Fool Me Once (Codie Snow #1): A Romantic Suspense Series Read online

  “Ooh. Feeling bitchy, girlfriend? You sure you had a good time?”

  “It was weird, Matthew. It felt like the most natural thing.”

  Matthew finally picked up his sandwich. “Sex is a very natural thing. If we could get that through these Puritans’ heads, though…” Having grown up in the smaller Colorado town of Dalton, Matthew had felt more eyes on him than he likely would have if he’d grown up along the Front Range where all the state’s big cities huddled. The fact that he was gay might not have bothered him or even most of his classmates, but there were a few people in town who still thought he was an abomination. Yeah…they’d used that very word. The two of them had both planned to leave town after they’d graduated with their associate’s degrees—but Matthew was already working for Slade by then and Codie…well, Codie had been caring for her sick grandmother and dropped out of school, not sure what she wanted to do.

  It turned out that Slade was the perfect boss for Matthew. He was well-dressed, well-groomed, and well-spoken, three things highly valued by the man who soon became the lawyer’s paralegal. Now, a few years later, Matthew had become Slade’s right-hand man. So, even if the “Puritans” didn’t appreciate her friend, his boss most certainly did. “Yeah, well, good luck with that,” Codie said, taking a bite of her sandwich.

  “I’m still waiting,” Matthew said in a singsong voice, a pinched grin on his face, eyes alight with mischief. Codie was almost surprised he wasn’t drumming his fingers on the table to emphasize his displeasure.

  “Waiting for what?”

  “Details.”

  “There’s nothing to tell, Matthew.”

  Her friend threw his potato chip back in the basket with a flick of his wrist while whispering as loudly as he could muster, “Oh, my God!”

  “What?” Codie was in no mood for Matthew’s dramatics this morning. Okay, it wasn’t morning anymore. Today. Not today.

  He began swirling his finger around, as if trying to describe the motion of a hurricane to someone. “This…” He leaned over the table, a conspiratorial tone in his voice. “This is a heart thing, isn’t it?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Feeling a little nervous now, Codie picked up her cup and began sipping furiously, drawing harder on the straw than she should have. If Matthew was saying what she thought he was saying…

  “You care about the old flame, don’t you?”

  Codie tried to act casual. “Eh.” She shrugged her shoulders and sucked harder on the straw. Damn. The tea was almost empty.

  “You do. Holy shit! Does he know?”

  “I need to refill my tea.”

  “Oh, girlfriend, not at a—”

  “Be right back.” She slid out of the booth and skedaddled over to the drink station, knowing she’d barely escaped a situation that would make her want to start biting her fingernails down to the quick. How Matthew could read her so well and so easily, she’d never know. Hell, he’d figured out her feelings for Pete before she’d had a chance.

  But she barely had her lid off and had set her cup underneath the spigot before Matthew stood next to her. “Codie, seriously, you cannot walk away just when we get to the bottom of things.”

  “We? The bottom of things? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She almost wanted to laugh at how his nostrils were flaring, as though this were a life-or-death matter.

  Fortunately, Matthew dropped his voice, probably sensing that half the restaurant was now staring at them. They must have looked ridiculous, with Codie in a pair of skinny jeans topped with a Motionless in White t-shirt and Matthew in an expensive designer suit. Codie could never remember which designer, because every time Matthew got a raise, the name on the label changed. Her friend’s philosophy was that his wardrobe should get nicer as his paycheck did, that his clothing should reflect his pay. His boss and her ex, Slade, was not that way. He’d been wearing four-digit price tag suits from the start. It was how his dad had operated, and he was following in the old man’s footsteps.

  Ah, but thinking about Slade at a time like this was dangerous. And confusing.

  Matthew took one of Codie’s hands as if guiding her back to their booth, and he didn’t sit down until she’d slid her own butt back in place on her side of the table. “How long have we known each other?”

  Codie furrowed her brow, trying to do the math. They’d known each other since childhood, but she suspected he was wanting to know how long they’d been friends, and that had happened in high school. So, doing the math—

  But Matthew was impatient. He wasn’t about to wait for her answer. “A long time, girlfriend. And we’ve talked hot dates how many times?” She shrugged again. That number would be even harder to calculate than the previous one—impossible. “But the couple times where you haven’t wanted to talk have been when your heart was invested in the guy.” Codie sucked air into her lungs through her nose. She was afraid of opening her mouth, thereby confirming the truth she had yet to fully admit to herself. “Am I right?”

  Before she tossed out an answer, she really gave it some thought. Actually, gave him some thought. Pete Olsen, old high school sweetheart, former quarterback of the almost-state-champion Dalton Tigers, now a law enforcement officer in their little burg, a nice guy except when he had to be a bad ass. Just thinking about him made her warm—especially when she thought about last night.

  Yes, Matthew was right. One-hundred percent on the money.

  “Nope. Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Codie picked up the paper cup and sucked more tea through the straw. If she were a district judge, she would have banged a gavel, forcing Matthew to move on…because she had to, right this second.

  Chapter Nine

  CODIE PUTZED AROUND their apartment that afternoon. It was a day off from work (a job she hated) and she should have been doing something…something meaningful, but she just couldn’t bring herself to concentrate long enough. Her mind was obsessing over Pete.

  So, after spending an hour napping and then tidying up her room, she fired up her laptop computer. She’d considered for just a second to see if any of the scenes she had witnessed with Pete had hit the news, but now she had another goal entirely.

  When her laptop was done booting up, Codie opened up the browser and went straight to Facebook. She remembered that, at one time, Pete had had an account, but she wondered if becoming a cop had changed that. She’d heard about different professions where the workers were encouraged to do away with their profiles or, short of that, go incognito. When she typed Pete O in the search bar, though, his profile was suggested by the site. She heard the words I’ll be damned in her head, but she only smiled and barely shook her head as she clicked and headed to his timeline.

  They were already friends on the site, but it looked like he wasn’t very active on it. She imagined he could actually lurk and use his connections to see what some of the dumb criminals around town were up to, and that was probably easier if it looked like he was never on. There were a few things about him she wanted to check, and she thought by snooping she could find several answers to her burning questions. She knew a few years ago Pete and some girl named Clarissa were pretty serious. Codie couldn’t remember for sure, but they might have even lived together. Pete was currently “not in a relationship,” but she thought maybe she could peek through his photos just to be—

  She heard the front door open. “Honey, I’m home!” Matthew yelled, one of his usual silly greetings. She slammed the laptop lid down. It wouldn’t do her any good to have Matthew doing his usual probing and prodding when she wasn’t sure how she felt about her and Pete yet. Yeah, Matthew thought he knew, but how could he when she didn’t? All she knew was she wasn’t willing to chalk it up to a one-night reminiscent thing.

  Not yet anyway.

  She stood, taking a deep breath, and walked out of her room. Matthew pulled her into a hug. “How’s my favorite roomie?”

  “Tired.” He set her down on her feet. “I just proved to myself on
ce again that graveyard shifts aren’t for me.” She’d tried it in her present job as a CNA and learned quickly that the higher overnight pay just wasn’t worth it—not for that damn job anyway.

  Matthew shrugged, removing his suit jacket. “Somebody’s gotta do it.”

  He started walking toward their bedrooms and, even though it bordered on potential talk about things she wouldn’t care to hear, she chanced asking him anyway. “How was work?”

  Matthew paused just inside his doorway and spun with a flair. “This afternoon was exciting! We were in court.”

  Codie had heard for years that good lawyers never saw the inside of a courtroom, but the people who said that shit had never seen Slade in action. When she’d first started dating him, he’d invited Codie to sit in on a big lawsuit involving tenants versus slumlord (well, as slummy as Dalton got—there weren’t any actual tenements or ghettos, but there was a “bad side” of town). She still hadn’t been convinced that Slade was worth keeping around, but seeing him in his arena—so to speak—had encouraged her to give him a fair shot. The man was likely one of the best performers she knew. She might have even called him an actor, seeing how he could turn emotional responses like anger and empathy on and off like a switch.

  The day she’d sat in on the trial was one she’d never forget. Slade had been wearing a dark gray suit. His black hair was slicked back, his brown eyes blazing. She hadn’t seen him in his birthday suit yet, but watching him storm back and forth from his table to the witness stand to then pace in front of the jury before delivering a passionate tirade made her want to.

  Their first night of sex was fueled with those memories.

  Now, though, it seemed like that was where Slade’s mind always was—in the courtroom. Most lawyers might have preferred to dicker about on paper, but Slade was meant to perform in that venue—and he was fun to watch. The boring stuff like divorces he left to his paralegals and Slade just overlooked what he had to and signed off. “Exciting, huh?”

  Matthew started unbuttoning his white button-down. “You know Slade…” Yeah, she knew Slade. “Some construction company was up to some questionable practices in town—with the silent blessings of city council, mind you—and three Main Street businesses hired Slade to set them straight.” Matthew slid the shirt off his shoulders before draping it over the back of the chair next to the dresser. “And, believe me, he did. The judge already ruled on it this afternoon and told the assholes to pay restoration for damages.” Matthew opened a drawer and lifted one item after another until he found a shirt he wanted to wear—a skin-hugging black tee—which Codie found strange, because Matthew should have been changing into his workout outfit like he always did this time of day, but that particular t-shirt was one he liked to wear when he was going out. She started to ask when he said, “So Slade and I are going out to dinner to celebrate.”

  Ah. That explained it. “Where you goin’?”

  Matthew slid off his shoes and then placed them in the closet on a rack before unbuttoning his slacks. Codie knew anyone watching would find it strange, but she and Matthew had been close friends and roommates for so long that each other’s partial nudity didn’t bother the other. As long as she didn’t see his actual junk, she was fine—and he felt the same way about her. He’d seen her in bra and panties more times than she could remember, but he’d never seen her completely naked. “I don’t know yet. I don’t think Slade knew where he wanted to go yet—just some place with alcohol.” In seconds, her friend had donned blue jeans and loafers. “How do I look?”

  “Great!” They meandered toward the kitchen then, with Codie planning to see Matthew to the door before rummaging around in the fridge to scrounge up something to eat. When the doorbell rang, though, she realized that her roommate was being picked up for dinner and not meeting his boss somewhere. Codie wanted to duck in her bedroom until they left, because she was in no mood to face Slade, but Matthew wouldn’t let her run off and hide…and she knew it. So she took a deep breath, bracing herself to see her ex-boyfriend Slade for the first time in a month.

  Codie didn’t realize at first that she was holding her breath—why, she didn’t know. Matthew marched with zest to the front door and Codie leaned against the kitchen counter, letting it hold her up.

  As if trying to distract herself from the agony she was beginning to feel, she pursed her lips. She hated the fact that the first room in the apartment was the kitchen. In a way, that was a blessing, because they had to keep the kitchen clean at all times for visitors, and Codie knew she’d prefer to be lazy on occasion, but keeping it clean was a priority. And who was she kidding anyway? Her roommate was a neatnik. No way would he ever allow their apartment to get out-of-control messy, whether Codie was motivated to help or not.

  She frowned as she watched Matthew’s hand wrap around the doorknob, almost in slow motion. Feeling nervous was stupid. She and Slade were broken up, had been broken up for several weeks now. As in no longer a couple. Making love with Pete had not been cheating on Slade because she wasn’t with Slade anymore.

  It didn’t matter that the breakup was part of a pattern with them. Codie’s recent actions were a first step in breaking the sick cycle.

  Even if that was the case, she had butterflies in her stomach and there they would stay until Matthew and Slade left the apartment. So now she could only wish for a short and sweet encounter. Realistically, it wasn’t like she could avoid Slade forever. Dalton was a small town. The only way she’d be able to miss seeing him entirely would be to move—far away. Very far away…like Grand Junction far away. Or maybe Salt Lake City. Because anywhere on Colorado’s Front Range would put her within his reach.

  God, she made it sound like he was a stalker who would track her down. No, that wasn’t Slade’s thing, but damn, he did manage to be in the right place at the right time more times than she’d like to remember. But with Matthew being his employee and Codie still living in her hometown, she knew there was no way she could go with never seeing him.

  So…brace herself it was. She’d have to get the first post-breakup meeting over with sooner or later, so why not now?

  She blinked as Matthew opened the door and took a shallow breath, and Slade’s visage emerged in her vision.

  Damn it. Damn it all to hell.

  When she’d left Slade the last time, she’d been angry with him. They’d had words. Slade had called and apologized and she’d accepted, but she’d told him that was it. They were over. For good. And, now that he was in her sights, she wasn’t so sure.

  Goddammit.

  It didn’t help that her heart still had him all wrapped in and around and through it. Slade himself also knew it and often used that to his advantage.

  Damn him.

  She took those few moments to herself to get her emotions under control—hell, under lock and key—but she also let herself take him in before conversational niceties got in the way. And just looking at Slade reminded her of how he made her feel, because when she wasn’t angry or upset with him, she loved him deeply, break up or not, and the man also revved her engine like no other.

  Yeah, it was stupid. Right this second, Slade could stride over, lick the bottom of her earlobe, and lead her into the bedroom. And she’d do it. This she knew about herself. Slade owned her.

  And that was part of why she was so pissed at him right now. Weeks after their break up and she was still his deep inside.

  Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!

  When Slade walked through the open door, Codie tried to prepare her face by making it almost frozen. Slade didn’t make immediate eye contact with her at first, though, and she felt her stomach knot itself again. She forced herself to pull more air into her lungs, trying to relax.

  Matthew said to his boss, “Holy crap, Slade. I can’t believe how fast you got a ruling.”

  Slade took Matthew’s hand into his, shaking it, but with his other hand, he clapped Matthew’s arm in an attaboy fashion. “I want to thank you again, Matthew. This win belongs to
both of us.”

  “Nonsense.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without you, Matthew, and I think you know that. I know you’re an asset to my practice. Every agonizing moment of research you conducted helped build our case. It felt pretty cut and dry to me, and thanks to you, I was able to help the court see it that way too. And that’s why we’re celebrating tonight, my friend.”

  Codie knew Matthew well enough by now that she didn’t even have to see his face to know his modesty was feigned. “You’re too kind, Slade.”

  “Bullshit. If you were a bad worker, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Hell, you wouldn’t be working for me. So…dinner. You choose where we’re going to eat.”

  Codie was surprised that Slade hadn’t looked at her yet, but she suspected he was making her wait on purpose. The man knew his effect on her and was probably enjoying the anticipation. The bastard. The fucking good-looking, heart-wrenching, love-of-her-life bastard.

  Matthew stepped inside the apartment, holding the door for Slade to enter. Codie knew then, looking at Slade’s face, that he saw her. The man’s peripheral vision lost nothing. Moms with eyes in the backs of their heads had nothing on her ex.

  Goddamn him.

  Chapter Ten

  SLADE CAME INTO full view and Codie felt her internal engine begin to purr. This man felt like the guy for her—no matter what they’d gone through over the past few years and no matter how much she’d swear they were done for good, as soon as she’d lay eyes on him, all bets were off.

  She loved him, yes, but it was more than that. She was drawn to him like a magnet.

  Codie could now see Slade in full view, and she wasn’t about to look away. He still wore the suit she knew he must have donned for court. She knew he tended to be a little more casual in the office. Lots of times, the tie and jacket would be gone and he would simply wear a nice shirt and slacks. Codie enjoyed the look because it left less for her imagination. That wasn’t to say, though, that she didn’t like him in the suit, because she did. Hell, who was she kidding? This was Slade. She couldn’t imagine him looking shitty in anything. Even workout clothes made the man look hotter than hell.