Operation: Girl Next Door

by Casey Hagen

  It wasn’t a slip, per se, since she thought she had privacy, but anyone could have snuck up on her and overheard what she was talking about, and Rachel, although a witch, was highly intelligent. She might have put the pieces together and outed Trevor and Piper before he even had a decent shot at the partnership.

  Piper came around the corner, a distracted smile on her face. “Hey, you okay?” she asked.

  She had smoothed her hair back into a high ponytail and not a bit of makeup covered her fresh face. She looked like those women from those facial moisturizer commercials.

  Absolutely perfect.

  But taking risks.

  “You can’t make calls like that here.” The words came out far more abrasive than he intended them.

  “It’s not like I did it in front of everyone,” she said, putting her hands on her hips.

  “Anyone could have overheard you,” he ground out, leaning into her space. She had a hell of a lot of nerve getting her back up at him. He wasn’t the one putting their plan at risk.

  “Only people snooping, which most decent people don’t do.” Her eyebrows snapped down low over her eyes.

  “Rachel would snoop.”

  “Apparently, so would you. Maybe you guys are cut from the same cloth.”

  He reared back, a low growl making its way up his throat. “Nice, Piper. After how careful I was with you, that’s what you think of me?”

  Her gaze slid away and she rocked on her heels. “No,” she mumbled.

  “It must be to some degree, because you said it.”

  “Look, I have a business, sometimes things need my attention. I was trying to be discreet.”

  He shoved a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his head. “Look, do me a favor and if you need to make any more calls like that, do it in our bedroom…just in case. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Can we kiss and make up?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in.

  She gave him a smile, but still leaned her upper body away a bit. “Is that why you jumped up my ass, so we can make up?”

  He grabbed her ponytail and tipped her head, giving himself access to her neck. He needed a taste, just one damn taste. He kissed that secret spot where the back of her ear met her neck and dragged his lips lower, gently biting her flesh.

  “I welcome any opportunity to interact with your ass in any way possible.”

  She let out a throaty laugh, patted his chest, and pushed him away. “I’m sure, and that’s a whole other conversation we’re not having at the moment. Now come on, we have kayaking to do.”

  They joined the group on the deck and followed Davidson down the stairs, along the path, and out onto the dock where six two-person kayaks bobbed in the water, tied along the edge of the wood railing.

  “These are kayaks?” Christina asked.

  “Sure are, young lady.”

  “I’ve never seen any that look like this. The ones I’ve seen looked so…confining,” Deanne added.

  “The wife was worried about kayaking accidents when the family comes up to visit, so she bought this kind. You sit on top of them. This way, if you tip one over, you fall right out of it, like a canoe.”

  “That’s a relief. I’ve been kayaking once and we had to go through training on how to roll it back over. All I can remember is something about wrist placement,” Christina said.

  “You won’t need any of that training with these. You just need good balance.” Davidson pulled out several scraps of black fabric. “And with these on, you’ll need good team work skills.”

  “What are those?” Steve asked.

  “Blindfolds,” Davidson said with a laugh. “We’re going to do this a little different. The men are going to wear the blindfolds and sit in the back. They’ll be the rowers. The ladies will direct them from the front seat. We’re racing to the sandy beach down there.” He pointed to the far end of the lake where a small swash of beach lay situated between the Cypress trees.

  “And if we go faster than you, how will you know who wins?” Trevor asked.

  “I already thought about that. That’s why I took out my trolling motor. I’ll be one step ahead of you the whole time.”

  “Clever,” Piper said.

  “Thank you. Grab a life vest, boaters, and load up,” Davidson instructed.

  Piper picked the purple vest, slid it on, and tightened the straps. “You ever kayak before, Trevor?”

  “Nope, you?” He grabbed the navy-blue vest, snapped it on, and checked the straps.

  “No, but I’ve canoed a few times.”

  “Think we’ve got a shot?”

  She nodded. “Sure. Between your football years and my dance years, we both have great balance. That will keep us in the water. And you’re strong. You should have this rowing thing, no problem.”

  Each couple lined up their kayak at the ladder to load. The men climbed in first and held the boat still by holding the dock while the women climbed in. They bobbled their way about twenty feet out into the water and lined up. If you could call it that. Their boats kept drifting and pointing in all different directions.

  Piper looked down the line of them. “Why don’t we all link arms to keep steady?”

  “Good idea,” Deanne said with a nervous laugh. “I probably should have said something before, but I don’t swim well.”

  Piper leaned over and patted her hand with a sure smile after they linked arms. “It’s okay, you’ve got the preserver if you go in. Just don’t panic if you hit the water, you’ll be fine just bobbling on the surface.”

  Trevor smiled. Damn, she was awesome. Competitive, but not at the expense of kindness. Would anyone be able to say that about him? He caught Rachel shooting him a glare. Yeah, he probably hadn’t always been the most honorable, but at least he hadn’t turned into her.

  “Thanks, Piper,” Deanne said, reaching out to link arms with Christina.

  Christina then extended her arm Rachel who glanced down at Christina’s palm as though Christina had just spit in it.

  “I’ll pass,” Rachel said with her chin jutting out.

  “Excuse me,” Christina muttered and roll of her eyes.

  He’d always found Rachel attractive with her onyx hair and silver eyes. She walked through the office like a model walking the catwalk, one foot winding its way in front of the other the way exotic women did to capitalize on swaying all of their assets. Rachel knew how to command attention with her body, with her face, but as a person, beneath that thin layer of beauty was the stench of something rotten to the core.

  Trevor frowned, ashamed to admit to himself that he hadn’t cared what she had been under the surface. He had only cared about one thing, getting a nut off.

  “Men!” Davidson called. “Blindfold time.”

  Trevor tied his blindfold. The minute he lost his sight, his sense of hearing heightened. The sound of the water lapping against the boat, the birds, the breeze moving through the trees, and the sound of Piper breathing in the seat in front of him.

  The trolling motor zinged to life and had Trevor scrambling to grab his paddle and situate it on his lap.

  “You ready back there?” Piper asked.

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  “Boaters ready?” Davidson asked.

  A chorus of voices replied.

  “On your mark…get set…go!” Davidson yelled.

  Trevor started paddling, still situated so close to Kent that their paddles clanked. “Shit, we’re all caught up.”

  “It’s okay, keep paddling, everyone is breaking apart,” Piper said.

  It seemed like every other stroke the paddle would hit the water the wrong way and if what Trevor felt was any indication, they’d go cockeyed.

  “Turn right!” Piper yelled.

  “I’m trying,” Trevor said as he dug the paddle into the water on the left side of the boat, and then shifted to the right side.

  “Just paddle on the left side for two strokes to stra
ighten us out.”

  He did as she instructed.

  “Good, now keep your pace on both sides. You’ve got it, Trevor!”

  Which told him that the momentum he felt was all off. He could have sworn he had almost gone in a full circle.

  He found a pace and continued on with Piper’s constant encouragement. She didn’t get angry, she kept a level head and reassured him they were headed in the right direction.

  “Okay, keep going, just like that. If I tell you hard left, I want you to paddle extra hard on the left side for a stroke. Hard right, paddle extra hard on the right, okay?”

  “Got it,” he said with a grunt. “Are we dead last?”

  “Nope, first, but Rachel and Steve are right with us, maybe a half a boat length or so behind.”

  “Can’t have that,” he said, blowing out a harsh breath as he put more force into his strokes.

  They chugged a ways and stayed on course for the most part with only a few calls from Piper to adjust their direction.

  Trevor found himself smiling. He’d expected to be on some sort of hot seat all weekend. This fun side of Davidson was something he never showed at the office, and despite all that hung in the balance, Trevor enjoyed the sun and pure folly of what they had to do. At least at the moment.

  The Newlywed game was coming up; well, that was an entirely different animal. One that had him clenching places he'd rather not think about.

  Something hard hit them, rocking them precariously. “What was that?”

  “Don’t stop paddling. It was Christina and Mike. They bumped us.”

  “How did they get beside us?”

  She let out a laugh, letting him know that she enjoyed this challenge as much as he did. “It’s a mess out here, Trevor. It’s not like there’s lanes.”

  “Where’s Kent and Deanne?”

  She shifted, he couldn’t see how, but he felt it, and the kayak rocked hard enough that he locked his hands on the edge.

  “They’re almost back at the dock.” Amusement laced her voice.

  “Wait, what?”

  “I don’t think it’s on purpose. She’s trying to guide him and he’s doing loopdey loos.”

  “Poor bastard.”

  “Just keep going. Rachel and Steve are getting ahead,” she yelled.

  “Can’t have that,” he ground out as he paddled deep. The boat rocked again and that time water hit his thigh. “Shit.”

  “Careful, you almost tipped us.”

  “I’m trying.”

  “I know, it’s okay. Hard left,” she called back.

  All he heard was screaming and splashing. Rachel’s voice had gone from a shriek to something ferocious. Might want to check her for rabies. Jesus, if she made partner, his ass would be looking for another job.

  “Trevor! Did you hear me?”

  The boat shifted with her words and they rocked again, only this time water poured into the left side of the boat. The sound of Piper’s squeal pierced his ears before he went completely under.

  The minute he popped up, he tore off the blindfold, searching for Piper. Waving his arms, he turned to find her sputtering and scraping the water from her eyes and face.

  He ran his hands over her arms and cupped her chin. “Shit, are you okay?”

  “I was better before we ended up in the water.”

  “What the hell happened?” he asked, smoothing his hands over his hair to squeeze the water out.

  “Good question. I called out hard left two more times and you just kept going straight.”

  “Shit. I didn’t hear you.”

  “You think? I didn’t notice,” she said.

  “We’re going to lose,” he said, shielding his eyes, looking toward the shore.

  “It’s just a race, there’s nothing we can do now. Let’s get the kayak flipped over.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, I guess. So, any idea how to do this?”

  “It’s probably a lot like a canoe. You get up under it and flip it over.”

  He looked at the kayak and back at her. “There’s no air under it.”

  “No, there’s not,” she confirmed.

  “There is under a canoe when it’s upside down.”

  “Usually. Look, we face each other with the kayak to our side. We use the hand farthest away to hold the edge. On the count of three, deep breath, duck under, reach for the other side and push it up and over.”

  They pulled the kayak to them and lined up just the way Piper said. Despite it being his fault for being in the water, she smiled and focused on the task at hand.

  “Okay, one…two…three,” she said.

  He sucked in a deep breath and shifted under the boat. Locking his hands, he hesiCartwrightd no knowing if she had grabbed her side yet. This was Piper though, for some reason, he felt like she had it. Sure enough, she reached out and nudged him with her foot and he just knew what she was trying to say.

  He thrust up and the boat broke up over the surface, the water cascading off of it. They tossed it off the side where it bobbed and swayed.

  “Good job, Trevor,” she said, blinking the water out of her eyes.

  “Not so bad yourself. I’m impressed.”

  “Well, hold that thought, we still have to make it back on the boat.”

  They bobbed on the surface and looked to the shore where Steve and Rachel dragged their boat onto the sand and she screamed like a banshee, “I won! I won!”

  “Well, I guess that’s that.”

  “Sorry, Trevor.”

  “I don’t think it’s all going to come down to one race. Come on. Let’s get on this thing.”

  They took opposite sides and dragged themselves up. The boat pitched a few times, threatening to toss them right back in, but in the end they made it. Trevor lost his blindfold in the commotion so they just rowed to the shore.

  “About time you could join us,” Rachel called out.

  “Excellent teamwork out there,” Davidson said, taking Piper’s hand and guiding her out of the water.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “It was all Piper. She knew just what to do,” Trevor said.

  “You picked a good one in her. I’m impressed.”

  His breath caught for a minute on the words, his sense of guilt welling up inside him. He liked Davidson, genuinely liked the man and what he stood for. He gave Trevor a shot fresh out of college when he’d been angry, but eager. He owed Davidson better than this manufactured story.

  Unfortunately, the cost of being honest was far too high.

  Chapter 7

  Piper needed a nap.

  And a margarita.

  Those ladies could come back and give her a full body massage, too. She’d even get naked in front of the whole damn house if she had to.

  The distance they’d kayaked hadn’t been that far, even if you included crossing the lake to get back to Davidson’s house, but the exertion kicked her ass just the same.

  It had to be even worse for Trevor, who’d done all the rowing and had to accept a loss on top of it.

  He’d had a pinched look on his face since rowing onto the shore, which left Piper feeling like she’d let him down. He was the one who rolled them, but they were a team, and if he lost, they lost.

  She opted to give him some space that afternoon after they got back. She showered, got dressed, and stepped out, joining Christina and Deanne on the deck where they sat on Adirondack chairs, drinking lemonade.

  “Where did the guys get off to?” Piper asked, taking a seat next to Deanne.

  “They’re down there by the water with Davidson. He started talking about fishing and they all wandered down with him giving us ladies a few blissful minutes without all the dick measuring,” Deanne handed her a glass of lemonade.

  “Speaking of dicks, where’s she who shall not be named?” Piper said making the ladies laugh before, taking a sip of her drink and grabbing a chair of her own.

  Lemon burst on her tongue…real lemon, not the fake stuff and she sighed in pure
bliss.

  Nice touch, Davidson. Nice touch.

  “Maybe Steve drowned her in the lake. God knows I would,” Christina muttered.

  “What’s up with her anyway?” Deanne asked.

  “Maybe her thong is too tight,” Christina said.

  “She had a thing with Trevor once,” Piper said.

  Christina and Deanne both swung shocked looks at her, their mouths gaping open.

  “No way!” Deanne said.

  “Yeah, he told me yesterday.”

  “He waited until yesterday to tell you? Seriously? I would have filleted Mike if he waited until we got here to tell me something like that,” Christina said.

  “What Christina said,” Deanne said, raising her glass.

  “I’m not worried about Trevor. It was in the past,” Piper said. Restless energy forced her out of her chair.

  They weren’t a real couple, but she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t acknowledge that a streak of jealousy coursed through her every time she thought about the fact that that wretched woman had her hands on him, among her other body parts.

  And why wouldn’t she? Men did it. Rachel had probably gotten her training of getting-all-things-desired young by riding a wave of lemmings as the most popular, most likely to succeed prom queen, and teenage minion puppet master.

  Cut from the same cloth as all the vicious twits she’d had the unfortunate experience of knowing in high school.

  Of course, Piper had to consider what version of Trevor Rachel got. Maybe Piper needed to be grateful.

  “You’ve got a lot more to offer than she does anyway. You’re prettier and of course, it’s nice that one doesn’t need to carry holy water, a crucifix, and garlic around you, to boot.”

  “Now that right there is a vote of confidence,” Piper said with a grin.

  “I hope no matter how this all turns out, you and Trevor…” she turned to Christina, “and you and Mike will come to the wedding.”

  “Well, isn’t this chummy,” Rachel said as she joined them on the deck. She leaned back against the railing and tossed her hair with a hand. “What? I’m not invited to the wedding?”

  “God, no,” Deanna said.