Having an amazing time, though… that she was definitely hoping to achieve.
Funny how once she let go and let her faith in life take over, she was so quickly on board with this.
The sound of boots crunching on gravel met her ears, and she turned, her heart thumping in her chest as she met Cody’s warm brown eyes. Shaking herself out of her stupor, she walked down the steps to meet him.
Stopping in front of her, he gave her that half smile she couldn’t resist, and she felt her knees weaken in response.
So much for shaking herself out of
the daze she fell into the moment she laid eyes on him.
“Were you waiting outside for me?” he asked, his smooth, slightly raspy voice twisting her insides.
For a moment, all she could focus on was his voice and what it did to her—and then his question sank in.
“W-what?” she sputtered, feeling her cheeks flush. That seemed to be a common occurrence with him. “No! I wasn’t waiting like a creepy stalker type, I swear.”
The other corner of his lips lifted as his smile grew. “I never thought you were. I was just messing around.”
Her lips tugged up even as she tried her best to give him a stern look. “Way to give a gal a panic attack,” she teased. She was a little rusty at joking or flirting, but dammit, now that she’d decided to try with Cody, she was really going to try. “For real though, I was passing the time by reading a book out here. It can get loud inside, so it’s hard to concentrate.”
That was true, but it was only partially the reason she’d been outside. Still, a little white lie couldn’t hurt, right?
He accepted her explanation with a nod, his eyes roving down her body and back up again in a way that sent tingles up her spine. “Understandable. You look amazing, by the way. I should have opened with that.”
Her heart gave a little leap, and she was so flustered, she nearly came back with the whole, “Oh, this old thing?” line. Luckily, she bit her tongue just in time to stop the words from emerging.
Instead, she followed his lead, letting her eyes trail up and down his body. Swallowing as her throat suddenly turned dry as dust, she hoped her voice didn’t come out in a croak. “Thanks. So do you, Cody.”
He really, really did. His brown hair was a little messy, his stubble more filled it. He was wearing a light blue button-down shirt, untucked with the first couple buttons open, with dark wash jeans and shiny boots.
Amazing wasn’t even the word for it. Mouthwatering, knee weakening, sexy as all get out—he was all those and more, but she couldn’t tell him that. Not on a first date.
Thinking of this as a date made a tinge of fear slither through her veins, but she ignored it. She was determined to put her past behind her, to live in the present. To look to the future.
To find her faith again.
She met his eyes, something in her soul settling as she gazed into his chocolate brown depths. Cody was a huge part of why she was starting to find her faith, whether he realized it or not.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked, still holding her eyes.
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
He waved his arm, gesturing for her to go first. As she did, her mind was caught on her previous thought. Cody was helping her more than he knew—but her? She was lying to him.
There was so much he didn’t know about her. And not letting him in on the kidnapping, being held for auction, all of that, was excusable. Even though it felt differently, they hadn’t known each other for long—not enough for those kinds of revelations.
But the biggest fib—or omission—was that she hadn’t told him she was a shifter.
And not just any kind of shifter. A dragon.
But how did she bring that up without making him run? How did she know when it would be the right time to tell him?
And how the hell was she supposed to give her all to exploring whatever this was between them when she was keeping a secret that big?
Cody walked fast, beating her to the truck to he could open the door for her. He held out his hand to help her inside, and for a moment, she stared at it with surprise.
Honestly, she hadn’t been on all that many dates, but how many of those had acted like a gentleman? Like Cody was now?