I won’t give him the satisfaction.
“There’s a Starbucks up the road.”
I wrinkle my nose.
“Not a Starbucks girl?”
“It’ll do in a pinch. Cherry Street coffee is my favorite, but they’re at least thirty minutes away.”
“I’ll remember that,” he murmurs and drives away from his house. “It’s my fault you spilled the coffee. The least I can do is replace it.”
“It’s not your fault I tripped on a rock.”
“It was my rock.”
I shake my head and glance over at him. “I think we’re both stubborn.”
“Me? No way.” He laughs and takes my hand in his, linking our fingers. Before I can pull away, he kisses the back of my hand.
“Reed, you’re a client.”
“Yes, I am.”
“It’s unprofessional for me to have any other sort of relationship with you.”
“If you don’t like what I’m doing, all you have to do is say so, and I will never bother you again,” he says clearly, all humor gone from his face. “I have no interest in harassing you or making you feel uncomfortable.”
“I’m not uncomfortable.”
“Good. I’m not a jerk, Noel. Now, why do you need us to leave the house again?”
“You heard me the first time.”
“Tell me again, I like your voice.”
I can’t help the laugh that comes out at that statement. He grins at me. “There, I like that very much.”
“I need you both to relocate for a couple of days so you’re out of our way, and so I can do a grand reveal when it’s all finished. I think it’ll be fun for Piper.”
“I do, too. Well, the condo hasn’t sold yet, so we’ll go there for a couple of days.”
“Thanks. We should have it all wrapped up in less than three working days. There’s a lot to do, but the crew is organized and quick. I think you’re going to love it.”
“If it’s as good as the photos you sent, we’ll never want to take it down.”
I smile, pleased that he liked my proposal. I worked my ass off on it, and the design came easily to me, as if I’d done it many times before.
Reed pulls the car into the Starbucks parking lot, and we go inside. My coffee order is very different here than at Cherry Street.
“Grande light roast with plenty of room for cream, please.”
Reed stares down at me. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Okay. I’ll have the same, but make mine a medium roast.”
He pays for our coffees, and once we’ve added the right amount of cream and sweetener, we’re back on the road to his house.
“I could have sworn I smelled caramel in the coffee you spilled,” he says.
“You did. My order at Cherry Street is different. They use a really great, homemade caramel.”
“I’ll have to try it sometime,” he says and smiles. “My condo isn’t far from there.”
My gaze quickly swings to his. “Really? My condo is just around the corner from the First Avenue West location.”
“I’m about a block over.” He grins at me. “How convenient.”
I decide to let that comment slide. I’m so attracted to him, but I don’t have time to get involved right now. The whole client thing isn’t such a big deal because this job is only a couple of days, but the time factor is a thing. “Thank you for this. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.” He sets his drink in the cup holder and reaches for my hand again. “Now, before we get back, I want to be up-front and say, right here and now, that I’m incredibly attracted to you, Noel. I’d like to date you.”
I cough on the sip of light roast I just took and then stare at him. “Well, I give you props for your honesty. And in that spirit, I’ll tell you right here and now that I don’t have time to date you—or anyone else for that matter.”
“I’m not concerned about anyone else,” he says, his voice perfectly calm as he watches the road in front of us. “I’m only concerned with me, and you’re just going to have to make time because not seeing you isn’t an option for me.”
I’m still staring at him, and then I bust up laughing.
“I don’t know what you find funny.”
“This whole thing,” I say, wiping the tears from my eyes. “Make time? How do you propose I do that? There are only twenty-four hours in a day, and I work roughly sixteen of those hours. So when you find a way to add some minutes to the day, you let me know.”
He pulls into the driveway, but before I can open the door, he says, “Wait for me.”
I’ve never been the kind of girl attracted to the alpha type. That’s not to say I want a pushover, but the whole, I’m man, I tell you what to do thing has never appealed to me.
Yet here I am. Waiting.
He opens my door, offers his hand, and when I’m standing, he closes the door and leans into me, effectively pinning me against his expensive automobile.
I absolutely do not want to push him away. Is he being bossy? Yes. Is he sexy as hell? Also, yes.
He plants one hand on the car and dips his head next to mine.
“We make time for the things that matter,” he whispers into my ear. “Like, just now, we carved out fifteen minutes to go and get a coffee. I had you all to myself. We had a conversation, a harmless flirtation. I even made you laugh. If all I can get is fifteen minutes here and there, so be it.”
He kisses my neck—my freaking neck—and then winks at me as he walks away.
“I’ll be out of your hair in about ten minutes,” he tosses over his shoulder as I struggle to breathe.
Oh my God, I’m turned on. If there weren’t people around, I’d be fanning my face.
Damn him!
I. Don’t. Have. Time.
* * * *
It’s been a crazy day.
Reed’s house is looking fantastic. If I get lucky, it may be finished by tomorrow evening.
Maybe.
But if not, it’ll still be done on time, and that’s all I can really ask for.
I’ve just walked into my condo, kicked my heels off, and opened the fridge for the bottle of white I have on hand.
Sometimes a girl just needs a glass of wine.
Or two.
I smirk and pull the cork out of the bottle and fill a glass half full. On my way into my bedroom, where I’m headed to change, I get a text.
From Reed.
My body is still tingling from that little encounter in his driveway this morning.
He’s potent.
And hot as hell.
And I’m reminded as I stare down at the silly photo of Reed and Piper sticking their tongues out at the camera, that he’s a dad.
I don’t overthink it as I flip on the camera and snap a quick picture of me sticking out my tongue at them and send it off.
Rather than just changing my clothes, I think I want a hot shower. I worked hard today, hanging garlands and decorating Christmas trees, and my muscles are weary.
I usually take my phone into the bathroom with me so I can listen to podcasts while I bathe, and this time is no different. I’ve just started my favorite show, My Favorite Murder, which never fails to both creep me out and make me laugh when another text comes through.
Reed: We’re at my condo in the city, having pizza for dinner. You should join us.
I smile at the mental image of the two of them eating pizza with the skyline in the background. I have no idea what Reed’s condo looks like, or even where it is for sure, but I like the image in my mind.
Me: Thanks for the invitation. I’m in the shower, so I think I’m in for the night. I hope you enjoy your dinner!
Several minutes pass. The hosts of my podcast talk about a serial killer in Hawaii as I lather up my hair and then rinse it. Finally, when I’ve finished with the shower and I’m drying off, another text comes through from Reed.
Reed: It’s not fair to tell me you’re in the shower
when I’m hanging out with my four-year-old daughter.
I laugh and snap a photo of myself in my towel and send it off to him. Yes, I’m flirting with a client. No, I don’t have time for him.
Yes, this could get messy. I’m well aware of the what-ifs and how it could all go wrong.
But you know what? I don’t care. I’m not usually a risk-taker. I always follow the rules.
But something tells me Reed’s worth it. And you only live once, right?
Chapter Four
~Reed~
“One more book.”
Piper looks up at me with pleading, brown eyes, but I remain strong in my resolve.
“I read one more book twice,” I remind her and scoot off of her bed, then tuck her in. “And you can hardly keep your eyes open.”
“I’m not sleepy.”
Her eyes are closed now, her face softening as slumber begins to take over. I take a moment to watch her, the way her dark lashes lie on the soft white skin of her cheeks, her pink lips slightly parted. Her bunny is tucked under her chin.
My daughter is the prettiest little thing I’ve ever seen.
I turn off the light and quietly walk to the door, leaving it ajar several inches so I can hear her if she needs me.
The lights of Seattle wink at me through the glass of the windows. I was so excited when I bought this condo five years ago. I never thought I’d leave it. Imagined the heart of the hustle and bustle of the city was exactly where I’d always be.
I didn’t do relationships and, in hindsight, I regret the way I treated Vanessa. I never lied to her, she knew the score, and if you’d asked me at the time, I would have said I wasn’t doing anything wrong. She eventually got tired of me and moved on. At least, that’s what I thought.
But I didn’t do anything to stop her.
I also didn’t respect her enough to ask her if she was okay. I was too self-absorbed to think of it.
Having Piper with me has jerked me out of that self-centered mindset. Made me consider more than my job, my needs. It’s made me have more care with those around me.
Jesus, I feel like I was sleep-walking for the first thirty years of my life, and I’m only now fully awake.
I’m not proud of it. If I think of a man treating Piper the way I did Vanessa, well…it makes me want to punch a hole in the wall.
I wish Vanessa were still here so I could apologize to her. She deserved better than what I gave her.
I hear Piper cough, so I go poke my head in to check on her. But she doesn’t wake up, she just turns to her side and goes right back to sleep.
The only thing I can do for Vanessa now is to make sure Piper is not only well taken care of, but also loved more than anything. And it’s more than a little surprising for me to admit that I’ve fallen more in love with Piper than I ever thought I could.
She’s mine. My flesh and blood.
There are days that it feels like it’s still sinking in.
My phone buzzes with a text from Noel, and I sit on the couch, facing the lights of the city, and smile at my screen.
Noel: How was your pizza?
Rather than text her back, I call her.
“If the story about pizza warrants a phone call, it must not have been good,” she says into my ear. She sounds sleepy.
“Are you in bed?” I ask her softly.
“I’m lying here reading. It’s a little early for sleep, even for me.”
“What are you reading?” I ask her.
“It’s a romance novel.”
“I probably haven’t read it.” I feel my lips twitch.
“No, I don’t think you have. So how was the pizza?”
“It was fine. The conversation I was having with a certain interior designer was better than the pizza.”
“Yeah? How come?”
“I got naked photos of her.”
She laughs. “I know for certain I didn’t send you a naked photo.”
“You were in a towel, that’s close enough. I can use my imagination.”
She sighs in my ear and even that quiet sound has something stirring inside me. “You’re quite the flirt, you know that, right?”
“I never really have been before,” I admit. “But I like talking with you. What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Hmm, let me check my schedule. Ah, yes, that’s right, I’m decorating your house.”
“Do you have a tree picked out for the living room yet?”
“Yes, I have all of the trees.”
“Is it real?”
She’s quiet for a moment. “No, they’re all fake trees. They can be reused that way, and you don’t have to worry about watering them. Also, no fire hazard.”
“Well, I think Piper should have a real tree in the living room.”
“I don’t have—”
“And you should go with us tomorrow to pick one out.”
I hear her sigh again. I lean my head back on the couch, wishing she were sitting next to me rather than a block away.
“Reed, I have a full day ahead of me.”
“Duck out around four,” I urge her. “That’s not too early. I’ll pick up Piper, and we can go get a tree. We’re learning to make time, remember?”
“Right,” she says. “Okay. I’ll leave at four, just for you guys.”
“Thank you, Noel.”
“You’re welcome.”
* * * *
“There’s snow!” Piper exclaims as I help her out of the truck I borrowed from Elijah and set her on the ground. She’s bundled up in boots and a pink snowsuit, and her face is lit up like the Fourth of July. “I’ve never played in the snow.”
“You’ve never seen snow?” Noel asks, and Piper shakes her head no.
“Piper and her mother lived on the coast, so they never got any snow over there,” I say.
“I love snow,” Noel says. I picked her up from my house thirty minutes ago. She wouldn’t let us near the place. Instead, she met us at the end of the driveway by the road.
She’s been very secretive when it comes to her work.
This tree farm is up near Snoqualmie, higher in elevation, where they get much more snow than the city does.
“Maybe we should leave Mr. Bunny in the truck,” Noel suggests and squats next to Piper to talk to her. “You don’t want him to get dirty while we play and look for a tree, do you?”
“I don’t wanna leave him,” Piper says as she holds him tightly against her chest. “He’ll be sad.”
“He can sit on the dash and watch us,” Noel says. “Here, let me show you. And if you don’t like it, we’ll take him.”
Piper begrudgingly lets Noel take the bunny. Noel sits him in the window of the truck so he’s facing the tree farm.
“See? He can see everything, so he’s not sad. And he’s safe in there.”
“He’s probably warmer in there, too,” I add, and Piper nods her head.
“He doesn’t have a snowsuit,” she says. “Okay, he can stay there, as long as he can see us. He’s never been away from me. Ever.”
Piper told me not long after she came to live with me that Vanessa gave Piper the bunny when Piper was a baby. Piper said the stuffed animal still smells like her mother.
The thought of it pulls at my heart.
We walk through the snow to talk to someone about borrowing a saw and a wagon, I buy the girls some hot chocolate, and then we’re off, looking for the perfect Christmas tree.
“What about this one?” Noel asks about twenty yards down the path.
“It’s not tall enough,” I say, and she turns to me.
“You have a twelve-foot ceiling in that room.”
“Exactly.”
She laughs. “This tree has to be about eleven feet tall.”
I shake my head and lead them farther down the path. Piper looks as if she’s having a hard time trudging through the snow, so I lift her into the wagon and pull her behind me.
“This is fun!” Piper exclaims, drinking her little hot chocola
te as Noel and I look for a tree.
“She gets to ride,” Noel mumbles.
I’ve got something you can ride.
Of course, I don’t say that out loud, but if I have my way, I’ll whisper it to her later when my daughter isn’t listening to every word we say.
Finally, after about thirty minutes of looking, I find the tree I want.
“This is a Christmas Vacation movie tree,” Noel says with a laugh.
“You’re nuts. It’s perfect.”
“It’s way too big,” she insists, but then holds her hands up and steps back. “But it’s your house, your tree. I just won’t be held responsible when it takes up the whole room, and a squirrel comes flying out of it.”
“It has a squirrel?” Piper asks, excitement in her brown eyes.
“No, honey,” I say with a laugh. “No critters in this tree. Now, you ladies stand back while I cut it down.”
I have to wade my way into limbs, but once I get my footing, it doesn’t take long to cut the trunk and have it fall on its side.
Rather than make Piper get out of the wagon, I grip the trunk in my arms and begin to drag it.
“Isn’t this what we have the wagon for?” Noel asks and grins.
“Let her ride,” I say, shrugging. “You pull her, I’ll drag the tree.”
“You’re a softie,” she says, but the words are gentle, and her golden eyes shine as she reaches for the handle of the wagon. “I kind of like it.”
She walks toward me, and I stop her, run my hand over her coat-covered hip, and kiss her cold forehead.
“I’m glad,” I say and then step back to follow the ladies to the truck.
Noel doesn’t say anything more, but she swallows hard before leading me down the path.
Once I’ve paid for the tree and have loaded it into the bed of the truck, we head back toward the city.
“We’ll drop the tree off at the house.”
“You can put it in the garage,” Noel says sternly. “It’ll warm up in there. No going inside. And don’t look too hard at the outside, either.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I mean it.”
“I won’t look. I swear.” I laugh and enjoy the ride, with Piper in the back talking to her bunny, telling him about our adventure, and Noel next to me.
Wonder With Me Page 4