Page 14 of Fern's Date with Destiny
He didn’t say anything right away.Just brushed his thumb under her chin, tipping her face up so he could kiss her.Slow this time, lazy and thorough.The kind of kiss that made the cool air and distant mountains and his warm jacket pressed to her all blur into one huge sensation.
When he pulled back, Fern tugged him down again to steal one more, laughing into his mouth when he chuckled against her lips.
“Keep that up and they’ll run for sure,” he teased.
“Sorry,” she murmured, completely unrepentant.She pressed her forehead to his.“Not sorry.”
They found a dry spot on an old log a few minutes later, close enough to keep watching the little herd but far enough away that the horses settled down and mostly ignored them.
Cody dug out a thermos, and using the cap as a travel mug, he poured them a cup of strong, black coffee.“I forgot the extra cup, so we’ll have to share.”
Fern wrinkled her nose.“Thanks?”
He snickered then pulled out a Ziplock baggie full of sugar cubes.“I know how you take your coffee.That sweet tooth of yours is going to be the death of me.But have at ‘er.”
Shoulders brushing, they passed the cup between them, whispering and pointing out which horses were their favourites.
Somewhere in that quiet, Fern realized her heart wasn’t racing from the sight of the wild horses anymore.It buzzed with how natural this felt.How right.
She nudged his boot with hers.“We should lay a wager.On how long we can keep our secret going.About us seeing each other.”
“After this morning and your mom’s easy assumptions?”Cody leaned back, balancing on his elbows, squinting at her with that lazy affection she was quickly becoming addicted to.“I’m going to go with months.Like…mid-December.”
“Optimist.I like that about you.”She pretended to think, winding a ringlet around her finger.“If we make it to the end of September, I’ll be happily shocked.”
“There’s the bet.”His grin turned wolfish.“Now we need to haggle over the wager.”
She acted as if maidenly offended.“You don’t want to simply enjoy bragging rights?I’m shocked, Mr.Gabrielle.”
“I’m a nice guy, but not that nice,” he teased.He tipped his hat down to shade his eyes then pulled her in until her head rested on his chest.
As they inclined into each other, awareness of him grew intensely.The strength in the long length of his muscular body, the firm grip of his arm wrapped around her.
The steady thump of his heart under her cheek.
“I like this,” she murmured.“Us.Not having to pretend we’re just friends anymore.”
“Me too, sweetheart,” he rumbled, low and content
She smiled against his jacket.The secret.The horses.Him.
All of it hers.For now.
Hopefully for at least another week.
Cody gotFern home just before noon, easing the truck along her quiet street like a man with nothing to hide.Inside, he still hummed with the echo of her laughter and the way she’d curled up under his arm while the horses grazed below.
He’d packed her a picnic breakfast.He’d fed her sugar-laced coffee and stolen half a dozen kisses under that big Alberta sky.They’d made a memory.
It was a start, yet driving away felt as if he were leaving something half finished.He didn’t want to get greedy, but every part of him already craved the next stolen hour.
Back at Red Boot, a soft breeze carried the scent of cut hay from the nearby fields, warm from the sun but with that early hint of autumn threading through as well.Somewhere down by the corrals, a couple of mares nickered lazily.Someone, probably old Bert, was whistling off-key, the ranch hand a stubborn ghost in his seventies who refused to retire.
The main yard stretched wide and open, framed by the jagged rise of the Rockies in the distance.On days like this, Cody never felt boxed in.The land gave him room to think, to breathe, to be useful in ways that mattered.
A clatter by the row of guest cottages snapped him back.Two of the hired hands, Austin and Grant, stood beside a window frame, arguing about the caulking gun.
Austin spotted him first, waving to get his attention.“Boss!You got a sec?”
