Second Chance Lane (Brockenridge #2) - Nicola Marsh Page 0,31

sexy guy liked her. He’d been larger than life back then and she’d had no doubt he’d make it big. When Kody Lansdowne strutted into a room, people—especially women—took notice. He’d never told her anything about his past. Then again, she hadn’t revealed much about hers either. She’d liked the fact they never discussed their pasts so all that mattered was the present. They’d been so caught up in each other, so blissfully happy, she’d never anticipated her future being twisted into something unrecognisable. But Isla was a by-product of their self-absorbed love and Tash would never regret that, no matter how much her heart ached for all they’d lost and what could’ve been.

Kody blew out a small puff of air and it drew her attention to his lips, the bottom one fuller than the top, and for a scant second she allowed herself the luxury of remembering exactly how sensational they felt trailing over her body—

His eyes snapped open and she jolted, heat scorching her cheeks.

‘That’s creepy,’ he mumbled, straightening. ‘Quit staring at me.’

‘You were drooling and I didn’t want it getting on my window.’

A half-smile quirked his lips. ‘Thanks for bringing me home.’

‘No problem,’ she said, opening her door and all but tumbling out in her haste to escape his too-knowing stare. She almost preferred him angry because the softer Kody, the guy with a killer sense of humour who used to love teasing her, had the potential to undermine her.

By the time she grabbed the crutches from the boot he had the passenger door open. Their fingers touched as she handed them over, a fleeting brush that lasted less than two seconds, but long enough for Tash to know she needed to focus on Isla and not memories of Kody’s lips or hands or any other damn thing.

‘I’ll be going if you don’t need anything else—’

‘Actually, I do need a hand.’ He steadied himself on the crutches, his expression carefully blank, but she could see how much it annoyed him to have to ask for help. Kody had always been stubborn and if having her pick him up weren’t bad enough, asking her to stick around would be the pits. ‘I really need a bath, seeing as you said I stink, but I can’t get the plaster wet and it would help if you could rustle up some plastic bags, ties, that sort of thing.’

His mouth may be set in an unimpressed line but she glimpsed vulnerability in his eyes and that’s what ultimately made her stay.

‘Fine, but only because you reek,’ she said. In reality, Kody didn’t smell. She’d only said that earlier to buy some thinking time about how to ask Isla if she was ready for the big face-to-face with her father now she knew the truth.

She had the sense not to offer assistance as Kody hopped to the front door, unlocked it and struggled to push it open. It must’ve cost him big time to ask for help with the bath and she didn’t want to rub his nose in it.

‘Why don’t you head on through to the bathroom and I’ll rummage around for bags and ties in the kitchen?’

‘Okay.’ He paused. ‘Thanks for doing this.’

‘No worries,’ she said, heading for the kitchen before she could blurt how much she liked this unguarded side of him. Even when they’d been dating she’d never seen him anything other than confident and in charge. She’d liked that alpha side of him because she’d been so ridiculously naïve and having him take control of their relationship made her feel treasured. It wasn’t until she’d returned to Brockenridge, been abandoned by her folks and endured the birth of her baby alone had she realised how much she’d come to depend on Kody. Isla’s birth had been the wake-up call she’d needed, because as a single mother with a newborn to care for, she’d realised the only person she could rely on was herself and now she had to be the strong one for the both of them.

She hoped Isla admired her independence and that she’d taught her daughter the value of self-reliance. She might have the support of her pseudo-family at The Watering Hole, but she’d done it alone for a long time. Which brought her full circle back to Kody and that rare glimpse of vulnerability. Gone was the cocky guy she’d dated, or the furious man she’d hidden the truth from all these years. Instead, for a few fraught moments, she’d seen a … broken