by Tara Leigh
Landon’s smile was brighter than the sun as he turned back to me. “Harmony names her dogs after country music stars. I keep telling her she needs to branch out of the genre.”
The older woman rolled her eyes. “Just found out we’re getting a few more, too. Rottweilers and pits that survived a dog-fighting operation up north. I’ll be sure to name one of them after you.”
I could understand Harmony’s logic. Landon had the dark, guarded eyes and powerfully muscled body of a Rottweiler, the aggression and tenacity of a pit bull.
But there were glimmers of softness within him. Hints of a tenderness he kept carefully hidden. It was what made the man so damned hard to resist.
Landon rocked back on his heels. “Can’t believe people still do that.”
“You’ve spent enough time here, Landon. You should know by now what’s done to the most vulnerable among us.” Harmony broke the heaviness of the moment by giving Landon’s arm a squeeze and taking a step back. “Now, take Piper back to the barn. Shania doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
Landon
I filled Piper in on Harmony as we walked.
“And she also works the kiddie party circuit in her spare time?”
The tightness in my chest began to ease as we got closer to the back of the property, the sound of barking growing louder with each step. “She doesn’t take any puppies that aren’t old enough to be adopted, charges a thousand bucks for an hour and a half, and usually winds up finding a family to adopt at least one pup. I thought she was crazy when she first told me about it, but I have to say, it’s brilliant.”
As we neared the barn, I noticed Piper walking closer to me. By the time we were a few feet from the entrance, her shoulder was rubbing against my arm. I stopped. “Uh, do you like dogs?”
She bit her lip. “I like puppies and small dogs. Big dogs have always made me a little nervous though.” She swept a curtain of blonde behind her ear, angling the side of her neck toward me and pointing at a small raised scar. “I was practicing cheerleading in a friend’s backyard and out of nowhere, one of her neighbor’s dogs came at me. He only managed the one bite, but if it had been just an inch lower…”
Her voice trailed off and I followed the movement of her finger to the pulsing artery below her skin. So close.
Was life just a series of near fatal accidents?
One inch lower.
One second later.
The finest of lines between life and death.
So fucking fragile.
Before I realized what I was doing, I’d drawn Piper into my arms, covering that patch of skin with my mouth, my tongue sweeping over the tiny abrasion. Why did she have to taste so sweet?
I felt the vibration as she moaned, although the sound was overridden by the cacophony of excited animals. I pulled away reluctantly. “The only one biting you today is me.”
Piper’s eyes had darkened and I reached for her hand, tugging her into the barn that had been converted into a kennel. I would have kissed her again but if I did, I didn’t know that I’d be able to stop.
Most of the dogs were out playing in the fenced paddocks that were now used as dog runs. Shania and her pups were in one of the larger stalls. Resembling a German shepherd, with some Labrador thrown in, she had been found on the side of the highway and brought to Harmony’s by a good Samaritan, abused and near starved, and already pregnant. She was understandably wary of strangers.
The puppies were a mix of colors, as if Shania had decided to dole out a different shade to each. White, gray, brown, black, and tan were either nestled up beside their mom, or exploring the stall, pouncing on scattered toys.
At our footsteps, even the sleeping puppies lifted heads that seemed too big for their bodies before jumping to their paws and trotting over, sniffing at the small gap between the ground and the closed door.
Shania gave a low growl, looking pointedly at me. “Are you sure she likes you?” Piper asked, sounding doubtful.
“Everyone likes me,” I declared. “Shania’s just mad I haven’t been around lately.”
Piper’s expression didn’t waver as she looked from me to Shania and back again. I cleared my throat and opened my mouth. “Come on over, come on in. Pull up a seat, take a load off your feet.” I didn’t sing nearly as well as I played the drums, but I could hold a tune reasonably well.
I paused, trying to remember the words, but Piper nudged me with her elbow. “Keep singing.”
Luckily, the lyrics came to me. “Come on over, come on in. You can unwind, take a load off your mind.” I got halfway through the song before Shania Twain’s namesake rose to a sitting position and gave something resembling a dignified nod.
Piper was quiet at my side as Shania walked slowly to the door.
I crooned the next few lines, only stopping when the dog rose on her hind legs and stuck her head over the door, which only went four feet high
I lifted my hand, holding it out flat for Shania to sniff, and when she was finished with mine, I looked at Piper. “She just needs to check you out first.” Piper offered her hand reluctantly and Shania gave her a cautious sniff before swiping her tongue across her palm.
My breath caught in the back of my throat. Goddamn it. I was jealous of a dog.
Piper tensed, but didn’t jump away, and Shania pulled her paws off the door and backed up a few steps. “Does she want us to go in?”
I looked at Shania. “No, not yet. But I think she just told us we could come back.”
I led Piper through the barn and out back toward the paddock area, explaining how Harmony separated the dogs by personality, not necessarily by size. I’d been volunteering here for a few years and I’d learned that the social norms of abused animals were subverted, so it was often necessary to keep them in small groups.
I reached for a stray tennis ball with my right hand before remembering that my left was the stronger of the two—for now, at least. Lobbing the ball over the nearest fence, I leaned against the wood and watched the dogs give chase.
Piper joined me, sighing. “You have a real gift, Landon.”
“Nah. I can carry a tune, but Shane definitely deserves to hold the microphone.”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t talking about your voice—although I don’t think anyone would boo you off the stage. I meant with animals. Shania likes you.”
I shrugged. “Of course she does. What’s not to like?”
She tilted her head to the side, but with the sunglasses covering her eyes, I couldn’t read her expression. “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Deflect anything that isn’t some sort of sexual come-on.”
“Why shouldn’t everything with a beautiful girl be a sexual come-on?”
Not even a tiny twitch of those delicious lips. “There’s more to you than what’s behind your zipper, and I’m not talking about what you do on stage.”
This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have. “Nah.” I stepped back from the fence, putting my hands in my pockets. “I’m not that deep. Want to see the dogs that Harmony is training as therapy animals? They’re over—”
Piper grabbed my arm and I swear a bolt of electricity slammed through my bones. “Just answer one question for me and I’ll let you off the hook.”
I widened my stance, planting my hands firmly on Piper’s hips. “What hook is that, baby?” Holding her captive, I closed the distance between us, fitting her perfectly against me. “Maybe I don’t want to be let off. Maybe I want to be firmly entrenched.”
This time, there was at least a glimmer of a smile on Piper’s face. “See, you like how I tease you. I know you do.”
“Yeah,” she answered softly. “I do. But I also appreciate a kick-ass Shania Twain impersonation for a canine audience.”
“Don’t forget the blonde who was standing right next to me.”
To my surprise, the beginnings of her smile slid right off her face. “I see you, you know. You can drop the act with me.”
>
I raised my hands to cradle her face between my palms, staring into her eyes. “There’s no act, Piper. With me, what you see is what you get.”
“Oh yeah? Want to know what I see?”
No, not if I wasn’t going to like the answer.
But she spoke up before I had a chance. “I see a guy that’s trying too hard. Killing it on stage, slaying every woman that crosses his path, getting into trouble just to earn that bad boy reputation he wears so well. Landon, the part of you I actually like is the one you’re trying to hide. You’re not as big of a douche as you want everyone to think you are. And you’re about to tell me exactly why you disappeared on me years ago. Over lunch. Your treat.”
Chapter Thirteen
Piper
We’re here.”
Landon looked around, making no move to open his door. “Where’s here?”
I pointed to the food truck that was parked fifty yards away. “The corn tortillas are made fresh, and everything else is organic and local. I’m pretty sure your nutritionist would approve, and they’re the best tacos you’ll ever have.”
He slanted me a dubious look. “I think your standards are lower than mine.”
Rolling my eyes at his arrogance, I pushed at the door. “I highly doubt that.”
Waving at the woman behind the counter, I sat at the farthest picnic table, my spine prickling in awareness as Landon’s shadow fell over me. He sighed. “What do you want?”
I looked up at him. “For you to stop hovering and sit down.”
“Your tacos aren’t going to order themselves,” he replied.
“Actually, they are.”
Just then, the woman I had waved at came to our table carrying a tray laden with food. “Piper, it’s been too long.”
I jumped back to my feet as she set the tray on the table, sliding into an embrace that smelled of salt water and fresh cilantro. “I know, I’m sorry.” I took a deep breath, feeling my shoulders relax. “Lupe, this is Landon.”
Lupe grinned at him. “I love when you bring your friends here,” she said, giving me a last squeeze and hurrying back to her customers.
Landon finally sat down, looking at me curiously. “First, eat,” I said, helping myself to one of the small tortillas stuffed with guacamole, vegetables, and fresh fish. Each one was only a few bites, but they were heaven.
He picked up a taco, devouring it. “I stand corrected,” he said, reaching for another one. “How did you discover this place?”
“Lupe’s husband is one of the scrappiest paparazzos you’ll ever meet. He always shops around his worst photos to celebs’ agents before taking them to the tabloids. Not only do we pay just as well, then we owe him.”
He grimaced. “It’s like buying your belongings back from the thief who stole them.”
“You got it. There’s definitely a dark underbelly to fame.”
His dark eyes appraised me quietly, roving over my face and delving deep. “Oh believe me, I know.” I squirmed on the hard bench, taking a sip from my drink.
Lupe came out with another tray before we had finished the food in front of us. This time, Landon turned his charm on her, and in minutes she was giggling like a teenager, demanding that we get married and make lots of beautiful babies.
“Lupe.” I flushed. “He’s a client.”
She put her hands on her hips, a dismissive expression on her face. “I thought you said he was a friend.”
“No, you said he was a friend,” I pointed out.
“And I’m always right,” she pronounced, then flounced back to the truck where her nephew was struggling to keep up with demand.
“I take it you haven’t brought Andrew here.”
“Adam,” I corrected. “And no. He’s more of a white tablecloth kind of guy.”
“Maybe you should. Lupe could have told him to put a ring on it.”
“What makes you think I’m in a rush to get married?”
“You aren’t?”
“In a rush? No. And before you ask, I don’t want kids either.”
He snorted. “Chicks are biologically programmed to want to reproduce.”
“The only biological programming I’m feeling right now is an intense aversion to being compared to poultry. Just because I have ovaries doesn’t mean I intend to use them.” I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “For god’s sake, I’d probably make a worse parent that you.”
Landon looked offended. “I’ll have you know, there are a lot of women who consider me baby daddy material.”
I nearly spit out my mouthful, chewing furiously to get it down my throat. “No way. You?”
Landon frowned. “You don’t think so?”
“No, I don’t. No offense.”
“To be honest, I don’t understand it either.” A smile stole onto his face as he leaned his forearms against the table. “So tell me—what has you bucking the pull of genetics?”
My gaze drifted to a family of five sitting at one of the tables. Mom, Dad, two kids, and a baby. No electronic devices to be seen. Just people sharing a meal, engaging with each other. I inclined my head their way. “That’s why,” I said. “Some people are meant to have families that look like that. Some just…aren’t.”
Landon studied them unobtrusively for a moment, a look of longing passing over his face. “That’s an observation, not a reason. Why aren’t you one of those people?” He waited for my response for a moment, and when I stayed silent, stood up and took the tray with the remnants of our lunch to the garbage bin before going over to the tip jar. Lupe swatted his hand away, but from the look on her face, he managed.
The line in front of her truck had grown even longer, so I blew Lupe a kiss and waved rather than interrupt. Falling into stride beside Landon, we walked in silence to my car. Instead of getting in, I took a seat on the hood, sliding out of my sandals and putting my bare feet on the bumper.
“My father was in love with my aunt, my mother’s sister, when they were young. My mom and aunt were twins. Anyway, my aunt was seeing some guy behind my dad’s back, and she told my mom, who apparently had a crush on my dad, to cover for her. To go out with my dad while she went on a date with the other guy.”
I glanced up at Landon, looking for judgment. His face was impassive though, and he motioned for me to continue. “Of course, immediately afterward, my aunt realized that my father was the love of her life, and swore my mother to secrecy about trading places. Which would have worked, I guess, until my mom found out she was pregnant.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. My mother and aunt had to come clean about the trick they pulled, and my father married my mother to do the right thing.” I added air quotes. “But he never forgave her.”
“Your father didn’t realize he slept with the wrong sister, and he’s blaming someone besides himself?”
I looked up sharply. I’d never thought of it from that perspective. “I—I guess.”
“How about your mom? How did she take it?”
“Well, she had a quickie wedding to a man who hated her and basically lost her sister over it.”
“You found out about all of this from your aunt?”
“No. I’ve never even met her,” I admitted. “My grandmother had Alzheimer’s, and she lived with us for a while. She thought I was my mother toward the end, scolding me for bringing shame to our family and costing her a daughter. It got to the point where I could barely go home because my grandmother would fly into a rage every time she saw me.”
“I’m sorry, Pippa.”
My throat was tight, but I kept talking, unable to stop the flow of words now that they’d started. “Don’t be. At least then I understood why my mother had always foisted me on my dad like some kind of consolation prize. Proof that what she did had been worth it in the end. He never bought it though, no matter how hard I tried to be the perfect daughter.” I didn’t realize I was crying until Landon swept his thumbs below my eyes. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to prove that I’m good enough. Th
at I belong. I don’t need to bring a kid into my particular brand of crazy. It would be cruel.”
Landon
I pulled Piper into my arms, overwhelmed by her honesty. Looking back, neither of us had shared many details of our upbringing. But now I understood exactly why she’d been so reluctant to share them with me. With anyone. It was hard to talk about things you didn’t want to think about.
I’d spent the first few years of my life with crack addicts, then nearly a decade bouncing between group homes and foster families. Beneath my tattoos were the scars of my upbringing. Knife wounds and cigarette burns. I’d felt the sting of abuse more times than I wanted to admit.
But Piper’s story was different. It wasn’t about inherently evil people. Just a crazy confluence of events that came together to destroy an entire family.
Piper’s perfect facade made sense now. Never a hair out of place, her apartment spotless, always on time. She had coped by taking control of every possible detail.
I’d coped by losing control. Beyond the drinking and drugs, I barely glanced at a watch, left my house in Ana’s hands. Walked away from my family.
Piper and I were so much alike that we were exact opposites. Mirror images.
But looking at her now, I saw the cracks. Tiny fissures where I just might be able to slip through.
If she let me.
If I wanted to.
Would she?
Did I?
Fuck, yeah. More than anything.
And I was also beginning to realize I didn’t know Piper as well as I’d thought. Some things hadn’t changed. Her favorite color was still blue, she still moaned at the first bite of a meal—especially when she was hungry—and she still couldn’t sleep with her feet under the covers.
But now I also knew that she’d held so much of herself back.
Just like I had.
Maybe the truth was that neither of us was ready to commit to each other back then. That our timing had been off.