I See You

Chapter Four

Emma couldn't help but wonder how it was possible to go from looking forward to the best weekend with one of her favorite people, only to have what seemed like her whole life destroyed all within a matter of a few days. Honestly this had been the absolute worst week in memory since her Grammy had passed away.

Obviously she'd had a completely different idea for when she'd finally been able to come back home. There would've been a freshly baked cake, chocolate his favorite. Gifts, and the cheesy paper party hats and noisemakers. She would have helped him hang her gift in the parlor, then they might've watched TV or played a few hands of Gin Rummy before bed.

But her Gramps' birthday had come and gone without any of the festivities they usually held. She'd spent his birthday curled up on her futon, staring at the still unfinished painting all while hugging a pillow. A night she normally fell asleep after a pretty fun evening, she'd cried herself to sleep over the only father she'd ever known.

So when Emma had ridden with Cindy down the street to her childhood home, she'd really been prepared for everything to be absolutely horrible. She'd really been floored to find while it was still pretty crappy, it wasn't quite as bleak as she originally thought it would be. There was always the chance that she'd gotten all of the initial crying out of the way the night she'd learned of his death. But she was leaning toward that maybe it just hadn't dawned on her exactly what she'd lost yet.

          Then again there was always the chance she was simply crazy or something. Driven mad by grief. Yet, here she was, amazingly enough, handling it staying strong even though she wanted to curl up and cry. Truthfully, it was really hard to deal with the idea that he was gone, but at the same time she was managing well enough. Granted, one reason she wasn't a complete and total mess was a wonderful best friend who sat next to her.

And the other reason was the man who sat across from them. Cody Phillips.

        Never in her life had she had this sort of reaction. And at the moment she couldn't believe that this was her life. Cody Freaking Phillips was sitting across from her. Deep inside the thirteen year old version of herself was squealing excitedly and praying he didn't see or hear her swallow. All the while the twenty-six year old Emma was playing it cool, while watching him covertly as any self respecting shy person would.

Emma had spent a good amount of time watching Cody through the years. As a matter of fact Cody Watching had been her favorite hobby all through elementary, middle and high school, all for different reasons, so it was safe to say she was pretty good at gauging the changes. Not that there had been too many shifts in his looks. He really hadn't changed too much since the last time she'd seen him. Except that he was far more devastating now. He'd grown into his looks. But to be fair, Emma hadn't ever seen a reason to complain. Cody had always been, in her opinion, boyishly cute.

But now, he was panty dropping gorgeous.

All the thick, dark hair a little past his collar that showed a little bad boy underneath all that authority. The dreamy, dark sable eyes that easily showed his Cajun roots; if she recalled correctly, he'd gotten the hot Cajun blood from his mom's side of the family. She'd always heard the term bedroom eyes, but had never actually seen a set of peepers the phrase could be describing. Yet, here they were, surrounded by the longest lashes she'd ever seen on a male before. The strong jawline, hinted at a stubborn streak Emma was willing to bet made him an amazing officer. And his lips were so soft and full, it made her think about long hours of slow, gentle kisses. She fought down the sigh building as she looked at him.  

The rest of him was just as perfect. Tall, well muscled in all the perfect places. His broad shoulders and thick biceps alone made her mouth water. Emma could clearly see the definition of his chest under his white button down. She sighed softly, totally unaware she'd been holding her breath while she studied him. Cody was definitely every woman's fantasy come to life. Emma to admit that he was completely swoon worthy.