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Cody adjusted me in his lap so I was sitting sideways. When he brushed the hair from my forehead, I melted. Cupping my face in his hands, Cody looked serious. “I always want you to wake me. Always,” he reiterated, capturing my lips in a kiss that wasn’t for children’s eyes.
I pulled back, my lungs screaming for air. I rested my forehead against his.
“You look like you have something you want to ask me?” Cody called me out.
“I …”
“Ask me.”
“It’s fine.”
“Tillie, ask me whatever it is that’s on your mind.” Cody tightened his hold.
“Okay,” I agreed. Then the words wouldn’t come.
For a long moment, I sat there staring out over the early morning, watching the sunrise and breathing in the cool mountain air.
“Tillie,” Cody prompted.
“Fine. Why didn’t you tell me who you are?” I asked, the question had been bouncing around in my head since the moment River had outed him.
“I did.”
I pulled back. Surprised at how easily the lie fell from my lips. “No, you didn’t!”
“Tillie, I did tell you who I was. I showed you who I was. I just didn’t tell you what I did for a living.”
“Cody, you left out a huge part of your life, and I don’t even know why!” I climbed out of his lap and started pacing.
“It’s not what you think,” he started.
“I don’t know what to think,” I confessed.
“I didn’t tell you what I did for a living because it’s just a job.”
“You’re a celebrity!”
“I’m a baseball player, not a celebrity.”
“You know the worst part?”
“Tell me,” Cody encouraged.
“Your face is everywhere! When I googled you …”
“You googled me?”
I felt my cheeks burn. “I … um …” Shit! I’d never meant to tell him that. “I had to! My own son knew more about you than I did!”
“I’m an open book, Tillie. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
I gulped. I guess it was now or never. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were? Were you embarrassed by me?”
“Why the hell would I be embarrassed by you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because I work in a diner.”
“You own the diner! Don’t downplay that!” The seriousness in his voice gave me pause.
