“Because we’re great together. Never mind. Nobody understands what it’s like to be me.”
Aurelia eyed her and said, “Hot, smart, and tough can’t be too difficult of a way to go through life, Piper. You’re not getting any sympathy from me.”
“Seriously? You know men are intimidated by me, and the ones who aren’t think they can change me.”
“Not Harley.”
“Because we’re not dating,” Piper explained. “Just don’t say anything, okay?”
“Okay, but I have to say this: I think you’re being foolish. Don’t shut him out.”
Piper arched a brow. “That’s great advice coming from a woman who bought a bookstore and moved out of town to escape her crush on my brother.”
“That was different. I’d loved Ben forever and I didn’t think he was interested. You aren’t in love with Harley. Wait. Are you?”
“God, everyone’s lost their minds. No, I’m not. I never even thought about him like that until he hurt his ankle. He’s a freaking switch flicker!”
“I wonder what other switches he can flick . . .” Aurelia waggled her brows.
Piper didn’t want to think about that. It would only make her think about him naked again.
Great. Now she was doing just that.
“Can you please stop?” Piper pleaded. “The minute you sleep with a man, they change.”
“Not always. Why can’t you just give him a chance? Give yourself a chance,” Aurelia asked as Sophie headed in their direction. “Ben and I took a chance, and look how happy we are. I’m married to my best friend, and I can tell you that sleeping with him only made things better.”
“Ew. I don’t want to know anything about my brother’s sex life.”
“Fine, whatever. But I’m telling you, we’re ridiculously happy. I can’t believe it’s been more than a year since Bea came into our lives,” Aurelia said as Sophie joined them. “Hi, Sophie.”
“Hi. I was hoping you had Bea with you today,” Sophie said. “I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“I loved bringing her to work with me, but I don’t bring her with me that often anymore,” Aurelia said. “She’s too curious, and into everything. She pulls all the books off the low shelves. She’d love to see you, though. Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you and Jolie come for a visit Saturday after I get off work? We’ll give your uncle and Piper a few hours to take care of some grown-up things.”
Before Piper could shut down her matchmaking, Sophie said, “Jolie has a sleepover after her soccer game, so she can’t come, but I’d like to.”
“Actually, I have a better idea.” Aurelia had a scheming look in her eyes. “Ben and I could use a break from playing with baby toys. I’d love to have a mother’s helper like you around for an evening. Why don’t you come spend the night Saturday, Sophie? We’ll have dinner, go to the park, maybe get some ice cream. What do you say?”
Sophie turned pleading baby blues on Piper and said, “Can I? Please, Piper?”
Piper realized if the girls weren’t with Harley, he shouldn’t need her around Saturday night. She could go to the pub, hang out with the guys, and get her overactive hormones under control. Then things would go back to normal.
Her annoyance quickly turned to gratitude as she said, “I have to ask your uncle, but I’m pretty sure he won’t mind.”
“Thank you!” Sophie exclaimed.
Looking overly pleased with her scheming, Aurelia said, “Great! Now that that’s settled, Sophie, did you find a good book?”
Sophie held up the book, showing them the cover. Dork Diaries 8: Tales from a Not-So-Happily Ever After.
Piper snagged it from her hands. Life had enough hard knocks, as Sophie had experienced firsthand after losing her grandfather and now with her mother’s cancer diagnosis. “Soph, are you sure you want to read something with a sucky ending? Shouldn’t you be reading a book with a happy ending?”
“I’ve read seven of this series already. They have happy endings,” Sophie said, as bright-eyed and undeterred as ever.
“Piper is just trying to protect you from getting your heart broken,” Aurelia said reassuringly. “Read the back, Piper. These are great books for kids her age. Each one teaches a valuable lesson.”
Piper scanned the description and said, “I see that. Lessons about mean girls and boy crushes. But shouldn’t girls Sophie’s age be learning about how awesome they are all on their own, without boy crushes?”
“I know I’m awesome,” Sophie said proudly. “I’m smart and I have lots of friends. But I can put it back if you don’t want me to read it.”
She had even more confidence than Piper at the moment. Piper knew she was pretty cool, but she was also well aware of her weaknesses. Wasn’t this the perfect time to fix one of them and use a softer touch?
“No, it’s fine, honey. You should read it if you enjoy them.” Another win!
“Thank you. My mom says books like this teach us how to deal with things that are hard and confusing.”
Piper put her arm around Sophie as they walked to the register with Aurelia and said, “Maybe I should read it when you’re done.”
CHAPTER SIX
JOLIE LOOKED CUTE with her hair pulled up in a ponytail, chatting with the other girls as they walked off the soccer field. Piper tried to read her expression, but she didn’t look particularly unhappy or cheerful. The other girls didn’t, either. Maybe Jolie’s attitude wasn’t so far out of the norm for girls her age after all.
Jolie climbed into the back seat, and Piper said, “Did you have fun?”
“Yeah. My friend Trish hurt her foot and her mother had to come get her, but she thinks she’ll be fine by Saturday,” Jolie said.
“I hope so.” Piper handed her a cookie and said, “We figured you might be hungry.”
Jolie’s eyes lit up. “Thanks!”
Piper made a mental note to tell Harley to ditch the apples and bring on some sugar.
“Uncle Harley usually brings fruit or granola bars,” Jolie said around a mouthful of cookie. “This is so much better.”
Oops . . . Harley was probably doing what Delaney had asked him to.
“Guess what?” Sophie said excitedly. “I might spend the night at Aurelia’s house and play with Bea Saturday night!”
“Good for you,” Jolie said in the same bored tone she’d used yesterday.
Sophie chattered on about the things she wanted to play with Bea if Uncle Harley let her spend the night—and she didn’t stop talking until she climbed out of the truck at Harley’s house.
The front door flew open as Piper grabbed grocery bags from the back, and Jiggs darted out to greet the girls.
“Our girls are home, Jiggsy.” Harley stepped onto the porch using the crutches, his ankle neatly wrapped. He was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and his navy hoodie, zipped up to the center of his chest. The sexy dusting of chest hair peeking out told her he wasn’t wearing a shirt beneath it.
Their eyes connected, and the crazy lust she’d been trying to outrun ricocheted inside her. She felt her cheeks burn, and he cocked an arrogant grin.
Damn switch flicker!
Jolie tried to walk past him, but he swept an arm around her, hugging her as he kissed the top her head, and said, “How was soccer?”
“Fine. How’s your ankle?” she asked.
Jiggs rubbed his body against Harley’s leg.
“Good. Thanks for asking.” He released Jolie, and as she walked inside, Sophie put her arms around her uncle. Her backpack slipped from her shoulder as she hugged him. “Hey, squirt. Did you have a good time with Piper?”
“Yes! I got a new Dork Diaries book, and Aurelia invited me to spend the night Saturday. Can I? Please? I want to play with Bea.”
“Sure.” Harley arched a brow in Piper’s direction and said, “A sleepover on Saturday sounds like a great idea.”
Piper stumbled over her own feet, and he chuckled.
“Thank you!” Sophie gave him anoth
er quick hug, then headed inside.
Harley set his eyes on Piper again as she ascended the porch steps, sending sparks searing beneath her skin. Her arms were full of groceries, and his arms were open wide, as if greeting her in this fashion were totally normal. She had to think fast because she did not trust herself right now. Not after thinking about him in all sorts of compromising positions all day.
“Don’t even think about it, Dutch,” she said as sternly as she could, thankful for the paper grocery bags. At least she had a buffer between them.
“Oh, I’m definitely thinking about it.” He stepped in front of her and wrapped his arms around her, his frustratingly handsome face peering down at her from above the groceries.
If he kept looking at her like that, the paper bags were liable to catch fire.
“How was your day, Pipe? Still thinking about me?”
“No. Definitely not. In fact, I thought about everything else but you.”
“You suck at lying. We could put those sucking skills to much better use.”
Holy crap. Maybe you’re not a cuddly cub after all.
He waggled his brows like he was teasing, but his seductive tone told her he was dead serious. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, which made him grin even more arrogantly. That riled her up enough to find her voice.
She thrust the grocery bags at him and said, “Since you’re up and around, you can get the rest of the groceries. I’m going to fix your shower. I told Sophie I’d dye her hair, and then I’ll get out of yours.” She stalked back to the truck.
“I’d rather you got tangled up in it,” he called after her.
“Dream on, Dutch.” Was he really hitting on her like this? Or was this the same way he always teased her, and she was just losing her frigging mind?
She retrieved the bag from the bookstore as he hobbled inside. Harley came outside as she was collecting the supplies she’d brought with her to fix the bathroom and joined her by the back of the truck. He moved surprisingly swiftly on those crutches.
“Are you going to wear your tool belt? I have a thing for hot women in tool belts.”
She wondered what—besides her seeing him naked—had happened today that had turned him into a flirt machine. Then the answer dawned on her, and it finally made sense.
“You ended up taking those pain meds, didn’t you?” She hoped so. Then she could blame all this craziness on them.
“What do you think?” He winked and grabbed two paper grocery bags, slipping the handles over his fingers. He hung the remaining bags from his other hand.
I think you look hot as hell carrying those heavy bags all cocky and one-footed, maneuvering with the crutches like a pro. She grabbed her toolbox and headed inside without answering.
Sophie was digging through the grocery bags in the kitchen when Piper entered the room. She set Sophie’s book on the counter.
“Thanks. Can you tell Aurelia that Uncle Harley said I could sleep over on Saturday?” she asked as Harley hobbled through the front door.
“Sure. I’ll text her,” Piper said, avoiding Harley’s gaze as she walked upstairs. She had a feeling she’d set a new record for the fastest drywall patches ever made.
She found Jolie sitting on her bed looking at her phone. Piper set down the toolbox and supplies and knocked on her open bedroom door. “Hey there.”
When Jolie looked up, Piper walked in and handed her the diary. “I got you this at the bookstore.”
“Thanks.” Jolie fidgeted with the heart-shaped lock.
“I had a diary when I was your age.” She sat on the bed and said, “It was nice to have a private place to write things down and get them out of my head.”
Jolie’s eyes remained trained on the diary as she asked, “What kind of things did you write about?”
“I wasn’t really into boys at that point, so I think it was mostly stuff that I was upset about, like fights with my sisters or if I wasn’t allowed to do something or go someplace. There were a few mean girls in my classes, and I remember writing about them, which was a good thing because otherwise I probably would have said or done some not-so-nice things.”
Jolie’s lips curved up.
“Hey, listen. I’m not very good at knowing the right things to say, but if you ever want to talk about what your mom’s going through, school, or anything, I’m a pretty good listener.”
Jolie’s gaze hit the diary again. “I’m good, thanks.”
Piper knew a dismissal when she heard it. She pushed to her feet and said, “Okay.”
“Thank you, anyway,” Jolie said as Piper collected her tools.
Piper headed into Harley’s bedroom feeling good. She’d gotten an extra thank-you, which she counted as another win. She might not fail this test after all.
As she passed Harley’s bed, she remembered that damn towel slipping off. She gritted her teeth and walked into the bathroom. Harley’s masculine scent assaulted her. When will this nonsense stop? Her eyes swept over the holes in the wall and the curtain rod leaning against the shower wall. The image of Harley naked and soaking wet slammed into her. She closed her eyes against the assault, but that made it even worse, like she was watching him on a big screen.
We could put those sucking skills to much better use.
Her eyes flew open. She needed to flick that switch off. Stat!
What had he done to her? She’d always been able to flirt with any guy and forget him three seconds later.
She told herself to focus on the work she needed to do. She would get lost in the project and shut out the world, like she always did. It was a good plan. An excellent plan. She set her toolbox and the bucket of supplies down and started organizing her tools, but then she remembered the way he’d swept her against him right there in the bathroom earlier that morning, rooting her in place with an enticing look in his eyes. She struggled to push the feelings and images away, but Harley was inescapable.
She sat down on the toilet lid, breathing deeply, wondering when Harley Dutch had become louder than the rest of the world.
Jiggs trotted into the room holding his leash in his mouth and dropped it at her feet.
“Are you kidding me? You’ve been home with Harley all day and you want me to walk you?”
Jiggs rested his head on her lap, gazing up at her with his big, dark, pleading eyes.
“He trained you to do this to me, didn’t he?” She sighed and hooked the leash to his collar. Fine. She’d walk him. It wasn’t the dog’s fault Harley was wreaking havoc with her sanity.
But she was going to walk right outside, and when she came back in, she wasn’t even going to look at Harley.
Harley put the groceries away, surprised to find a box of bones for Jiggs among them, and then he started cooking dinner. As he seasoned and browned ground beef for nachos, he thought about Piper. She’d stalked right past him to take Jiggs for a walk a little while ago, which had surprised him, since she was working on the bathroom. He hadn’t expected her to stop working to walk Jiggs. But she had a huge heart, and Jiggs was a tough guy to turn down. Harley just hoped he hadn’t pushed her too hard today with all his innuendos. But he’d tried dropping small innuendos and scaring off her dates. He’d even asked her out a time or two, but until this week, she’d never looked at him like she was interested in more than friendship. Then again, Piper rarely looked at anyone like she wanted anything from them. She talked a big game about wanting this or that type of man and having her way with men. That’s why he figured he’d try to be as in-her-face as she was about most things.
He’d spoken to Delaney earlier, and he’d admitted how much he liked having Piper around. He didn’t tell his sister that he sensed Piper’s walls coming down or that their dynamics were definitely changing. But he must have said all the right things, because his sister, whom he trusted implicitly with just about everything, told him to stop dicking around and let Piper know exactly how he felt about her.
He also didn’t tell his sister he’d fin
ally done exactly that.
Piper hadn’t said a word when she’d come inside after walking Jiggs and headed upstairs. She was probably pissed at him, but at least now he’d seen the truth in her eyes, heard it in her voice. She was definitely into him.
“Okay, Uncle Harley,” Sophie said. She was sitting on her knees on a chair at the table, spreading nacho chips over a baking pan that was covered with tinfoil. “Did I do it right?”
Nachos were Piper’s favorite meal. He was sure she’d eat them for breakfast if she weren’t such a sugar fiend. Luckily, the girls liked them, too.
“That’s perfect.” He put the meat in a bowl and said, “Now spread the cheese over the chips. I’ll cut the tomatoes.”
“Heavy on the cheese,” she said, parroting what he’d said a million times when they made nachos or pizza.
“That’s my girl.” He put a cutting board on the table and stood beside her, halving cherry tomatoes. “Missed a spot,” he teased.
“I’m not done!” She snagged a tomato and popped it into her mouth. “Are you trying to make Piper your girlfriend?”
“What? No, why?” He hated lying, but on the off chance he’d read Piper wrong, he didn’t need his niece knowing he’d blown it.
She shrugged, spreading cheese over the second pan of chips. “I wish you would. I like her.”
“I like her, too, squirt.” He pushed the cutting board over to Sophie and said, “You can do the honors of adding the tomatoes while I get the olives, the corn, and the beans.”
“Ricky Ciccarelli gave Jenny Johnson his Cheetos and now they’re boyfriend and girlfriend. Maybe if we make these good enough, Piper will be your girlfriend.”
“If only it were that easy,” he said as he brought the rest of the ingredients to the table. “It’s a little more complicated than that with adults.”
“Can I do the meat?” She peered into the bowl.
“Absolutely.”
After they finished layering ingredients on the chips, Harley put the trays in the oven and Sophie ran upstairs to tell Jolie to start her homework. The girls did their homework while dinner cooked and Harley cleaned up. When the girls sat down to eat, he realized Piper had been upstairs a long time. Taking a hint from Sophie, he stuck a bottle of beer in the pocket of his hoodie, realizing he had no way to carry a plate of food upstairs without spilling it.
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