“That totally sounds made up.”
“Touché, but a gentleman wouldn’t call me on it.”
His eyes flicked away for a moment. “Don’t look now, but the jack nut is coming and she’s sharp.”
“Ahhh, so we’re on.”
“We’re on.”
Piper turned on her million-dollar smile, enjoying this idea a little too much. She slid her hand over the black t-shirt stretched over his broad chest. For someone who spent so much time in the office, he looked like he spent a couple hours a day in the gym.
It had to be the genes.
The sound of the door opening told her it was time to make her move, establish her territory. That’s what she had been reduced to, a woman staking her claim.
She kissed the corner of his mouth. “That bed gave me all kinds of dirty ideas. Later…” Another kiss to the other corner. “When everyone has gone to sleep…” She dragged her lips from his chin to the underside of his jaw, the scruff of the day scraping over her sensitive flesh, reigniting the fires that had cooled since her shower. “I’m going to devour you from head to toe and linger at all of my favorite spots in between.”
This went against everything she had told him about treating her respectfully, but establishing boundaries with other women was different than staking claim in front of the guys. From the sounds of things, Rachel was on the hunt, and one thing Piper had learned was that you set those women straight from the very beginning.
The hand that curled around her upper arm tightened. She shouldn’t have gotten a perverse pleasure in turning him on and getting a real reaction out of him, but she did.
How many nights had she wished for him to notice her, only he hadn’t? She’d been permanently relegated to best friend’s baby sister status and there never seemed to be a way to break the mold.
Until he saw her walk out of her building.
The thought crashed over her like a freezing cold wave of sea water. Was he only attracted to her because of the curve-hugging dress and stilettos?
Their shared history made her hope that she rose at least a notch above some weekend lay.
Why the hell was her mind even going there? This wasn’t real. None of this was real.
He pulled back and searched her face. He looked like he could see right through her to that girl with the messy bun and leggings. That girl that would have gladly followed him like a puppy dog if he’d stayed local.
Thank God he hadn’t.
He pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger, the pressure causing her lips to part. Screw it. This was her chance. For three days she could touch and kiss this man to her heart’s content and she intended to do just that.
Surrendering to the urge, she darted the tip of her tongue out and tasted the end of his thumb. She gave him a sly, close-mouthed smile before sinking her teeth into his flesh.
His blue eyes flashed with something she had never seen before. It was so much more than the ladies’ man expression.
This was primal and filled with heat.
This look told her that later that night, despite the fact that she was just putting on a show for Rachel, that Trevor might very well hold her to her words.
Between now and then, she’d be wise to pull her missing willpower out of her ass so as to avoid following him right down the road to seduction.
Has anyone seen Trevor Myers around?
No?
Yeah, Trevor didn’t see him anywhere, either.
He didn’t know what the hell to do with Piper. Well, he knew what he wanted to do, but he had no way of knowing how to make it last, or if it didn’t, how to go on without destroying whatever friendship they might have a chance of holding onto.
But the die had been cast when she sunk those straight, white teeth into his thumb. In that moment, Rachel, the vacation home, his boss, the partnership, none of it mattered.
He balanced on this precipice of the playboy he’d become, staring down at an endless fall to returning to the guy he had been, the one who took her to prom.
He should be terrified.
Instead, elation took over and as much as he wanted the promotion, he wanted this, too. He wanted her to understand that no matter how this all turned out, he wanted something with her.
What something, he didn’t know. A chance. Time together to see if this attraction that blazed like lightning between them might actually be something more than pheromones. He’d never really thought about the future, but his mind had adopted a laser sharp focus on it now.
He’d been in this loop of drink and women, and the thought of going back to that exhausted him to the very core.
What if he had a woman to come home to? Someone in this world who cared about the small details of his day. The details he had never shared with anyone before.
And what about Piper? He’d never even asked her what she does. He hadn’t asked her brother, either.
He’d acted like a total jackass and assigned her a history, a life, without one thought as to whether or not it fit her.
Why the hell hadn’t he called her and worked this out with her?
Because he was a user of the worst order, and the realization sent humiliation coursing through him.
“Well, aren’t you two cozy? You could practically burn the cabin down with the heat zipping between you two. How long have you all been dating?” Rachel asked.
“A year,” Piper lied effortlessly.
“Huh, that’s interesting,” Rachel said, swirling her wine glass.
“Why is that?” Trevor asked.
“I could have sworn that you and Zack spent a week with Harrison Crew and his harem in January. From what I’ve been told, Harrison is all too happy to share and from the way Zack and Trevor looked when they got back to the office the following Monday, they were both happy to partake.” She offered Piper a sly smile and held out a slim hand decorated with an arm full of bangle bracelets.
God, he hated those damn things. Clink, clink, clink.
Clink…everywhere she freaking went.
Of course, on the flipside there was a reason why farmers used cowbells. What clanked was easy to locate…and in this case, easy to avoid.
Piper took her hand and smiled. “Well, I’m sure he did. I mean, it was only about six months ago that we had the exclusive talk, wasn’t it, Trevor?”
God, she was good. He smiled and took another sip of his beer. “Something like that. Long after the Crew trip.”
“Well, isn’t that convenient,” Rachel said, fiddling with the solitaire hanging between her shamelessly displayed cleavage. “So, did you partake, Trevor? You know, since you weren’t monogamous?”
And then the witch had to go there. Rachel was the kind of woman who had been born with her claws out, and that was fine. He knew what she was, he handled it. But seeing her try to hurt Piper, that got on his last fucking nerve. “Wow, Rachel. Kind of fucked up of you to ask, isn’t it?”
Piper patted his chest. “Oh, come on, Trevor. You can tell her. It’s not like it’s a secret.” She met his gaze and winked. “I believe you enjoyed the company of two lovely ladies that weekend, did you not?” She smiled up at him, her honey eyes, shot with copper, full of mischief.
He didn’t know what she was up to, but he liked it. Wherever she led, he’d be happy to follow. “I believe you’re right, but I can’t remember for sure, the weekend being a blur and all.”