Page 83 of Spurred On

“I’m leaning toward bodyguard.”

“If you’re asking me to throw myself between you when she launches herself at you, that shit is going to cost you. Hell, her perfume alone might knock me out.”

“Right?” He wrinkled his nose. “But you’ll do it, won’t you? Have my six?” He sent her a puppy-dog look, one no red-blooded woman could ignore. “It’s what a true friend would do.”

“Is that so?” She smirked. “Ford’s your friend. He wouldn’t throw himself on that grenade.”

“Sure he would. If it meant thwarting Tibby.”

She had to laugh. He was so goofy and adorable and . . . panicked.

She really liked that he was panicked at the prospect of being hunted by another woman, especially Tibby.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Think about it?” he whined.

“Yup.” That was all he was getting right here and right now. But honestly, if the opportunity came to foil Tibby, she was all over that.

***

They spent the rest of the day in the hospital playing cards and waiting for news on Henry. And somehow, being with Sidney completely eradicated Cody’s deathly fear of waiting rooms. It was almost—dare he say it—pleasant.

When he finally convinced her to leave—frankly because Nurse Ratched kicked them out—he took her to her place, where Lisa and Claire had spent the day with Sidney’s mom. They both wanted to stay, but Cody shooed them away, insisting he would cover the night.

Together he and Sidney got her mother ready for bed, and then Sidney showed him the security system they had in place to make sure Mrs. Stevens didn’t go wandering in the night. It was fairly simple. An alarm that sounded if any doors or windows opened.

After that, they sat in the living room and watched TV and shared a bottle of wine. It was all very domestic, and it felt to Cody very much like marriage. He was surprised how much he enjoyed it, especially when a less than stellar disaster movie came on and Sidney sat at his side providing an acidic commentary that had him in stitches.

The only awkward moment was when they said good night. And that was only awkward because he didn’t want to say good night. He wanted so much more. But he gave her a kiss on her forehead and pushed her into her room, and tried to ignore the fact that she might have been receptive to more.

He refused to give her more.

As painful as it was, as hard as it was—and it was—he was not sleeping with her. Not until they had a firmer foundation. Not until they had something they could build on. He’d learned the folly of leaping into bed with her all willy-nilly, and he would not do that again. Not until he was certain their sexual relationship wouldn’t overwhelm the rest of what they had—as it had in the past.

Yeah, part of his brain whispered that he was an idiot, but his instincts told him this was the way it needed to be if he wanted something real and lasting with her.

Aside from all that—and that was a lot—she was dating Ben. Asking for or demanding something more from her would be wrong. Ben was his friend and, more importantly, Cody didn’t want to put Sidney in the position of having to make a choice between the two men, or, worse, regretting a choice to be with him come morning. The last thing he wanted to do was overstep his bounds and screw up this fragile friendship.

But in the back of his mind, hope lingered. He could use this time to strengthen that bond between them, and there was one. If nothing else, they would have that. Forever.

And people broke up all the time, didn’t they? Not that he wanted that for Sidney and Ben, but if it happened, he would be here, waiting in the wings.

As pathetic as that sounded, he would be.

At some point, a guy had to make up his mind what kind of man he wanted to be, and he needed to commit to that path.

Cade was right. True love was selfless. It had to be. Cody wanted Sidney to be happy. Even if it meant he lost her. Even if it meant she ended up with another guy.

That was the kind of man he wanted to be. Someone strong and supportive and selfless.

The selfless part would take a little work, but he was up to the challenge.

He was almost certain he was.

With all that crap on his mind—along with the knowledge that Sidney was in the next room . . . possibly naked?—it was amazing that he fell asleep, but he did. He realized that fact when, in the dead of night, the alarm blared.

It took him a second or two to come to his senses—he’d been in the middle of a steamy dream featuring a mermaid, who looked exceptionally like Sidney, who was inclined to spank him with her flipper—but when he realized where he was and what was happening, he bounded from bed.