Captivated: Emerson Falls, Book 3 (Emerson Falls Series)

by Harlow James

  And more importantly, why do I want her to see that? That’s the question that has quickly become the sole focus of my mind, and I’m having a difficult time answering it.

  “Good night, Cash,” she pulls her arm away once more and then I let her go, watching her return to her friends, where the dark-haired one greets her with a high five. Fuck! She knew what she came over here to do? Now I look like even more of a jackass.

  I slink back against the wooden backing of the booth, sulking and pissed about how a date with Misty ended up fucking up things even more with Piper—not that I want to date, Piper. Or do I? Is that what I’m feeling? The desire to have more with a woman than a one-night-stand?

  Christ! What is going on with me?

  “Oh, my God! Who is that woman so I can become her new best friend!” Clara plops down in the vacant side of the booth as Cooper slides in beside her. Drinks in hand with pleased looks on their faces, they watch for my reaction to the slap heard ‘round the bar.

  “Her name is Piper, and she just…”

  “Put you in your place? Smacked the shit out of you in front of everyone? Ran off Misty and saved your dick from rotting away?” Cooper chuckles while taking a sip of his beer.

  “Well, yeah, I guess you could say that,” I contemplate, while still watching her across the bar. She throws her head back in laughter and I can’t help but study the lines in her neck and the smile that slides so easily across her face. But then when her head drops again, I catch her searching the room, like she’s looking for someone or something. There’s a glimpse of fear on her face, and it happened so quickly, most people would have missed it. But not me. I’m quickly becoming an expert in reading Piper, especially when she tells me she’s not jealous, but all of her actions say otherwise.

  Yeah, I’ve got your number, Piper. I have a feeling you want me as badly as I want you. And you seem scared, frightened about something too. Maybe that’s why you’re so quick to push me away. You don’t want me to see what you’re hiding from.

  Piper quickly stands and hugs each one of her friends goodbye, bee-lining for the door.

  I should just let her leave, let her walk away and listen to that voice in my head that is telling me to let her go. But there’s this other voice, the one that’s speaking to me in a language I’ve never learned—the one that says not to let her go without some sort of explanation.

  “I’ll be right back,” I say to Cooper and Clara without ever taking my eyes off of Piper, standing from the booth and strutting to the front doors, following her out into the chill of the night. The overhanging roof provides some shelter from the elements, but it’s the beginning of October and the cold is about to hit our small town.

  “Piper!” I yell as I watch her legs carry her away from me, down the steps and into the parking lot. A turn of her head over her shoulders tells me she heard me, but she twists right back around and keeps walking. As the doors to the bar open behind me, the lyrics to Katy Perry’s Dark Horse echo into the night.

  “So you wanna play with magic, boy you should know what you’re falling for…”

  And in that moment, it hits me. I’m under Piper’s spell, and there is no going back.

  “Piper,” I finally reach her, grabbing her arm so she spins around and I pin her up against her car.

  “What do you want, Cash?” Those dark blue eyes peer up into mine, and in that moment, I don’t think—I just react.

  Smashing my lips to hers, Piper lets out a shriek of surprise before she opens her mouth and lashes her tongue with mine, moaning with every stroke. One of my hands finds her hip, the other encircles the back of her neck, pulling her even closer to me while I take what I’ve wanted since the first moment I saw her. She’s hot and wet, inviting me to explore every inch of her mouth as her arms wrap around my neck and she closes the space between us, pressing our bodies together so the friction ignites even stronger than it already has been.

  Moving her hips forward, we grind our bodies together shamelessly, letting every sound of pleasure coming from our kiss flow out into the crisp night air, while the world continues to spin around us.

  There’s chemistry here—it’s undeniable, unbreakable—burning so hot that my dick grows painfully hard in just the few seconds I’ve been touching her.

  “Cash,” she shoves me away, her hand coming up to cover her mouth, registering the shock she must feel from my actions and her honest gratification of the moment. But fuck if I wouldn’t do it all over again.

  “Piper…,” I say while struggling to catch my breath. “Did you feel that? Is that what you wanted?” My voice is hoarse, but my eyes are locked on hers, reading her like a fucking book. Her chest is heaving, her eyes are wide, and she’s borderline furious but clearly turned on.

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve kissing me like that,” she finally spits out, laced with contempt for me. But I see her eyes bounce back down to my lips, so I know she wants more. She can act mad all she wants, but she kissed me back. I felt that shit deep down in my bones.

  “Well, you make me crazy... so full of pent up sexual frustration, I figured why not let some of it out?”

  “You’re such an ass,” she shakes her head, trying to hide the smile peeking out from the corner of her lips.

  “Not the first or last time I’ll hear that jab, sweetheart. But I think you secretly like that about me.”

  “I don’t know what to think about you.”

  “Well, let me help you figure that out. Give you more to think about.” I step into her bubble again and this time, kiss her more seductively as I feel her melt in my arms.

  “I can’t want you, Cash….” She mumbles against my lips before our tongues tangle again for a few more seconds. “It’s all wrong…”

  “I don’t want to want you either, Piper… but fuck, I can’t help it, woman. Now shut up and kiss me.”

  Chapter 8

  Piper

  “Great! Now everyone find the dark red paint that is on your pallet and gather a few drops on your brush... we’re going to start the roof of the lighthouse.”

  I demonstrate the shape and strokes needed to bring the top of the lighthouse structure to life as I stand at the front of the room, filled with members of the Sagewood Retirement Center that signed up for the first painting class that I’m teaching.

  And boy—there must have been nothing else going on worthy of their time this evening, because this room is filled to the brim. Either that, or these old people just really love to paint. I settled on the lighthouse picture I’ve done a few times back home because it was always a hit and easy enough to start with for beginners, but some of these folks are showing me up with their skills.

  “It’s hard not to flirt when I see a beautiful woman, especially as memorable as you.”

  As I paint and try to refocus my mind for the thousandth time tonight, Cash’s attempt at an apology/flirting keeps ringing in my ears. And then the memory of his kiss hits me, and I swear I blush every single time.

  It’s been a few days since the bar night when I smacked him in the face and caused a scene, the memory still bringing a smile to my face at the thought of his surprise from my actions.

  But God, that felt good to put him in his place. No woman should be subjected to a date that a man didn’t really want in the first place—and as the result of a bet, no less. I don’t know Misty personally, but I’ve heard enough about her. And I don’t care how brazen you are, no one deserves to be treated like that. But giving Cash a Chlamydia diagnosis in front of her was just too much fun, the reminder making me chuckle quietly until more of his desperate attempt to apologize comes to life.

  “You’re breathtaking, Piper. And maybe I didn’t show that in the most eloquent of ways, but it’s true.”

  Why those words make my stomach flip, I’m not sure. And that’s what’s so frustrating about Cash Williams in the grand scheme of things—my reaction to him. He’s a man I should pay no attention to in the slightest. Heck, no man shou
ld be on my radar at all, let alone one who clearly has a reputation for his affliction for the opposite sex. I came here to hide without putting my life on hold while my parents handle the shit show back home that threatened my life.

  “Piper… did you feel that? Is that what you wanted?”

  There’s a pit in my stomach when I think about how I let him kiss me after I chastised him for his treatment of Misty. But I gave in, listened to my vagina instead of my brain, only further solidifying that something is seriously wrong with me because I have never been attracted to a man like Cash Williams in my life, and suddenly, he’s all I can think about. One moment, I want to ball tap him and lecture him about how disrespectful he is—and the next, I have dirty dreams that wake me up in a sweat, in which he shows me all the skills his reputation suggests he has perfected. And if his kiss in any indication, the man has skills in spades.

  In the last eight years, I’ve only been with one man, the man I thought I was gonna marry until I realized I didn’t know him at all and he endangered my life. But Mason was never a crass, cocky, and confident man like Cash Williams has proven to be. He was sweet, the perfect boyfriend from the familiar circle of affluent families we associated ourselves with. We were the golden couple, betrothed from the moment we started dating, and I was okay with that, as long as Mason supported my dream to become a nurse. Most of the girls in our circle didn’t work by choice, but I had a dream, and I wasn’t going to give that up to be the doting house wife. Some people scoffed at the idea, but my parents and Mason saw nothing wrong with it.

  Little did I know that part of his agreeable demeanor was so that my focus was elsewhere while he was living an entirely different life right under my nose—choices and decisions that came back to jeopardize my safety.

  I was quiet and kept to myself in my life back home, so absorbed in my own objectives that I never had time to ruffle feathers, nor did I have the desire to. But since arriving in Emerson Falls and being forced to start a new life, something in me has shifted—a bold, headstrong version of myself who never wants to be taken advantage of again. As much as I fought my parents on the idea of leaving, part of me is grateful. Because not only did they grant me safety and my freedom, but they granted me the confidence to take care of myself.

  And if one thing is for certain, Cash makes me feel bolder and wilder than I ever have been. Maybe that’s the draw to him—what he elicits in me.

  “Well, shit!” An old man in the back exclaims, drawing the attention of several people as he pops up in his seat, red paint splattered all over his pants.

  “George, sit down so it doesn’t run!” The woman next to him shouts as the red color drips down the front of his khaki trousers.

  “Oh boy. Okay, just sit there, George. Let me get some wet paper towels…” I wet a stack of napkins and start to move towards the back of the room, but as I stride over to where George is seated, I collide with a warm and hard body that almost knocks me off of my feet.

  “Whoa,” the deep voice travels in my ears, sending a rush of warmth down my spine and fires up my heartbeat as his hands grasp my arms to steady me.

  When I find my footing, I widen my eyes as I stare back at none other than Cash Williams, the confident smirk on his face appearing one minute and then quickly vanishing the next.

  “You okay?” His eyes search mine for an answer, but all I can do is get lost in the flecks of yellow woven in his ice blue orbs, hypnotizing me alongside his strong jaw and a fresh haircut. What is it about him that screams dangerous but also kicks my libido into overdrive? Why am I so drawn to this man who just the other night went on a date with a woman as part of a bet, and then I let him kiss me senseless? And leaving him the other night in the parking lot was so messy—neither one of us truly asking what happens now. It was awkward because there was no clear answer of how to move forward.

  That isn’t the type of man any woman, especially me, should want to be associated with. And yet, I’m drawn to him, attracted to him on a level that is unhealthy with the way he makes my pulse pick up.

  “Uh, yes, thank you. George,” I turn my back to Cash now to assess the mess on George’s pants. “Here.” I hand him the wet paper towels and then he proceeds to mop up the globs of paint. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

  “Nonsense, Piper. This isn’t your fault,” he gestures to his lap. “This is my own clumsiness. I’m just gonna go throw these in the wash and change, and I’ll be right back.” He offers me a polite smile and a quick pat on my shoulder as he turns to leave.

  “I know your job is to help them have fun, but having them take off their pants is pushing it, don’t you think?”

  Turning slowly to shoot him a glare, Cash stands smugly with his arms folded across his broad chest beneath an OC Rays t-shirt.

  “Cash! You made it!” Birdie’s voice echoes behind me as I turn to her, confused even more now by their connection.

  “Hey, Birdie,” he closes the gap between the two of them and lays a sweet peck on her cheek.

  What the ever loving hell is going on here? Cash knows Birdie?

  “Piper, this is my son, Cash, that I was telling you about. Cash, this is Piper, one of the new volunteers and such a beautiful young lady, don’t you think?”

  Cash is her SON? I’m so freaking confused right now…

  Cash shoots a curious look at Birdie before he focuses back on me, fighting the urge to snatch a look of my entire body, but I can see the desire burning in his eyes. Whatever this attraction is between us, it’s not a simmer. Nope, it’s a raging inferno.

  “She sure is, Birdie.”

  “Well, come on. Samuel and I saved you a seat. Piper needs to get back to her job, I’m sure. You two can talk more later.” Birdie winks at me and then pulls Cash behind her, but not before he glances back at me with a look on his face of delight, yet utter confusion.

  Yeah, I’m just as confused as you there, Cash. What the hell are you doing here?

  Chapter 9

  Cash

  “Alright, spill. What’s going on here?”

  “Whatever do you mean?” Birdie coyly replies, picking up her brush and filling in the red roof of her lighthouse.

  “I feel like this was a setup. Scrabble is our game, so when you suggested we do a paint night instead, I should have known you were up to something.”

  “I just thought trying something new would be fun, huh, Samuel?”

  “Yes, dear,” Samuel replies and then shoots me a knowing look behind Birdie’s head.

  “You two are so full of shit. Did you know Piper was running this class?” I pick up the brush and start swiping a teal blue color across the bottom of the canvas to create the water. I’m a few steps behind obviously, but there was traffic on the way here that made me late.

  “Why would that matter? Do you know Piper?” Birdie shoots a side-eye glance, and then the corner of her mouth tips up.

  “Uh, kinda.”

  “She wouldn’t happen to be the same Piper you pulled over a few weeks ago, is she?”

  Fuck. I forgot that I told Birdie and Samuel about that. Of course, they don’t know all the interactions that have happened between us since then—the flirting in the hospital, the encounter at Tony’s, the kiss that still makes my dick rock hard at the thought.

  “Maybe… but why do you care?” I feel my anger rising like a small child, the desire to throw a tantrum building in my chest. I feel like Birdie is trying to intrude on my life, and I’m not sure that this is an intrusion I’ll be okay with.

  “When have I not cared, Cash?” Birdie drops her brush and turns to face me completely now.

  “That’s not what I’m saying…”

  “Is there something I don’t know about? Have you and Piper crossed paths again since you pulled her over?’

  “Yeah, a few times,” I offer, not needing Birdie to know every detail of how I acted like an ass, proved I am an ass, and how I still feel like an ass. But kissing her in the parking lot was a mo
ve I don’t regret for a second. In fact, I thought it was pretty badass, if I do say so myself.

  Birdie stares at me, narrowing her eyes and giving me that look she’s perfected over the years, the one that tells me she knows I’m keeping something from her. Turning back to my painting, I rinse the color from my brush and then pick up the sky blue color to paint the top of the canvas.

  “You like her, don’t you?” Birdie whispers softly, leaning in closer to me.

  “I don’t like women, Birdie,” I spit back, avoiding her eyes.

  “No, I think you like this one. It’s the only explanation as to why you’re avoiding my eyes right now. Look at me, Cash,” she demands and I give in because I respect her enough to do so. But believe me, I’m not happy about it. If it were anyone else, I’d tell them to fuck off. “I know how you’ve chosen to live your life in your youth,” she says, and I instantly swallow hard. I’ve never discussed my extra-curricular activities with women with Birdie, but she also knows I don’t really date the same woman twice. “Word around town is that you’re a man whore, does that sound about right?”

  Fuck. Am I really having this conversation with the woman I consider my mother?

  “Uh, well…”

  “Look, I don’t need details, but people talk. And old people really talk. I also know that you don’t keep the same woman around for very long and you’re young and probably sowing your wild oats, does that sound about right?”

  I don’t answer, waiting to see where she’s going with this.

  “You’re a shameless flirt, Cash, and you always have been, even when you were a teenager. You know you’re a good-looking man and keeping women at arm’s length allows you to avoid feelings…”

  “Birdie…”

  “Piper is beautiful, kind, smart, and talented, and I think she’s making you feel things that you’ve always avoided.” I hate that Birdie can read me so transparently, but she hit the nail on the head. Piper does make me feel things—more than just physical desire, although I’d definitely say that’s the strongest emotion I can identify. Watching her move around the room, rattle off directions and demonstrate the next step in the painting—she’s comfortable and confident and reacts to people in such a natural way. You can’t help but be drawn to her.