Chapter 7 Piper
PIPER
“Duh. Of course I know what a Boeing is.” Ellie laughs as she and Sonny play out in the back yard.
“I never see you running around in the playground,” Sonny says. “Why is that?”
“Because it’s a little silly,” Ellie replies, a smile crawling onto her face. “That’s what the people in my old class used to say.”
“They just don’t know how fun it is.” Sonny runs up and down the front lawn and mimics the sounds of crescendoing planes.
I sit on the porch with a heavy heart as I watch them play.
“Hey.” Caleb cracks a smile, stepping out onto the porch with disheveled hair and an incredibly handsome face. The fine lines seem to be indented further into his skin today.
I offer him a smile and decide to take off indoors before he brings up his hatred for insurance fraud again. It’s the coward’s exit, excusing myself to the bathroom, but I need to get my emotions in check before they explode right out.
“I’ll be back,” I say to Caleb, not giving him a time frame because I don’t know how long I plan on festering in the depths of despair for.
I lock myself into my room, shut the curtains, and finally give myself permission for the tears to stream down my face.
Fuck. This is bad. It was only supposed to be a small fire.
And now it’s turned into a whole-ass investigation.
James Taylor definitely goes above and beyond at his work.
I crash on the bed, still haunted by last night. The orgasm helped, but seeing Caleb’s face as I reached my peak definitely didn’t help. Earlier, in the kitchen, we had been only inches away from falling back into our old ways…
This insurance investigation means that I’ll have to stick things out here with Caleb a while longer.
Sonny will be happy about that.
But it also gives him more time to bond with the father I don’t want either party knowing about. And I can’t have that.
It’s only ever been Sonny and me. I can’t introduce a man into his life, let alone his own father, when he has a track record of leaving.
I throw my head into the pillow and scream my frustration into it. Sonny and I are fucked if this fire is ruled as intentional.
It shouldn’t be. The fire managed to spread to the roof, so it’s more than capable of burning down a stove.
Unwelcome memories surface from the past.
My father leaving with a new woman.
“It’s the first I’m hearing about this.” I laugh even though it’s not funny.
His two suitcases are lined up by the door. Shame he can’t fit the beehive in there.
“I only decided a week ago.”
“Ah. Plenty of time to notify your daughter.”
He stares blankly into my eyes, his features kept neutral.
As always.
He could tell me that a bomb’s about to go off and remain indifferent to the situation. He’s always been like this. The only time he shows any sign of emotion is when he’s beekeeping.
More fascinated by flying insects than he is with me.
Perhaps I should turn into a bee…
It means I’d finally have his attention.
“What about the bees? You’re just gonna leave them?”
“Yes. You can deal with the bees,” he replies absent-mindedly, like he’s mentally boarding that plane already.
“I don’t understand.”
My father releases one of his classic jaded sighs and looks at me with tired eyes. “You’re too much to handle sometimes, Piper. All that trouble, and what is it worth?”
But the bees that escape the garden and sting people are no trouble.
I sink my face into the pillow and kinda get my father’s point.
Too much trouble.
I brought this shit on myself.
And now I risk going to jail.
From here on out, I’ll fight for my future, deny every accusation, and hope for the best.
The stove was old. I had a sketchy insurance consultant write out a story for me, but the stove actually could be at fault for all we know. It’s very plausible.
Caleb might know a lot about insurance fraud, but he’s wrong about this.
I finally tear myself away from the pillow and focus on some breathing techniques. After calming my nervous system, I step out of the room…
And find Caleb standing outside of it.
“Hello?” I narrow my eyes, feigning confusion to disguise the fact that I’ve just been bawling my eyes out. “What’s up?”
But Caleb, like always, sees straight through the bullshit and takes a step closer. “Tell me the truth, Hart.”
“Use my first name.”
“What really happened two days ago, Piper? With the fire?”
I flinch and hope he doesn’t notice.
The man has unfortunately always been a very good reader of character.
Deny every accusation.
“You’re team Taylor?”
“There are no teams.” Caleb sighs. “I want to know the truth.”
“The truth is that my house is unsalvageable, and Sonny and I are currently out of a home.”
“That’s part of the truth. But I want all of it.”
“I can’t stay here, Caleb. And you know it.”
A beat of silence falls between us.
And then Caleb goes and breaks it, circling back around to his original question. “Did you light the fire deliberately?”
“You think I’d want to burn down my own home?”
Caleb sighs into the doorframe, his body only just managing to slot into it. I swear he’s grown a whole foot taller since we last met.
I gulp and wonder what to freak out about more—James Taylor discovering the truth, or Caleb. The man has only ever seen me as good.
“Forgive me for bringing this up, but it’s not like you and your father were ever on good terms.”
“So you think I’d just…set fire to my house to metaphorically burn down the man that never did right by me? Jeez. What the hell?” I note Caleb’s pinched eyes and tone down on the defense. “No.”
He searches each of my eyes, but his are unreadable.
He flexes his jaw and stalks closer. Too close. I’m forced to backtrack into my room, but I stop myself before this gets too out of hand. Four more steps and I’ll be flying onto the bed.
We cannot be alone in the bedroom under any circumstance.
I stand still, trying not to choke on the perfect notes of his cologne as he breathes me in. The spiced caramel threatens to intoxicate. So do the eyes that are screaming sex and bad decisions.
His giant hand reaches for mine and I gulp at how weathered and hard the skin there is…
From almost dying.
It’s a high possibility in his line of work. His job isn’t exactly the safest one around.
“You can’t help but think about me,” he says softly.
Darkness creeps in around me. The shadows in his house are begging me to break contact. But I can’t.
Once Pandora’s Box has been opened, there is no going back.
Caleb cages me against the wall, and my back knocks softly against old plastering.
“What?” is just about all I can manage to say. “You’re wrong.”
“Do you think I can’t smell you?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I stutter.
“You don’t?” His eyes are like obsidian in the night. “Are you a liar now?”
“No!” I hop back onto the defense.
“Good. Then be honest and acknowledge that you’re wet right now, between your legs.”
Jesus. Where is this come from?
Earlier, Caleb was fighting the urge to give in to temptation. Now he’s pressing me up against an unstable wall and ordering me to admit I want him.
Why?
Did the demons win?
Is he trying to counteract his feelings by tricking himself into giving in?
“I see what your game is. You want me to surrender first.” I look up at him pointedly between the shadows.
“You think I’m wet, but I know you’re hard.
” I reach between us and run a teasing finger over his erect length.
It strains for relief under the confines of his pants.
“That doesn’t feel like it’s very comfortable. ”
His hand shoots to where I want him most.
Holy. Shit.
My breath hitches. “What are you doing? The kids are downstairs.”
“I’m just trying to work out,” he purrs, “why you’re so desperate to leave my house. Perhaps it’s because you’re worried about what might happen if you stay.”
This isn’t fair.
I tighten my grip on his length. A rugged moan spills out of him.
“You should be more worried than I am. After nine years of silence, you really think you’re going to get me into bed that easy?” I release his dick and give him a teasing smile. “Good luck getting that under control without my help.”
I shoulder past him and head downstairs. It’s a good place to leave things. A man like Caleb won’t get left hanging much, so keeping him on his toes should be good fun.
It might actually be fun to stay around here a while longer.
Caleb joins me down in the kitchen a suspicious five minutes later, and takes the groceries out of my hands to prepare dinner.
The sensual hand-brush wasn’t necessary, especially in front of the kids.
But this has now turned into a sudden game of who can break first.
Why the sudden change in attitude?
“I have work tonight.” Caleb looks over at me from the stove. “Six PM to six AM. Grace usually covers, but I’ll let her off the hook since you’re around.”
Let her off the hook…
Yeah. He should really get around to doing that.
I take a seat and do some mindless scrolling on my phone. After checking through all of my notifications, I come across a new message from Mr. Anonymous.
Anonymous: I’m in the mood and only have one photo to work with. How about another?
I ignore the message for now and head over to social media. It turns out the scrolling isn’t so mindless. My finger stalls when I see pictures of my burned-down house. Turns out I made the local news. Now that’s a first.
I swipe through pictures until I come across a peculiar video of James Taylor sniffing around the property.
A local news reporter is updating the town on events, and in the background is none other than my insurance guy.
I pinch the screen to zoom in and see him sieving literal ash through his fingertips like he’s conducting a reading.
Weird guy.
When dinner is ready, I hop down to serve the food.
I force-feed myself, trying to be a good influence for the kids, even though my appetite is just as nonexistent as my sex life.
Caleb refuses to let me do the dishes, but I insist he lets me do something around here seeing as he’s giving up his house for Sonny and me.
He heads off to get changed for work and when he comes back down…
Christ on a stick. I almost drop a plate.
Every goose bump on my skin stands on end as Caleb reenters the kitchen. In his uniform.
This is the first time I’m seeing him in it. I don’t count the actual first time, seeing as I was choking on toxic gases and couldn’t see shit.
He wears a heavy-duty navy uniform that somehow still manages to outline each and every one of his muscles. They pop even through the layers of clothing.
I do a scan of his body and find myself looking at his hip. A black belt is tied around his waist, bringing attention to the crotch. And the bulge prominent through it.
He holds a helmet at his hip. I should be the one wearing that given the fall from grace I’m about to experience.
It’s impossible to resist this.
Caleb finishes his walk down the stairs, and I continue watching as he heads into the laundry room to lace up a pair of boots. The booming footsteps threaten to crack both the floor beneath him, and my entire world.
And the keen look in his eye would suggest that he knows exactly what he’s doing here.
People who play with fire normally get burned.
But I don’t think that rule applies to Caleb.
He kisses Ellie goodbye, and I finally break out of my trance.
“Be safe,” she says.
“I will. I promise,” he tells her seriously.
He waves goodbye to Sonny.
And then stalks his way toward me.
I straighten my spine and tell myself to chill the fuck out. But the smirk on his face suggests I’ve overdone it.
“You alright there, Hart?” he teases, noting the plate in my hand that I’m still clutching. “You look tense.”
Get it together, Piper. Jesus wept.
I slot the plate into the dishwasher and arch my back as I do it. I’m almost bent over backward—a position we both want me to be in right now.
I feel his eyes on my ass and get an exhilarating high out of it. This isn’t just Caleb Rourke. This is fireman Caleb Rourke.
At my service.
He wishes.
“Congratulations, Hart. You know how to load a dishwasher.”
I waggle my brows and hope I can survive this encounter without blushing.
He sighs. “Let me have your number so I can update you on what time I’ll be home tomorrow morning.”
“Six AM. Didn’t you already tell me that?” I tilt my head. Now it’s my turn to smirk. “Or are you thinking with other parts of your anatomy now?”
A dark smile plays on his lips. “People who work in emergency services rarely finish on time.” Another smile. “Here. Pass me your phone. I’ll update you in the morning so I know whether I need to call Grace for cover if I’m not back before your shift.”
Perfect Grace.
I hobble over to the bench and grab my phone, but he snatches it out of my grasp before I’m even ready to type in his number. I deleted his old number a week after he left. It was the only hope I had for getting over him…
He navigates over to my contact list.
And freezes.
“What is it?”
Something feathers in his jaw—an expression both equally delicious and worrying.
He stares a while longer at the screen before showing it to me.
Oh…
His contact is already saved to my phone…
As “Anonymous.”