by Wendy Vella
“Really, hope that trip goes well for you.”
“No, what I meant is, I want us to—”
“Chad!” Piper stopped him. “I’m not sleeping with you, end of story.”
He looked pissed now. “That was a waste of time.”
“So you’re not into conversation or spending time with a woman unless the outcome is sex?”
“I like to call them vacation romances.” His smile was back, as were the moves as he reached for her again.
“No romance involved that I can see. So see you.” Piper gave him a shove. When he didn’t retreat she pushed harder. This time it worked and she walked away. Turning, she saw Dylan Howard. He’d watched the entire incident.
Dragging her eyes from his, she found Maggs in conversation with Fin. They were standing toe to toe, and both looked angry, which happened often when those two got together. Deciding she didn’t want to play referee tonight, Piper walked the other way and headed outside onto the deck.
Most of the guests were inside, but for Piper this was where the magic happened at the lodge. The view of the mountains under the moonlight was spectacular. A huge open fireplace to the right offered warmth for anyone not used to this climate, but not her. Piper loved the cool against her cheeks, and inhaled the fresh air.
Needing a few minutes, she moved into the shadows. Edging along the railing, she braced her elbows and looked up at Phil and Roxy.
They’d be snowed in over the coming months. Jack would haul out the snowmobiles, and she couldn’t wait. She loved everything about Ryker Falls, because this place had given her a home. A home for herself and her mother when their world had been torn apart.
Something made Piper look over her shoulder, a feeling that she was being watched, and there was Dylan Howard coming toward her. He stopped when he was close enough for her to read the expression in his eyes.
Neither of them spoke, just looked at each other.
“I can’t stop thinking about you.” He didn’t sound pleased about that. “So we need to have sex, then we can settle into living in the same town without the tension for a while until I leave.”
The direct approach was usually Piper’s way—okay, so maybe not this direct—but having it thrown back at her with such a cold delivery set her teeth on edge. And then there was the conversation she’d just had with Chad about his supposed “vacation romances.” Romance, it seemed, was indeed dead.
“No thanks.”
“Why? You’re lying if you say you don’t want me.”
The arrogance of that statement actually took her breath away.
“We both have the itch, so let’s scratch.”
“Real slick, Dylan. Surely that’s not your usual line?”
“What?” He looked confused.
“That bullshit pickup line.”
“It wasn’t a line, it was the truth. I’ve pretty much wanted to have you naked beneath me since I saw you in that diner, and I know you feel the same.”
Piper wanted to clench her legs together as they threatened to give way, but she wasn’t showing him how much those words affected her.
“I don’t, and even if I did I’m not an animal and can control my urges. Believe me, that’s all you could ever be, an urge. Besides, I have Chad to consider.”
One side of his mouth kicked up as he moved even closer, leaving a total of ten inches between them.
“That preppy lightweight you were eating with? The one who had his hands all over you on the dance floor? You’re not interested in him.”
The fact that she felt the same about Chad had absolutely no bearing on this conversation.
“He’s nice, and—”
“He won’t rock your world like I will.”
The words were delivered in a low, deep tone that made her insides quiver.
“You did not just say something as cheesy as that.” Piper attempted to laugh but it turned into a cough as her mouth was suddenly dry.
She was in sooooo much trouble.
CHAPTER TWELVE
She was making him crazy, Dylan thought. Women did not take up space inside his head, but this one was. He thought about her constantly, and when he saw Piper it was like sticking his finger in an electrical socket.
Dylan had watched her on that dance floor, fending off that shithead. He’d fought the urge to storm over there and plant his fist in the man’s face. It was disturbing to think a woman he knew nothing about, and wasn’t entirely sure he liked, could wring so much emotion out of a man who usually had none.
“Why are you fighting this?”
She wore tight-fitting red trousers, sky-high heels that showed fire-engine-red toes, and a floaty black silky shirt that sat off her shoulders. He wanted to sink his teeth into the soft skin of one while he was buried deep inside her slick heat.
“We don’t know each other!”
“I can remedy that.” Dylan leaned closer.
Her eyes were ringed in something dark and smoky, and a soft brush of color rode high on her cheekbones. Her lips were glossy and pale. She was sexy as hell, and he could never remember wanting a woman more.
“Dylan, this is ridiculous. I don’t do that kind of thing, and it’s not as if we even like each other very much.”
Her voice had dropped. Low and husky, it made his body tighten. He was so hard it was painful.
“Neither do I, actually, but for some reason you are causing me a great deal of angst.”
“That’s hardly my—”
He cupped her face and kissed her. Sweet and sinful, he knew that just one taste was only going to make him want more. Her bottom lip was fuller, and he sank into it as she moaned. Sliding a hand down her back, he pressed her closer, close enough that he could feel every curve, enjoy each lush part of her pressed into his body.
Her scent was soft and flowery; the skin of her cheek felt like cool satin under his palm.
“Dylan.” She came up for air. He gave her two seconds, then kissed her again.
Every thought was suddenly obliterated but one. He wanted her. His hand moved to her trim waist; her body held no excess flesh, suggesting she worked out in some way. Her strength was obvious by the ripple of muscle that clenched as his fingers slipped beneath her top.
“Ah God, that feels good.”
She sighed into his mouth as he cupped the full flesh of a breast. Blood thundered through Dylan’s body as lust consumed him.
“I want you, Piper.”
“I know.” Her sigh brushed his neck before she eased back and out of his arms. “But I also know that nothing good can come of us doing that.”
“It sure as hell feels like it would be good.” Dylan’s voice was rough.
“I can’t just do that with you, Dylan. I want to wake up tomorrow respecting myself.”
She looked like sin. Lips smudged, eyes soft and sensual. Her top dipped low, showing him the valley of lush curves beneath. He wanted to lift her onto the railing and devour her.
“I’d respect you.”
“No you wouldn’t, but then I’m thinking that you don’t worry about that kind of thing.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
Her head tilted slightly as she studied him, and he resisted the urge to look away or feel uncomfortable.
“You’re a one-night-stand kind of guy. No messy stuff like emotions, just a night to scratch an itch, then you move on.”
That she’d hit the mark so accurately was disconcerting. “You make me sound shallow.”
“No, I just don’t think involvement of any kind is something you’re into.”
How the hell did she know that about him?
“The thing is, Dylan, we all have our pasts to outrun, but some of us do it different from others.”
“What the hell does that mean?” he said again.
“We’re different, you and I. My family is important, and it’s taken a while, but I respect myself now.”
“Don’t try and analyze me, Piper.” He was growling
but couldn’t stop. “I respect myself, and my head’s exactly where it wants to be. I’m here to see Dad, and I thought you and I could have some fun. Turns out I was wrong. No big deal.”
It was a fucking big deal because he wanted her far more than he should, and Dylan usually got what he wanted.
His heart was suddenly thudding hard inside his chest, and his palms felt sweaty. He hadn’t experienced a reaction like that in years. How this sexy, smart-mouthed woman had achieved that in a matter of days was unnerving, and told him he needed to keep his distance from her.
She was right, this wouldn’t happen, and he was grateful to her for stopping him. He’d let emotion and lust cloud his thoughts, and if they’d had sex, it would have complicated things. Dylan could see that now.
But Christ, he still wanted her.
“So no hard feelings,” he said as calmly as he could, sounding like a class A jerk. But the truth was he was off-balance.
“Sure, you want to shake on it?”
Was she taking a shot at him? That was something else that never happened. People never laughed at Dylan.
“I think we can pass on that.”
“Excellent, then I need a drink.”
“Sure, and Piper, I hope this won’t make things difficult when we see each other.”
“Nope, we’ll put this down to a brief moment of insanity on your part. I’m sure next time we meet you’ll have that stick firmly back up your backside, and that ‘I’m better than you’ look in place.”
“What? I don’t....” His words stumbled to a halt as she walked by him. He wished he’d followed his first impulse to stay away from Piper when he’d seen her leave the bar. “I so don’t,” he muttered sounding like a ten-year-old boy unable to stop himself.
He found his sister talking to Fin Hudson, who had seen him so he couldn’t exactly turn around and walk out. But he wanted to. He wanted to find a corner somewhere and contemplate the fact he’d just behaved like a jerk.
He bought a beer, and another wine for Charlie, then leaned on the bar beside her and watched people. He often did this, and tried to work out what they were thinking, what their role in life was.
Piper had gone back to preppy boy’s side, and he refused to watch her; he’d done that enough. Watching her dance had made him seriously uncomfortable and that in turn had made him act the way he had. Totally out of character.
So we need to have sex, then we can settle into living in the same town without the tension for a while until I leave.
That was pretty bad, even for him, the man who had once been told by a woman that he had the emotional stability of a Pop-Tart. The problem was, Dylan had never really wanted anyone like he did Piper Trainer, and it was uncomfortable. He doubted it would last, but while it did, he’d need to avoid her now she’d made it clear there would be no one-, two-, or even four-night stands with him while he was in town.
It still stung that she’d said he had a stick up his ass and a look on his face that said he was better than her. Did he look like that?
“I’m just talking about the Coffee Run with Fin, Dylan.”
Pleased to be pulled from his thoughts, he looked at Charlie. The sparkle in her eyes told him she’d had a few glasses of wine and lost some of her reserve, and maybe managed to put aside the fact someone had set out to ruin her career.
“Do you want to enter?”
“Ah no.” He shook his head. “I think I’m getting my hair done that day.”
“Ha,” she said, looking from him to Fin. “The park ranger here says it’s fun, and that you get free coffee and donuts at the end. The winner gets a night at the lodge and spa. Plus, there’s the hot tubs. Come on, I want to do it. We were too young when it first started.”
Dylan pushed aside visions of a naked Piper in the hot tub. That breast he’d had his hand on would look pretty sensational naked, he was sure.
“It’s not really my thing, Charlie.”
“A bit too uncool for the big city FBI man?”
Fin was goading him, but there was an undertone of something there.
“I was born here, I don’t think you were.”
“Got me there, but then I always enter the Coffee Run. It’s for the local old folks’ home. All proceeds go to them.”
The challenge had been thrown down. If he didn’t enter he’d look like he didn’t give a shit about the elderly, and if he did, he’d look like an idiot.
“Plus, I usually win, so if you’re not—”
“I’m not ten anymore, that shit doesn’t work now, Hudson.”
“Sure it does, and wait till the Trainer brothers start on you. You’ll enter, mark my words.”
“I doubt that.”
“They say smiling takes as many muscles as frowning, bud. You should give it a shot.”
“Any reason why you’re getting on my case?”
“It’s how I communicate,” Fin said. “Ask the Trainers.”
“You want to wrestle or something? Throw a few punches maybe? Just so you feel comfortable about my manliness.”
Fin’s smile was real this time.
“I can’t change who my mother is, Fin.”
“I know that, but it would sure make it easier to like you. Joe’s a friend... more than a friend, he’s a brother to me. His family are my family, and it’s just hard to be nice to anyone with the surname Howard.”
“My sister’s a Howard.”
“Yeah, but she’s hot.”
He felt the bite of anger as a surge of protectiveness had him wanting to put his fist in the ranger’s face. Another emotion he was experiencing for the first time.
“Family is vital to our existence, and I don’t just mean blood, Dylan. Those that mean the most to us are what keep us grounded, and they are the only ones who have our backs when the chips are down.”
“What are you, Dr. Phil?” he managed to get out.
“His nephew, can’t you see the resemblance?”
“This town has always been weird, but I have a feeling it’s gotten more so in the last sixteen years.”
“Yeah, but good weird. You play pool?”
Dylan nodded, wary as to which direction Fin was heading now.
“Ted’s hosting a tournament soon. You may as well come so I can fleece you too.” He reeled off a date. “Joe will have eaten all the food if you don’t arrive early.”
The ranger walked away after slapping Dylan on the shoulder, which he wasn’t sure meant he was accepted now or not. Lowering himself onto a barstool, he tried to remember the last time he’d played pool. Actually not that long ago, as sometimes a few of his colleagues invited him to a local bar, but it wasn’t a regular thing, and he wasn’t close to any of them.
“Like I said, weird,” Dylan muttered, his eyes skimming over Charlie, who seemed okay, smiling even, as she talked to the redheaded Maggs. He found Piper on the dance floor again, but this time with someone else, and this did not make Dylan happy.
What the hell was happening to him? He’d only been back a few days and he’d experienced lust, jealousy, bonding with one of his siblings, and this serious pain in his chest when he’d looked at his dad. He needed to keep to himself from now on, and get through his visit. Things would settle down again when he got back to work.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Two weeks after Dylan Howard had kissed every thought from her head, Piper listened to the phone ring in her ear, waiting for Joanie to pick up. She’d been feeling edgy since leaving Rummer, constant worry gnawing at her. Was Joanie still using? Was that asshole ex of hers still around? Was Grace safe?
“Come on, we’re short a player, so you’ll do.”
“What?” Jack was standing in the doorway to her bedroom. Hair not brushed, he’d thrown on a singlet and shorts.
“It’s freezing, put on a sweater,” Piper said. “And no to playing.” She cut the call and glared at the phone. Why was Joanie not answering?
“I’m warm-blooded, baby, unlike you. Now move it.”
They shared a house, him, Luke, Piper, and her mom. A big old farmhouse they’d spent many hours renovating—and plenty of heated debates. For the most they cohabited well, but sometimes she wanted to slap her cousins for their hygiene habits and other annoying little traits she’d thought cute once... a long time ago.
“We’re due to play ball in thirty minutes against the Pissants, and we had two pull out, so hustle it.”
“Peasants, Jack. They call themselves the Pilker Peasants.”
Jack was the middle Trainer. Tall, dark, and sexy according to the woman Piper had encountered... who wanted to talk to her simply because she was related to three of the most handsome men in Ryker, apparently.
Little did those women know that they left their rooms a mess and dirty dishes on the bench.
“I don’t have time for this, Jack.”
“Sure you do. You’re all bent out of shape at the moment; it’ll do you good to get up a sweat and spend some time with your cousins.”
“I live with two of you!”
“Like I said, bent out of shape.”
Piper inhaled as she let her eyes move around her room. Her space, as she termed it. Warm sun-kissed walls, woven burnt-orange floor rugs, and one huge picture of the sunset taken with Phil and Roxy in the background. She loved it in here because when she looked out the windows she saw that exact scene.
“All right, but I have two conditions.”
He looked wary. “Shoot.”
“You, Joe, and Luke come and look at that house with me after we’ve had food and showers.”
“Okay, although why you’d want to buy that heap I don’t know, when you have a perfectly good place to live here.”
“Jack, I don’t want to move into it right off. It’s a project, and I’ll rent it out until I want to move in. It’s for the future, like I told you all. One day you’ll marry and not want me around... or Luke.”
Jack snorted. “Neither of us will marry, but I guess I get it, even though I don’t want you to move out.”
“Which I’m not.”
“What’s the second condition?”
“You cook for the next two nights.”