It was 5:45 a.m. when she pulled into Lindsay’s driveway, got out of the car, and pushed on the doorbell. She’d seen Lindsay in the woods often enough at this hour, so she wasn’t really worried about her being awake. What she was going to say once the door was opened…well, that was a different story.
The surprise on Lindsay’s face when she did open the door was kind of priceless, and Piper felt herself grin.
“Good morning.”
“Hi,” Lindsay said, confusion apparent, but Piper was fairly certain there was also a level of happy-to-see-you there.
Piper handed over a small bag. “Here. Go put these on and come get in the car.”
“Wow, you’re bossy in the morning.”
“I’m bossy all the time. Now, get to it.” With that, Piper turned and got back in the car, trying to hide the fact that she was stupidly nervous. She could feel Lindsay study her for a moment, then she disappeared into the house.
No more than five or six minutes went by before the door opened and Lindsay came out, locked it behind her, and walked around the front of the car.
Piper’s mouth went dry.
“This shirt’s kinda tight,” Lindsay said as she hopped into the passenger seat. “But I squished myself in. Does it look ridiculous?”
Piper turned to look at Lindsay, dressed in one of her black, skintight tops. The sleeves stopped at her elbows, and the nylon fabric hugged every single curve Lindsay had in the best of ways. Piper had to make a conscious effort not to stare at her chest.
“No,” she said, then had to clear her throat. “No,” she said again. “You look great.”
“Okay, good. I was worried.”
“No need.” Piper put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway.
“I notice there are two kayaks on your roof.”
“You’re observant.”
“I can assume I’m in for an unexpected lesson?”
For the first time since she’d hoisted Kat’s old kayak into the rack, Piper faltered just a hair. “Is that okay? I mean, if you don’t want to, I totally get it. It was probably dumb that I didn’t check first. Maybe you’re afraid of water or something. I just thought—” Mercifully, her rambling stopped when Lindsay laid a hand on her thigh.
“It’s great. I’m really glad we’re doing this. I am surprised. In a good way.”
“Okay. Good.” Piper hoped she didn’t sound quite as relieved as she felt. This was very unlike her. Flying by the seat of her pants? Walking a tightrope with no net? Yeah, not in Piper’s bag of tricks. At all. This was totally new for her. And to be honest, it was exhilarating. As was Lindsay’s hand on her thigh, which was warm and solid and something Piper really needed to ignore if she planned on not driving them into a telephone pole.
The parking lot at the end of Black Cherry Lake was empty, save for Gil Shankman’s pickup. He’d be out on the water fishing in his canoe. Piper paddled past him almost every morning.
“I love the quiet,” Lindsay said, her voice barely above a whisper, as if she didn’t want to disturb the peace she spoke of.
“Me, too.” Piper began to loosen the straps holding the kayaks.
“I think even if I didn’t work evening hours, I’d still walk Rocket here at this time of day. It’s so peaceful.” When she saw the kayak was free, she helped Piper lift it off the roof and carry it to the water’s edge. “How come you have two?”
Piper nodded at the orange kayak they’d just set down. “This one was my ex’s.”
“Oh.” Piper glanced at Lindsay as they went to retrieve the other kayak, watched her face as she obviously struggled with whether to ask for more info. “She didn’t want it?”
Piper half shrugged. “She didn’t really enjoy it like I do. I think she thought she would, so we bought them together, but she rarely came out with me. I’m actually glad it’s about to get some use.”
“I’ll try not to sink it.”
“I’m not worried.” Once the green kayak was set next to the orange one, Piper opened the back door of the SUV and pulled out Kat’s old life jacket. “Here.”
Lindsay took it, slipped it on while Piper donned her own. When she glanced up at Lindsay, she had one end of the buckle and was craning her neck from side to side trying unsuccessfully to find the other. “What is happening? This does not bode well for the whole not sinking thing.”
Piper laughed. “Come here.” Lindsay stepped closer. Very close. Right into Piper’s personal space. Piper took the end with the buckle from Lindsay’s hand, then reached around behind her, feeling with her fingers and untwisting the strap as she went. Their faces were very close together, Lindsay’s higher, as she was a couple inches taller. It crossed Piper’s mind that, with a simple tipping up of her own chin, she could easily press her lips to Lindsay’s. A hard swallow later, she found the other end of the strap—thank freaking God—and buckled it at Lindsay’s stomach with a loud snap. “There. All set.” Again, she hoped the relief she felt wasn’t apparent in her voice, because that had been close.
Lindsay opened her mouth, presumably to speak, and made a croaking sound instead. She quickly cleared her throat and muttered a thank you as the two of them each took a quick step back.
Doing her best to busy herself with something other than staring at Lindsay Kent, Piper got the paddles out of the SUV, along with two waterproof bags.
“Put your phone in here if you need to have it with you. I brought a couple granola bars and some water.” She handed one of the bags over, along with a bottle of water and the bars. Lindsay put everything in and closed it up, grabbed a paddle, then followed Piper to the kayaks. “Tuck your bag in here.” She indicated a little compartment on her own kayak.
The water was still quite chilly, but not like it had been a month ago. Piper walked into it, gently pulling her kayak alongside, making sure not to let it grind against the bottom.
Lindsay mirrored her perfectly.
“Okay, getting in from standing in the water is a lot easier than getting in from a dock.” Piper moved so she was on the other side of her own kayak, standing next to Lindsay. “Your feet go here,” she said as she pointed to the foot rests inside. “Your butt goes here, obviously. And you paddle. It’s really pretty intuitive.”
Lindsay gave a nod. “I can do this.”
“You can. Go ahead and get in. I’ll hold it.”
With only some minor hesitation and just a little bit of tipping, Lindsay got herself into the kayak and situated properly. Piper pushed her out toward the open water, then hopped into her own boat and paddled up alongside.
“So, I have sort of a set route I take each morning. We can do that or try something different.”
Lindsay held out an arm. “Set route works. Lead the way.”
For a while, the only sounds were the subtle splashes of paddles as they dipped into the water and the various birdcalls coming from the trees on the shore. Lindsay had no trouble keeping up, though paddling as quietly as Piper did took some effort. When they came to the spot where the shore sort of turned in and created a little makeshift cove, Piper steered her boat that way, Lindsay about ten yards behind her. Once in the cove, Piper lifted her paddle and laid it across the top of her kayak, just floated. Lindsay pulled up next to her and did the same. The canopy made by the trees created some shade, and the water lapped at the land gently from the ripples the kayaks made. Some small creature scurried through the woods, the rustling of leaves and sticks the only sign. The air smelled like nature, clean and honest.
“This is my favorite place in the world,” Piper said quietly.
“I can see why,” Lindsay whispered. “It’s beautiful.”
A honk came from their left, and two Canada geese floated a few feet off the shore, followed by six babies. Piper indicated them with her chin. “That’s Fred and Daphne and their kids.”
Lindsay’s smile grew wide. “Fred and Daphne? Do they solve mysteries in their spare time?”
“Please. Fred and Da
phne never solved anything. They were always off making out. Velma did all the work.”
“Totally true.” They floated quietly for a few more minutes, before Lindsay asked, “Do you come here every time you’re out on the lake?”
Piper nodded. “Yeah. For some reason, it’s one of the only places where I feel like I can clear my head, where I can shake off the stresses of work, especially lately.”
Lindsay cocked her head, and the gesture made Piper’s heart skip. “What’s going on at work? Still the Harbinger merger stuff?”
“You remembered that?”
“Of course I did. Is it going through? I know you were worried about that last time we talked.”
Piper just looked at her, blinked several times. And then the weirdest thing happened. She didn’t even hesitate. She just opened her mouth and it all spilled out. Everything. The merger, the memo with the threat to her job, her discussion with Ian yesterday, her father’s words, all of it.
“Wow,” Lindsay said when Piper finally stopped talking. “That’s a lot. Maybe you should just stay here all day and float.”
“Don’t think it hasn’t crossed my mind.”
A hawk flew over them, landed in a tree as Piper watched.
“What are you going to do?” Lindsay asked, her voice soft.
Piper inhaled very slowly, let it out, lifted her shoulders, dropped them. Finally, she turned to look at Lindsay. Lindsay, sitting there in Kat’s kayak, in Kat’s life jacket, but so not Kat. “What would you do?” she asked, surprising herself.
“I’d warn them.” There was no hesitation, not a falter, not one second of debate.
“Just like that?”
“Hell, yes.”
“But you’d get fired.”
“Yeah, but why would I want to work for a company that would put me in such a position? They obviously suck.”
Piper couldn’t help the laugh that snorted out of her. “Sure seems like it.” She did her best to remind herself that this was Lindsay, though. Lindsay, who was experienced in retail but not corporate business, where things were completely different. Still…her words stuck.
“So, you come here in the early morning and you float.”
“I do. Like I said, I find peace here, for some reason.”
“For lots of reasons. It’s beautiful. It’s calm and serene. It feels…almost restorative to me somehow.” Lindsay turned to her, and her smile was radiant. “Thank you so much for bringing me here. I feel…” She squinched up her face, seeming to search for the right description. “Honored. If that makes any sense.” Then she shrugged and looked away, obviously embarrassed, and Piper had the sudden need to make her feel better.
“It does. Perfect sense.” Piper swallowed, looked off into the trees. “I’ve never brought anybody here with me before,” she said, softly.
“Well, then, I am most definitely honored.”
Their gazes held and something passed between them, something Piper felt as it sizzled through her body and wondered if Lindsay felt it as well.
“Let’s go,” Piper said suddenly, needing to break whatever spell she suddenly felt had a hold on her. “We’re not getting any exercise floating.”
“Oh, this is about exercise?” Lindsay asked with gentle laughter. “I thought we were relaxing.”
“We were. Now we’re not.” Piper dug her paddle in deep and took off, leaving Lindsay in her wake—and feeling like she needed to. At least for a moment. When she felt a little more like herself, she eased up on the paddling and let Lindsay catch up.
“Wow, you’re strong,” Lindsay said as she finally pulled up next to Piper. “I was paddling my ass off and couldn’t catch you. I’m impressed.”
Piper smiled. “I’ve been doing this for a long time.” She waved at Gil Shankman as they passed his canoe, and he waved back.
“How long?”
Piper inhaled as she thought about it, then exhaled slowly. “Let’s see, well, I tried out for crew in college.”
“Yeah? I always wondered what that sport was like.”
“I made the team, but I didn’t enjoy it.”
“Why not?”
“First of all, it’s brutal. When you think of crew and all the people in the scull working together, it looks easy. Trust me, it’s not. Every person in the boat is working his or her ass off. Training was constant. There was bitching within the team. Every girl wanted to be the best, but it doesn’t matter if you’re the best because you have to work together to be successful.” Piper shook her head. “It just wasn’t what I was looking for. So I quit the team.” She stopped paddling and looked off in the distance, at the serene water of Black Cherry Lake. “But I missed the water. I missed the calming motion of paddling. One morning, I rented a kayak and took it out, and I was hooked. The exercise, the fact that I could challenge myself but didn’t have to worry about others, the peace on the water. I realized right away that was what I’d been hoping to get from crew.” She turned to Lindsay with a shrug. “And I’ve been kayaking ever since.”
“I wish I had something like that,” Lindsay said, her voice slightly wistful.
“You have Rocket,” Piper said, feeling the weird urge to make her feel better. “And wine. You know more about wine than anybody I know.”
Lindsay turned to look at her then, and her expression…Piper swallowed hard, yanked her gaze away, and cleared her throat. “Thanks, Piper.”
“We’d probably better head back. I have to get to work.”
Lindsay nodded, but said no more. Piper turned her kayak and they paddled wordlessly back to shore, where they packed up the kayaks and equipment like they’d been doing so together for years. It wasn’t until they were both in the SUV and pulling out of the lot that Lindsay spoke.
“That was great. Thank you so much for bringing me.”
“Thanks for being open to it.” Piper glanced over, but then back at the road. She couldn’t look at Lindsay for long. Couldn’t look at those mesmerizing green eyes, that warm and inviting smile, that blond hair Piper had thought about running her fingers through. Things were stirring within her. Things she wasn’t sure what to do with, wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with.
Thank God, the drive back to Lindsay’s was quick. She pulled into the driveway and slid the gearshift into Park, but didn’t turn off the engine or attempt to get out, making it clear this was a drop-off and nothing else.
A beat of silence went by.
Two beats.
Lindsay cleared her throat—she’d done that a lot this morning, Piper noticed. “So, this was great. Truly. Thank you so much.” She reached across the console and closed her hand over Piper’s bare forearm and it was as though an electric current ran through her.
“You’re welcome.”
“If you ever want company again, just say the word.”
“I will.”
That sat there for another long moment, Lindsay’s hand still on Piper’s arm.
“Okay,” Lindsay said.
“Okay.”
“You should come by Vineyard tonight.” Lindsay seemed to blurt it, like it came out before she’d had time to think about it.
“Yeah?”
“Definitely. We can talk.” Those green eyes snared hers. “About the wine bar, I mean.”
“Oh. Of course. Sure.”
“I mean…other stuff, too. We can talk about other stuff. Maybe.”
“Yeah, okay.” God, we sound like two junior high kids with crushes.
Lindsay looked straight ahead out the windshield, still holding Piper’s arm. “All right. I’m off.” She didn’t move, though. Instead, she looked down at her lap, and Piper watched her. It was as if Lindsay was contemplating something. When it seemed like she’d made up her mind, she lifted her gaze, and moved so quickly, Piper wasn’t even sure what had happened until Lindsay’s mouth was pressed to hers.
Lindsay’s soft, warm mouth.
And Piper was lost.
There was nothing else then. Sh
e couldn’t hear the car’s engine running. Work was nowhere in her mind. The only thing that existed was that kiss and Piper closed her eyes, sank into it without thought. Without hesitation. Lindsay tasted so surprisingly sweet, and Piper felt herself leaning in, leaning closer, as if her body had taken over separately from her brain. Lindsay’s fingers slid along Piper’s face and gripped the back of her head, pulling her in as she pressed her tongue into Piper’s mouth and a moan escaped—Piper wasn’t sure from which of them. The only thing she was sure of was that she never wanted to stop. Ever. She could stay right here, in her car, leaning over the center console and kissing Lindsay Kent, for the rest of her life. It was the moment when she lifted her hands, intent on grasping Lindsay’s head, intent on keeping her mouth pressed to Lindsay’s, that Lindsay pulled away. Piper almost fell forward, but caught herself.
When she finally opened her eyes and looked at Lindsay, the expression on her face was one of surprised wonder.
“Oh, wow.” Lindsay brought her fingers to her lips in one of the sexiest gestures Piper had ever seen, her eyes wide, her chest heaving, and for a moment, Piper wasn’t sure if Lindsay was about to apologize or kiss her again.
“Yeah,” Piper said, because no other words would form and come out of her mouth.
“Wow.”
Piper nodded.
“Um…” Lindsay looked around. “Okay then.” A tug on the door handle later and she was sliding out of the car.
Piper watched as she walked to the side door of her house, then turned back to look at Piper. Before Piper could get a read on what Lindsay might be thinking, Lindsay unlocked the door and went inside. Piper had the sudden urge to chase her but forced herself to be calm and rational, to keep her ass in the driver’s seat, both literally and figuratively. She jammed the car into reverse before she could change her mind.
Once on the road, a glance in the rearview mirror had her squinting at the woman in the reflection, who was apparently a complete stranger to her.
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