Page 39 of Hot For You

Yes, it was very comfortable…perhaps too much so?

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Cody had found himself driving home faster than he should have, all because he couldn’t get his mind off of Carilyn. He was on the last stretch of highway before home as a pair of flashing blue and red lights appeared in his rearview mirror. He groaned. Even with cousins on the police force, that didn’t make him immune from getting a ticket.

He sighed and pulled the truck over onto the side of the road. He buzzed down the window as he waited with his hands on the wheel for the officer to come to the window.

“So, where’s the fire?” came a familiar deep voice.

Cody looked up to see his cousin, John McBride’s, not so amused expression. Reflective sunglasses hid John’s eyes, and Cody couldn’t tell if his older cousin was serious or not.

“Hi, cuz.” Cody let out his breath, hopeful that John wasn’t going to give him a ticket.

John was a big man, a hard man, and he had his clipboard in hand. “Cody, you do know you were going twenty-one miles over the speed limit? You should know that’s a criminal offense.”

Cody winced. “Sorry.”

“You’re lucky this is a lonely stretch of road and no one else is around.” John lowered the clipboard and Cody blew out a breath of relief as his cousin continued, “Watch your speed or next time I’ll have to give you a ticket.”

“You’ve got it.” Cody gave John an expression of appreciation. “How are Uncle Hal and Aunt Angel?”

“They’re both doing well.” John seemed to relax as he spoke of his parents. “You missed the reunion on Easter. It was a hell of a good time. You should drop by and see the folks.”

“You’re right, I should go see them,” Cody said. “Really sucked that I got called in on the morning of the reunion—that was one of the days the damned arsonist struck.”

“That’s right.” John gave a nod. “Reese has been keeping me updated on the progress in the case. I heard that one of the victims received a threatening letter, and another one is missing.”

“Yeah.” Cody frowned. “I don’t like this, don’t like it at all.”

“Same here.” John’s radio squawked on his shoulder and he responded to it. Cody recognized it was the code for a domestic dispute.

“Watch that speed,” John said as he took a step back.

“You bet,” Cody said before John turned away.

Cody pulled his truck back onto the road, kept his speed just a couple of miles over the speed limit, and headed the last mile to the turnoff to his home.

The thought of seeing Carilyn again made him smile. He had been looking forward to seeing her again since the day he’d left for his shift. It was the first time he could remember that time had seemed to crawl unbelievably slow.

Carilyn was on the porch swing as he drove up to the house, typing on her laptop as she moved the swing back and forth. She looked up and smiled and gave a little wave to him as he parked.

He smiled and grabbed his duffel as he climbed out. He shut the truck door behind him, and then strode up to the house.

She closed the lid of the laptop and held it in her lap as she waited for him to walk up the porch. Loose tendrils of her red hair had escaped her braid and floated around her face in a soft breeze.

When he reached her, she stood, still holding her laptop as she said, “Good morning.”

The thought of having her waiting for him every time he came home from getting off a shift sent warmth through his gut.

He wanted to kiss her, but instead said, “How are you feeling?”

“So much better.” She walked in through the doorway as he held the door open for her.

“You wouldn’t just be saying that because you want to go to Leigh’s?” he said as entered behind her and closed the door behind them.

She shook her head. “Honest.”

“You’d better be.” His lips quirked as he tossed his duffel on the loveseat. “Or I’ll have to turn you over my knee for lying.”

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