by Harlow James
“I’ve heard of places like this is various cities. There was actually one in Denver when…” she cuts herself off, instant worry apparent on her face, pulling me from the emotional spiral I was just sliding down.
“Denver, huh?”
“Uh, yeah. When I was driving out to Emerson Falls, I stopped in Denver for a few days. There was fence like this in a part of the city with hundreds more locks than this one, obviously,” she fidgets nervously, playing with her hair. “I know there’s a fence like this in Paris too. It must be a thing,” she shrugs. But this is not the first time I’ve noticed her acting strange when she spoke of her life before Oregon—and I can’t help the inkling in my mind that something doesn’t quite add up.
Shaking off my intuition, I decide to focus on ending the night on a high note. Once I get Piper back to the main part of the park, I order an Uber to take us back to her apartment, and then me to my house. Maintaining my gentlemanly ways, I open the door for Piper and help her out of the car, asking the driver to stay put while we say our goodbyes.
“Well, Cash… I just want you to know how impressed I am with your ability to roll with the punches tonight. I know tonight didn’t go according to your plan, but regardless, I loved it,” she smiles up at me when we arrive at her door, and that million-dollar smile makes me feel like the richest man on Earth.
“So, did I impress you enough to secure a second date then?” I ask, knowing that a second date with Piper would be the only second date I’ve ever agreed to.
Piper tips her head back and forth, like she’s weighing her decision. “I don’t know. I mean, you did tease me about my obsession with ketchup.”
“Hey, if I can’t tease you about your quirks, then this will never work.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“So what do you say? Are you willing to give me more of your time?” I search her eyes for an answer as she stares intensely back at me, desperate for more of her—any part she’s willing to give me. If the sweat that has finally dried on my back and the finally calm beat of my heart is any indication, I’d say I made it through the date and lived to tell the tale, despite my intense reservation about how it would all pan out.
“I think I’d be okay with that,” she smirks.
“Good.” I wait a few moments before my desire takes over and I crush my mouth to hers, backing us up against her door and ravishing her lips with my own. We’re a mess of frantic hands searching out flesh to touch, tongues seeking each other in a heated dance, lips pressed so tightly together, no air could escape or break in between the seal of our mouths.
Piper’s hands find the back of my head, her fingernails scratching across my neck and scalp, making me groan at the feeling and fueling my hard-on even more. My hands move down from her hips to that luscious ass that has been taunting me since the first time I saw it, grabbing both handfuls of her flesh and squeezing hard. One of her legs lifts up and wraps around my waist, giving me the perfect opening to press our bodies together so I can grind my dick against the heat in between her legs.
“Cash,” she moans through a break in our kiss, the sound of my name coming off of her tongue fueling me even further.
“Fuck, Piper.” I dive deeper into her mouth this time, so deep I feel I might be digging for her tonsils at this point. But no matter how intense the kiss grows, no matter how hot and wet and noisy we get, I feel like it could never be enough.
Fighting my own desire, I push back from her in a flash, our heavy breathing filtering between us.
“Cash,” Piper sighs, her chest heaving as we both struggle to gain our composure.
“I can’t fight what you do to me, Piper. But I know that I need to walk away right now before we both go too far. I want you, there’s no doubt about that. But not tonight. Soon though,” I reach up and caress her cheek with my thumb as she leans her head into my palm. “Soon.”
“Good night, Cash,” she whispers, pressing a kiss to my palm before turning to unlock her door and scurrying inside.
Stomping down the sidewalk back to the Uber, I try to adjust my dick in my jeans, frustrated that yet again my hand will be my company tonight as I release the pent up need I’ve been harboring for over a month now. But after tonight, I know without a doubt—when the time comes to get Piper naked beneath me, it will be explosive. And it won’t just be about the physical connection, because true to my intuition, Piper and I are connected on an entirely different level too.
Chapter 15
Piper
“Did you know there’s a fence full of locks in the park behind town hall?” I ask Jess as we eat our lunch between processing patients in the ER. I swear, the more I learn about this town, the more I fall in love with it and the thought of leaving one day makes my chest ache.
“Oh! Like the one in Paris?”
“Yes! We discovered it the other night,” I reply before popping a salt and vinegar chip in my mouth.
“We? You’re a ‘we’ now?” Jess grins over at me, taking a sip of her iced tea.
I let out a sigh, although I can’t fight the smile that graces my lips. “Ugh. Yes? No? A label has not been declared, but it was definitely one of the best dates I’ve ever been on.”
It’s been three days since my date with Cash and the first day I’ve seen Jess since. Even though we’ve spoken through text multiple times a day since then, I can’t stop thinking about how perfect the night turned out to be with him. Not only did Cash show me his romantic side, but he showed me his human side—the part of him that had to overcome obstacles thrown in his way while he was desperate to prove he was worthy of my time. The truth is, I never questioned whether he was worthy. My reservations in dating him stemmed from how I felt he could break my heart. His lack of a dating history is alarming, his treatment of women as nothing more than someone to warm his bed for sex, his confidence in his ability to sweet-talk his way out of anything that jeopardized his reputation—those are the things that made we want to run the other way.
And yet, I didn’t listen to my concerns, or rather, they were quickly blurred the more I got to know him. Cash Williams is an anomaly—the exception, not the rule. Men like him rarely change their ways for a woman. It happens in the movies, in a book, or on TV. But not in real life.
And yet it’s happening to me. Only the second man that I’ve ever had feelings for is breaking all the rules and flipping my world upside down, even more than it already has been in the last half of a year.
“He laid it on thick then?”
I laugh around a mouthful of food, chewing completely before answering her. “Actually, no. The night was one bump in the road after the other, but it was real. And in all honesty, that’s exactly what I wanted. I grew up around fake people, so I know what a façade looks like. And even though I knew Cash was desperate to impress me, I never once questioned how genuine he was or whether he was actually having a good time. Because we were both so immersed in each other, it felt easy, and made it very difficult to say goodnight.”
“Well, by the way you’ve been smiling like your face hurts since we started our shift, I’m going to say I’m happy for you. I’m surprised, for sure. But it sounds like maybe this is the start of something.”
“It’s so scary, Jess. But I feel like I get to see the real him, not the person he portrays to everyone else, or the personality his reputation lives up to. Don’t get me wrong, he’s cocky and sarcastic and oozes a level of confidence that definitely explains why women are drawn to him. But he makes me laugh and I don’t feel like I have to put up a front for him. I’ve done that before back home, and it’s exhausting.”
“Finding someone you can be yourself around is priceless, Piper. Just be careful.” She reaches for my hand.
“I will. I just can’t wait to see him again,” I say just as Jess leans her body to the side, scoping out something behind me.
“Seems like someone’s ears were burning,” she grins, causing me to turn around and instantly light up at the si
ght of Cash in his uniform striding towards me.
He looks so powerful and confident as his long legs eat up the tile floor, crossing multiple halls before arriving right in front of me with a light blue coffee cup in hand.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he smiles and my entire body heats up with his words and his proximity.
“Hey there, Deputy Williams.”
Leaning down to line his mouth up with my ear, he lowers his voice so only the two of us can hear. “I fucking love when you call me that.”
Tingles travel all over my skin. “Good to know. So, what are you doing here? Did you hit your head again and get lost?”
Cash chuckles. “Quite the opposite, actually. I came here with the sole intention of seeing you and bringing you an extra cup of coffee to get you through your shift.” Cash hands me the cup of coffee, labeled Skye’s Creations, a local coffee shop I’ve heard of in town but have yet to stop into.
“Well, that was thoughtful of you.” Reaching for the cup, I take a sip and close my eyes as the flavors of caramel and chocolate hit my tongue. “Oh, God. That’s delicious.”
“It’s a caramel delight flavored coffee, inspired by the Girl Scout Cookie. It’s my favorite thing she makes.”
“It might just be my new favorite thing too now,” I say before taking another drink. A throat clearing behind us reminds me that Jess is still next to me, hearing our conversation.
“Sorry. Cash, this is Jess. Jess, this is Cash Williams,” I gesture with my cup in hand, formally introducing them even though Jess is all too familiar with Cash and his reputation.
“Nice to meet you,” Cash replies as they shake hands.
“Yeah, I’ve known of you but never formally met the infamous playboy deputy,” Jess snarkily replies. “If you hurt her, I know how to slip you something so it makes it look like you died in your sleep,” she threatens, leaning in closer to him while keeping a hold of his hand.
“Jesus, Jess,” I whisper.
“Point made and taken. Don’t worry though, Jess. I have no intention of hurting her. In fact, I think I’m the one that stands to be hurt more if she doesn’t let me take her out again,” he winks at me.
“Is that your way of trying to make plans for our next date?”
“Damn right. Listen, I have to get to work, but I’ll be at the retirement center Wednesday night. Wanna come play a game of Scrabble with me and Birdie and then we can grab some dinner?”
I can’t help the instant giddiness I feel at the prospect of being alone with him again. I’m crushing on him, hard—a familiar feeling I recall only one other time when I was in middle school. There was a new boy in my class and the instant I saw him, my pulse picked up. I doodled my name attached to his last name and fantasized about being his girlfriend one day. But then he became boyfriend-and-girlfriend with this girl I hated, and it ruined my attraction to him, and broke my heart.
Even the prospect of dating Mason never made me react the way I do at the anticipation of dating Cash. He’s making me feel every stereotype I’ve ever heard about—how you have trouble focusing on everyday life because you can’t stop thinking about the other person, and that all you want to do is spend time with them and ignore your friends and family, eagerly immersing yourself in a world where only the two of you exist.
Every time I think back to our date, I can’t help the euphoric feeling that takes over my body. Long gone are the thoughts from when I first met him and when he came onto me in his hospital bed, when the strongest feeling I felt towards him was disgust layered with annoying attraction. It’s almost like his kiss has erased any ill thoughts I ever had about him, which is so dangerous—because if his kiss can erase my concerns, I can’t imagine what sex with him will do to my conscience—especially because as I continue to fall for him and let myself surrender to the idea of moving on with my life, my old life haunts me and reminds me of the fact that I’m lying to him about who I really am. The awareness of the truth is poking me in the shoulder, reiterating that I have secrets to keep and my safety to think about.
But right now that blinding smile and those blue eyes that suck me in are staring down at me, waiting for an answer to his question.
“Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle me kicking your ass in Scrabble?”
Cash throws his head back in laughter. “Oh, don’t count your chickens before they hatch, Piper. You have no idea who you’re about to encounter.”
“Challenge accepted, Deputy. I’ll see you in a few days.” I rise on my toes to plant a chaste kiss on his lips, the disappointment evident in his face when I pull away too quickly.
“Have a good shift.” He kisses me on the cheek and then turns to leave, but not before someone pummels into me from behind, causing me to fall forward, luckily into Cash’s arms.
“Hey, buddy. Watch where you’re going!” Cash bellows as he helps me find my footing again, addressing the man I can see out of the corner of my eye.
“Uh. Sorry. Seems I stubbed my toe on the ground and it caused me to lose my balance,” his deep voice resonates, and instantly I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
That voice. I’ve heard it before.
No. That can’t be.
As I turn to take in the man entirely, his eyes seek mine out, but a wave of relief washes over me when I realize I’ve never met this man before in my life.
A bald head, beady black eyes, and a dark beard round out his face attached to a large, burly body. He looks like he could be a bouncer at a club with how he’s built, but I’m positive I don’t know him. Although with the way he’s studying my face, it’s almost like he’s contemplating the same thing.
“Accidents happen. It’s not a big deal.” I rest my hand on Cash’s arm, silently communicating for him to stand down. Narrowed eyes and a calculating look on his face, he’s giving the vibe that he could shoot this man right now just for crashing into me.
“Sorry again,” the man grins and then walks away, but not before turning back and locking eyes with me once more.
And there go the hairs rising tall again.
“Are you alright?” Cash peers down at me, moving his eyes all up and down my body like I might be bleeding or something.
I chuckle. “Yes, I’m fine. But thanks for being so concerned. That was kind of hot,” I whisper, bouncing my eyebrows a few times.
“My pleasure,” he grins and then kisses me once more before he leaves. “Have a good night.”
“Holy crap. I feel like my eyelashes were just burned off from the fire burning between you two.” Jess pulls my attention back to her since I was watching Cash walk away from me.
“Right? God, I’m in over my head.”
“Uh, yeah, I think you are. But come on, we’ve got work to do. Lunch is over, Piper. Let me take a drink of that?” Jess reaches for my coffee and takes a taste. “Damn, that is good. I haven’t had that one yet.”
“I think I may need one of these during every shift from now on,” I joke and then walk back to the nurse’s station.
It’s a slow night in the ER, which gives me more time to dwell and think, my mind veering back to that man that ran into me. There’s something about him that’s making me uncomfortable, even though I’m trying to convince myself that I’m being paranoid. It’s been eight months since I’ve left home now, and not once did I feel like I was being followed. My mother did say that they haven’t heard from Mason for a while which is alarming, but given the amount of trouble he was in, it doesn’t surprise me that he might hide, especially after everyone found out about his extracurricular activities.
After I left, he pounded on my parent’s door, demanding to know where I was. I never told him goodbye, sneaking away in the middle of the night in an unmarked car with a new ID and name, headed for Denver where I would start the next phase of the plan my parents mapped out for me. But even in Colorado, I never got an ominous feeling that someone was following me like I just did when that man looked me in the eyes and fla
shed me that pleased grin before he left.
When I get home, I rush to call my mom from our phone, the one only reserved for conversations with her.
“Pfeiffer. How are you?” My mother answers, cheery since it’s early in the morning, though I feel about ready to pass out having just finished my shift.
“Hi, Mom. I’m doing well. Things are changing so fast for me out here.”
“How so?” She asks, taking a sip of her coffee I can hear through the line.
“I… I met someone.” It’s the first time I’m speaking to my mother about Cash. I said nothing before because I didn’t know what was happening between us, but now I’m sure I want to see this through.
“Oh.”
“Oh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. I’m just surprised is all. I didn’t think you’d want to date so soon.”
“It’s been eight months, Mom,” I sigh, sitting down on my bed.
“Gosh, has it really? I just miss you so much, darling.”
And then the emotions bubble up, just like they always do when I speak to her. I haven’t called in a while because it gets harder to talk to her every time, not knowing how much longer it’s going to be before I see her.
“I miss you too, Mom. But really, I’m happy. He’s… surprising, to say the least. Nothing like Mason, and he makes me feel things I didn’t know were possible. His name is Cash Williams.”
I hear her sniffle. “Then I’m happy for you, Pfeiffer. Although, I feel obligated to tell you… we got a letter the other day.”
My heart drops to my stomach. “A letter? Like the first one?”
“Yes. It seems Mason never paid up in full what he owed to the Montevallo’s. They made another threat if your father doesn’t pay off Mason’s debt.”
“Oh, my God. How?”
“Well, I think it has something to do with Mason going missing. They threatened your safety again. So as your mother, I want to tell you to be happy, but I also have to tell you to be careful, baby. We sent you away for a reason, to keep you safe. Your father refuses to give in to their demands, especially because he feels a sense of peace knowing you’re far away from here. Just please watch your back, don’t go places alone. Stay in public spaces when you have to go out. But… just please be careful, Pfeiffer.” My mother’s voice becomes frantic and increases my panic tenfold. The high I experienced last night with Cash has been diminished tremendously with this conversation.