down
the mortgage. We’ll have it paid off in May, just in time for Bryan
to take over.”

“Bryan’s your
brother?”

She nodded. “He thinks I’m
teaching snobby little rich girls to ride horses just because I
like it. Well, I do like teaching, but not necessarily snobby
little rich girls.” She shrugged. “It pays for the food and
mortgage. Everything the ranch earns, we’ve been putting right back
into it, so my brother will never know what happened with our
parents. I don’t want him to know what Dad was really
like.”

Cody reached across the
table and took her hand. “Marry me, and I’ll pay off the mortgage.
And buy you a new truck. And a new horse. Do you need a new
horse?”

She laughed. “I’ll pay off
the mortgage myself. I’m almost there. I’ll get the old truck fixed
and we’ll keep it going for as long as it’ll go. I’ll never be
financially dependent on a man again.”

He looked at her for a
moment to see how serious she was and sighed. It would be nice if
his money impressed her, but instead it seemed to be a liability
with Amber. He’d been used for his money by women so many times, it
should have been a relief she wasn’t interested in his billions,
but it wasn’t. He would do anything to impress this one.
Anything.

“I guess that means buying
you a horse would do no good either?”

She shook her head. “None
at all.” The waitress brought their food then, and he took a
forkful of his pie. Amber cut off a piece of waffle and popped it
into her mouth. After swallowing, she sighed. “I love their
waffles!”

He took the change of
subject in stride. “What’s your favorite type of food?”

She seemed to consider
that for a moment. “Probably Mexican, but I sure don’t turn down a
good chicken fried steak when I can get it.”

“Would you like to go out
for dinner tomorrow? Mexican, chicken fried steak, whatever. I’ll
let you pick.”

She met his eyes. “I’ll be
working until sundown tomorrow. I teach kids to ride, so my day
doesn’t start until they’re home from school.” She didn’t add that
she was always up early to take care of the horses. Grooming them
and feeding them and mucking out the stalls fell to her as well. As
soon as the mortgage was paid off, they’d be a ranch with enough
income to hire some more hands, but for now, it was all on
her.

“Lunch then?”

She shook her head. “I
have other work to do in the mornings and afternoons.” It wasn’t a
lie. She did paperwork for the ranch, and sometimes helped mend
fences. Whatever needed to be done that required two pairs of hands
was her job to help with.

“You can’t even get away
for an hour?”

She shook her head
emphatically. Cody was obviously a spoiled little rich boy who
thought he could buy anything and anyone. She wasn’t for sale.
Twelve years ago she’d have jumped at the chance of dating a man as
rich as he obviously was. Over the years her ideals had changed,
and though she liked his country boy looks and charm, she wouldn’t
go out with him. Someone like him would take her over. She’d worked
hard to become her own person, and no man was going to change her
and turn her into the kind of clinging vine her mother had
been.

“I guess begging would do
me no good? I don’t mind getting down on my knees!”

She giggled, but shook her
head again. “Sorry. I’m too busy for any kind of
relationship.”

He nodded and returned to
his pie. His mind was racing, trying to come up with a way to get
her to agree to see him again. He knew he’d do it. He had gotten
every girl he was interested in since the company had taken
off.

Chapter Two

Cody drove through the
open gates of the Galloping Horse Ranch the following afternoon.
He’d been a gentleman the night before, leaving Amber at her
doorstep without even trying to kiss her. He’d pledged to himself
while they’d eaten that he was going to be a part of her life. If
he didn’t see her, she wouldn’t fall in love with him.

Cody shook his head.
Seeing her had felt like a punch to the gut. He believed in love at
first sight, and he knew that’s what this was. He was in love with
Amber, and she was going to be his wife, whether she knew it or
not.

He parked next to the big
house and went to the door. He’d spent the morning buying a new
truck and donating his old one to a local charity organization.
They didn’t mind the dented fender, and it was a good way for him
to give back to the community.

He gave three sharp knocks
at the door and waited. After a minute, Amber opened it and looked
at him. “I wondered how long it would be before you turned up
here.” Instead of inviting him in, she stepped out onto the
doorstep with him.

“You know, I’ve always
wanted to learn to ride, and now that I know a riding teacher, I
figured I should take advantage. How much do lessons cost?”
Whatever she asked he’d triple it. He’d pay her ten times her going
rate if that’s what it took.

She sighed shaking her
head. “I’m sorry. I only teach kids.”

“I’d come when none of
your other students were here, so you could make more money without
disturbing your schedule with them. And I’d pay triple.”

She looked at him
considering. Triple her normal rates would have them paying off the
mortgage faster, and maybe she could buy a few head of cattle
before Bryan came home from college in May. “My normal rates are
$100 per hour.”

“No problem. Can we do
daily lessons?” He wanted as much time with her as he could get.
“Two hour lessons every weekday maybe?”

She blinked. He was
willing to pay $600 per day for riding lessons? Three thousand per
week? That would go a long way toward getting the ranch back where
it used to be. “Have you ever been on a horse?”

He shook his head. “No,
but I’ve watched a lot of Westerns. I should have done this a long
time ago.”

Despite her reservations,
she nodded. “Okay, we can do two hour lessons every weekday. Would
ten in the morning be okay?” That would give her time to do what
she needed to do in the mornings before he got there, and give her
some time to rest before the evening crowd came in for their
lessons.

“Ten would be great.” As
long as he got to see her, anytime would be great. If she told him
he needed to show up naked at three in the morning, he’d be there
without questioning her.

“I’ll be right back.” She
slipped into the house and went to her office bringing back a sheet
of paper for him to sign and a page explaining what he needed to
do. “This is a release to sign in case you’re injured. You’ll need
to wear jeans and boots to ride.” She looked him up and down taking
in the faded jeans, cowboy boots and thick coat. “What you’re
wearing is perfect. You need to get yourself a helmet. I keep some
on hand, but none in your size.” She pointed to the bottom of the
second paper. “That store will sell you one.”

“When can we
start?”

“Tomorrow? Or would you
rather wait until next week?”

“Tomorrow’s good. I have
some business calls to make, but I can handle them in the
afternoon.” Spending two hours with her every day would be perfect.
She couldn’t avoid him if she was working for him, and if they did
the lessons at ten every morning, surely he’d be able to talk her
into lunch occasionally. She’d see what a great guy he was and fall
at his feet in love. Or maybe she’d tell him to go away. Either
way, it was a chance to see her. “Do I need to bring my own
horse?”

“Do you have a
horse?”

He shrugged. “I could get
one.”

She sighed and shook her
head. “No, you can use one of my horses. It’s no problem. You don’t
want to go to the trouble and expense of buying one until you know
you’re going to enjoy riding.”

He turned and she watched
him walk away with mixed emotions. His butt looked great in his
jeans, and she was so attracted to him. He was the kind of man she
should be staying away from, but he was offering her a lot of
money. She had to give him the lessons for the ranch’s
sake.

*****

Cody showed up ten minutes
early the following morning. He was dressed in jeans and old cowboy
boots and wearing a thick coat. In his hand he clutched what was
obviously a brand new riding helmet. Amber looked him up and down.
Perfect.

“Morning. You ready to
learn to ride?”

He nodded, finding he was
nervous at the prospect. Not only had he never been on a horse, but
he hadn’t really spent any time around them. If he’d been able to
come up with another way to spend time with her he’d have done
it.

He followed her into the
barn and went with her to the stall on the end. “First lesson is
saddling your horse. I’ll let you use one of my horses with no
problem, but it’s your job to saddle him and wipe him down when
you’re done.”