“She loves my scones,” Harley said to Willow and Bridgette on his way out the door.
Once they were out of the bakery, Piper tore the box open and shoved a Loverboy into her mouth. She had a feeling even a truckload of sugar wouldn’t be enough to calm the chaos of confusion messing with her head.
Building-supply stores were as thrilling as they were calming to Piper. When she was in them, she got a rush of adrenaline, dreaming up future projects and concepts. She imagined that thrill was similar to what many women experienced in jewelry stores. And the sense of peace that came from being in her element was probably much like the sense of calm that flowery meadows brought to her sister Bridgette.
But even Piper had her limit, and she was coming very close to reaching it.
She and Harley had been at the store for more than an hour, and the only things he’d picked out were two showerheads and two sink faucets. The man did not make decisions lightly. She appreciated that about him, even if she didn’t enjoy staring at towel racks until she was blue in the face. She had a feeling his careful decision-making wasn’t reserved for household decisions. Three years was a long time to want a woman, and the more she thought about that, the more feelings it brought. She felt special, like she was precious to him and worth waiting for. Precious wasn’t a word she’d use in the same sentence with herself, but he made her feel like maybe she should. She also felt respected, because Harley hadn’t pushed during those years. He’d given her space, bided his time. She didn’t know if she deserved that kind of treatment, but she was glad he thought she did.
Given that he’d waited so long for her, she should cut him slack while choosing fixtures, but patience was not her strong suit.
“Hey, big guy. You’ve been looking at the towel racks for twenty minutes. Think you can pick one?”
He looked amused. “Got a date?”
“Yes, with a shower that needs to be tiled.” She waved at a towel rack and said, “What’s wrong with that one? It’s about as masculine as a towel rack can get.”
He pulled her into his arms and said, “Why are you so impatient?”
“Why do you take things so slow?”
“I like to savor the moment. It’s not every day I get to go shopping with one-half of the infamous Dalton Contracting duo.”
He was good at turning her complaints around. “You’re quite the sweet talker.”
“I seem to remember you liked other things I do with my mouth, too.”
Shivers of heat trickled down her spine. “If you hurry up, maybe we’ll have time for you to remind me.”
“Maybe you should help me pick one out. You’re good with hard things.”
She cocked a brow. “That’s a pretty wide net you’re casting.”
“Then let me narrow it down.” He backed her up against the shelf with a rapacious grin, his eyes darkening. “I like the way you handle my cock, and I have a feeling I’ll like the way you hold on to my towel rack while I take you from behind.”
An image of Harley taking her from behind as she clung to a towel rack slammed into her. Lust pooled low in her belly. She wanted to do that with him, and so much more. She’d been trying not to think about christening his new shower when it was finally done, but they’d showered together in the guest bathroom this morning, and they’d had to be creative because of his ankle. They’d ended up with Harley lying on his back in the bathtub, the shower raining down on them as she rode him like the stallion he was.
She was definitely building a tiled bench in his new shower.
“You like that idea, don’t you?” Harley asked, leaning in to kiss her neck.
Holy crap, Talia was right. He really was her match. If she wasn’t careful, they were going to end up in a very precarious position right there in the store.
She forced her brain out of the gutter and said, “Unless you want two big holes in your wall, you’d better not try that. Let’s get this show on the road.” She took a step away, grabbed two of the highest-quality towel racks, and handed them to him. “Those are the best.”
As he set them in the cart, she thought about him taking her from behind, and her whole body shuddered. Her mind took that thread and weaved a lecherous path to him bending her over the sink and pinning her hands against the wall as he drove into her. “If you like the way I rock your blissmaker in bed, wait until you see the things I can do with a sturdy vanity” came out before she could stop it.
He grabbed her hand and the cart and said, “What aisle are the vanities in?”
She’d never seen a person with an injured ankle walk so fast.
“We’re only checking vanity height here and then getting your shower tiles. I know of a better place to buy your vanity. I think you’ll like their styles better.”
As they neared the vanity display, Harley said, “I definitely want a double sink. I have this awesome new girlfriend, and I’m hoping she’ll decide to leave her toothbrush at my place for a while.”
God, this man . . .
Skipping over his comment to save her sanity, she said, “Okay, let’s talk vanity height. Most people go with thirty-two inches, but we can get one that’s anywhere between thirty and thirty-six inches.”
“My girl likes things big,” he said with a waggle of his brows. “But this is one measurement we need to get just right.” He lifted her up, her feet dangling in the air.
“Harley!” Piper whispered, half laughing half chiding as a couple walked into the aisle. She ducked her head beside his and said, “Put me down before someone we know sees us!”
He set her bottom on a vanity and wedged himself between her legs, despite her scowl, which might have been broken by a smile.
“And end up with a vanity that’s not the perfect height?” He scoffed. “No frigging way.” As the couple walked by, he said, “My girlfriend has a thing for vanities.”
Piper’s jaw dropped.
“Don’t look so surprised, sweetheart.” He put a hand behind her ass, hauling her to the edge. “I made you a promise never to let you down. That includes pleasuring you in the bathroom.” He looked down at their impeccably aligned bodies and said, “Looks like we’ve found the perfect height.”
“Ohmygod.” She pushed to her feet. “You are impossible. How do you get anything done?”
He swept her into his arms and kissed her. “You love the way I get things done.”
He had her there, and as he lowered his lips to hers, she let him have that, too.
An hour later they walked out with almost everything they needed to finish the bathroom, including the paint and new light fixtures. She had no idea how they made it out so fast with all the debauchery Harley had tried to coerce her into. She’d never gotten so hot and bothered in a supply store before. She’d nearly lost it when he’d asked her to stand in front of a shower tile display, and then he’d stood back, openly assessing her with a lecherous stare. Just seeing him looking like he wanted to devour her had turned her on. When she’d asked what he was doing, he’d said he was trying to decide which tile would look the best behind her when she was wet and naked. She’d been ready to drag him into the warehouse and have her way with him.
She’d never look at the store the same again.
As they drove toward John Love’s woodworking shop, which was on the grounds of his family’s orchard, Piper’s stomach knotted up, quashing all those wonderful feelings. She knew the chances of Heaven being at her father’s shop were small, but Heaven and her father both made jewelry, and Piper knew she spent time there.
She glanced at Harley, and he blew her a kiss. He was so patient with her. She didn’t like the jealousy gnawing at her. It made her feel small, but she didn’t know how to get rid of it without facing it head-on.
Facing it head-on meant admitting a weakness. A big one.
“I’ve never been in John’s shop,” Harley said. “I’m glad you suggested it.”
She nodded, stewing over the images of Harley and Heaven she’d invented.
He reached across the seat and ran his hand down her arm. “Why do you look pissed?”
“If I tell you, I might have to kill you.”
He laughed. “I kind of like being alive.”
She glanced at him quickly as she drove, then focused on the road. “I like you alive, too.”
“Wait. Do you hear that?” He cupped his ear and tilted his head. “I think I heard a wall crumbling down.”
She laughed softly and said, “Don’t push your luck, Dutch.”
“Oh, I’m pushing it.” He took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “I’m going to push it good.”
She turned down the driveway toward Loves’ Orchard, her nerves rattling more as she drove past the fruit and vegetable stand, nearing his shop. Two of the Loves’ dogs were sleeping beneath the shade of a large tree. She followed the road past a row of fruit trees, telling herself she was being juvenile even thinking about Harley and Heaven. But when she turned down the road that led to John’s shop, she felt like she might burst.
She pulled over and put the truck into park before reaching the shop, turned in her seat, and blurted out, “This will make me sound pathetic and jealous, and maybe I am, but I have to know. And I realize this is stupid, but it is what it is, and all this couple stuff is new for me, so I’m just going to say it. Did you and Heaven hook up?”
An incredulous sound fell from his lips, and he shook his head. “What? When?”
“When she was a senior in high school.”
“Seriously?” Amusement rose in his eyes.
“I know how pathetic it is for me to ask, but you’ve fucked with my head, Harley. I can’t stop picturing you doing all the things to her that you did to me. And that’s your right. You can mess around with anyone you want to. I just think if I knew for sure, I could put it away, you know? Compartmentalize it in my head so I could stop thinking about it. So, did you hook up with her?”
“Define hook up.”
“Please don’t fuck with me, Harley. She calls you the Muff Marauder. I guess I should have known you had. Forget it.”
“Whoa. She calls me what?”
“The Muff Marauder because you have such a big dick.”
“Holy . . . I thought only guys made up shit like that.” He turned toward her with a serious look in his eyes, holding her gaze. “I’ve got nothing to hide. One weekend when I was home from college, I met your brother and Zane at a party. She was there, and we got to talking. I gave her a ride home, and we made out, but I never even felt her up. She was looking to get laid, and I told you before, I’m not into meaningless sex and I wasn’t back then, either. She got pissed and stormed out of the car. I had no idea she’d said we did anything.”
“Well, she didn’t explicitly say you had sex . . .”
“It doesn’t matter whether she implied it or you jumped to that conclusion. I want to clear it up. I made out with girls when I was in high school, but I’ve only had sex with two women from Sweetwater. One of them moved away when I was a senior in high school, and I’m looking at the other. Like you, the people I’ve slept with aren’t living in our gossip-filled town. I’ve dated a few women from—”
“Don’t tell me any more. I only wanted to know about her because she’s my friend. How do you know the people I’ve slept with don’t live here?”
“Because I have ears and eyes, and if you think the Sweetwater gossip is only prevalent among the women, you’re treacherously wrong. The pub is like a feeding ground for gossipers. Besides, I didn’t know a single one of the guys you met there for your dates, except Zane’s assistant the year he was filming that movie in town before he gave up acting. That shaggy-haired, chisel-faced, tatted-up guy.”
“Patch Carver,” she said, remembering how she’d gone to use the bathroom that night, and when she’d returned, she’d heard Harley in his office telling Patch that if he laid a hand on her he’d kill him. After Patch had left, she’d called Harley out on what he’d done. He’d said Patch wasn’t good enough for her, and she’d told him to butt out of her personal life.
He hadn’t butted out of her personal life, but he’d opened her eyes, and she’d been more selective about the guys she brought around, eventually stopping altogether. In fact, other than her date with Harley, she hadn’t gone on a date since late last summer, when Harley had scared off another one of her unworthy dates.
Harley leaned closer and said, “It’s not stupid or ridiculous that you’re jealous. It means you dig me, Pipe, which I’ve known all along.”
She scoffed, but the knee-jerk reaction felt wrong, and she closed her eyes, wishing she could take it back. When she opened them, Harley hadn’t moved away. He was watching her with a small grin on his lips.
“This is all hard for you, isn’t it?” he said compassionately. “All the things that go along with being in a relationship? The unexpected feelings? The way you suddenly see everything differently?”
She lifted one shoulder, feeling exposed.
“It’s okay. It’s hard for everyone. You just don’t have much experience with it, so it feels bigger because it’s so new.” His gaze never wavered from hers as he said, “I appreciate you taking a chance with me, Piper, and I promise you won’t regret it.”
“How could I ever regret anything when you’re so patient with me? Wait, actually, there is one thing I regret.”
He braced himself with one hand on the door and the other on the seat and said, “Okay, lay it on me.”
“I probably deserve that,” she said lightly, and they both chuckled. What she was about to say wasn’t light at all. The butterflies in her stomach must have spread, because as she reached across the seat and took Harley’s hand in hers, she felt them fluttering in her chest, too. “I regret all the time I wasted when I could have been with you.”
The minute they’d arrived at Harley’s house after spending the afternoon shopping, Piper had raced upstairs to start working on the bathroom. She’d claimed to want to get a jump on the project, but Harley knew better. Her confession about regretting the time she’d wasted had been a giant leap, blowing baby steps right out of the water. He’d realized afterward that neither one of them had expected that reveal. He was sure she’d rushed upstairs because she was once again trying to climb back into her own headspace. She hadn’t achieved that in the building-supply store, no thanks to him and his wandering lips. And John had been busy with a customer when they’d arrived at his shop, which gave Piper the perfect excuse to kick herself out of the holy-shit-did-I-really-say-that mode she’d gotten stuck in after her confession and switch to work mode. In the blink of an eye she’d gone from stealing nervous glances to being in full control, schooling Harley on the hallmarks of well-made wooden furniture and things to consider when buying a vanity, like storage and accessibility. By the time John had gotten to them, they’d already picked out a gorgeous maple vanity with three center drawers and two shelves beneath each sink. It was being delivered next week. But she’d been quiet on the drive home.
As Harley walked Jiggs down by the water, he wondered if Piper would ever fit into her old headspace the way she had before they’d come together. Being with her had changed him, but he’d expected it would. He’d had three years to think about those types of things. But he’d blindsided Piper with the depth of his emotions, and he felt a little bad seeing how it rattled her. That didn’t mean he’d back off. Piper was strong. He didn’t think there was anything she couldn’t handle—and he knew she wanted to handle him.
He petted Jiggs, happy to be walking him again, and then they headed up toward the house. He made a quick call to touch base with his mother, and then he checked in with Delaney to see how she and the girls were doing. He’d already texted with Jasper, and he knew the bar was being attended to, which meant he had the rest of the weekend free to be with Piper. There was no other way he wanted to spend it.
The second he unhooked Jiggs’s leash, his pooch sprinted up the stairs ahead of him. He hadn’t
imagined his dog falling as hard for Piper as he had, but he was glad.
Country music floated out of the bedroom, and he found Jiggs in the bathroom, watching Piper tile the shower. She was crouched on the floor, humming to the music as she pressed a tile to the adhesive. She’d already finished a few rows, and they looked fantastic. She’d changed into a tank top that had I BUILD COOL SHIT. WHAT’S YOUR SUPERPOWER? printed on the back and a pair of work jeans and boots she’d had in her overnight bag.
She didn’t turn around as she said, “How long are you going to stare at me?”
“Hours. Days. Years, if you’ll stay,” he said, scratching Jiggs’s head.
“You have a thing for watching women do manual labor?”
“I have a thing for you, and it gets bigger every time we’re together.”
She glanced over her shoulder with a heated look in her eyes. “Bigger, huh?”
He chuckled, and she went back to work, pressing another tile in place. “Want some help?”
“Have you tiled before?” she asked as she positioned another tile.
“No.”
“I can show you how, but I think crouching might be hard with your ankle, since we have to start at the bottom.”
“That’s probably true. How about if I wrangle up some dinner? Maybe by then you’ll be closer to the top and I can help.”
She remained crouched and swiveled around with a curious expression. “It really doesn’t bother you that I do this type of work?”
“I’m proud as hell of the work you do. Does it bother you that I work at the pub?”
“No. I like spending time with you there.”
He shrugged. “Then why would you ask if your work bothers me? Do I act like it bothers me?”
“No. It’s just . . . Never mind.” She turned back to tiling.
He went into the shower area, sat behind her, and pulled her onto his lap. “I’m not those other guys, babe, and I won’t ever become them.”
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