Going for Four: Counting on Love, Book 4 (2 page)

Cody, on the other hand, asked what she wanted to do and then did it—wholeheartedly. He didn’t mind staying in with her. He seemed to prefer the quieter times as well. When she talked, he listened. He even asked questions that showed he was paying attention. She got the whole spotlight when she was with Cody. He made her feel important, like the center of attention.

That meant a lot to her. His friendship and acceptance of her meant a lot to her.

But
damn
.

If he’d gone ahead with the kiss that had been brewing between them, there was no way she could have said no.

Even with her brother in the next room.

Which meant they needed something more than their rules.

The last time this had happened, when things had gotten heated to the point of making them both almost say “screw it”, they’d decided to be friends. True, I-would-never-do-anything-to-jeopardize-this-relationship friends.

That had worked. Beautifully.

For a while.

Fourteen months ago or so, things had heated up again one night, and they’d barely resisted. That was when Cody had hired her as the administrative assistant at the fire house. He’d just been named chief and she’d wanted to quit her HR job desperately and they’d almost kissed again that night after his party. So he’d suggested she come work for him. Neither of them would risk their jobs by sleeping with an employee or boss.

That had worked for the past several months.

But now…

It always snuck up on them. They’d be going through their normal routines, having a normal conversation, when suddenly their eyes would meet and
bam
.

Of course, neither of them had ever been
naked
before.

That certainly jacked the heat level up a few thousand degrees.

Good thing there wasn’t any peppermint schnapps around. That, combined with their chemistry, was a potent and dangerous combination.

As they well knew.

Olivia dropped her towel and turned to grab clothes from her dresser. She caught a flash of her reflection in the mirror. Yeah, the naked thing changed it a bit.

She dressed quickly, first pulling on a pair of shorts, then thinking that even though she’d worn them in front of him before, today might be a good day to cover up more. She traded the shorts for sweatpants cut off to capri length and a baggy T-shirt. She didn’t always wear a bra around the house, but she definitely put one on now. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and then faced the mirror again.

She looked as dressed down as she could. She certainly didn’t look like a woman with seduction on her mind.

And
seduction
was
not
on her mind. Avoiding seduction was.

With that thought, she grabbed a light, zippered sweatshirt and pulled that on as well.

She and Cody needed to rethink their strategy.

She loved their relationship. It was easy and fun and just about perfect. They shared many interests, had the same sense of humor, could tell each other anything and get honest, nonjudgmental advice—and, obviously, they both put friends and family at the top of their priority lists.

If it weren’t for the fact that she wanted to jump him eighty percent of the time, Cody would be the ideal best friend.

And if it weren’t for her brother, Cody would be the ideal boyfriend.

Their chemistry alone was unmatched in her experience. Add to that all the fun they had, their mutual respect, and the fact that their lives blended seamlessly, and it was almost stupid that they weren’t on the fast track to spending the rest of their lives together.

In actuality, they probably were on that track—she certainly couldn’t imagine another man in her life—but it would be a lifetime of baking, sporting events, parties with their friends…and no sex.

Damn Conner anyway.

Then she sighed. It wasn’t Conner’s fault, actually. It was hers. All hers. She had horrible taste in men. And her brother knew it better than anyone. Conner was the only person who could make her doubt Cody and her feelings for him.

She’d been in love before. Twice. Both had been disasters. But both could have—would have—been worse without Conner’s intervention.

She was a trusting, forgiving, hopeless romantic. She—apparently—fell in love easily. And it—apparently—made her stupid.

Olivia took a deep breath and straightened the sweatshirt. Okay, well, if they weren’t going to have hot sex up against her bathroom counter, then they needed a new plan.

And she thought she had the answer.

“Where’s Conner?” she asked, stepping into the kitchen to find Cody rummaging in her fridge.

He pulled out the chicken they’d made two nights ago. “He and Shane made a run for some wiring.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t go.” She watched him put the chicken and rice on a plate and set it in the microwave.

He pushed the buttons to start it heating, then faced her. “If I ran every time things got hot between us, I’d never be here.”

Olivia pressed her lips together. They’d decided a long time ago that being upfront about the feelings they had for one another was the best approach. They didn’t ignore or dance around anything.

But sometimes hearing him talk about how affected he was really got her going.

On top of the hormones still pumping through her system from the near kiss, she was definitely wound up.

She leaned against the counter across from where he stood, mimicking his pose by bracing her hands on the edge behind her. “The way I see it, we have two options here. We either sleep together or we come up with something else that will work to keep us apart.”

He regarded her with the hot gaze he got whenever she mentioned anything about going for it. “Our rules have been working for a long time,” he said.

“But it almost stopped working today.”

He didn’t say anything to that.

“Cody, seriously, a little bit ago in my bathroom I would have been fine with losing my job, and if I’d had to choose between going at it with you on my bathroom floor or never having another honest opinion from a guy about my hair, I would have picked the floor.”

She saw emotion flare in his eyes and noticed that he tightened his grip on the counter.

She waited for his reaction.

“We couldn’t do that,” he finally said.

She sighed.

“There’s nowhere near enough room on that bathroom floor.”

She baited him into saying things like that. She’d admit it. Because she loved the shot of heat that always went through her when he did.

“The point is,” she said after a deep breath, “we need something else to keep us apart.”

The microwave beeped and he turned to retrieve the plate. “Like what?”

“I think I need a boyfriend.”

He froze, his back to her. “What?”

“A boyfriend. And you need a girlfriend. If we’re involved with other people, we’ll never let our chemistry get out of control. We’re too good for that.” She tried to lace some humor into her voice but was sure she’d failed.

The idea of Cody with a girlfriend made Olivia’s stomach cramp.

She knew that he dated some. She knew he slept with women. But, as his “friend”, she couldn’t let that bother her. Instead, she ignored it. And they never talked about it. It fell under their no-talking-about-sex rule. Except, of course, when they talked about how they
couldn’t
have sex with each other.

They’d tried talking about it as friends. One of the perks of having a guy for a best friend should have been getting the male perspective on things, including how guys truly felt about and thought about sex.

But that conversation had ended quickly, with Cody going straight in for a cold shower and her going out for a run to work off some of the pent-up adrenaline.

The funny thing was, the idea of him baking cookies with someone else caused a bigger surge of jealousy than the thought of him having sex with someone else.

So the idea of a girlfriend in Cody’s bed rather than a hookup made Olivia immediately begin thinking of ways to break them up.

Completely counterproductive to what she was talking about now, of course, but the plans formed subconsciously.

Cody turned to face her. “Do you have someone in mind?”

He didn’t look happy about it.

“No. But I have an idea.”

She hadn’t had a real boyfriend since she and Cody had become friends. She hadn’t been asked out much—which was a little hard on a girl’s ego—but she wasn’t as disappointed as she probably should have been. She didn’t need a boyfriend. She had Cody. They went out together plenty—movies, parties, plays, art exhibits, festivals. And they fulfilled everything the other one needed from the opposite sex.

Except physically, of course.

Which was the root of all the problems.

“You have an idea about who you want for a boyfriend?” Cody asked. His voice sounded tight.

“Yeah.” She reached to pull a brochure off the refrigerator. “And I have an idea for you too.”

“I can get a girl anytime I want one,” he said irritably, taking the brochure when she handed it to him.

It was true that Cody couldn’t spit without hitting a female football fan who would show him all kinds of team spirit. On top of that, he was a fireman. No woman was completely immune to a hot fireman. It was a universal truth.

But Cody didn’t get serious with women. She didn’t know why exactly, but she did know that Cody hadn’t had a real relationship—a meet-the-parents, celebrate-anniversaries, know-her-favorite-dessert relationship. At least not over the past two years. And she’d definitely been paying attention.

“I mean a
girlfriend
. Someone you feed and talk to
before
you find out if her bra matches her panties.”

He scowled at the brochure. “A dating service?”

“A very reputable, highly recommended, online matchmaking service,” she clarified.

“Perfect Pick,” he read from the front of the glossy paper. He looked up at her. “Seriously?”

“One of the girls at Trudy’s said she knows four people who’ve been set up by that service who are now in long-term, happy relationships.”

Trudy’s, the bar where she, Cody and all the friends, family and fans of the Hawks hung out, was the source for every kind of information possible.

“I don’t want a long-term, happy relationship.” He tossed the brochure aside and picked up his plate of chicken.

“That’s because you’re currently in one. With me. You need a new one.”

He looked at her for a long moment, as if he was going to say something important. Then he simply nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay. Come on.” She ignored the twist in her stomach and the fact that she was leading Cody to the computer in an attempt to find him the perfect woman. The one who would, essentially, replace
her
in his life.

She grabbed her laptop from the coffee table, curling up on the love seat. Cody sat next to her, plate of chicken and rice in one hand, fork in the other.

“I already started your profile,” she said, opening the appropriate tab and scrolling down to where she’d left off.

Cody leaned in. “You did?”

“This one is very detailed,” she said, pointing to some of the topics. “But I can easily fill yours out.”

“Is that right?” Cody settled back and finished off the food.

“Well, I know your height, eye color, build, interests and beliefs,” she said, clicking through the various pages.

“Did you put in that I don’t believe in online dating?”

“It’s not really online dating,” she told him. “It’s a matchmaking service.”

“Semantics.” He rose to take his plate back to the kitchen. He was clearly restless.

Olivia called after him, “You have to be open-minded.”

“This is stupid, Liv. You want me to get a girlfriend? I’ll get one. I don’t need a computer.”

Hell no, she didn’t want him to get a girlfriend. Her stomach cramp returned. “You have to base it on something other than how she looks.”

He came back into the living room. “That’s insulting.”

She tipped her head to one side. “It definitely is.”

He shrugged and plopped back down onto the love seat. “Yeah, okay.”

She grinned. Cody was a great guy. A
nice
guy. Everyone thought so. But he was also laid-back. He had a habit of waiting for things to happen, waiting for things to come to him—including women. And they always did. The guy didn’t have to put in a lot of effort, because things always turned out for him.

But if she truly wanted to find a relationship with someone else, then Cody needed to be taken—for real, not for just a night—and she couldn’t sit around and wait for the right girl to come to him. Not without constantly wanting him and comparing every guy to him. She needed to find him the right girl now so she could find the right guy for her. Finally.

“We’re not looking for a hookup or a weekend thing or even just a date. We’re looking for someone you can be serious about,” she told him. “This is going to require a little work on your side.”