Cody's Crush: Cowboys of Cauldron Valley, #11

By Kirsten Osbourne

Rusty Trent messed up her life completely in just one night. After her schoolgirl crush announced that he was marrying an absolute stranger—who was definitely stranger than most—she went to the nearest bar. There she ran into another boy from high school, and she agreed to one dance. When she woke up in his bed the following morning, she knew she was going to have to find some way to get him out of her life.
Cody Walters has had feelings for Rusty since they were in school together, but she could never see past her ridiculous crush on Aaron to the way Cody watched her and admired her. When she comes to the Watering Hole, upset and drinking, he knows he needs to watch out for her to make sure nothing happens to her. Taking her home seems like the smartest plan.
Once there, he hopes they can kindle the flame they felt between them the previous night, but Rusty goes back to avoiding him like the plague. She won't talk to him.
Will Cody get past her defenses and get her to realize that he's the right man for her? Or will she continue to avoid him like they did something horribly wrong?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Unlimited Dreams
• Release date: Aug 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393195894

Book preview

Chapter 1

Rusty opened her eyes and blinked a few times. Where was she? She sat up, letting the sheet covering her fall to her waist, only then realizing she was completely naked. She never slept naked. Her head was pounding. What had she done?

Good morning, beautiful. At the words, Rusty jerked the sheet back up over her breasts, flashes of the night before coming back to her. Cody Walters. She should not be in Cody’s bed. She should be in her own bed.

Before the previous evening, she’d been a virgin. A virgin in love with one of her closest friends. But that didn’t matter at the moment. What mattered was that she was naked in Cody’s bed.

Would you take me home? she asked with as much dignity as she could muster. What did you say to someone you’d just slept with? She had no idea. She’d never intended to do anything like that.

I’d like to talk a little first if you don’t mind. Is your head all right? You got pretty darn sloshed last night. Cody sat up in bed as well, and the sheet fell to his waist. He had...well, the words gorgeous shoulders came to mind. Could shoulders really be gorgeous?

"I do mind. Would you please leave and let me put some clothes on? Close your eyes or something?" She genuinely liked Cody. They’d been friends for years, but this was not how she’d planned to further their friendship. Not at all.

Cody sighed. We’re going to talk. All you’re doing is delaying it for a little while.

Rusty closed her eyes as he got out of bed, realizing he was just as naked as she was. Well, that made sense. He couldn’t exactly have done that with her if he’d been fully clothed, now could he? Not that they should have been doing that together anyway.

The short peek she got of him made her think about biting his shoulder. Now why on earth would she even think about biting him? She’d never done anything like that in her entire life. Or maybe she had. She had a memory of something like that, but everything was kind of running together at the moment.

When she heard the door close behind him, she jumped out of bed and ran to his adjoining bathroom. She quickly dressed and used his facilities, going out into the living area. I’m ready to go.

He glanced at her and shrugged. I’ll take you home, but you can bet your sweet cheeks we’re going to talk about this. Soon.

Not if I have anything to say about it. She walked out to his truck and carefully climbed in the passenger side. For as outdoorsy as she was and as strong as she was, she was much shorter than average. She had steps installed on her own truck to help her get in and out.

Cody deliberately drove as slowly as he could toward her house on the Cauldrons’ ranch. I didn’t intend to take advantage of you when I took you home with me, he started.

Unfortunately, I remember everything that happened. I know you didn’t take advantage of me. Rusty stared out the window. Every time she looked at him, she pictured biting his shoulder for some absurd reason. And she couldn’t get the image of his bare body out of her mind. He was truly a sexy man. But they’d been friends since junior high, and it didn’t feel right that she was thinking about him naked. Not at all.

I’m not sure why you won’t talk to me then.

Because I made a monumental mistake. I think sex belongs within marriage, and I was upset, and I drank too much, and I ended up in bed with a man I’ve barely seen since high school. How am I supposed to feel? Rusty just wanted to go home and forget what had happened. Surely, he could understand that.

He sighed. When he’d seen her at the bar, he’d been surprised, because she was almost never there, but when she started tossing back whiskey like there was no tomorrow, he’d ended his billiard game and walked over to sit on the barstool next to hers. That’s a lot of whiskey, he’d said.

Yeah. Tastes awful, was her only response.

You might want to slow down. I’ve never seen you drink. He was worried about the sheer volume of the alcohol. He wasn’t much of a drinker himself, but he’d seen that much whiskey make men do things they regretted.

I don’t ever drink, she said, tossing back another shot of whiskey. I need another.

I think I’m going to drive you home tonight, Cody said, planning to be the perfect gentleman.

Whatever you want. I don’t care about anything anymore.

Cody had been concerned at those words and had decided then to take her back to his place. If she was feeling that badly, he didn’t want her to be alone all night. Did something happen? he asked.

Her voice was already more than a little slurred when she answered. Yesh! I’ve been in love with the same man for a million yearsh. She tossed back another shot, making a face. He took me to the wedding tonight, and I dressed like a girl and everything. She’d indicated her skirt that looked awfully good on her in his opinion.

You look pretty whether you dress like a girl or not, he said softly.

And you know what that fool did? As she became angrier, her voice was slightly less slurred.

No, what did he do?

He saw some hippy dippy do at the reception and asked her to marry him. They’d never even met. So now, he’s marrying her tomorrow, and he forgot all about me. It was our first date, and I just knew we’d end up married.

Cody felt a pang, knowing how she’d felt about Aaron for years. Exactly the same way he felt about her. Oh, yeah, he knew who she was talking about. He’d watched her wander around in high school, mooning over the other man. I’m sorry he hurt you.

She had yet another shot in her hand at that point. How many of these will it take for the pain to go away? she asked, tossing it back.

I think you’ve reached your limit, Rusty, he said softly. He took the drink from her hand and pulled out his wallet to pay for her drinks. He didn’t really have the money to pay the kind of liquor bill she’d racked up, but he’d worry about that later. For now, he needed to get her somewhere safe.

He couldn’t leave her alone with the state she was in, so he’d take her to his place and tuck her in in one of the upstairs bedrooms. He’d always dreamed of having her in his bedroom as a teenager, and now he’d get his wish. He just wouldn’t get to be in there with her.

He half carried her out to his truck and made sure she got in, though he’d had to give her a boost to get her up. It had been comical, and he’d have laughed if he hadn’t been so worried about her. She wasn’t used to being drunk or wearing a skirt. The two combined was really funny.

All the way to his place, she kept talking to him about how weird life was turning out. At least I have my horses. They love me, you know.

I know they do. And you’ve always loved them. He remembered as a teenager, she’d always been horse crazy. She’d never really dated because she was holding out for Aaron, but she was also so busy with horses, he was sure she wouldn’t have dated much anyway.

He pulled into his driveway and reached over to unbuckle her seatbelt when she couldn’t seem to remember how. Then he went around the truck and let her basically fall out onto him so he could help her into his house.

He’d loved her for as long as he could remember, and he couldn’t believe that when he finally got her to his place, she was