Page 15 of Cody (Maine Silver Foxes)

A lina

I parked in the lot next to where my new coffee shop was going in and went inside.

Max was going to meet me there before dinner.

The date that I’d dangled in front of Cody the day of the cookout was actually a business dinner.

At the cookout we’d got to talking, and Max had offered to help me with some of the work that needed to be done at the coffee shop. I was excited to get started.

I walked around inside, picturing how I wanted my shop to look when it was done.

I wanted it to be a simple, welcoming layout with a few tables for those who wanted to meet up with friends for coffee or wind down their day in a relaxing atmosphere with a cup of decaf.

Homemade bagels and biscotti made by Mom, along with a few other specialty pastries, would be highlighted in the display case.

I had a list of local bakers I wanted to reach out to later.

The sign that would hang outside under the eaves was already being made. I’d decided to keep the same name as the shop I’d had in San Diago, Special Perks Café. I was still deciding on the window verbiage.

I opened the door to the small back room I was going to turn into a storage area and my office.

Other than a desk, filing cabinet, and chair, most of the space would be occupied with shelving.

I was making a list in my head of the stock I wanted to keep on hand when my phone alerted me that I’d received a text.

I dug it out of my purse and glanced down to see it was from Mia letting me know that the Sunday night poker game was cancelled.

“Starting without me?”

I let out a small shriek and spun around, relieved to see that it was only Max, and he was walking up behind me. “Jesus, you scared me!” I covered the area over my heart, smiling in spite of the fright he’d given me, and slipped my phone back into my purse. I’d respond to Mia later.

He laughed, not one bit sorry that he’d frightened me. I liked Max’s easy-going nature, and he was easy on the eyes, too. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

His gaze moved over me appreciatively. Even though it was a business dinner, I’d chosen to dress up in a teal summer dress. The buttoned, square-necked bodice was a lighter color and fit tight over my breasts, while the darker skirt flared out to my knees. I knew it looked good on me.

“You didn’t hear the door open?”

I shook my head. “No. I was too busy dreaming.” I opened my purse and took out a pad and pen to make a note. “Doorbell,” I spoke as I wrote it down.

“Good idea.” He glanced over my head where I stood in the doorway. “So what’s going in here? Storage?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “And this corner—” I pointed, “—will be set up as a small office for me.”

“You gonna want it sectioned off?”

I thought about it for a second before deciding. “I want to keep the cost down back here. I might just get a partition wall, something I can see over but gives me a little privacy. It’s not like anyone will come back here.”

“True. So you’ll want to go with industrial shelves for storage.” He studied the area for a minute, and I could almost see his thoughts swirling. “I bet you could get twenty in here.”

I nodded in agreement and forced him to take a step back when I moved to close the door. “I’ll start out with ten.”

“What do you need from me?” he asked.

“Three things to start out with.”

Grinning, he crossed his arms and waited patiently.

“I need a new floor put down. I have porcelain tile coming in next week. And I’ll need a twelve-foot-long display case that will go over there.

” I indicated towards the area. “You know, the kind with a window in the front so customers can see the food items? Finally, I’d like a bar-height table to fit the length of the front window, industrial look with a wood top and iron legs. Can you build something like that?”

Max nodded. “Sure. Do you want the shelves in the display case angled or square across?”

“I want three evenly spaced shelves, glass ones. The tables I ordered are walnut, so I’d like everything to match. I’m still tossing around some other ideas for merchandise, maybe a wall unit. I’ll let you know when I make up my mind.” I met his warm eyes. “I think that’s a good start, don’t you?”

“What about painting?”

I smiled, thinking about the conversation I’d had with the girls at the cookout. “I want to do the painting myself. In fact, Crissy and Sarah offered to help.” I thought about the wall mural I’d already ordered; I couldn’t wait to get the walls painted.

He released a heavy breath. “Good. Now can we go eat. I’m starving.”

“Sure, and dinner is on me tonight. I can write it off.”

“I can tell I’m going to like this job,” he joked, waiting while I locked the door.

We headed to the Italian restaurant where Max had made reservations because it was a busy time of evening.

When we went inside, almost every table was full.

No host greeted us, and I realized that nothing had changed since the last time I’d been there.

They had a simple process that worked. If you made a reservation, they simply put your name on a card and placed it on a table.

I followed Max, and as we continued past the first empty table, I caught the names “Cody and Tina” written on a card, and my heart sank.

Damn. How many men named Cody lived in Coldwater?

“This place hasn’t changed,” I commented while Max held out the chair for me. “And I haven’t been in here for ten years.”

“Does anything in Coldwater change?” he grinned. “It’s one of the first things I learned after moving here—if it works, don’t try to fix it.”

“Are you glad you moved here?” I picked up a menu before glancing across at him.

Not for the first time, I noticed that Max was a handsome man.

The deep lines at the corners of his eyes told me that he must smile a lot.

The color of his shirt made his eyes appear darker, brighter, and the man bun looked good on him.

I sighed internally. Why couldn’t I be attracted to him like I was to Cody?

“I actually am. It’s a lot like home. Small, friendly community, small-town values.”

“And where’s home?” I skimmed over the menu until I came to the item I was looking for. I recalled how good it had been the last time I’d tried it, and hoped it hadn’t changed.

“Cartersville, Georgia,” he grinned. “Haven’t been home in a long time. Got no reason to. Anyone I ever cared for is gone now, either passed away or moved on.”

I found that sad, but there was no sadness in Max’s tone, just acceptance that that was how things were. I watched as he closed his menu.

“Hi, Max.”

I glanced up at the server, who was smiling sweetly down at Max.

I didn’t recognize her as anyone that I knew from my past. She was young, and there was a look in her eyes that I recognized.

“Haven’t seen you in a while.” There was more than just friendliness in her tone, and to say that she was happy to see Max would have been an understatement.

He kept his response brief, to the point, and slightly unfriendly. “Been busy.”

I stared at Max, surprised by his rudeness. But I had to give the server credit for noticing his unwillingness to talk.

She nodded and asked, “What can I get you two to drink?” Her smile was directed at me this time.

I eyed her with amusement because it was obvious that she had a crush on Max. Was that flush of color on Max’s face from embarrassment or anger? “Iced tea, please.”

“Beer,” he grunted.

I barely held back a laugh when she turned and walked away. I met Max’s eyes. He held up a hand as if to stop me from saying anything. “I’m old enough to be her father,” he said, pointing out the obvious.

“Maybe she has daddy issues.” I personally found nothing wrong with their age difference.

He exhaled and shook his head. “What can I say, when you have it, you have it.” In spite of his insistence that he was too old for the server, I didn’t miss the mild regret he expressed. Did he have a thing for her, too? Was he letting his age get in the way?

“I think it’s cute, even though she took it for granted that we aren’t together. Age is just a number, Max. My ex was fifteen years older than me.”

He practically snapped, “I’m fifty, Alina, twenty-two years older, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

Fifty! I would never have guessed that Max was fifty, which meant the server was twenty-eight, older than I’d thought she was.

The next time she returned to the table, I checked out her name tag.

Layla. And then I checked her out. Her makeup was lightly applied and impeccable, and I could tell that she was a natural redhead.

She had her long hair in a thick braid and a whisper of bangs brought attention to her startling green eyes.

She and Max would make a striking couple.

She set our drinks down and got ready to write our orders, sweet as pancake syrup to me and cold as ice to Max. I held back my grin because he deserved it.

Once Layla had taken our orders and left again, Max leaned in close and asked, “Speaking of being together, are you and Cody?”

Who was speaking of being together? As if he’d heard his name, Cody chose that moment to walk into the restaurant with his date for the night.

Tina was tall and curvy with a dark tan that no one in Coldwater could accomplish without a weekly visit to a tanning salon, and shoulder-length blond hair.

She was a pretty woman, about my age. Her fitted clothes left nothing to the imagination the way they outlined her every curve.

“You can answer that question by turning around.” I suddenly felt lacking. Like, five inches lacking. Evelyn was tall, too. Was that Cody’s type?

Max cast a quick glance behind him. “Oh. I see Tina is the lucky woman tonight.” He gained their attention with a wave, which Tina returned, because that’s what people did in small towns. I quickly averted my gaze from Cody, but not before we’d exchanged glances.

“A different woman for every night, huh?” I tried to keep my tone light. “Do you have anyone?”

“No. I’m not looking though.”

“So then what makes you any different from Cody?”

“For one thing, I don’t sleep around. If I’m sharing my bed with anyone, she’s the only one in it. I have to have feelings for the women I sleep with. The only feelings Cody has are in his dick. He’s working his way through Coldwater.”

“That’s kind of sad.”

“Cody’s been that way since I’ve known him. I love the guy, we’re all like brothers, but if he doesn’t change his attitude, he’s going to end up a lonely old man.”

I laughed, somehow doubting that. “Maybe he’ll get a dog.” I took a drink of tea. “Maybe something happened to him to turn him so against finding, um, love.” Love wasn’t exactly the word I’d been looking for, but I couldn’t think of anything else.

“Yeah.” Max slowly nodded, his expression clouding over with a memory.

“He had a serious girlfriend once when we first enlisted in the Marines. Loved the hell out of her. Always talking about their life together. Something did happen between them, but he never went into it.” He scoffed.

“None of us were into discussing the deep shit that went on in our personal lives, but when he stopped talking about Maggie, we all knew it had been bad.”

Maggie. An ex-love. If she’d hurt Cody enough to make him become so flippant towards women, it explained a lot. I scooted my chair back and got up. “Excuse me while I go wash up before we eat.”

I was aware of Cody’s eyes following me as I walked to the restroom and was proud of myself for not looking back.

I may have wanted him like crazy, but the practical side of me warned me that being with someone like him could be dangerous to my heart.

If I hadn’t been so attracted to him it wouldn’t have been an issue.

One and done worked for women too. There was no point in leaving myself open to getting hurt when the man had made it clear that he only wanted women for one thing.

Seeing him on a date with Tina was a stark reminder that he was a player.

I was drying my hands when the restroom door opened and the very man I’d been obsessing over was suddenly there and locking the door behind him. I slowly turned to face him and raised a brow. “This is the ladies’ room, Marine.” I pointed that out just in case.

“I know.” A smirk appeared on his mouth. A mouth I wanted on me again.

I licked my lips, remembering all the things he’d done to me at the brook. How he had made me feel. And then I remembered the words he’d said that day, and how they had made me feel. “What are you doing, Cody?”

He shook his head. “Hell if I know.” He looked undecided, slightly frustrated, and a little angry.

And so damned sexy in a pair of black slacks and a gray henley that buttoned halfway down his chest and conformed to his spectacular build.

The long sleeves fit tightly to the muscles in his arms, and when he moved my mouth watered.

I tried but failed to keep my eyes off his hands.

“Well, if you want to talk, now isn’t the time. I’m here with another man and you’re here with another woman.” I prayed that he couldn’t hear the jealous snark in my tone.

My words woke him up, and his eyes turned hard. “Are you going home with Max?”

Was that the only reason he’d followed me? To find out if I was going home with Max?

He had no right! My brows shot up in disbelief. “Are you going home with Tina?” I countered. He clenched his teeth, and I watched the muscles in his jaw twitch even through his beard. “And does it really matter? We’re not exclusive.” It felt good throwing his words back at him.

“Well then, I guess that means I can fuck you right here against this sink, and fuck Tina later in my bed,” he said shockingly.

The image he planted in my mind of him fucking Tina caused red-hot anger to surface, and it took effort to respond as if I didn’t give a damn. “I guess so.”

My heart began pounding in my chest. Mortifyingly, I felt the burning sting in my eyes that indicated I was going to cry, and I didn’t know why. Suddenly I realized what my inadequate response had given him permission to do. Even though he hadn’t moved, I backed up against the sink.

His lips twitched with humor. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Yeah, you do that, asshole. I was saved when someone began pounding on the door. Cody stared at me for another minute, and then he unlocked the door and left without a word. I released a breath of relief and relaxed. I would have given into him.

The woman entering the bathroom and I exchanged a look before she continued into one of the stalls.