“Really, I’m fine. I’m going to go,” Piper protested, but Margo clutched her hands tightly.
“That’s nonsense! It’s pouring outside. Did you drive here?” she asked, searching Piper’s eyes. She shook her head.
“Exactly, you can’t go out in this rain again. Cliff, your towels and a shirt!” she said snappily.
I threw Piper a look, who looked like she was in shock, but then I rushed away. Margo was right, and I was willing to do anything to keep Piper there for longer.
When I returned, I found that Margo had taken Piper to the living room. Isaac, Sawyer, and Vince recognized her immediately, and they were in the process of shaking Piper’s hand.
“Cliff! This is a crazy surprise! You didn’t tell us you’ve been back in touch with Piper again!” Isaac exclaimed. He had just finished introducing her to Margo and then Faye.
“Yeah, it happened recently,” I told him, exchanging embarrassed looks with Piper.
Margo took the towels from me and handed them to Piper. She looked at the shirt I brought and rolled her eyes.
“This will have to do, for now, Piper,” she said, who smiled weakly in response.
“I’ll show you to the restroom,” I said.
Piper followed me out and in the hallway. I shut the living room door.
“I’m sorry about all this. If I knew you were going to drop in I wouldn’t have invited them over,” I told her.
She was rubbing her hair with one of the towels. Her golden hair looked damp and ruffled now.
“I’m not staying for long, Cliff, so it doesn’t matter,” she said.
I clenched my jaws at her stubbornness.
“This way,” I said and led her to the guest bathroom near the kitchen. I held the door open for her, and she stepped in. Our bodies brushed together when she passed me. I got a whiff of her perfume, and the damp odor of her body and that same primal desire in me was awakened again.
How wrong would it be if I locked myself in the bathroom with her right now? I wanted to fuck her right there in the shower while my friends were outside, drinking.
She gazed at me, and she might have known what I was thinking because the tops of her cheeks turned red.
“I need some privacy, Cliff,” she said in a whisper. I realized she wanted me to leave and shut the door.
“Yeah, sorry, of course,” I mumbled and stepped out.
She was shutting the door, but something overcame me, and I put my hand on it, stopping her.
Piper gasped.
“What are you doing, Cliff!” she snapped and I stared deep into her eyes.
“Piper, I just want you to know, despite what you think I did or how I’ve insulted you by offering you a loan I genuinely want to help you. I hope you see that,” I said.
I was close enough to her so that when I spoke, her hair shook over her face. She parted her lips to talk, and I watched her mouth move.
“I never needed your help, Cliff. I still don’t. I just needed you there, and you weren’t.”
It put a strain on my soul to hear her say that. I knew she was right. I did everything wrong.
I should have returned to her. I should have gone looking for her once my business flourished. I should have put some effort into finding her. But I always thought it was too late. I was worried that she had moved on. I didn't know if I could handle seeing her with someone else.
What was a six-month teenage relationship, in comparison to the real world? She was better off without me.
I took my hand off the door and stepped away from it.
Piper kept her eyes focused on me as she shut the door on my face.
There was no chance of salvaging this. She knew I sent Martin. She took offense to that. If I thought she hated me before, her hatred towards me now was on a whole different level. She felt I pitied her and her pride was bruised.
How had I messed things up this badly?
* * *
“Piper Cohen? Really?” Sawyer hissed at me when I returned to the living room. The others had been huddled together and talking amongst themselves. I knew what they were talking about.
“I bumped into her a few days ago. She works at Privy, the fancy new restaurant,” I told him. I could sense Vince glaring at me from across the room.
“Well, she seems lovely,” Faye said.
“And very pretty!” Margo added.
“They were in love back when we were, what? Eighteen? Nineteen?” Isaac explained.
I could feel the back of my neck burning up. The last thing I wanted was for my friends to discuss her like that.
“We’re just back in touch now. Nothing is going on!” I snapped. Sawyer and Isaac exchanged looks, so I glared at them.
“Behave yourselves! Seriously! She hates me enough as it is!”
Within moments of that, Piper returned to the living room.
She had changed into my shirt. It was a blue and white checked shirt that hung loosely on her. She tied her hair up messily in a bun and wiped all the makeup off her face. She was glowing under the steady gaze of all my friends.
Vince poured her some wine in a glass. She graciously accepted it from him.
“So, Piper! How are you? It’s been ten years!” Isaac said, smiling sharply at her. He had Margo on his arm, and the others were staring too. I could sense that she was feeling extremely uncomfortable with all that attention.
“Yeah, something like that. I’ve been good. You look happy yourself, Isaac,” she said and smiled at Margo.
“Cliff tells us you’re working at Privy. I’ve heard great things about that place,” Vince interjected.
Piper looked over at me, with that same look of discomfort in her eyes. I guessed she was wondering how much I told my friends.
“Yeah, it’s great. Congratulations, Vince! You’re America’s best-loved football player!” she exclaimed.
Vince took a little bow, which made everyone laugh. I was hoping it would put Piper at ease too.
We sat down on the chairs and couches around the room. She was refusing to look at me. Even though she was putting on a brave face and trying to play nice with my friends, I could sense there was a storm brewing inside her just waiting to burst.
“How long have you guys been married?” she asked Sawyer. He was holding Faye’s hand.
“A little over a year now,” Faye replied, and Sawyer kissed her on the cheek.
“I saw the interview you gave, the one where you announced your engagement and about the baby. Congratulations. You guys must be thrilled!” Piper continued, sipping her wine slowly.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I couldn’t help but think about how well she fit into my group. It was so easy for them to get along.
I got up to walk to the bar and pour myself another drink. Vince joined me. I knew he was waiting for this opportunity to talk to me alone.
“You okay, man?” he asked. I nodded. He was speaking to me in a whisper.
“I mean, if you want us to leave, I’ll get these guys out and give you some privacy,” he continued. I shook my head.
“No, this is good. She’s just waiting for the opportunity to bite my head off, so the longer she has to wait, the more time she’ll get to cool off,” I told him with a weak smile.
“Bite your head off? What did you do?” Vince asked.
I looked over my shoulder at the others. Piper was in the middle of a conversation with the other women and wasn’t paying attention to me. I turned to Vince again and lowered my voice.
“I tried to invest in her,” I said.
He raised his brows in shock and then shook his head disappointedly.
“Why did you have to go and do that, man?” he said.
“I want to help her. I genuinely want just to help her. I know she hates her job and she’s always had this idea…”
Vince cut me off.
“You broke up with her. You literally dumped her, man. What makes you think she’s going to accept anything from you? You really don’t know what yo
u are doing.”
Vince scolded me. Then he walked away from me, leaving me alone at the bar. I watched as he took a seat beside Piper and started speaking to her.
Vince had a comfortable, charming way about him that immediately put her at ease. I could see that she was more relaxed now than when she first arrived. She was nodding her head and even laughing as she spoke to him.
I stood there watching her, and then she caught me looking. She glanced at me for only a moment, but when she did, I knew what she was thinking.
She was probably thinking what I was. Our lives would have been so different if I hadn’t left her. We could all be here together, and Piper wouldn’t be an outsider. She would have been a part of this group. She would have been at Sawyer and Faye’s wedding. She would have been there for the birth of the kids.
I walked back to them, my head heavy with regret and anger. I wished I could just tell her the truth. I hoped that she could honestly believe that when I left her, it was because that was the right thing to do. If I could have my way, I would have stayed with her forever too.
The night carried on in its usual way. Even though Piper had made a sudden appearance in our midst, it didn’t seem like an intrusion. She eventually blended right into the group, and it seemed like everybody was having a good time, except me.
I just wanted everyone to leave right now so I could be alone with her again.
Chapter 15
Piper
Cliff’s friends left after midnight, and every time I tried leaving before that they held me back. Eventually, I had to admit that I did have fun with them. Spending a few hours in their company was just the distraction I needed from the shambles my life was in.
Of course, having Cliff around me didn’t help matters. He was a constant reminder of how much I was still attracted to him. There was no escaping it.
What was I even doing here? What did I think I would achieve by coming to see him? I couldn’t deny the fact that there was always something drawing me to him.
When his friends eventually left, Cliff and I went to see them off at the door as though they were guests in our house. He shut the door and turned to me, and I didn’t know where to look.
“Sorry about that!” he said, with a weak smile.
“It’s fine. It was a nice evening. Your friends are as lovely and funny as always. Margo and Faye are great too. You guys are fortunate to have each other,” I told him.
Cliff was looking at me intently. We still hadn’t moved away from the front door.
“I’m also sorry about sending Martin to see you. I realize now that I shouldn’t have tried to help when help wasn’t needed,” he said.
I nodded and pushed my hands into the pockets of my jeans. They weren’t damp anymore, which was some relief. Wearing Cliff’s shirt, being surrounded by his scent was sending me in a tizzy.
“Apology accepted,” I told him.
“Really? That’s it?” he asked, widening his eyes at me. I shrugged.
“I don’t know what else to say. I didn’t appreciate the fact that you thought you could just rescue me with your money. But I hope you know now that I’ll never accept something like that. I don’t need your charity.”
Cliff ran a hand through his long dark hair, then walked past me. I followed him to the living room again.
“Yes, I know. It was my mistake. But you should know, Piper, it wasn’t meant to be charity. By investing in you, I would see returns too. It’s what I do. This is my job. I hunt out small business ideas and help them grow. You were, you are, the perfect candidate.”
I watched as Cliff walked around the living room, collecting the discarded glasses and empty plates of appetizers.
“But we could never work together,” I told him.
“Why not?” he asked, shooting a look at me.
“Because of our history,” I said as he arched his brows.
“I remember someone mentioning that history is in the past,” he replied with a smile. I couldn’t help but smile at that too. He was making me stumble on my own words.
“I can’t work with you, Cliff. I can’t be around you,” I told him.
I was trying to be as honest with him as possible. I didn’t care about my pride anymore. It was my pride that got me fired from the best job of my life!
“Because you dislike me now?” he asked. He carried the glasses and plates to the back of the bar, while I stood in the middle of the room, with my arms crossed over my breasts.
“You know that isn’t true,” I said. He shrugged his shoulders.
“If you hate me, I don’t blame you. In fact, I definitely deserve it,” he added.
I didn’t know what to say to him. He was right. He did deserve my hatred and wrath. But the truth was that I could never hate him. How could I hate the man who had made me feel the way he did?
I looked away from him instead, and Cliff took long strides in my direction.
“I should go. I’ve told you what I came here to say,” I whispered.
Our bodies were just inches apart. I could feel the warmth emanating from him. Only an inch closer and we would have been touching. I felt a rising craving to be touched and to feel him inside me again. I felt like a force was holding me there close to him. I couldn't move. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion.
This couldn’t be happening! Was this why I came here? What did he think of me? Did he know that was why I came to see him?
“Yeah, you should probably go, but I would like it if you stayed,” Cliff said. His voice was thick and velvety, and I could feel myself sinking in it. He reached for my hand. I let him hold me.
Electric shots ran up and down my spine. I could feel myself faltering, falling down, down, down I went.
“Why? Why should I stay?” I asked him, and he looked into my eyes.
“I don’t know, Piper,” he whispered and lifted my hand up to his lips. I felt the soft brush of his mouth on my skin. I was covered in goosebumps. My nipples stood erect under my clothes, his clothes! It was happening again!
“I came here to tell you to stay away from me, Cliff!” I exclaimed, but I didn’t pull my hand away from him. I knew I should have.
He kept my hand pressed to his mouth, while his eyes bore into me.
“But you know that isn’t possible. The irony is that you had to come to me to tell me to not come to you. Do you see what I’m saying?”
I felt like I was in a trance and I was entirely under his spell.
Just a few hours ago I was raging mad. I could have slapped him. I could have hurled abuses at him, and now I was like butter melting under his glow. What was happening to me?
What was this hold that he had on me?
“It has to stop sometime!” I exclaimed.
“But does that time have to be now?” he asked, and I gulped.
He had a point. We were adults. We could do what we wanted. There was no rule in the book that said we weren’t allowed one last time.
I fell down to my knees before him.
Cliff stood towering over me, I was holding his gaze as I started undoing his pants. I pulled them down, and he reached for my head, weaving his fingers into my hair. My bun came undone, and he stroked my hair.
I had his cock in my hands while I stared up at him.
I wanted to please him. I wanted him to see the kind of power I had over him. With one hand I held on to his muscular right thigh, while with the other I guided his cock into my mouth.
I heard him grunt when my tongue flicked the tip of his cock. His grip on my hair tightened, and I widened my mouth open. His cock entered my mouth, he thrust himself in, and I gulped.
He tasted salty and strong. I stroked my tongue over his cock. I could feel it throbbing and growing while he thrust himself over and over down my throat. He was gripping me hard, and I looked up at him.
Just like me, Cliff was melting too. I could see it in his eyes.
“Fuck! Fuck!” he moaned as his thrusts became wilder.
It was reassuring to know that I still had this effect on him.
His body jerked and just when I thought he was going to come in my mouth, he pulled himself out of me.
With his hands on my cheeks, he pulled me up. He pulled me towards him, and I fell with a thud on his solid, expansive chest. His wild dark hair had fallen over his green eyes. His nostrils were flared. He was so close to coming.
“What are you doing to me, Piper!” he groaned before he kissed me.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, while his tongue slipped into my mouth. I kept my eyes closed as he kissed me. My lips slid and moved over his mouth. His hands were on the shirt, unbuttoning it ravenously. I felt his large warm hand on my breasts as he undid my bra quickly.
Pulling his mouth away from me, he tugged my hair at the back of my head, tipping my face upwards. My neck was stretched out and bared for him. He kissed my chin, my neck, leaving a hot wet trail down till he reached my trembling heaving breasts.
I gasped when he took my left nipple in his mouth.
“Cliff! Oh my God!” I screeched as he started sucking. He had never done this before. His mouth on my breasts was an exhilarating feeling. He knew what to do, how to make me explode.
With his other hand, he undid my jeans and rolled it down over my butt just halfway down my thighs. They were just low enough so he could dig his hand in under my lace panties.
I gasped with delight, my body shuddered when his fingers found my clit.
His mouth remained stuck to my breasts, sucking and teasing my nipples, while his fingers stroked my clit. There was no escaping this. He was going to make sure I came right there in his hands.
I was panting, gasping for air. My whole body was on fire. He stroked my swollen clit, teasing the wet fleshy folds of my pussy. He rubbed and stroked, till I came. My juices dribbled out of me, and I clung to him, digging my nails in his arms, screaming his name.
Daddy CEO: A BILLIONAIRE SECOND CHANCE BABY ROMANCE Page 6