19. Piper #2
With a smile still on my face, I opened a new Word document, determined to think of my next book.
When I was a kid, I lived in my imagination.
Worlds would spill out before me and I would write them down as quickly as I could.
Now that it was my career, I still kept to that.
I loved writing swoon-worthy, kind heroes.
I loved making them care more than anything about the woman that they were going to be with.
Normally, I made my heroes like sunshine itself.
But for my last book, I’d deviated. I had no idea if Mitch would like it, but I still felt inspiration brewing every time I looked at Theo.
The afternoon sun was hot when both Kelsey and Theo started closing. Instead of kicking her out for the day, he seemed to be willing to let her help. I kept myself busy with my outline while they worked.
“I’m heading out,” Kelsey announced. “Bye, you two.”
“Bye,” I said. Theo waved before looking at me.
Now that we were alone, I did the same thing I had with Grace. I imagined our hands brushing again.
The idea sent a jolt through my body, but it didn’t feel like fear. It was excitement.
Things were different with him, and him alone.
“I see you’re getting to know people in town. Grace is really nice.”
“She is, but touch is still a no go. You’re the only exception so far.”
“It could have just been a fluke.”
“I don’t think it is.” I tilted my head to the side. “But we could test it.”
“Again? So soon?”
“I’m up for it if you are.”
Theo blinked at me, his expression unreadable. My eyes stayed on him, wondering if he would turn me down or not.
“What did you have in mind?”
“More touching. Maybe a different part of you this time.” One singular eyebrow raised and my cheeks grew hot. “Not like that.”
“I figured.” He took a breath.
“Embarrassed again?”
“No.” He couldn’t meet my eyes.
“Your face tells a different story,” I said. “But I’ll be nice and let it go.”
“This is you being nice?”
“What, do you want me to be mean?”
“No. I think I’d actually keel over.”
I laughed. “Okay, no jokes this time. Are you okay if we test things again?”
“The rules from yesterday still apply. Do whatever you want.”
My heart skipped a beat just like it had the day before. “That’s a dangerous thing to offer, you know.”
“Well, it’s you.” He shrugged as if he was just as powerless to this trust between us as I was.
Now that I had the permission I needed, I stepped close. Raising my hand, I had to pause to make sure my body didn’t lock up. Even though I trusted him, this was still hard for me.
When I knew I would be okay, my hand went up to where his beard dotted his jawline. Before I touched him, I did the same thing I had yesterday. I gave myself one more moment, still wondering how I was able to finally do this.
Then I pushed forward.
The hair on Theo’s face was thick and tickled my fingers. All I could focus on was how different it felt compared to my own hair that I’d run my hands through a million times. For a while, my touch was featherlight as I explored his hair, then my fingers landed on the skin underneath.
Theo was so warm, like a campfire on a cold night. I forgot how much someone else’s body heat could feel so different.
My hands ran up his firm jaw, still breathless from how close we were. I then moved downward, ending up on the side of his neck.
And I frowned when I realized it was very tense.
I looked up at his eyes. They were closed and his lips were pursed. His jaw had clamped shut, as if he hated this.
That was not what I wanted him to feel.
I jerked my hands away, cutting the contact even though I still craved it. “Uh, sorry.”
Theo’s eyes fluttered open. “Done already?”
“You didn’t seem like you were enjoying it.” I stepped away and pressed my hands on my pants. “And, uh, I get it. It’s probably not fun being poked and prodded.”
“No, it’s—”
I cut him off before he could tell me it was fine when it was obviously not. I had a feeling Theo would let me do this even if he were miserable.
“I should head out. Thank you for that, but you need to tell me when I go too far, remember?”
“Piper, wait.”
I was at my table, trying to stuff the laptop into my bag. “It’s all good. Seriously, I—”
“Don’t run when I can’t grab you to stop you.” He was close this time, but not close enough to brush up against me.
My heart was hammering, and it had to be because I’d gone too far.
But when he said he’d grab me, one of my first thoughts was yes, please.
There was no way I was ready for that. If he grabbed me, there was no telling what could happen.
But one thing was clear. I wanted to do more with him.
“W-what?” I managed to say.
“I said you could do what you wanted to me.”
“That doesn’t mean you like it. I don’t want you to be miserable, Theo.”
“I wasn’t miserable. It was . . . quite the opposite, actually.”
That made me turn to him with wide eyes. His cheeks were red, and I was sure they were as hot as mine felt.
My heart only kicked up in speed. I wanted to be close. I wanted to run and hide. I wanted everything he could give me, even if it was nothing.
I wasn’t a fool. I knew what this was. I knew because I wrote about it every single day.
But now it was happening. I wasn’t dreaming. I was wide awake, staring at a man I’d touched.
“So, I can do it again?” I asked.
Slowly, Theo nodded.
Maybe it would be better for him to say no. Maybe it would be better if I cut this off now. I knew how delicate this feeling was. I knew it was hard to take a friendship and let it turn into something more.
And I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I was in trouble.
Because I liked him. I trusted him.
I was falling for him.