“I was almost eighteen.”
“And off limits for anything more than escorting you safely to prom and home. That’s what Rye asked for, that’s what I agreed to.”
“Did you want more? At any point during that night, did you want me?”
His fingers itched to touch her, but something told him to play this cool. This had a whole lot more to do with attraction, both then and now. He didn’t want to ruin it. “If I had been free to do what I wanted that night, I would have kissed you goodnight. Not just a friendly kiss, either.”
She shrugged and glanced at the bed. “I didn’t know what to do with you…then, anyway. But I do now.” She peeled back the covers and climbed onto the bed. Her nightshirt rode high on her thighs and then slid up revealing the plump curve of her cheek.
“You don’t play fair.” He’d swear his cock just got harder than any rebar known to man. He could support bridges with the situation in his pants.
“No, but then, neither do you. After all, you’re here with a borrowed girlfriend trying to sell yourself as a man ready to settle down.”
“I want what I want and I’m not afraid to go after it.”
“Even if you don’t do it honestly?” She tossed the words out as she slid her legs under the blankets.
“I’ll figure out how to live with myself.” Maybe. For the first time in forever he considered what this whole ruse said about him, should it come out. More importantly, he wondered what it said to Piper.
“I guess we’ll see.” She fluffed the pillow behind her. “Are you coming to bed, dear?”
“Not a good idea.”
“You need to sleep and I don’t expect you to do it on the floor. We’re adults. And your virtue is safe with me. Besides, I’m not going to beg when it’s clear you don’t want it.” She unwound the last of her braid and finger-combed her hair.
“Wanting it isn’t the problem. It’s walking away from it.”
That got her attention. With his words, her boldness slipped and she pulled the covers higher up over her breasts. “Don’t put forever thoughts in my head, Trevor. Not when you’re not a for-ever kind of guy.”
“That’s just the thing. Since picking you up, those are the only thoughts running through my mind.”
“Goodnight,” she whispered as she lay down and rolled away from him, leaving him to decide if he was going to share the bed with her or not.
Despite every part of him screaming that if he got in that bed, there would be no finding the playboy he’d woken up as that morning, he peeled off his clothes and climbed in beside her.
Her shallow breathing told him that she hadn’t fallen asleep.
Her scent called to him.
So, to add an extra element of torture, he turned to her back, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her right up against his chest and closed his eyes.
6
the challenge
PIPER STRUGGLED TO FALL ASLEEP, and Trevor was solidly to blame. Who the hell did he think he was, just wrapping his arm around her and snuggling, making her terrified to take a deep breath, and then falling asleep as if he didn’t have a care in the world?
She’d spent a good hour analyzing the way he spooned her, and then decided to put her energy to much better use reworking strategies for Exclusively Piper. She hadn’t given in to exhaustion until the wee hours, but that time might have been just what she needed to figure out how to proceed with her business expansion. She had every intention of going for it. The minute she got home, she’d lay out the idea for Rafe and see what he thought.
Relieved to have come up with a solid idea for the future, she eased into Trevor’s embrace and drifted off.
Awake, and sensing he might be too, she hesitated, the feel of Trevor’s soft chest hair under her fingers. She had no idea the protocol for this: snuggle in as if it was the most normal thing in the world or try to extricate herself from his embrace. High-heeled Piper would run her fingers through that hair and maybe kiss his chest, just to make a statement.
High school Piper would have done anything possible to get out of that bed and get dressed without waking him up. She certainly wouldn’t have been brave enough to crawl across the bed seductively as she had last night. She seemed to be hovering between that confident woman who used her curves as a sort of defiance, daring the world to look and find her lacking, and the artsy, shy girl she had been in high school.
She didn’t want to slide back into that persona. That girl would not have been able to build a successful design line. She definitely wouldn’t live in Tribeca and enjoy the nightlife of New York City three or four nights a week.
And where was all that nightlife getting her? She spent more time at clubs clinging to Rafe as though she was coupled, than she spent dating the eligible bachelors sliding up to the bar night after night.
If she had been totally honest, the few dates she had been on had bored her to tears. The men she chose seemed safe, respectful, unlikely to treat her like a piece of arm candy, but they had the personality of a pet rock. Maybe it wasn’t them, maybe it was her.
Not a single one of them woke up the feelings in her the way Trevor did.
She curled her fingers along his skin and dragged her knuckles down the ridges and valleys of his tan chest to his hard, warm abs. She heard the hitch in his breath that told her not only was he awake, but her touch had affected him.
Judging from the slow burn moving through her veins and the rising flush on her skin, it affected her, too. As much as she welcomed the sensation and anything born of it, they had a schedule to adhere to.
“Good morning,” she said, smiling against his skin as she dragged her lips over his ribs.
“Mmmm, good morning, Trouble.”
She giggled and pushed herself up on her hands. “I think I like that nickname.”
Pushing himself up on his elbow, he reached out and brushed the wisps of hair hanging in her eyes behind her ear, lingering a moment before he slid his fingers along her neck. “There she is.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Who?”
“The Piper from prom.”
Her breath stuttered in her throat. She reached up and intertwined her hand with his, brought it to her lips, and kissed his fingers. “We need to get going. We have kayaking to do.”
He groaned and dropped back on the bed, pulling her pillow over his face. “I don’t want to.” His words came out muffled as he made a feeble attempt to smother himself.
“Bullshit. You know you want this partnership, so let’s go out there and earn it.”
“I already earned the damn thing,” he mumbled as he swung his legs off the edge of the bed and sat up.
They took turns in the bathroom showering and dressing, and surprisingly, after all the firsts from the day before, as well as sleeping together, it all seemed normal. She had been digging through her suitcase for clothes, a mouthful of toothpaste and toothbrush hanging out when he stepped out and winked while brushing his own. She went in to rinse and by the time she was done, he was ready for the sink.
They were so seamless, it’s like they had been doing this for years.
A total fluke, Piper. Don’t get used to it, it’s only a weekend.