Worst Date Ever (Scandals #3) (11 page)

This is where life was not like college in that I studied only two levels to pass the Cody entrance exam, but luckily that had included his favorite beer.  “Dry-hopping…makes the flavor fresher, don’t you think?  And I like that it’s made in Texas.”  Now, hopefully we didn’t move to level three questions because that was absolutely all I knew about Hans Pils.

“That’s right, it is…right in Blanco.”

I nodded as if I was totally familiar with that.

“So, when I met you guys the other day, you had been up seeing Michael?”

“Uh yes.  I do management consulting…on marketing…mainly customer focus groups, opinion surveys and stuff.”

“Who do you work for?”

The questions seemed pretty fast and focused for a test date.  “Freelance.”

Cody nodded, smiled, finished his beer and started to look around for a server.  When he saw one, he gave her a wave and she headed our way.

“Two Hans Pils drafts, please,” he ordered when she arrived.  He looked at me, “You want something to eat?”

“You choose.”

“Let’s do an order of Guinness BBQ wings and a mini fish and chip cup…okay?”

I nodded.

“Get it right out to you, thanks.”  The server batted her eyelashes at him before heading back inside.

“This is a nice place,” I commented, trying to draw his attention back to me.

“Yes, there are dozens of great restaurants around here.  Living downtown, I’ve come to learn that Austin is really a small town, especially at night.”

“Seems like it…but I haven’t been in the area long, so I haven’t met a lot of people.”

“Is that why you joined Linked?” he asked.

“Michael sort of talked me into it.  He said he had a friend he thought would be a perfect match.”  I forced myself to give Cody a coy look.  “Could that be you?”

Cody leaned forward, his arms resting on the table.  “Could be.  We have a lot in common.”

“Oh…you have the advantage there.  I didn’t actually have time to look through any profiles before coming here tonight.”  Which was mostly true.  I hadn’t actually looked at any other profile except his. 

“What do you want to know?”  He held his hands out.  “I’m an open book.”

I was considering how I should go forward with that when I glanced up and noticed that Amanda, who we had met in the lobby of Michael’s building, was heading straight toward us. Her four-inch heals clicked on the stone floor, echoing between the buildings.  She had a broad smile and made the briefest of fluttery waves in my direction.  I nodded and Cody turned to see who was coming.  “Know her?” I asked.

“Sure do…dated her once or twice…a long time ago,” Cody smiled and turned.

“Hey kids,” Amanda said in her sultry voice.  “You guys know each other?” 

“Tulsa fell for me the other day outside our building,” he answered, giving me a wink. 

“Really…tell me more.”  Amanda looked at me expectantly.

“Actually, Cody said it pretty accurately.  I ran into him and fell down.  My laptop flew out of my arms and he dove and caught it inches above the ground.”

Cody held his arms up, presenting the scratches as evidence.

“Well, he
is
a good catch.” She chuckled and rested her hands on his shoulders in what could be interpreted as either a friendly gesture or a possessive one.  “I work at a dog rescue, and Cody takes the time to raise money for the shelter at the firehouse…really sweet.  I found them a Dalmatian puppy as a mascot.  How’s Piles doing anyway?”

“Amazing…the guys love him.  Luckily, he has outgrown most of his puppy bad habits.”

“Piles?” That had to be the dumbest name for a firehouse dog ever.

“You tell her, Cody…it’s still embarrassing what you did to that dog.”

Cody laughed.  “We all decided we would wait for thirty days before we named him so his name meant something to all the guys, right?”

“Wait until you hear this.”  Amanda leaned forward until she was practically resting her head on his shoulder.

“Not that funny, Amanda.  So, this dog had a bad habit of leaving surprise packages at the bottom of the fire pole, and there were several fires where some of us had dog shit on our boots, and that smell can really stink up the truck.  Our first choice was Shit, but we didn’t think that would sound good to the school kids who visit us.  So, we settled on Piles.”

I had to admit the name and the reason were pretty funny and strangely appropriate. I laughed along with them.  “You guys seem to know each other well.”

“Yes,” Amanda agreed, absently running her fingers through Cody’s dark brown hair.  But she didn’t elaborate.  “I signed up for the mixer tonight, but I was so busy I didn’t think I’d be able to make it.  I just dropped by for a minute.”  She sighed and gave Cody’s shoulder one last squeeze.  “I guess I’ll head home and call it a day.  I have a lot of proposals to get out, and I’m taking Allison shopping tomorrow.  Good seeing you again, Tulsa.  Bye bye, Cody.”

“Night.” I watched as she headed back inside.  I felt a little uncomfortable, but didn’t want to make a big deal about it because I didn’t want to appear jealous.  “She seems really nice,” I said, then casually added, “why’d you guys break up?”

Cody stared at me with a crooked smile lifting one corner of his lips.  “You get right to the point.”

“I guess I do.”  I tried to shrug it off.  “You don’t have to answer.”

“No, that’s okay.  She’s a great girl, but she’s really busy, and I was just getting into my new job.  She’s a graphic artist and media expert, so her business life is like yours I suspect.  Always marketing and selling and executing.  Then she works at the dog shelter and she’s also a volunteer with a big sister group that spends time with girls from military families.  That’s who Allison must be.”

“Wow…all of a sudden I feel selfish and lazy.”

“You have to be at the right place in your life to ride the Amanda-go-round without falling off.  I just wasn’t.”

“You regret that?”

“Breaking up with Amanda?  No…not really.  She just wasn’t the right person at the right time for me.”

“So, have you dated many girls in Linked?”  I already knew the answer, of course, but it seemed like a logical question.  Plus, I wanted to test his honesty.

“More than I would have if Michael hadn’t bugged me about it.”

Okay, so that was pretty accurate without being specific.  I wanted to ask a follow-up question, but I didn’t want to chase him off.  So, I switched directions.  “It was so sad about Michael’s girlfriend.  He seems to genuinely care for her.”  Since their relationship wasn’t common knowledge, I watched his reaction.

His forehead wrinkled and he frowned.  “That was tragic.  Michael was completely broken up about it.”  He stared into his beer, then lifted it and drained the glass.  “Tamara was a great girl.  Smart, funny, beautiful…the real deal.”

“You knew her?”  To my suspicious ears, it sounded like he had a thing for Tamara.  Maybe she chose Michael over Cody.  Now that would be a powerful motive.

“She and Michael double-dated with me and my date a few times.”

“Did she date many other guys at Linked?”

He shook his head.  “No, she and Michael were made for each other.  It was love at first sight.”  He studied me for a moment.  “Your turn.  Tell me about why you’re here.”

I wasn’t ready for the switcheroo.  “I…uh…like I said, I’m new in town and don’t know many people other than my brothers and sisters.  I thought this would be fun.”  I decided now would be a good time to attempt another flirt.  I lowered my lashes and said, “And I was hoping I would bump into you again.”

He was quiet for so long that I got nervous and looked up only to find him studying me.  I sensed he was judging my sincerity, and I had no idea how I measured up. 

“You have amazing eyes,” he said.  “I didn’t really notice them the other day.”

Another switcheroo.  My lashes fluttered down again, but this time from genuine shyness.  I tried to gather my scattered wits.  I could feel the intensity of his gaze burning through my lids and my cheeks flushed hotly.  At that moment, I realized I was in a game way over my head.  He had the uncanny ability to catch me off guard, even when I was trying to guide the conversation.  It didn’t help that he was so attractive that my breath caught in my throat every time I looked at him.  I forced myself to lift my gaze back to his.

“It’s a family thing,” I explained.  “All my brothers and sisters…and apparently our father…have exactly the same color eyes.”

Our server returned with our food and fresh drinks.  I had almost forgotten he had sent her off with an order, but I welcomed the interruption.  She placed the food in the middle of the table along with a pile of napkins and a small plate in front of each of us.  “Anything else I can get you?” she asked.

“We’re good for now,” he told her.

The fish and chips were served in a paper cone and looked flaky and crisp.  I helped myself to a fish plank and a few fries while he headed straight for the wings.  The conversation momentarily stopped as we filled our mouths with food.

“These are delicious,” I managed to say between bites.

He put a wing on my plate.  “If you think that’s good, try this.”

I picked up the wing and tasted it.  He was right.  The sauce was sticky and spicy and the wing was perfectly cooked.  “Umm…good.”  I finished it off and was trying to decide whether to lick the sauce off my fingers like I wanted to or be polite and use a napkin.  He saw me and lifted his own fingers to his mouth and licked the sauce off. 

I followed his lead and sucked each finger, one at a time.  I hadn’t meant to be provocative, but Cody’s blue eyes were burning holes in me.  I licked my lips, and he swallowed…hard.

“Where’s Liberty?” he asked, his voice husky and low.

“Don’t know exactly.  She’s not a member so she’s not tagged and can’t be tracked digitally.  I could call her though.  Why?”

“I was thinking maybe you’d like to cut out and go back to my place.  I’d like to kick back and get to know you better.”

I was both excited and terrified.  But my plan wouldn’t work unless I went to his apartment, so, of course, I had to agree.

“Let me try and reach her.” I picked up my cell phone and tapped Liberty’s speed dial number.

She answered just before it went to voicemail.  I could tell by the volume of her voice competing with the music and the crowd that she was still in the middle of the mixer inside.

“Hello,”
she shouted. 

I held the phone a few inches away from my ear.  “Hey, it’s me.  Do you think you can get a ride home?”

There was a short pause as if she was turning away to ask someone something, then she came back. 
“Yeah, I’m good.  Have fun.”

I could hear the smile in her voice.  “See you tomorrow.”

“Whenever,”
she said. 
“I’ll cover for you at the office.”

“I’ll be home before then.”

“Yeah, right.  Bye.”

“Bye.”  I hung up and looked over at Cody who had been watching me intently, trying to read my body language, no doubt.  “She’s got a ride, so let’s go.”

“Where are you parked?”

“Down the street,” I answered.

“You can ride with me, and I’ll take you back to your car later.”

That made me feel a little vulnerable, so I suggested, “I’ll just meet you there.  That will keep you from having to go out again tonight.”  I felt better having him know right up front that I wasn’t planning on spending the night.

We wound our way back through the crowd, dropping our name tags off on the table as we left.  There were a few people out on Fourth Street, but it was Sixth Street that stayed busy all the time.  Cody walked me to my car, filling me in on the history of the businesses we passed. 

“Have you lived here all your life?” I asked.

“I grew up in San Diego.  My old business partner and I came to Austin for a SXSW Festival, and I felt like I’d come home.  He and I had come up with an interactive game about paramedics, and when we sold it, I moved here.”

“So, you didn’t have a burning…no pun intended…desire to be a firefighter?”

“My dad was a firefighter, and ever since I can remember, that’s what I wanted to be, too.  I just sort of stumbled into the whole game thing when my roommate and I were fooling around for a class project.”  He shrugged.  “Now that I can afford it, I decided I was still young enough to go for it, so I tried out and got accepted.”

“It’s a lot more physical than playing games all day,” I pointed out.

“Yes, but it’s challenging and interesting.  Every day is different, you know?”

We stopped next to my SUV.  I clicked my key fob and the doors unlocked.

Cody peered in the backseat.

“What are you looking for?” I asked.

“A car seat.  This is a soccer mom’s vehicle.”

“No kids.  No car seats, and I’m not crazy about soccer,” I answered, a little defensively about him criticizing my Ford Edge.  “I like my car…”

Before I could finish the sentence, he leaned in and I felt his lips press against mine.  Caught by surprise, my mouth was open, but it quickly conformed to his.  The kiss was warm and delicious.  He tasted of barbecue sauce and beer, and I felt myself melt against him, eager to feel the hardness of his body against mine.  A strange tingling started in the pit of my stomach and flashed through me.  He moved forward until I was pinned against my car with his body pressed to mine.  The firmness of his erection against my stomach assured me he was as turned on as I was.