I tug on her ponytail and ignore her question. “Just picking up breakfast.”
Sofie eyes the containers. “That looks like food for more than one person,” she comments knowingly.
“You should have been a cop,” I tease.
Sofie smiles and as she places her order, Livvie turns to me, her face serious. “I heard about what happened. Is there anything we can do?”
“No, the only thing I need you two to do is stay safe. The cops are doing everything they can.” They both nod, and then Livvie gives me a half hug around my waist.
“Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I promise.”
“Hey!” Sofie says as she turns and leans her back on the counter. “You should bring your friend over this afternoon. We’re going to carve pumpkins with all the kids at Ben and Livvie’s. It’ll be fun.”
“I think you’ve forgotten that I don’t have kids,” I say dryly.
She smacks my arm, then says, “Don’t be a smartass. I want to meet her.”
The both of them turn and face me with identical looks and I groan. “Look, I’ll bring it up to Piper, but yesterday was an emotional day, and she may not be up for all of you in her face.”
“If it makes you feel any better,” Livvie says, “we’ll go easy on her. We both know what it’s like to go through horrible ordeals. We just want to help her deal, is all. And part of that is taking her out of her own head for a while.”
I hesitate and then cave. “I’ll see what I can do.”
They both grin and kiss me on opposite cheeks.
I pick up my food and drinks and shake my head as I start for the exit.
“Don’t forget to get a pumpkin for each of you!” Livvie shouts behind me.
Their snickers follow me out the door, but the joke’s on me, because I stop and pick up two pumpkins from a fruit stand on the way back to the lake.
Piper’s on the porch waiting for me when I pull into the drive. Her curious expression morphs into amusement as I struggle to get out of the cab with two large pumpkins.
“What did you go do?” she asks.
“We’ve been invited to go carve pumpkins with Ben and Jack’s families. I thought we could both use the distraction.” I heft the pumpkins up when they start to slip. “I also got you breakfast. It’s in the front seat if you want to grab it for me.” Leaning down, I kiss her before she can argue and then climb the stairs to put the pumpkins on the table.
With a mystified laugh, Piper bounds down to the truck to retrieve the food and I know I’ve made the right decision. I’ll keep her so busy today she doesn’t have time to worry about anything else. We both deserve a step back because I know the worst is probably yet to come.
“Are you sure you don’t mind? They’d understand if you weren’t up to hanging out.”
Piper’s expression is carefully blank. “I’d never insult your friends like that. Just don’t leave me alone with them.”
“Despite what I may say about them sometimes, they’re still a great group of people.”
Her hands twist in her lap. “Remind me of their names again? I don’t want to get them confused. I never really got the whole list from Chloe.”
As I drive down the road toward Ben’s, I use one hand to steer and the other rests on Piper’s thigh. I consider it progress. “Well, we’re going to Ben and Livvie’s house. They live on the other side of the lake. Ben is Chloe’s cousin, which you already know.”
“That one I have, at least.”
“Jack is Livvie’s brother and he’s married to Livvie’s best friend Sofie.”
“Small world,” she murmurs.
“Small town,” I correct with a laugh.
“Ben and Livvie have a son named Cole, who’s the spitting image of Ben. You won’t be able to miss him. And Sofie adopted her two younger brothers, Rafe and Donnie, after her parents passed away.” I glance over. “Got it?”
She bites her lip. “I think so. Is it crazy that I’m nervous?”
“Not at all, but you don’t need to be. They promise not to pester you with questions.”
“And you’re sure they won’t mind that we brought Rocky?”
I pet the big guy behind the ears. “Not at all. They have a big yard and they both have dogs he can play with. They’ll be fine. Plus, if he can handle this brood, then you know he can handle pretty much anything.”
“It’s very nice of you to invite me to spend time with your friends,” she says.
I kiss her knuckles. “It’s important to me that you meet them.”
“Admit it, you want to get me out of the house.”
Grinning, I say, “I never said I didn’t.”
She leans over and kisses me. “Thank you.”
“What’s this?” I joke. “You mean you want to get to know them, too?”
“Well, if they’re important to you, they’re important to me, too, right?” I look over, surprise stealing my words. “I mean, if I haven’t scared you away yet, then I must be stuck with you.”
“Damn right you are,” I say as we pull into the driveway.
She opens the door, and Rocky bounds out with loud barks to join the two little yapping Boston Terriers who spring from the front porch. Livvie and Sofie are already sitting on the steps with their bright orange pumpkins in mid-massacre.
Donnie and Rafe explode from behind them with handfuls of the orange guts and start tossing great globs of it at each other while shouting and laughing. Donnie scrambles around Livvie and Sofie with Rafe following close behind, and little Cole scurries to keep up.
Livvie spots us and her face splits into a huge smile. She and Sofie get to their feet and Livvie comes to Piper.
“We’re so glad you came!”
Piper smiles hesitantly. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“Why don’t you bring your pumpkin to the porch? Now that the boys are gone, the fun can really begin.”
Sofie pops up from behind the railing with a handful of ale and a soda for me. “I have refreshments!” she shouts.
“So this is what you mean by carving pumpkins,” I say as I take the soda from her and hand Piper the ale.
“Oh we’re still going to carve them,” Ben says as he comes out of the house. “It’s just a whole hell of a lot more fun to do when you’re drinking.”
Piper glances at me, and I give her a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry,” Sofie says. “We won’t corrupt him.”
“Trust me,” Jack adds as he pops the top on his own. “He gets his payback.”
“Yeah,” Sofie chimes in, “you think the cop would be the cool one, but no. If you get drunk around him, just make sure there aren’t any working cameras.”
Livvie cackles and Piper sends me a confused look. “It wasn’t my fault they got drunk and passed out.” I tell her.
“He likes to draw on unsuspecting people,” Ben says, without an ounce of shame.
“You mean passed out people,” Livvie says.
“Shouldn’t be the first to give it up,” I tell them.
“Fuck you,” Ben says, losing his reserve. “I couldn’t get that permanent marker off for a week.”
Piper laughs around a swallow of her beer, and I relax a little.
“Just for that, I’m going to carve a pumpkin that will kick your pumpkin’s ass,” Ben says to Piper.
She just smiles. “You’re on.”
The adults whip into a fury of insults and taunts as they gather reams of newspaper and open their carving tools. Sofie and Livvie have already finished theirs with the kids, so they’re elected as judges.
“The boys are all set up out back,” Jack says as he hunkers down with his pumpkin. “You guys are going down.”
“You wish,” Piper retorts, causing me to grin. She chugs down the rest of her ale and sets it aside. With her tongue between her teeth, she sorts through the stencil book and selects her pumpkin face. I’m so busy watching her, I get stuck with the shittiest stencil, but
it’s okay. I’m just enjoying the hell out of watching her.
Sofie and Livvie are overcome by laughter and they sputter out a “Ready, Set, Go!” in between giggles.
“When did you get back from leave?” I ask Jack as he carves out the top of his pumpkin.
“Coupla days ago.” He jerks a hand toward Sofie. “This one kept me tied up until now.”
Piper’s eyes round and Livvie spits out her beer.
Sofie just rolls her eyes. “He enjoyed every second of it.”
“Guyyyys,” Livvie groans, “how many times do I have to say I don’t want to hear that stuff. He’s my brother.”
“What about girl talk?” Sofie demands.
“Yeah,” Livvie says and tosses a pile of pumpkin guts on a piece of newspaper, “you forfeited girl talk when you started sleeping with my brother.”
I glance over to see how Piper’s handling their craziness and find her laughing along with them. I thought she was gorgeous the first night I met her when she came out of her house wearing little more than her robe and barely-there pajamas, but I was wrong. Dead wrong. Then I only thought of her as a vaguely interesting woman with a hot body and an attitude. Now I know her, and I am completely awestruck by how amazing the woman is.
She must feel me staring, because she looks up at me, her face split wide in a grin and the world slows to a stop as our gazes meet. In the end, no one wins the pumpkin contest. Sofie and Livvie voted for their significant others, and I threatened to arrest them. We settled on tie between us all.
“That was amazing. I can’t remember when I last had that much fun.” Rocky jumps from the truck and tangles around our legs as we head back to her house. “Thank you so much for inviting me.”
“Anytime.”
She looks back at me as she unlocks her door. “You seem quiet,” she says, but her voice is light and her limbs are loose as she toes off her shoes and throws herself onto the side chair.
I make sure to do up the locks for the front door and follow after her. When I don’t answer right away, her smile fades and she sits up. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I tug her to her feet and then arrange her in my lap after I sit on the chair. “I couldn’t be better.”
“I can’t believe you cheated,” she says, giggling. “Mine was clearly a lost cause.”
“Best pumpkin there,” I insist.
She turns in my lap so her mouth is nearly touching mine, and I capture her lips for a kiss. “I had a good day,” she says after she leans back.
I toe off my shoes and gather her against my chest. Rocky finds a spot on the floor and settles in to sleep. “Good, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”
“Your friends are nice.”
“They’re your friends now, too.”
“Thank you, Logan.”
I press my lips into her hair. “For what?”
“Everything. Being here. For this morning. For pumpkins.”
“Honey, you don’t need to thank me. It’s worth it just to wake up to you like I did.”
She grins up at me. “Oh, really?”
My thumb traces her lower lip. “That, too, but I just meant you. I like being with you.”
She kisses my thumb. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, but I’m happy it did. I like being with you, too.”
“Took you long enough.”
Piper
It’s a beautiful day and I should be enjoying it. There’s no reason for me not to. And yet here I am, wracked with indecision as I stare out at freedom on the other side of my screen door.
The influx of last-minute vacationers determined to wring the final remnants of summer before the coming of fall have kept me busy for the last two weeks. So busy, I told Diane not to worry about giving me any time off. I could use the money and the work as well as the distraction. She didn’t like it, but she agreed because the inn had been packed without fail, the whole time. As September started to draw to a close, guests gradually began to trickle down to a more manageable number until I couldn’t keep putting her offer of downtime off.
When I’m not working, I’m at the little bungalow with it’s cheerful paint job and quaint furniture dusting, refinishing, or relaxing with Logan, who’s essentially moved into mine since his is still filled with unpacked boxes. Once she saw the many improvements I made on the bungalow, I convinced Diane to let me help with the renovations on the other rentals, too.
But now there are no chores for me to do. There are no guests with urgent demands, and Diane put off my last plea with a stern shake of her head and a pointed look. For weeks, I’d been dreading this moment. It’s all too easy to think about the things I’ve left behind when I pause long enough for them to catch up with me.
As I’m turning away with a promise to myself to try again on my next day off, a loud knock comes at the door. In the following silence, it echoes through the empty hall. Logan’s asleep, and I don’t want to wake him, but I pause anyway. We haven’t actually slept together, but he sleeps in my bed every night, anyway, and we spend those nights doing things that make me blush just thinking about them.
The knock comes again, and in the deep porch shadows, a shape shifts. Panic flares molten hot, and instinct tells me to escape into the recesses of the house.
I whirl around, heart in my throat, blood rushing in my ears. How could I be so stupid? I’ve only been here a short while, and I’m already letting myself get too comfortable. The first thing I should have done when I heard the knock was plan a quick exit. It’s what I’ve always done when I get a bad vibe. Instead I stood there like a damn scared little bunny. I pivot, heading for either the bedroom to wake Logan or to the backdoor to book it.
“Shit.” The familiar voice stops me in my tracks, and I feel like an idiot as I press myself against the wall.
“Chloe?” I cross the short distance to the door and swing it open. “What are you doing here?”
Chloe tugs me into her arms, and I wrap mine around her shoulders. I pull back after a few seconds and look her over. She hasn’t changed in the months since I’ve seen her, aside from the protruding and heavily pregnant belly.
I stare, eyes rounded. “When did this happen?”
She places a protective hand on her stomach and laughs. “Why don’t you invite me in, and I’ll give you all the dirty details.”
Gesturing with one hand and pushing the door open with another, I grin, chastised. “Of course, of course. Guess I’ve forgotten my manners.”
Chloe stands in the hall, her summer dress swishing around her legs in the gentle breeze from the open door. “This is a cute place you’ve got here.”
“Thank you. Why don’t you come sit on the couch?”
Chloe flicks me a look. “You sound just like Gabe.”
“How is the father-to-be?” I take a seat opposite her on the couch.
Her husband Gabe is as amazing as they come. Not only did the guy face down an armed man to save her from a hostage situation, but he’s an awesome father to his little girl and he treats Chloe like a queen. I can only imagine how he’s handling the thought of becoming a father again. If I know him, he’s waiting on her hand and foot.
She laughs. “You’d think it’s his first time being a father. He’s so excited he doesn’t know what to do with himself.” She pauses, her face growing serious. “But that’s not why I’m here.”
My good mood at seeing her sours. “Chloe,” I warn.
She holds up her hands. “I come in peace! It’s just you’ve had a couple months, and I couldn’t wait any longer. Ben said you’ve even been to his house!”
My stern expression softens, and I put my hand over hers. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been so busy here with work.”
Her eyes sparkle. “And? I hear you and Logan hit it off after all.”
“Yes, and if you don’t keep your mouth closed, you’re going to wake him up.” She glances around and notes some of his things around the living room. Before she can squeal in excitement, I cut her off. “
Don’t freak out about it yet, but yes, he’s been staying here.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Is that so? As in he’s been staying here as a round the clock guard / police protection or he’s been ‘staying here’?” She wiggles her eyebrows on the last two words. “When you mentioned on the phone last week that you’d been hurt I almost drove down here myself, but Gabe wanted to wait until after the twenty-week appointment.”
“You’re terrible.” I shake my head.
“Well, I’m happy for you, Sienna—I mean Piper. It’s going to take me a while to get used to that.”
To escape her knowing gaze, I get to my feet. “We should feed you. Why don’t I go get my purse and we can spend my first day off from work with lunch? My treat.”
Chloe gets to her feet, which turns out to be a laborious process. “These days, I don’t ever turn down food.”
Logan ambles in then clad only in boxer briefs and a cup of coffee. Momentarily stricken by all the glorious skin put on display, I can’t seem to form words. It’s been a long couple of weeks settling into the new closeness, but the sight of his magnificent body still has the ability to leave me breathless.
I manage to tear my eyes away from his abs, all three hundred and twenty-nine of them, and cross the room to give him a kiss. “Chloe and I are going to go out to eat,” I say, when he finally releases me and I hope I’m not blushing.
Logan glances over my shoulder and gives Chloe an easy smile. “Hey, Chloe. Nice to see you again. Make sure you take care of her.”
Chloe fans herself with one hand and grins. “You bet.”
With one last kiss from Logan, I follow her out of the front door. “You know the area better than I do,” I say once we’re in Chloe’s car. “Why don’t you give me a tour and then we can find somewhere for lunch?”
“If I weren’t about to pop, I’d beat you for not telling me about this sooner.”
“Yeah, let’s not. I’d hate to be responsible for sending you into labor.”
She backs out of the drive, and I almost laugh at how comical it is for her to maneuver around her belly. “Oh my God,” she exclaims. The car comes to an abrupt stop at the end of the drive.
First to Fight Box Set: Books 1-5 Page 71