Free Cody by Kimberly Raye Page B

talked Miranda into sending her one hundred dollars to buy some new spandex and see her through the end of the tour, and that had been the end of their conversation.
    Not that she wanted Robin to call just to talk. Or Lucy either, for that matter. The last thing she needed was a real relationship with either of her sisters. It was hard enough convincing the world she’d changed. Keeping company with two of the most notorious bad girls in town would only undo all of her hard work.
    Still…
    Sometimes she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to go shopping once in a while or have lunch or sit through an all-night gab fest like normal sisters.
    She ignored the thought and headed outside to put away her gardening tools. She’d been so desperate to forget Cody that she’d worked like a demon. All she had to do now was sprinkle some growth pellets and she was finished—
    Her thoughts stalled as awareness skittered up her spine. The scent of leather and wildness teasedher nostrils. Her heart paused and her entire body went on high alert. She knew then that it wasn’t just her wishful thinking.
    Cody Braddock stood right behind her.
    A frantic heartbeat later, his deep, husky, “Long time, no see,” confirmed it.

Chapter Eleven
    H E LOOKED EVEN BETTER than she remembered.
    Her porch light gleamed behind him, outlining his broad shoulders and muscular arms. He should have seemed more shadow than man, but he didn’t.
    Despite the black Stetson that sat low on his forehead, shrouding his face and giving him a dangerous edge, she could still see every detail. His unique silver eyes framed with thick black lashes. The scar that zig-zagged across his cheek. The sensual set of his mouth. The faint stubble that surrounded his mouth and crept down his corded neck.
    He wore a black T-shirt that clung to his solid chest and sported the PBR emblem, faded blue jeans that cupped his crotch and molded to his muscular thighs, and the same worn boots he’d had on last night.
    Her stomach hollowed out and need shook her.
    Fierce.
    Intense.
    Crazy.
    Because Miranda didn’t have a thing for cowboys. A mild infatuation, she reminded herself. One she’d satisfied last night.
    Even so, her heartbeat kicked up a notch and herbreath caught and for the first time in her life, she couldn’t help but sympathize with her mother and her damning weakness for cowboys. They were potent. Particularly this one.
    Not that Miranda was giving in. While she’d pretended last night, she wasn’t Restroom Randy. Nix the bad girl who paraded around in a pair of pink cowboy boots, picking up strange men and having hot sex in alleys.
    She’d never even worn the boots until last night.
    And she made it a point never to strut.
    And she certainly didn’t pick up men. Or have hot sex. Even with Greg.
    Especially with Greg.
    She ignored the depressing thought and fought down the urge to lead Cody around the house, steer him toward the swing that hung from her front porch—number six on the list—and mark off yet another location.
    She gave herself a great big kick in the butt and braced herself against the lust bubbling inside her. The hope. “I thought you went back to Austin.”
    “You thought wrong. I had business in town, so here I am.”
    “Here?”
    He nodded.
    “In this town?”
    Another nod.
    Talk about rotten luck. She’d driven two hours to Austin just to make sure that she didn’t run into anyone she knew. All so that she could pick up the one guy headed straight for her home town. “So why didn’t you tell me that last night?”
    “You didn’t ask.” His eyes took on a smoldering light. “You weren’t exactly in the mood to talk.”
    “Just for the record,” she blurted, a lifetime of denial raging inside of her. “I don’t usually go to places like that. Or have sex with men.”
    He arched an interested eyebrow. “So you have sex with women?”
    “Of course not. I have sex with men. That is, I’ve had sex with men.