Chapter 26 Piper #2
“Paint the hallway at the house and hopefully get a second coat on in the kitchen,” I said. “Then I’ll take a long bath and sleep as long as I can.” But with Rhett meeting me at the house to finish the painting, sleep might be delayed. Not that I wanted to tell Georgia that.
Georgia smiled. “Good.”
We finished up at Rita’s and wandered onto Main Street.
It was a long, sloping street with shops and businesses lining either side.
At the bottom, a gigantic Christmas tree had been set up and decorated.
Night crept across the sky, and the anticipation in the crowd grew.
It reminded me of the raffle night, with laughter and conversation filling the air.
Puffs of white breath lifted into the sky, and a sprinkling of snow began dancing down to land on our shoulders and heads.
Darkness fell. The entire town took a breath, all eyes turning to the huge tree at the end of the street. In a blaze of twinkling lights, the huge evergreen tree came alive. I gasped, laughing, my blood fizzing with happiness and holiday cheer.
And it wasn’t just the tree. Lights had been strung up on all the vintage-style streetlights, with their curlicues and wrought-iron details. They framed all the shopfronts and decorated all the bare trees. The entire town glowed and twinkled and glittered.
I loved this place. Alec and Nate pointed at a giant Santa Claus above one building, the lights making his arm wave back and forth. Our big group wandered down side streets and along lit-up park paths, exploring a town that looked completely transformed.
A bit like how I felt. Gone was the woman nervous about starting over, who had one foot out the door the minute her new boss met her with a touch of hostility. I wasn’t ready to leave this place—I wanted to make it my home. It wouldn’t be at the Lovers Lane house, but it would be somewhere here.
I wanted to bring the boys to watch the lights come on every year. I wanted to enter the yearly raffle and get a volunteer T-shirt of my own. I wanted to host my sister and her friends, and make friends of my own.
Across the street, I spotted a familiar dark-haired figure. Rhett met my gaze, a soft smile tugging at his lips. He leaned against a dark SUV, and I found myself walking toward him before I gave my feet permission to do so.
“New car?” I asked.
“I’m here as a civilian,” he said, grinning. “You ready to head to the house?” As he spoke, he leaned closer, and it looked like he wanted to kiss me.
My heart jumped, excitement and emotion bubbling up inside me. But from the corner of my eye, I saw my sister with her arms around my sons’ shoulders. I ducked my head. “Rhett,” I chided.
“Embarrassed about me?”
I flushed. “No,” I said, “but I haven’t exactly told my sister that we’re…”
He arched his brows. “Sleeping together?”
“I kind of complained about you a lot, actually.”
He grinned. “Why does that not surprise me?”
“She thinks I hate you.”
“You’re not that good of an actor, Darling. She probably knows you’re obsessed with me.”
I clicked my tongue, pretending to be annoyed while actually being utterly charmed by him. How would it feel to bury myself in Rhett’s arms in front of everyone? How would it feel to be out here, in the open, as his woman?
“So? You want to make a big show of fighting me so she doesn’t ask any difficult questions?” Rhett’s eyes danced. “Pretend you hate me in front of everyone?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I grumbled, peeking over my shoulder. Georgia was saying something to Sebastian, but she must have felt my gaze, because she glanced over at me. Her expression was pure curiosity. Pinching my lips, I turned back to Rhett.
His eyes were full of laughter. Our little secret, his gaze said. “Give it your best shot, Darling.”
“I’m not going to pretend to fight you.”
“Might be fun,” he replied, brows twitching, his eyes promising a whole lot more.
I narrowed my gaze at him, and his smile widened.
This was ridiculous. All I had to do was tell Georgia what was going on.
But if I told her Rhett and I were sleeping together, she might point out that sleeping with my boss-slash-business-partner was a staggeringly terrible idea.
She might ask me what I was thinking. She might make that seed of self-doubt sprout inside me.
And right now, soaking up Rhett’s warmth and feeling alive and light for the first time in years, I didn’t want to face reality, or questions, or doubts. I just wanted Rhett.
So I took half a step back, filled my lungs, and gritted my teeth at him. “You bastard!” I shouted.
The gang of friends and acquaintances around my sister all turned their heads.
Rhett’s eyes danced, and he pushed himself off the side of his vehicle. My heart began to clatter, and excitement built in my gut. He looked big and dangerous and very, very sexy. I forced myself not to smile, sticking my jaw out at him as he loomed over me.
I couldn’t wait to feel his hands on me. Lust was like a firecracker inside me, sending sparks exploding into every inch of my body.
As if Rhett could read my mind, he bent down and threw me over his shoulder.
I screeched to cover my laugh. “Put me down! Hey! You overbearing pig!” I drummed my fists on his back as he hummed, and I knew I’d pay for that remark very, very soon.
I couldn’t wait. I was so turned on I couldn’t think straight.
“Put me down, Rhett!” A laugh almost escaped. “Rhett!”
My sister’s voice reached me as she called out, “Call me in the morning!”
I levered myself up to see her holding Nate’s and Alec’s hands. The three of them looked faintly amused and not at all alarmed.
Maybe I really wasn’t a good actor, after all.
“I’m not—put me down!”
Rhett’s low chuckle rumbled through his chest, and instead of doing as I so vehemently requested, he opened the back of his vehicle and unceremoniously tossed me inside. Before he closed the door, he shot me a wide, wicked grin.
I buried my head in the seat and burst out laughing just as Rhett got behind the wheel. He drove off while I pressed a hand to my chest, taking a few quick turns before pulling over. “Get up here,” he said, leaning over to open the passenger door.
I scrambled from my seat and got in the passenger seat, and I barely had time to close my door before Rhett’s hand was tugging my jaw around so he could crush his lips to mine. I kissed him until I was breathless, clinging to the collar of his jacket, feeling giddier than I had in decades.
“I have a surprise for you,” he mumbled against my lips.
“But I want to do this first.” His fingers popped the button of my jeans, and I gasped as his big, hot hand slid under my panties to cover my throbbing, slick core.
He groaned at the feel of me, his lips moving to kiss my jaw before brushing his teeth along my neck.
All the while, his hand stroked and circled and teased.
I writhed in the seat, eyes falling closed, lips kissing whatever bit of Rhett they came into contact with. His earlobe. The corner of his jaw. His temple. His hair.
A long finger slid inside me, the heel of his palm pressing where I was most needy, and I lost all control of my senses. An orgasm splintered through me, and I muffled my scream in his muscular shoulder. My legs clamped around his hand, and my fingers circled his wrist to still his movements.
When my vision returned, I looked up at the small side street where we’d parked, grateful that no one was in sight. “I can’t believe we just did that,” I whispered.
Rhett’s smile was a slash of white in the darkness. He pulled his hand from my pants and brought his fingers to his mouth. I watched him taste me, his eyes falling closed, a groan slipping through his lips.
I was so far gone for this man. I would never recover.
When he met my gaze, his eyes were dark. “You ready?” he murmured.
I blinked. “For what?”
“Your surprise.”
“I thought that was the surprise.”
His smile turned tender. “No.” He kissed me, slow and soft, then pulled away. “Buckle up, Darling. We’re going to Lovers Lane.”