She Loves Me

by Foster, Melissa

  It was strange to feel like he was including her in this, especially when she was still flipping out over seeing her pictures on his refrigerator. Sure, she had framed the same picture of them playing basketball and put it up in her living room, but she had lots of other pictures of family and friends there. The only other things hanging on Harley’s fridge were the girls’ school pictures, a picture of Delaney and their mother, one of Harley and his father, and a Polaroid of Harley sleeping with his arm around Jiggs in what she assumed was Harley’s bed. She hadn’t even known they made Polaroid cameras anymore, and she didn’t want to think about who had taken that picture. Probably one of the ladies he dated.

  Jiggs jumped onto the couch, landing on Harley’s chest, his back feet in Harley’s crotch. Harley doubled over and moaned, but those big, strong arms were wrapped around Jiggs like he didn’t want his dog to jump off.

  Sophie laughed. “Jiggsy!”

  Piper couldn’t do anything other than stare at the man who glowered threateningly at her dates and fought like a pro with his fists, as he loved on his dog despite being curled in pain.

  “Jiggs,” Harley croaked. “We have to work on your aim.”

  She was right.

  Harley was all cuddly cub.

  Thank God.

  If she was going to be subjected to Harley’s flirting, which was totally different when he was under the influence of pain medication than it was normally, she needed big, uncrossable barriers to remember why she wasn’t taking him up on his innuendos. Cuddly cubs were a big no for her. The last thing she wanted was a man who was looking to settle down.

  She tried to figure out what had changed besides the addition of the pain medication. Usually when Harley said something flirtatious, he was reacting to a guy hitting on her or to their friends joking around about sex or relationships. But they weren’t with any of their friends now.

  Oh shit . . .

  She realized they were always in a group, doing guy things—watching sports, drinking at the pub, playing basketball. She stole a glance at him, catching him watching her with a darker, hungrier look than she’d ever seen. That new look called to the animal in her, sparking flames deep inside her. God, she loved the feeling of lust simmering hot and anticipatory, just waiting to ignite. Apparently even when it was coming from Harley. She couldn’t tear her eyes from his, despite knowing she couldn’t afford for their flames to become an inferno.

  Sophie popped to her feet and said, “I need help with math.”

  “I’m great at math!” Piper grabbed Sophie’s hand and dragged her away from Harley before Piper caught fire—or Harley noticed her momentary slip into Hornyville.

  CHAPTER THREE

  HARLEY HAD FORGOTTEN how much he hated pain medication. Piper had given him another dose at nine, and by nine forty-five he was high as a kite again, which made focusing on his phone conversation with his sister difficult.

  “Soph got an A on her math test.” He was sitting on the couch with his foot propped on a pillow on the coffee table, and Jiggs was lying beside him. He scratched Jiggs’s head, trying to remember if the girls had said anything else worth mentioning.

  “She told me. Are you sure you’re okay? You sound out of it.”

  “I’m fine. Piper’s here, and she’s like a whirlwind of badass energy. She’s putting the girls to bed now.”

  “Ah, now I see what’s going on,” Delaney teased. “You’re drunk on love.”

  Harley chuckled. “Drunk on pain meds, maybe. But I’m fine, sis. How are you?”

  “Recovering. Not fast enough, but appropriately. They took the drains out today. I shouldn’t look too scary to the girls Friday, but I’ll look tired.”

  Delaney was an attorney, and like Harley, she wasn’t used to not being in control. She had opted to have immediate breast reconstruction, and Harley had learned that immediate didn’t mean they reconstructed her breasts at the time of surgery. It meant they started the process, putting in an implant during the mastectomy. It would be weeks before the reconstruction was complete.

  “I’ve got weeks of discomfort ahead of me,” she said. “But I want details, Har. Is Piper pampering you? Are the girls being nice to her?”

  Harley was taking care of the girls until a week from Friday, when Delaney should be well enough to have them come home. He didn’t want her to worry about Jolie seeming withdrawn when she needed to rest and relax, so he said, “The girls are fine, they’re nice to Piper, and Piper’s taking great care of me. She’s not really a pamperer, but I’ve got no complaints. She’s perfectly Piper. We’re in good hands.”

  He rested his head back. Piper had switched into work mode right before his eyes, a mode he knew she found much more comfortable than hovering over children and a man with a bum ankle. She’d helped the girls with homework and then made sure they had everything they needed for school tomorrow. Then she’d gotten them to take showers and made a grocery list of all the things they liked to eat. He had no idea what she’d do with those things once she bought them, since according to just about everyone who knew Piper, she could burn water, but she got an A for effort in his book.

  “Oh boy,” Delaney said. “I’m getting the feeling you’re high on Piper more than the pain meds.”

  “Yeah,” he said sleepily, and then he processed what she’d said and backpedaled. “High on meds, sis. Sorry. I’m loopy as shit.” He heard Piper coming down the stairs and said, “I’d better go. I’m glad you’re doing okay. Tell Mom thanks for asking Piper to pick me up today.”

  Piper walked into the room as he ended the call. She’d let her hair down, and it fell straight and shiny to her shoulders, with a little wave from being in a ponytail all day. His nieces’ hair did the same thing.

  “The girls are in bed,” she said softly. “Sophie fell asleep reading on her iPad when I was with Jolie, and Jolie is probably texting, but she looked pretty tired. I’m worried about her, Harley, but I can’t even think straight without some sugar.”

  He couldn’t help puckering up.

  She laughed. “Does that ever work for you?”

  “Apparently not.”

  “What do you have that’s sweet? And don’t say apples. Seriously, Harley. Little girls need ice cream and cookies sometimes.”

  “I’ve got a banana,” he said in a way he hoped was coy, but his head was swimming, and he had no idea how it came out.

  “I don’t remember seeing any bana—” She groaned, finally catching his meaning, and stalked off toward the kitchen.

  “Hey, Trig,” he called after her.

  She stopped and cast a deadpan look over her shoulder. Most women would jump at the chance to make out with him, and he loved that Piper wasn’t a pushover. But he wasn’t giving up.

  “I’m really glad you’re here for me—us, me and the girls. I appreciate it. I know it’s an imposition.”

  “It’s not an imposition. It’s fine,” she said.

  “Good, then turn around and get your sweets so I can watch your hot little ass.”

  Her eyes warmed, softening the tension in her beautiful face, and his heart beat faster. Maybe he’d finally gotten through to her.

  “No more pain pills for you,” she said in a singsong voice, then sauntered into the kitchen.

  She returned with a half gallon of pralines and cream ice cream and two spoons and plunked down on the couch beside him, handing him a spoon. When Jiggs lifted his head, she said, “Sorry, Jiggsy, but you’ll have to share with your daddy.”

  Harley petted Jiggs’s head, and his pooch settled back down with his chin on his lap.

  “The girls are pretty great,” Piper said as she dug into the ice cream. She filled her spoon and tilted the container toward him.

  “Yeah, they are.” He scooped out some ice cream.

  She sucked her spoon clean, and his foggy mind went straight to a darker place, one he’d thought about an embarrassing number of times even when he wasn’t on pain medication.

  “I�
�m worried about Jolie,” she said, snapping him from his fantasy.

  “That makes two of us. I’ve been trying to get her to open up, but she won’t.”

  “Do you know what’s going on with her?”

  “I think she’s worried about Delaney.” He filled his spoon and held it out to Piper. She held up her spoon as if he might have forgotten she had her own. He shook his head and ate the ice cream.

  “I know she’s worried about her mom. That was obvious by how quickly she left the room when I asked about seeing her. But is there anything else going on? Is everything okay at school? Is she having trouble with boys? Friends?”

  “Got me. She hasn’t said anything.”

  Piper’s brows knitted as she dug out another spoonful of ice cream and ate it. “When your dad first got sick, you must have been scared, right?”

  A chill flared in his chest. His father had run Dutch’s Pub for as long as Harley could remember. Frank Dutch was big and beefy like Harley, and stable as the day was long. He’d been Harley’s rock, and he’d supported Harley’s choice to move to the city and work on Wall Street the same way he’d supported Delaney’s desire to go to law school and Marshall’s dream of becoming a smoke jumper. When they were growing up, their father had been strict about grades and responsibilities, more so for Delaney and Harley than Marshall, but he was loving and kind to all of them. Harley couldn’t remember a day going by that his parents hadn’t told them they loved them. That was just one of the many reasons he had a hard time with Marshall turning his back on their family the way he had.

  But that was a thought for another day, when his brain wasn’t foggy and Piper wasn’t sitting beside him waiting for an answer. It would be easy to minimize how he’d felt when he’d gotten the call about his father having cancer since he hadn’t talked about it with anyone but Delaney. But he wanted to be honest with Piper.

  “I was pretty terrified,” he admitted. “One online search told me how aggressive pancreatic cancer was, and they’d caught it late. I remember thinking about how unfair it was to him, to my mom, my siblings, his grandkids. I went numb, I think, going through the motions to make sure everyone was holding up okay, which they weren’t, of course. And after he died, I went from numb to sad, and then I got angry, but you remember how awful I was then.”

  “You weren’t awful. You were a son grieving his father.” Piper put her hand over his, lacing their fingers together, and said, “It was unfair to you, too.”

  “What?” He met her gaze, and the empathy in her eyes was inescapable.

  “You mentioned everyone else, but not yourself. I’m just saying it was unfair to you, too.”

  “I guess . . .” He gritted his teeth against the pain burning in his chest.

  “You must miss him so much. When I was little, I used to love seeing your dad at the Strawberry Festival or some other event. He’d swoop me off my feet, hold me over his head, and say something like, ‘Put some meat on those bones, Builder Girl, or a bird’s going to pick you up and carry you away.’”

  Harley laughed. “I forgot how he used to call you that. And he’d call your sister Talia Bookie. He loved his nicknames.” He turned his hand over to hold Piper’s, but she pulled away and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

  “Anyway,” she said abruptly, and put the carton of ice cream in his hand.

  She stuck her spoon into the carton, and then she put space between them, turning to face him on the couch. She fidgeted with the seam along the back of the couch. Was she nervous? He’d never seen Piper nervous. Maybe the meds were playing tricks on him.

  She squared her shoulders and put her hand in her lap. “Maybe that’s what Jolie is feeling. She lost her grandfather soon after finding out he was sick, and even though she’s been told her mom is out of danger, she’s still probably terrified of losing her.”

  Harley’s brain was moving slowly, and he was still trying to decide if Piper had been nervous. He blinked a few times to clear his head and said, “I think you’re right.”

  “If she’s scared, she’s probably also angry. I bet she feels like the world is pretty unfair right now, just like you did.”

  “I agree.” He scooped some ice cream and let Jiggs lick it off his spoon. “I didn’t mention her mood to Delaney. I don’t want to worry her.”

  “That might be smart, or maybe she knows what Jolie needs better than anyone. I don’t know what’s right in this situation since Delaney just had surgery, and her crisis includes the girls’ well-being. You know she’s got to be as worried about them as they are about her. My gut tells me Jolie needs someone to talk to, and Soph might, too, even though she seems okay. Some kids keep everything bottled up, and you can’t tell what they’re really feeling. But I think Jolie definitely needs to get whatever it is out of her system. I love my family, but at her age, I wouldn’t have been thrilled to talk with them about personal stuff, or something that I considered bad or confusing. I think she should talk to someone who’s not family. Someone she feels safe with. Does she have a teacher or a counselor at school that she trusts? A friend’s mom, maybe?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I can ask Delaney.” He rested his head back again and closed his eyes. That horrible feeling in his chest was now accompanied with an extra ache for Jolie. How had he pushed aside how very desperate he’d felt when his father had gotten sick? He should be the one suggesting these things for Jolie. Piper might not be the pampering type, but she cared about everyone. The question was, could she ever care about him the way he cared about her?

  “Okay,” she said. “I’ll nose around tomorrow and see what I can find out, too.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I can take care of it.”

  “Lord knows what’ll come out of your mouth with those pain pills in your system. How about if you focus on icing your ankle and getting better?”

  “Thanks, Pipe. I appreciate that. Would you be willing to try talking with her?”

  “Me?” She shook her head. “I’m used to dealing with the guys at work. When one of them gets crabby, I have to snap them out of it fast or it causes everyone’s attitude to take a nosedive. I think Jolie probably needs someone with a softer touch.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short.”

  “I’m always short,” she said sassily. “I’ll ask my sisters for advice. I’m meeting Willow at the bakery tomorrow morning. But don’t worry—I’ll be back by seven to get the girls ready for school. I’ll ask Bridgette to meet us. She’s the sweetest person I’ve ever known, and she lost her first husband, Jerry, remember? She’ll know what to do for Jolie.”

  He remembered all too well. Piper’s youngest sister had quit college and married a musician. She’d gotten pregnant right away, and then her husband was killed in a car accident right after their son, Louie, was born. The Daltons had rallied around them and helped Bridgette get back on her feet. She’d even opened a flower shop called the Secret Garden, next to their sister Willow’s bakery, Sweetie Pies. Now Louie was almost seven years old, Bridgette was remarried to Bodhi Booker, and last fall they’d welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Emerson.

  “I wish Talia could meet us, but her mornings are too busy.” Talia, Piper’s oldest sister, was a professor at Beckwith University, a small private school in Harmony Pointe. She and her husband, Derek, had recently opened Our Friends’ House, an adult-daycare center. “She has a soft touch. She probably has good advice. I’ll call her if Bridge can’t help.”

  “Piper, not every person needs a soft touch. You should consider talking to Jolie. She likes and trusts you,” Harley said, wishing Piper would give herself some credit. Sophie had loved working on her homework with Piper. She’d giggled more than she ever had while doing homework. And Jolie might be having a hard time, but when the girls came down to say good night before bed, Jolie had hugged him and she said she was glad Piper was there.

  “Right now I’m considering all the things I should do before heading home,” Piper said as she pushed to
her feet. “Like getting you upstairs to your bedroom.”

  “Now we’re talkin’!” He clapped his hands.

  Jiggs bolted upright, jumped off the couch, and scurried away.

  “Forget it. You’re sleeping on the couch. How about something more comfortable to sleep in?”

  He cocked a grin. “You’re walking right into these, Trig. I sleep in my birthday suit.”

  Jiggs carried his leash into the living room and sat at Piper’s feet.

  Piper sighed. “Jiggsy, you’re going to have to wait until I get your big daddy settled.”

  “Big Daddy.” He paused just to see her roll her eyes. “I’m not into girls with daddy issues, but I’m sure we can figure out another name for you to call me.”

  “Get over yourself before I smack your ankle. Do you want to sleep upstairs?”

  “No. The couch is easier.”

  “Perfect. Considering your nieces don’t need to see Uncle Harley’s Harley, how about a pair of basketball shorts to sleep in?”

  “Okay, but I wasn’t thinking about my nieces.” He took her hand, pulling her down beside him, and said, “I was thinking about my sexy nurse.”

  “I’m sure Felicity would appreciate that.” She pushed to her feet.

  “The sexy blond nurse standing before me.”

  “Yeah, okay. Whatever. I’m going to grab your toothbrush and find those basketball shorts.” She headed for the stairs.

  “I know you love me,” he called after her.

  “I’m going to rummage through your drawers!”

  “Then get back here so you can reach them!” He chuckled as her footsteps faded. “We might have to milk this injury, Jiggs. I’m digging having Piper around.”

  Jiggs cocked his head.

  “You too, huh?”

  Piper came downstairs a few minutes later with the blanket and pillow from Harley’s bed, his toothbrush, toothpaste, and a pair of shorts. She tossed the shorts to him and said, “Put those on.” She dropped the blanket and pillow on a chair and held up a sheet. “I found this in the linen closet. You’re incredibly organized for a guy. I’m going to put it on the couch after I put your toiletries in the bathroom down here.”