Free Fool Me Once (Codie Snow #1): A Romantic Suspense Series by Jade C. Jamison Page B

she kidding anyway?  Her roommate was a neatnik.  No way would he ever allow their apartment to get out-of-control messy, whether Codie was motivated to help or not.
    She frowned as she watched Matthew’s hand wrap around the doorknob, almost in slow motion.  Feeling nervous was stupid.  She and Slade were broken up, had been broken up for several weeks now.  As in no longer a couple .  Making love with Pete had not been cheating on Slade because she wasn’t with Slade anymore.
    It didn’t matter that the breakup was part of a pattern with them.  Codie’s recent actions were a first step in breaking the sick cycle.
    Even if that was the case, she had butterflies in her stomach and there they would stay until Matthew and Slade left the apartment.  So now she could only wish for a short and sweet encounter.  Realistically, it wasn’t like she could avoid Slade forever.  Dalton was a small town.  The only way she’d be able to miss seeing him entirely would be to move—far away.  Very far away…like Grand Junction far away.  Or maybe Salt Lake City.  Because anywhere on Colorado’s Front Range would put her within his reach.
    God, she made it sound like he was a stalker who would track her down.  No, that wasn’t Slade’s thing, but damn, he did manage to be in the right place at the right time more times than she’d like to remember.  But with Matthew being his employee and Codie still living in her hometown, she knew there was no way she could go with never seeing him.
    So…brace herself it was.  She’d have to get the first post-breakup meeting over with sooner or later, so why not now?
    She blinked as Matthew opened the door and took a shallow breath, and Slade’s visage emerged in her vision.
    Damn it.  Damn it all to hell.
    When she’d left Slade the last time, she’d been angry with him.  They’d had words.  Slade had called and apologized and she’d accepted, but she’d told him that was it.  They were over.  For good.  And, now that he was in her sights, she wasn’t so sure.
    Goddammit.
    It didn’t help that her heart still had him all wrapped in and around and through it.  Slade himself also knew it and often used that to his advantage.
    Damn him.
    She took those few moments to herself to get her emotions under control—hell, under lock and key—but she also let herself take him in before conversational niceties got in the way.  And just looking at Slade reminded her of how he made her feel, because when she wasn’t angry or upset with him, she loved him deeply, break up or not, and the man also revved her engine like no other.
    Yeah, it was stupid.  Right this second, Slade could stride over, lick the bottom of her earlobe, and lead her into the bedroom.  And she’d do it.  This she knew about herself.  Slade owned her.
    And that was part of why she was so pissed at him right now.  Weeks after their break up and she was still his deep inside.
    Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!
    When Slade walked through the open door, Codie tried to prepare her face by making it almost frozen.  Slade didn’t make immediate eye contact with her at first, though, and she felt her stomach knot itself again.  She forced herself to pull more air into her lungs, trying to relax.
    Matthew said to his boss, “Holy crap, Slade.  I can’t believe how fast you got a ruling.”
    Slade took Matthew’s hand into his, shaking it, but with his other hand, he clapped Matthew’s arm in an attaboy fashion.  “I want to thank you again, Matthew.  This win belongs to both of us.”
    “Nonsense.”
    “I couldn’t have done it without you, Matthew, and I think you know that.  I know you’re an asset to my practice.  Every agonizing moment of research you conducted helped build our case.  It felt pretty cut and dry to me, and thanks to you, I was able to help the court see it that way too.  And that’s why we’re celebrating tonight, my friend.”
    Codie knew Matthew well enough by now that