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He snorted at AJ’s assertation that he never took her to lunch. Maybe he hadn’t done it in a while, but he had grabbed food and shared it with her at her studio.
Not the same thing, buddy. Dropping off a burger because you were in town getting tractor parts is not the same as setting up a time specifically for a meal with only her.
Okay, that was a valid point. It’d been longer than he cared to admit since he’d put effort into carving out alone time for them. Granted, it’d become harder with each new kid they added to their family, but AJ hadn’t expressed disappointment to Ainsley that they hadn’t gone on date nights or taken a couples’ weekend; her complaint centered on his inattention to her even when they were in thesameroom.
Christ. There wasn’t any doubt he’d been moody and exhausted since they’d started haying. And maybe sharper in tone than usual in his responses.
But his recall of the day she’d chased him to his truck played out a bit differently in his mind. No denying he’d barked at her, but the woman hadn’t taken into account that he’d hauled his ass outta bed at four a.m. so Ky could help with the morning cattle check before he raced to town for his first football practice of the day. He’d come home to refill his thermos after he’d gotten a text from Colt that he wouldn’t be on hand, which left Cord working by himself. Again.
So yeah, he’d been pissed off and overwhelmed before she added to it by complaining he hadn’t been his usual horny self. Or that’s how he’d taken it.
Appeared he’d taken it wrong.
Thinking back to the day a week or so later, when AJ had sauntered into the barn and remarked his horse got more daily affection than she did…apparently his crack about riding her until she got all sweaty and finishing her off with a rubdown and a sugar cube hadn’t been as funny to her as it had been to him.
How had they gotten so out of synch? From the moment they’d gotten together, AJ had been an open book. She hadn’t played games. She tackled problems with a mix of fortitude, love and good cheer and wasn’t shy about sharing her opinions. That’s why he loved her; she called him on his shit rather than putting up with it. What didn’t make sense was that she’d turnedthis “he said/she said” miscommunication into a serious threat to their relationship. It was just a little hiccup.
They needed to get back on track. And sooner rather than later.
Cord scrubbed his hands over his razor-stubbled face. Alone time. Right. First things first ditching the kids for a night.
He called Keely.
“Hey big bro. What’s up?”
“I need a favor. Can you pick Vaughn up from preschool when you get the twins?”
“Sure. Is that all you need?”
Cord blew out a breath. “I don’t know. I’m tryin’ to surprise my wife with a date night—a kid-free overnight date night—and I’m not sure how to make that happen. We McKays each have too many kids to dump the lot of them off with one family. And I don’t wanna spring this on Mom and Dad last minute.”
“Well, I can pick up both Vaughn and Avery and keep them until noon tomorrow. Maybe Colby and Channing could take Foster and Beau? They’d probably prefer to be with their boy cousin gang.”
“Good idea. I’ll call him.”
“Is this nookie-fest happening after Kyler’s football game tonight?”
Crap. He’d known Kyler had plans, but in his relief that he’d had one less kid to worry about shuffling off, he’d forgottenwhyKy wouldn’t be home. “Um, we’re skipping tonight’s game.”
Keely gasped. “You? Skipping out on Kyler’s game? Youneverdo that.”
Wrong. He’d missed games when ranch business took priority, so Miss-Know-it-all didn’t know everything. “Do I need to pack some stuff for the kids and drop it off?”
“Nope. I got you covered.”
“One other thing, don’t talk to AJ. I am tryin’ to keep it a surprise.”
“I won’t. I’ll text you when I’m home with the kiddos.”
“Thanks, K. I mean it.”
Next he called his brother Colby’s cell, but he didn’t answer so Cord tried reaching his sister-in-law Channing.
“Did you mean to call me, Cord, or was this another saddle dial?” Channing intoned sweetly.
“Butt dial someone once and they never forget it,” he groused. “I tried reaching Colby first, but he didn’t pick up.”
“He’s right here so I can put you on speaker.”
