The Titan Was Tall (Triple Threat Book 1)

by Kristen Casey

“Hi.”

  Piper was flushed and demure, and he wanted to dive right back in again. There was something he needed to know, though.

  “What was all that hostessy business before? I barely recognized you.”

  “I don’t know!” she moaned. “I wasn’t sure how to approach this whole thing. When you said you might come down here, I thought it was just blustering! I never expected you to actually do it. I guess I kind of freaked out.”

  “I told you I wanted to. Hell, I’ve been texting you all week. What did you think that meant?”

  “I don’t know,” she groaned again. “I worried you might regret it. Or that this was going to be weird.”

  “The only thing that was weird was you acting like we haven’t already been in each other’s pants. What the hell, woman.”

  “I’m sorry. It wasn’t easy to pull off, if that makes it any better.”

  Red snorted. “It wasn’t easy to sit through, either. I’m pretty happy it’s over.”

  “Me too. Come on, come sit down and finish eating. You must be famished.”

  “On so many levels, sweetheart.”

  AFTER DINNER, PIPER leaned against her kitchen counter and sipped her wine, reluctantly allowing Red to handle the dishes. Then she pulled him into the living room and tried to get him to play cards with her. He’d known that whole hobby conversation would come back to bite him.

  Red tried to pay attention to the game, he really did. But he couldn’t help staring at her.

  “What?” she finally cried.

  No reason to lie. “Just wondering what exactly it will take to light your spark.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re very controlled right now,” Red said. “No, don’t make that face. I don’t mean awkward, only…restrained. Keeping yourself on a pretty short leash. You know what I mean.”

  “Red, as I’ve noted before, you’re kind of my boss. We probably shouldn’t be doing this. Any of this.”

  “Will you cut that out? Besides, what if I weren’t?”

  “Firing me already? It was the pasta, wasn’t it? I knew it was too salty.”

  “The pasta was incredible. And I can’t fire you now, little dove. That contract you signed is ironclad. You’ve got a great lawyer.” Shanahan was dotty, but competent, at least. He’d negotiated more money and marketing for his client, and Anika wasn’t even that piqued about it.

  “Damn straight, I do.”

  “Besides, you don’t even report directly to me. You know that. I don’t think that’s why you’re holding back.”

  “Let me guess. You have a theory,” Piper said drily.

  “Sure do. But that’s beside the point. What I really need to figure out is how to let loose the woman who writes all those steamy books of yours.” Well, that got her attention.

  “What did you have in mind?” Piper wondered, but her expression shuttered.

  “Are you sure?” Maybe he’d gone too far.

  Piper nodded, but it was tentative. Red forced himself to take it slow and kissed her. For a long, long time, all he did was kiss her. It was still incredible—hot and sweet and better than any homemade dessert she could’ve come up with.

  When he was certain they’d both had enough, Red leaned Piper back on her couch. Painfully slowly, he pushed up her top and kissed the upper swell of each breast, giving her tons of time to object if she was going to. She didn’t, and that was fortunate. The scent and the heat of her velvety skin were working a bewitching kind of magic on him.

  Red scooped her breasts out of their lacy black confines and sucked the tip of one into his mouth. That worked well, so he moved on to the other. Piper’s gasp was loud in his ears.

  Red pulled back to look straight into her glazed-over eyes, and let her shirt fall back into place.

  “That’s where I’d start,” he told her. He had an even better idea of where he’d like to finish.

  “Seems legit,” she breathed, in a shaky, sexy little voice. “Tell me more.”

  Red reached out and traced the neckline of her tissue-thin top with one finger. As it had been doing all evening—as it was probably intended to do—it slipped off her shoulder.

  “This shirt of yours has been driving me crazy all night,” he muttered. “It’s preposterous how something so simple could be so devastating.”

  “Trust me, I don’t usually look like this,” Piper snorted, as self-deprecating as ever.

  “You dressed up for me? You didn’t have to do that, but I’m honored.”

  Red wondered if she’d thought about it quite that way—about choosing her outfit for him. Maybe Piper had only been trying to look nice, going for casual and pretty instead of over-the-top “kiss me again, please.” Either way, it was a win.

  His eyes roved hungrily over her lovely face, over her neck and her hair.

  “You’re beautiful,” he murmured.

  At her blush and her shrug, though, Red frowned. Her mouth opened, and he would’ve sworn she was getting ready to minimize herself yet again. Piper snapped her mouth shut and managed, only just, to keep silent.

  It was awkward, but he jumped into the breach. “Tell me what you would usually wear.”

  She laughed and didn’t attempt anything seductive. Piper merely told the truth, maybe because she felt too unbalanced to come up with anything racier. Red understood that sensation, for sure.

  “I mean—you know. Probably running shorts and a t-shirt. Hair up, no makeup, and my glasses,” she elaborated.

  Red wasn’t the least bit deterred, but he did want more details. He asked, “What kind of t-shirt?”

  Piper shrugged. “Um, loose with a logo? From places I like, or concerts I enjoyed, that sort of thing.”

  Evidently, she assumed there couldn’t be anything nerdier. She was obviously perplexed by Red’s interest. After a protracted moment of Piper squirming under his microscope, Red had to relent.

  “You don’t need makeup. As I recall, you look beautiful without it.”

  He let his eyes travel leisurely down her frame before meeting her gaze again. “And running shorts are really short. I am very much in favor of how much leg they expose.”

  Piper rolled her eyes and demanded, “What about the dorky t-shirts? Or the glasses?”

  “The shirts sound like insight into the things you enjoy and admire.” At her dubious expression, Red held up a stalling hand. “Things I very much want to know. As for the glasses—you’re a romance writer. Please tell me I don’t have to explain the sexy librarian fantasy to you.”

  Piper contemplated him. She looked almost afraid to ask, “The hair?”

  “I want to take it down,” he rejoined, without pausing for breath. “I’d love to take down your hair, right before I messed it all up. You should know that about men, too.”

  Piper had no answer to that. Not a one. God, she was cute.

  An evil smirk tickled the corner of his mouth. “Maybe you can rustle up a corset for me to unlace. Or some garters for me to unsnap. I like sparkling, dangling earrings that will make me stare at your neck, and backless dresses drive me insane. Hell, I would even rip a bodice if you had one handy,” he said.

  Piper swallowed thickly and shook her head.

  “Something to shoot for, I guess. In the meantime, I’ll keep enjoying you as you actually are.”

  Red could care less what Piper wore, as long as she was comfortable—it was obvious that she’d look good in pretty much anything. No, the thing that sparked a thread of annoyance in him was the way Piper kept trying to cut herself down. Like he wasn’t lucky to be breathing the same air as her.

  Red was definitely going to have to do something about that. Next time, though. All that could wait for next time.

  “You know, you’re not what I expected,” she said shakily.

  “Neither are you, but if you think that’s going to deter me, you’re wrong.”

  Piper’s eyebrows shot up. Red knew she was concerned about how bad it might look if they
were found out. She would be the author sleeping her way into a plum contract. And he would be the dirtbag dallying with his employees. On the surface, maybe it did seem sordid.

  Except—her new contract had been drafted before Red had even met her, and thanks to their lawyers it was a done deal now.

  This thing between them was something else, something other than tawdry. It was rare and electric, and neither one of them seemed to have the power to ignore it.

  “I’d like to kiss you again,” he said.

  Piper nodded, giving him the go-ahead, thank fuck.

  So, Red leaned in and placed his lips carefully on hers. Within seconds—at the very first sign of her responding—it turned urgent. His lips and tongue searched hers, exploring and learning, demanding answers she was happy to give.

  His hands crept forward, one curling lightly around her upper arm, the other sliding up under her hair. Piper was molten in his arms, and they had all weekend to wallow in one another.

  Red had almost stayed in New York. What a travesty that would’ve been.

  NINE

  PROPPED ON AN elbow, with the morning sun streaming through the blinds in bright white stripes, Red watched Piper sleep. Maybe that was silly.

  She had girly yellow sheets printed all over with tiny flower buds. Damp strands of hair stuck to her flushed cheek. Her arms and legs were flung every which way, only half-covered by the bedding. She was so fucking normal compared to the other women he’d dated recently. Piper seemed so…accessible.

  Not very innocent, however. She looked exactly like someone who had spent the night going at it and Red was willing to bet that she’d be happy about that fact once her eyes finally opened.

  Something loosened in his chest at the sight of her, and the initial discomfort Red felt when he woke up dissipated. For once, he’d stayed the entire night in a woman’s bed, but it was Piper’s, and that made it strangely all right. It was a shame the experience was such a novelty for him.

  Red lowered himself back down and relaxed into the pillow, matching her breaths until he nodded off again.

  When he wandered downstairs later, Piper was sitting at her kitchen table, scribbling intently. She smiled distractedly at him and held up a finger, so Red kept quiet and let her work out the rest of her thought.

  He poured himself a cup of coffee, admired her big backyard through the window over the sink, then grabbed a sponge and wiped up a puddle of water leaking from around the base of her faucet. He’d noticed the same thing in her bathroom upstairs and wondered if he ought to mention it.

  He decided against it. Piper was the kind of woman who would know what needed to be done. Hell, she probably had it all in a bullet-list with cutesy stickers.

  Red checked on her progress, caught her peeking at him, and figured it was safe to stroll over. Piper snapped her notebook closed before he could get a look at what she was working on and sat there toying with her pen.

  He’d noticed that every pen in the house, in her purse, and in her briefcase were all the same model. The girl certainly knew what she liked. Luckily, he was one of them.

  “Writing in longhand, huh?” he nodded toward her notebook.

  She smiled. “Nothing like a pen in hand when I get stuck on something. It works like a charm.”

  “That’s an interesting pen you have there.” Red made a show of peering closer. “May I see it?”

  Piper clutched it to her chest. “No, you may not. You may not hold, borrow, or otherwise use this pen under any circumstances.”

  Red blinked. “I…really?”

  “It’s special,” she said, before tucking it primly under her notebook, safely out of sight.

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s a ballpoint that writes like a fountain pen. They are very hard to find, and I have to buy cases of them, so I won’t run out.”

  She was so serious, Red couldn’t resist teasing her. “It sounds like you have plenty. Share one with me.”

  “I can’t! What if they stop selling them? What if they stop making them? I’ll be screwed. I need these pens, Red. You don’t.”

  “Well, what if I need to leave you an important note?” He eyed her notebook, and Piper edged that away from him, too.

  A challenging glint came into her gaze. “Try blood. I hear that works.”

  He laughed. Piper was too perfect for words. “Okay, you win.” He jerked his chin at the chair across from her and inquired, “Is this seat taken?”

  She turned sweet again. “Nope.”

  Once he’d settled in and taken another long, bracing sip of coffee, Red broached the subject that was at the forefront of his mind. It wasn’t whether Piper knew a good plumber to fix the leaks he’d noticed or if she had a paver who could fix the cracks in her driveway.

  It was not what he had waiting for him this week back at work, either, or the fact that he appeared to be tumbling head-first into a long-distance relationship with an author that was critical to the success of his latest business venture. No, the thing at the top of Red’s list was…

  “So, when can I see you again?”

  “Why on earth would you want to do that?” It was a preposterous question, but at least she had the sense to laugh when she asked it.

  “Oh, I don’t know. You’re smart and funny, and sweet and gorgeous. For starters.”

  “Is that all?”

  “No, it’s not. Your hair feels soft and silky and smells great, too. You have a thousand-watt smile, a very sexy laugh, and unfairly cute dimples. You have extremely expressive eyes, legs that could stop a man’s heart, and—if we’re keeping it clean—I’d better not to elaborate on your mouth.”

  Piper choked on her coffee. Good. Let her be as wrong-footed as he was. Red hadn’t thought he had that kind of litany of praise in him, and he was fairly sure any number of his ex-girlfriends would agree.

  His hostess asked, “My mouth gives you unclean thoughts?”

  “Hell, yes,” he assured her. “And if we are going to go there, you may as well know I’ve taken a fancy to some other body parts, as well.”

  “You mean, besides my legs.”

  “Naturally. I already mentioned those.”

  She looked at him calmly across her kitchen table. He could almost see the gears turning in her head. And then Piper roused herself with a sudden, dismissive shake of her head.

  “I’ve got to hand it to you, Red. As come-ons go, that one was a doozy.”

  “Excellent. So, you’ll come up to see me?” He pretended to check the watch he was not currently wearing. “How about next week?”

  “Careful. I might get the idea that you’re eager.”

  “I think it’s too late for that.” And then some.

  She let loose a sigh, but he chose to think of it as an indulgent one. “Never let it be said that I’m a coward. As it happens, I’m supposed to take the train up on Thursday to meet with Trident’s design people again. They wanted me to meet some of the models they found for the new covers.”

  Those geniuses. Red knew he liked them for a reason.

  “Forget the train,” he told Piper. “I’ll send the jet.”

  PIPER FELT HERSELF falling into the moment, into Red’s arms, and—if his expression was any indicator—probably into her bed before long. Once that dizzying sensation began to take root, panic followed quickly on its heels. It was inconvenient timing, to say the least. Her body went rigid and even her face felt like it had turned to stone.

  What was she doing? Other than biblically, Piper hardly knew the man. She’d made an uncharacteristic leap by inviting him to stay with her after only a couple whirlwind dates, and even though Red had been nothing short of wonderful, that didn’t mean she should trust him completely.

  Things went wrong when Piper let her guard down—she knew that. Besides, wasn’t there some adage about psychopaths always being the charismatic ones? Piper lived alone. Anything could happen. It could be days before a soul even thought to look for her. A true degenerat
e would no doubt have figured that out already.

  Looking at Red across her table, serenely sipping coffee out of cat mug, Piper knew she was overreacting. She took a deep breath. Red was definitely not a serial killer.

  No, the real danger here was how neatly Piper could slip under his spell. She had to fight against the instinct to let him run the show. To allow Red to take whatever he wanted—to take, period.

  Red wielded his authority like it was second nature to him, so much so that she’d barely noticed falling so cleanly into line.

  Piper couldn’t decide what she should do about it, though. Should she insist that they return to a strictly professional relationship? After all, the days of blowing off sex as casual or meaningless were behind her now. After Kyle, she’d nailed them into a coffin and buried them deep. No more fuck buddies or friends with benefits. No more flings with commitment-phobes. Piper needed—and deserved—better than that.

  She’d made a conscious decision to invite Red to her bed, though—she wasn’t a total doofus. The real surprise was that she hadn’t expected him to want more.

  Now that he did, Piper had stepped right into uncharted lands. Letting Red into her heart so quickly would be dunderheaded in the extreme. But continuing to get to know him, in and out of the bedroom, would make staying uninvested nearly impossible.

  Red MacLellan, Piper had learned, was one deliciously dreamy hunk of a man. He was irresistible.

  And, as usual, he noticed everything. “What happened?” he wondered, drawing back slightly in his chair. “What did I do?” Two deep furrows etched themselves into the space between his eyebrows as he frowned in concern.

  Piper shook her head. “Nothing,” she told him. #Lies.

  His expression said he wasn’t buying it. Smart man.

  She tried again. “I just got a weird case of nerves, that’s all.”

  “Because I want to see you again?”

  “Because this suddenly feels a little fast,” she admitted. “I have no idea why.”

  That wasn’t entirely true, and Piper hated herself for the waffling. Red probably thought she was a total nut, pulling such an abrupt 180 after basically throwing herself at him every time he stuck his tongue in her mouth. She felt crazy. But she just couldn’t let a guy get the best of her again, even one as stunning as Red.