Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Piper
I'm clutching a to-go cup of hot chocolate that's basically a religious awakening in cardboard form, wondering what the hell I just agreed to.
Friends with benefits? Did I really just suggest that?!
Just wait until Mom finds out about this. I'm so dead.
I take a giant gulp, dodging the whipped-cream tower that's so obscenely tall Betty couldn’t even get a lid on it, while, in the back of my mind, I’m waving bye-bye to my trust fund.
Now that the terrifying reality of what I agreed to back in the café has set in, the whole thing wobbles with my every shaky step, teetering like my self-control around Chase Morrison.
Speaking of whom… he's strolling beside me with his own cup, all easy confidence and infuriating grace, like he's never met a beverage he couldn't handle.
Or a girl he couldn't fluster, apparently.
"Careful there, Chicago," he says, steadying my elbow as I nearly trip over absolutely nothing while staring at him. "That's premium Bear Paw engineering you're holding."
He continues to stroll like his cup contains classified levels of chill. I envy his confidence almost as much as his biceps.
"Sorry, just… taking it all in."
I take a sip and follow next to Chase as we move down the cute little sidewalk towards the small town ahead. The warmth spreads through my chest, and suddenly, everything hits me all at once.
This is nothing like the overpriced lattes I grab between busy shifts in Chicago. This tastes like someone's grandmother made it with actual love. And possibly some kind of voodoo magic.
And this town…
I look around at the peaks that surround Stone River's quaint little town center. They rise so majestically, their snow-capped summits almost kissing the brilliant blue sky.
Everywhere I look, pine trees blanket the mountains like a luxurious emerald carpet, each needle glistening in the sunlight. The air is crisp and pure, carrying the addictive smell of forest and pure… earth.
Chase walks beside me with that loose-limbed stride that makes my pulse do inappropriate things in broad daylight.
"It's all so easy here," I whisper. Chase just smiles and nods.
The town itself feels like a postcard come to life. Colorful wooden storefronts lining the street, each of them adorned with hanging flower baskets that sway gently in the breeze. Fairy lights twinkle above the sidewalks, even in daylight. What kind of place does that?
It’s so serene and picturesque that my heart aches with an unfamiliar sense of belonging.
"You like it here," Chase assumes, side-eyeing me.
I nod. "Is it that obvious?"
"Well, you look like you just got your eyesight back," Chase says, grinning at whatever expression I'm wearing.
"It's just..." I gesture helplessly at everything. "Beautiful. Like a mountain bear just wandered down the mountains and threw up rainbows everywhere."
"Wait until you see it during tourist season." He laughs, that warm sound that makes my stomach flip. "Less bear vomit. Less magical."
"How so?"
"Well, consider it more like a parking lot with mountain views."
"Please don't ruin my fantasy."
"What fantasy is that?"
I take another sip of Betty's liquid heaven, thinking about my life back home. About my stale penthouse apartment, the time-sucking daily commute to work, the constant pressure from my parents to live their life.
I take a long deep breath and sigh.
"That places like this actually exist. That people live here and wake up to..." I wave at the mountains. "This view."
"Every day." He stops walking and studies me. "You really don't get out much, do you?"
"Hey, I get out plenty."
Just usually to places with valet parking and wine lists longer than my arm.
"See that building with the blue shutters?
" Chase points to a charming storefront with a hand-painted sign reading Mountain Memories Antiques.
"Used to be a taxidermy shop called 'Stuff This.
' The owner, Earl, would sit outside with his latest creation…
usually a raccoon holding a tiny fishing pole or something equally disturbing. "
I nearly choke on my hot chocolate. "You're kidding."
"Dead serious. And yes, that pun was intended." His eyes crinkle with that gorgeous smile of his. "But I missed the golden era by about six months. Now it's all vintage teacups and doilies, which is apparently better for property values or some shit."
"And what happened to Earl?"
"Retired to Florida. Left behind a legacy of traumatized tourists and one very angry moose head that nobody wanted to buy." Chase crouches down and points toward the mountains, going all dramatic as he whispers, "Legend has it, it's still up there somewhere, plotting its revenge."
I'm laughing so hard I have to stop walking. There's something magnetic about the way this man tells stories. He makes this place come alive with his enthusiasm.
"You've only been here two years and you already have all the town folklore memorized?"
"The team at the Rescue Station are a walking historical society. You should meet them one day."
I get a whiff of his cologne on the cool gush of wind that passes and the smell alone makes me want to press my face against his neck.
Get it together, Whitman. You literally just signed a napkin contract thirty minutes ago.
But my body hasn't gotten the memo about keeping things casual. When he leans over to point out something across the street, his voice rumbles against my ear and suddenly, it's like I've forgotten how sidewalks work.
No wonder Brooke fell in love here. No wonder she never wanted to come back to Chicago.
"I've met them briefly, but I'd love to hang out one weekend."
Chase smiles, and my stomach does that stupid fluttery thing again.
What am I doing?
Friends with benefits. Weekends only. No strings attached.
I repeat it in my mind again, like a new mantra I've suddenly decided to adopt.
But the thing is… I've never done anything like this in my entire life. But then again, I've done a lot of things unlike me lately.
I came to Stone River with a mission. To convince Brooke to take the head nurse position back in Chicago. Steal my best friend back from this mountain town and return to our perfectly planned lives.
Then I met Jamie Striker and the rescue team.
Then I watched their illustrious leader sweep my best friend off her feet.
Standing at that window in Timber Tavern the night Chase snuck up behind me, watching Jamie look at Brooke like she's everything he's been missing, watching her laugh in that free, unguarded way I'd never seen before.
Something cracked open inside me.
My lonely penthouse. My unfulfilled nursing career that I didn't even choose for myself. The endless society gatherings where Mother parades 'suitable' men in front of me like prize cattle.
Every boring conversation. Every fake smile. Every man who looked at my family's status instead of me.
They're nothing like Chase.
Nothing.
He's genuine. Enthusiastic. He looks at me like I'm fascinating instead of just well-bred.
And that terrifies me more than anything.
"Wave," Chase says suddenly, lifting his free hand in a lazy salute toward someone across Main Street.
"What? Why? I don't know them."
"So? It's Stone River etiquette. You wave at everyone. Or Betty revokes your breakfast privileges."
"Well in Chicago, that’s how you get followed by a man named Doug who sells counterfeit cologne.” I squint across the street, but I can't even tell who he's waving at. "It seems like a lot of social obligation for before noon."
"Says the woman who probably schedules her smiles in the big city."
"I do not schedule my—" I stop, because he's not entirely wrong. "Okay, fine."
Chase throws back his head and laughs. "You're adorable."
I feel my cheeks heat as a black Labrador trots past with its owner.
"Morning, Morrison! See you at Timber for darts tonight!" The dog-walker says, tipping his head to me too.
Chase throws back another casual salute like he's the unofficial mayor of flannel and good vibes.
"So… like… do you know everyone in this town?"
"Pretty much. Guess it's the curse of being devastatingly charming."
I snort-laugh into my hot chocolate, which is both undignified and completely worth it for the way his eyes crinkle when he grins down at me.
Then he stops walking and turns to face me. "Christ, woman. Wait, you've got—"
He reaches out, and I swear time slows to a ridiculous crawl as his thumb brushes the corner of my mouth, collecting a dot of whipped cream from my lip.
"There," he murmurs, his voice dropping to a low gravel. His thumb lingers for half a heartbeat longer than necessary, and I'm pretty sure I've stopped breathing entirely.
Then he brings that same thumb to his mouth and licks the whipped cream off.
"Waste not, want not," he says with a grin that's pure trouble. "You okay there, Chicago? You look a little flushed."
Flushed?!
I'm standing there like a malfunctioning robot, clutching my take-out cup as he studies my face with those impossibly green eyes.
I nod, not trusting my voice.
"Come on," Chase says, winking and totally aware of what he's doing to me. "I know a place just up here that you're gonna love."
Before we can move, a strong breeze kicks up again, sending my scarf flying. Chase catches it with reflexes that remind me exactly why he's in mountain rescue.
"Can't have you freezing to death on my watch," he says softly.
He wraps it back around my neck with gentle hands, tucking the ends into my coat with the kind of care that makes my chest tight.
"You know," Chase says, glancing over my shoulder with that mischievous grin, "I think I might have accidentally just given Etta and Mabel enough material to fuel the gossip mill for the next six months."
I turn to see the two elderly women from the café standing outside the post office, not even pretending they aren't watching us. Etta waves enthusiastically while Mabel clutches her purse like she's witnessing a historical event.
"Gossip mill? Seriously?" I ask, cocking a brow. "Two adults can't just… help each other out?"
Help each other out?
Who am I kidding? The man just licked whipped cream off his thumb like some kind of pornographic food commercial. That wasn't helping. That was foreplay disguised as chivalry.
"Fuck no. They're probably already planning our wedding," Chase laughs, his voice warm with amusement. "This town takes everyone's love life very seriously."
A splash of cold mountain air washes over my skin. Love life?
I force a laugh, but internally I'm spinning. We literally just signed a napkin agreeing to keep things casual. No strings. No feelings. Definitely no love anything.
"Well, they'll be disappointed when I disappear back to Chicago in a few days," I manage, taking a sip of hot chocolate to hide whatever expression is threatening to betray me.
"Yeah. I guess they will." Chase looks away quickly, like he's just as disappointed as I am. "Come on. We're nearly there."