Love At First Fight

Chapter 2

2

Cody followed Andie into the inn wishing he were just about anywhere but there. Everything about Andie made him crazy. He wanted to kick his best friend’s a*s for pushing them together. Hell, he should have just kept going when he left the bedroom she was sleeping in. Then Dillon wouldn’t have insisted her drive her around.

Cody heard voices coming from the dining room at the back of the inn. He hadn’t been inside in years. When Andie took over running the inn, Cody couldn’t go inside. Being close to her, acting like everything was okay, was too hard.

He shook his head at himself. Andie wanted nothing to do with him. His anxiety over being around her was all in his head. She didn’t give him a second thought.

Except maybe to be annoyed that he saw her n***d.

His c**k started to rise as the flashes of her body on display played through his mind. He shifted and recited multiplication tables, hoping it did the trick.

When Cody hit the dining room, he was mostly back under control. He scanned the room, catching a glimpse of Andie, and headed the opposite direction to where Sean and Zach were setting trays of food onto the buffet table.

“Need some help?” Cody offered, knowing Zach would rather be in the kitchen instead of carting food around.

“Yeah,” Zach said immediately. He inclined his head toward the kitchen for Cody to follow while Sean lit the burners under each pan.

“How many people are coming?” Cody asked when he saw the spread of food Zach made.

Zach shrugged. “Just us is twenty-two. And you know how we eat.”

Cody nodded in agreement. There had never been a shortage of food at Amavita. With a big Italian family, they welcomed in anyone and everyone and made sure there was always enough to go around.

“Are any of the guests eating?”

Zach nodded. “Almost all the rooms were booked last night. I’ve already seen three couples, but the other three might head down while we’re eating.”

Cody grabbed the first pan, full of scrambled eggs tossed with peppers, onions, and cheddar cheese, and carried it out to the dining room. He went back for another pan, carrying out the bacon and sausage, then the pancakes. He shook his head, wondering how early Zach was up making all the food.

“Oh, Cody, good. Help me out,” Dillon’s mom, Pauline, said. Cody loved Pauline like a second mother. She’d always insisted he call her by her first name, even when they were younger. He felt strange doing so, but it also made him feel welcome.

“What do you need, Pauline?” Cody said automatically.

She beckoned him out of the room to the front desk. She gripped the side and pulled, shifting the entire structure. “Andie said someone must have run into it, but we have no idea what happened. I doubt it’s been getting worse over time or I hope she would have noticed it. With Jake leaving for his honeymoon later today, do you think you’d be able to take care of it for us?”

Cody choked back a retort about Andie and nodded. Pauline always thought Andie was a little flighty. Unreliable was how she put it. Cody had leapt to Andie’s defense more times than he could count. He was certain Andie wanted everyone to think she was as useless as plastic screws, but he knew there was more to it. There was more to Andie.

She just never let anyone see it.

“I’ll take a look at it later, Pauline. It shouldn’t be more than a few new screws.” Cody bent down behind the built-in desk that Andie stood behind daily. Her scent enveloped him as he crouched in a space that reflected her attention to detail. He could see her touch in the perfectly aligned supplies on the shelves beneath the surface. Cody forced himself to look for structural damage as he pushed lightly on the edge, moving the piece just enough to confirm what he guessed. He pushed to his feet and grinned at Pauline.

“There doesn’t appear to be any damage to the piece. It won’t take me long to secure it for you guys.”

Pauline smiled up at him, cupping his cheeks with outstretched hands. Next to his 6’5” everyone was short, but Pauline could barely reach his chin. Cody ducked out of habit, putting himself within her reach.

“You’re always so good to us. Thank you.”

Cody nodded and grinned when Pauline slipped her arm through his to guide him back to the dining room.

“Are you ready to work on the girls’ house this week?”

“Definitely. All the materials are in and we’re ready to go. I want to make sure the exterior work is complete before the weather turns so I have my entire crew here for the first couple weeks.”

Pauline nodded. “Thank you. I know you don’t have to take on all the work you do for us, but we appreciate it.”

“I enjoy working here,” Cody answered truthfully. Remodeling the house Andie and Kristen shared was going to be a whole new challenge, but Cody wouldn’t pass up a chance to see her n***d again.

Dammit.

He adjusted himself as Pauline released his arm. The idea of Andie n***d had him rising to the occasion. Not a good idea in a room full of her family.

Cody helped where he could, keeping too busy to think about Andie, and before long, Alyssa and Jake walked into the room holding hands. Everyone cheered and congratulated them again. Cody hung back, letting the family celebrate. He realized he was the only person there who wasn’t a relative and a pang for what they had hit him straight in the chest. He loved his parents, but he’d always wished for a sibling. Or even a cousin. His parents were both only children like he was, making him the only one.

Dillon complained constantly about not having any quiet and that their house growing up was too busy, but Cody thought it would have been great. He was never bored when he was at the Young house.

Jake approached him when the crowd started to take their seats. They embraced with a handshake and a slap on each other’s back. “Congratulations, man,” Cody said, grinning widely. He, Jake, and Dillon had been close for years. Cody knew how miserable Jake was when Alyssa was gone. Seeing his friend smile again made Cody think anything was possible.

“Thanks, Code. Been a long time coming, but I told her she’s worn her last wedding dress.”

Cody laughed with Jake. Alyssa had three failed marriages before she returned to Amavita and to Jake. Cody hoped his friend was right. He didn’t think Jake would survive if Alyssa left again. Cody’s eyes landed on Alyssa, talking to Andie near the front of the room. Alyssa looked happy. Stable. Not ready to run.

And Cody knew the ready to run look.

“You got anything for me to do while you’re gone?”

Jake ran a hand over his jaw and shook his head. “I think everything’ll be okay for a couple weeks. Henry and Ryan are going to take care of any equipment issues. Sean should be okay with his side of things. The inn might have little things here and there, but you know Tina will call if she needs you.”

Cody nodded. Tina, the Richliano matriarch, was a fireball if there ever was one. Andie definitely got her spunk from her grandmother. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, and was definitely not afraid to ask for what she wanted.

“She always does. Pauline already grabbed me about the front desk. I’ll take care of it before I leave today.”

“Desk?” Jake asked as Alyssa slid an arm around his waist.

“Hey Cody,” Alyssa said.

“Hey Alyssa. Congratulations,” Cody said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. Alyssa was a beautiful woman, but he never looked twice at her. He didn’t know her as well as he knew the others since she’d been away for so many years, but he liked Alyssa. Especially for Jake.

“Thanks,” she said, then looked up at Jake. “Are you ready to eat?”

Jake leaned down and whispered something in her ear that Cody couldn’t hear. Judging by the blush that stained Alyssa’s cheeks, he was happy to be clueless.

“I’ll catch up with you before you go,” Cody said, patting Jake on the shoulder and leaving him to his new bride. Jake barely even glanced at him as Alyssa pulled him toward a table at the front of the room.

Cody grabbed a plate and felt a little better when he realized Jake’s friend, Lana, was there with her son and fiancé, Nate. That good feeling drifted away when he turned and saw Dillon waving him toward a table, and a seat wedged between Dillon and Andie.

Andie wanted to kick her brother under the table, but Dillon had no idea what he was doing. He didn’t know things were weird with her and Cody. She didn’t want him to know why either, so Andie kept her mouth shut.

Cody looked as comfortable as Andie did when he sat down next to her. His knee brushed hers, sending a jolt of awareness through Andie. She shifted away from his touch and focused on her breakfast, hoping she could eat fast enough to get out of there before she said or did something she shouldn’t do.

Like kiss Cody.

She blamed Alyssa. Weddings were always the stuff romance was made of. Flowers, music, love. It worked into a girl’s head and made her a little crazy. Add in a meddling cousin who tried to convince her that Cody had a thing for her, and Andie had no idea what was going on.

She tried to ignore Alyssa’s words from the night before, but the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if her cousin could be right. Maybe Cody did like her. Maybe that explained why he rarely talked to her and always stammered when he did. She made him nervous because he wanted her.

Andie studied his profile out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t want anyone to catch her staring at Cody, especially the man himself, but she found herself unable to stop watching him.

Andie always found herself attracted to clean-cut, suit wearing types of men, but there was something about the ruggedness of Cody that had her wondering if that had always been her problem. She never felt like she could let her guard down around the men she dated. She had to play her role as the dressed up tart that laughed at all the jokes and helped make him look good. The worst was when the guy wasn’t much taller than her and she couldn’t even wear heels.

She glanced at Cody again. He was definitely a guy who wouldn’t think twice about her wearing heels. He easily had eight inches on her, maybe a few more. She really liked tall men.

Why hadn’t she ever thought about Cody as a man instead of her brother’s friend?

And why was it so hard to stop thinking about the way his eyes had scanned her body when he exposed her in bed that morning.

“You gonna help me clean up my place after this?” Dillon asked, bringing Andie’s thoughts back to the table around her.

Andie shrugged. “Sure. I’m used to cleaning up.”

“Did you stay there last night?” Kristen asked from Andie’s right.

Andie nodded. “Sean and Leo and I went over after the wedding. You were already gone. Did you stay at Phillip’s?”

Kristen shook her head. “No. We broke up.”

“Again?” Andie said with a grin.

Kristen shrugged, not smiling. “He said the wedding made him think about what he really wants and that he’s ready to settle down. Blah blah. I’m too wild, and all the s**t he says every time we break up.”

“You’re not worried?”

Her head bobbed side to side in a half shrug. “I’m sure he’ll come crawling back before too long. He always does. When you didn’t come home I figured you hooked up with someone. I was jealous that I got dumped and you got fucked.”

Cody choked on his water.

Dillon pounded him on the back until Cody waved him off. He wiped his lips on a napkin, then focused on his plate again.

“I didn’t meet anyone. Most of the people there were relatives or employees.”

“And guys like Cody that you’ve known forever.”

Before Andie could answer, a telltale creak resonated above them. Andie looked up at the ceiling, her gaze followed by Dillon, Kristen, and Cody. The dining room slowly stilled as the rhythmic pounding of the bed in the room above became louder. The creak turned to a slam as the headboard beat into the wall. Then the screaming started.

“Oh, Cody, yes! Harder! Don’t stop!”

Andie’s eyes snapped to Cody’s. There was no mistaking the look he gave her. Desire. Need. l**t. He wanted her. He wanted her calling his name. Her bed slamming against the wall. Her body coiled tight and ready to burst because of him.

And damn if her body didn’t throb, wishing for the same thing.

Cody wasn’t sure he’d be able to walk again after hearing that woman calling his name. No, that wasn’t it. He couldn’t care less about the woman upstairs getting screwed well from the sound of it. No, Cody wouldn’t walk again because of the look Andie gave him.

Like she saw him, and wanted him.

He almost fell out of his chair.

The couple upstairs continued for a few more minutes before the woman screamed and the man grunted loudly. Silence fell in the room for about thirty seconds before Sean’s eleven year old daughter, Emily, asked, “What were they doing?”

Cody glanced at Andie again. Her cheeks were pink and her breathing was a little shallow. If he was a betting man, he’d guess she was turned on.

Even better, she was watching him.

Cody had to get the hell out of there.

“I’m gonna go take a look at the check-in desk. I’ll see you guys later,” Cody blurted. He rushed from the room, depositing his plate and glass on the tray near the kitchen. He kept going past the desk and outside to get his tools.

And some fresh air.

Cody went around to the side of his truck, thankful he’d walked to Dillon’s that morning instead of parking there, and lifted the hatch on the toolbox in the bed of his truck. He sucked in a breath, the scent of fresh fall air and sawdust that seemed to cling to his tools calming him. He grabbed what he thought he would need to fix the desk and went back inside.

Cody felt most comfortable with tools in his hands. As a kid, his dad would let him play with some of his old tools. He built his first birdhouse before he started kindergarten, with his father’s help, and moved on to bookshelves and simple furniture by middle school. By the time he graduated from high school, Cody was helping out on his dad’s construction sites.

He went behind the desk and strapped his knee pads on. He knelt on the floor, invisible to anyone passing by, and held his breath when he heard the clack of heels on the wood floor.

Cody didn’t want to talk to anyone. He needed to focus on his work, and get the hell out of there. He couldn’t go back to Dillon’s house if Andie was going to be there. He had to leave. Go home or go out somewhere. The weather was nice but not warm enough to take a boat on the lake. Maybe he could head into town.

But first, he had to avoid whoever was on the other side of the desk.

She it was sucked in a breath then blew it out. “Dammit,” Andie whispered.

Cody wanted to know what she was upset about, but he was still sporting a hell of a hard-on from the look she’d given him when that woman screamed his name. He couldn’t have her see what she did to him, even if she suspected it.

Cody waited a few more minutes until her boots echoed back toward the dining room, then got to work on fixing the desk.

Twenty minutes later, the desk was secure with new screws that locked it in place. Cody tested the strength of it, knowing it wasn’t going anywhere. Carmelo built that desk when they took over the vineyard. Most people wouldn’t appreciate the craftsmanship that went into a piece like that, but Cody did. He knew what it took to create something that would last not just a few years, but a few generations. He took pride in the work he did. Even if it wasn’t always what he wanted to be doing.

Cody stood and looked around the inn. He hadn’t told any of them yet, but after he finished Andie and Kristen’s house, he was leaving. His parents had been going to Florida during the winter for years. His dad was starting to build up a clientele there and wanted Cody to help him out. Cody always said no in the past, but it was getting harder and harder to be so close to Andie and know she’d never want him.

A few seconds of misdirected l**t didn’t change anything. Andie needed more than him. She was fun and outgoing and exciting. She was adventurous and sexy and could have any man she wanted. Cody knew the men she dated. The men with the suits and the perfect hair and teeth. He wasn’t one of those men. And no matter how much he loved Andie, he never would be. It wasn’t him.

So he decided to leave.

As soon as he made sure her house was exactly what she wanted it to be. It was the one thing he could give her. A home as perfect as she was.