by Piper Rayne
I hear a groan and the sound of someone using the washroom down the hall without the door closed. My shoulders sag in relief.
Denver.
I listen as he flushes and sneak a peek to see him walk out of the bathroom still half asleep in a pair of boxers, scratching his junk.
Just what every sister wants to see.
He walks back into his room and shuts the door.
I slide out of the room and tiptoe down the hall as fast as I can, carrying my heels down the stairs into the kitchen area. I place my shoes with my computer bag and purse next to the table by the front door, setting my keys down quietly so I can grab something to eat from the kitchen and go.
As I open the fridge door to grab a yogurt, shivers race up my spine with the sound of the front door opening and closing. He’s already up and not fast asleep in his room like I’d hoped.
I close the fridge door and turn around.
“Aaaahhhh!” I jump back startled to find his big body already leaning against the counter with his arms crossed.
Damn him.
“Good morning, Savannah,” Liam says, a cocky smirk on his lips.
“Stop it.” I peel back the lid of my yogurt, eyeing the spoon drawer that he’s currently blocking.
This is exactly why I was trying to sneak out. Liam Kelly is my brother’s best friend, very often the bane of my existence, and unfortunately too hot for my own good. He’s also my landlord for the foreseeable future since the insurance company’s contractor is taking his sweet-ass time fixing my place after the flood.
“What?” he asks.
“You and that look.”
“What look?”
I want to scream at him for making this uncomfortable. How many people hook up at weddings? It’s a common occurrence, so there’s nothing special about us messing around after Austin and Holly’s wedding reception.
“The look that says you just caught your prey.”
“And you think you’re my prey?”
“No.” I glance at the drawer again. He follows my vision, his smirk only widening further.
His t-shirt is sweaty and clinging to his muscles which means he woke up earlier and left to go work out. Or he could have snuck out while I was in the shower, but he always keeps his door open when he’s not in his bedroom and it was definitely closed. Did he purposely set me up to talk about what happened Saturday night?
I glance at the fast food straw on the counter, next to an empty fry container. Denver. But that straw might work for my yogurt.
“Do you want to be my prey?” he asks.
“No. Why would I?”
“You seemed to enjoy it the other night.”
I inhale a sharp breath. “That was a mistake. A drunken mistake.”
“I wasn’t drunk.”
I step forward toward the drawer and jut my hip out. He could be the gentleman and step aside, but he doesn’t.
“I don’t think you were drunk either,” he says.
I stare into his bright blue eyes then let my gaze drift down his tattoo-covered arms that aren’t hidden by his Smokin’ Guns Tattoo Shop t-shirt. I remember that he shot that same t-shirt out of this handheld cannon blaster at the last Founder’s Day Parade. They were a hit as is everything he does in Lake Starlight. Young and old, the people love him.
“It doesn’t matter whether I was or wasn’t. It changes nothing. We’re not…”
“Spare me the lecture, I have it memorized.” He pushes off the counter, the blue of his eyes deepening with his anger.
I open the drawer, grab a spoon and slam it closed. “What do you want from me?” I whip around to face him.
He opens up the paper that was sitting on the counter and takes a seat on a breakfast stool. “Nothing Savannah. That’s your problem. You always think everyone wants something from you.”
He’s got to be kidding me. “Because everyone does, Liam. Everyone always wants or needs something from me. Ever since I was nineteen it’s been Bailey Timber or Austin or Grandma Dori or this town. You wanna see the list of people who depend on me?”
He continues to read the paper, cool and collected while annoyance grates at me like I’m a chunk of cheese.
He has no idea what it’s like to have all the responsibilities of the second oldest Bailey. The one who was chosen to take over the family business. I don’t recognize myself or know who I might’ve become had my parents not died.
“I said I don’t want anything,” he says after a minute of me staring daggers into the side of his head.
“And you’re lying.” I shove a spoonful of yogurt into my mouth.
He lowers the paper. “You’re right. I’m lying. I’d like you to admit that you weren’t drunk on Saturday.”
I throw my hands in the air. “Seriously? What does it matter to you?”
The paper falls from his hands and he leans back. I soak him in once again pushing back the memories of what it felt like to have his fingers inside of me. “It’d be nice to see you be honest with yourself for once.”
“Why? So you’ll feel better? Have you reached the limit on drunk girls to take to your bed?” I heap another spoonful of yogurt into my mouth.
His eyes narrow. “You know that’s not what Saturday was.”
I clean off the spoon and put it in the dishwasher, throwing my yogurt container away. “What was it then?”
I shouldn’t ask. I’m starting a fight I can’t win. I know what it was. We didn’t fall into bed while stripping each other’s clothes off in a drunken haze. We had a heavy make out session and explored one another for hours. His words of praise for my body have repeated in my head for the past twenty-four hours, but I can’t admit that to him because it will only hurt both of us.
“If I have to tell you than you’re not worth it.”
His words cut deep like he meant them to. Rarely does Liam say anything without thinking it through. It’s where he differs from my brothers. The three of them may be best friends, but Denver and Rome say whatever, whenever without thinking of the consequences. Liam though, he chooses his words wisely and with purpose.
“Fine. I need to get to work.” I slide my heels on and swing my bags over my shoulder.
“You gotta bear all that weight, right? I mean the success of everything rests on you.” His back is to me and he’s stripped off his t-shirt now and is digging through the fridge.
I stand in place, staring at him for a moment. My shoulders fall, my bitchy attitude faltering. I hate that we’re like this.
“You just don’t understand… I mean the company and the family. Grandma Dor—”
“Don’t second guess Saturday, Sav. I’m a big boy.” He raises his hand in the air. “Have a great day.”
Defeat consumes me as I watch him. Wishing I could break the distance, place my hands on his hips and cast a trail of kisses up his back, taste the saltiness of his skin and trace his intricate tattoos with my tongue.
Instead I spin on my heel and stomp back to the front door, slamming it shut behind me.
Why can’t he just accept the way things have to be?
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Cockamamie Unicorn Ramblings
We’re going to be honest with you for a moment. Operation Bailey Wedding was a last minute decision we decided on days before Rome’s book, Birth of a Baby Daddy, was about to go live. We never expected the reader’s love for The Baileys to be as big as it is when we decided to split the series into three book releases with books from our other world in between. We worried that a drought of five months without a Bailey book would be too long for our readers. And since we aim to please we wanted to give the readers a little something extra and what better way to do that than to write a longer Happily Ever After for the couples in books one through three and to give you a tease into the next Bailey siblings to hit the pages in their own books? Genius, right? :P
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How did Brooklyn end up buying chickens?? Rayne’s son plays baseball with a boy whose fam
ily just got four chickens. She’s been hearing the stories from them all summer. Some good, some bad, some cute. And she thought it’d be pretty funny for a city boy like Wyatt to have to deal with chickens.
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Thank you to our favorites below who without them, this book isn’t possible!
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Danielle Sanchez and the entire Wildfire Marketing Solutions team!
Ellie from My Brother’s Editor for line edits.
Shawna from Behind the Writer for proofreading.
Sarah from Okay Creations for the cover and branding for the entire series.
Bloggers who consistently carve out time to read, review and/or promote us. It does not go unnoticed and it’s not unappreciated.
All the Piper Rayne Unicorns who shout from the rooftops about our new releases and love our characters like we do.
You the readers who took a chance on our book with so many other choices out there.
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Obviously, Savannah and Liam are next in line and we can tell you their sexual chemistry is burning up the pages. Don’t forget to pre-order your copy for the discounted price so you don’t miss out on all the fun!
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Xo,
Piper & Rayne
About Piper & Rayne
Piper Rayne, or Piper and Rayne, whichever you prefer because we’re not one author, we’re two. Yep, you get two USA Today Bestselling authors for the price of one. Our goal is to bring you romance stories that have "Heartwarming Humor With a Side of Sizzle" (okay...you caught us, that's our tagline). A little about us... We both have kindle’s full of one-clickable books. We're both married to husbands who drive us to drink. We're both chauffeurs to our kids. Most of all, we love hot heroes and quirky heroines that make us laugh, and we hope you do, too.
www.piperrayne.com
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Also by Piper Rayne
The Modern Love World
Charmed by the Bartender
Hooked by the Boxer
Mad about the Banker
* * *
The Single Dad’s Club
Real Deal
Dirty Talker
Sexy Beast
* * *
Hollywood Hearts
Mister Mom
Animal Attraction
Domestic Bliss
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Bedroom Games
Cold as Ice
On Thin Ice
Break the Ice
Box Set
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Charity Case
Manic Monday
Afternoon Delight
Happy Hour
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Blue Collar Brothers
Flirting with Fire
Crushing on the Cop
Engaged to the EMT
* * *
The Baileys
Lessons from a One-Night Stand
Advice from a Jilted Bride
Birth of a Baby Daddy
Operation Bailey Wedding (Novella)
Falling for My Brother’s Best Friend
Demise of a Self-Centered Playboy
Confessions of a Naughty Nanny
* * *
White Collar Brothers
Sexy Filthy Boss
Dirty Flirty Enemy
Wild Steamy Hook-up