Chapter 4
PIPER
He’s not coming.
I’m standing outside my apartment building, my bags at my feet, and it’s a quarter past ten o’clock. I’ve heard nothing from Brody since I sent him my address, and now I feel like the world’s biggest fool.
The wind whips my cheeks and stings my eyes. Part of me expected for this to happen. I haven’t even told Mia yet. I didn’t believe that Brody would actually follow through and I don’t want her thinking I’m stupid for trusting him after so long.
I’m pretty sure if Brody did help advertise the printer, then I’d keep my job, but I also wanted him to come back to Hideaway to make things right with Ethan. This has nothing to do with my crush. No, my feelings for Brody are now officially as dead as a doornail.
It’s a relief really. The rose-tinted glasses are off and I can finally move on.
Via public transportation to Hideaway Harbor with a story for my mom about why I’m traveling alone …
Dammit!
I will not cry. I refuse to ruin the “barely there” makeup I’ve just spent the last hour fussing over. I’m just going to put on my big girl pants, hold my head up high, and look like a woman in complete control of her life.
I check my phone one last time, then make a move for the subway.
I want to exude confidence, but I’ve forgotten how much I’ve packed.
So, I end up dragging a heavy wheeled suitcase with one hand, balancing a smaller one on top of it, while trying to keep an enormous duffel bag over my shoulder and my purse in my free hand.
I make it a few yards before grinding to a halt as the Jenga tower of luggage collapses. How on earth am I going to manage stairs with all this?
Turn around. Re-pack. Start again.
Suddenly, I just want my mom. Like a little girl with an owie, I want to cry on her shoulder and let her tell me everything’s going to be all right. I love going home for the holidays, but right now, there’s a lump in my throat so big I can’t even swallow.
I take out my phone and dial the one person who will understand.
Mia answers on the first ring. “Did you find him?”
“What? Who?”
“A new boyfriend. I know you had the office party last night.”
I smile as her optimism pushes the tears away. “You honestly think I could have asked anyone from work?”
“I dunno? Desperate times and all that?”
“Well, I did have a plan, but he never showed up.”
“Holy crap. Did you hire an escort?”
“What? No! Jeez, Mia, I’m desperate, but I’m not that desperate.”
“So who was it, then?”
I take a steadying breath.
“Piper!”
A huge black SUV screeches to a stop on the other side of a row of parked cars next to the sidewalk.
“Sorry!” Brody calls from inside. “There was an accident. My phone’s in my bag and I couldn’t reach it.”
“Who’s that?” Mia demands.
I don’t reply, caught in a guppy moment. The winter wind blows my hair into my open mouth and I splutter as I pull it out.
Cars are already honking at where Brody’s double-parked and blocking the street, but he ignores them, rushing out to help me with my bags.
“Piper! You still there?” Mia asks.
“Um …” I reply as I dash toward Brody’s ride. Out of the corner of my eye, I see people leaning out of their car windows.
“Hey, asshole! Move it!” a guy yells.
“Is that Brody King?” a woman asks.
Brody opens the passenger door. “Lock it behind you,” he says urgently as I climb in.
“What’s happening? You being mugged?” Mia asks, her voice rising in panic.
Brody slams my door shut, and I lock it. A millisecond later, a young woman is tugging on the handle, her phone raised as she films me.
“Ohmygod!” she screeches. “It’s Brody King’s secret girlfriend!”
“Have they stolen your phone?” Mia is saying.
My mouth is bone dry, a strand of hair stuck to my tongue. I pick at it and swallow as Brody leaps into the seat beside me and pulls away, cutting into the traffic like he’s driving a rental tank and insured up the wazoo.
“Listen to me, you piece of shit!” Mia snarls. “You give Piper her phone back right now. I don’t know who you are, but she has a brother with a particular set of skills. Skills he’s spent a long time acquiring. Skills that make him a nightmare for people like you—”
“Mia,” I say, but my voice is a croak she doesn’t hear.
“If you give Piper her phone back now, that’ll be the end of it. But if you don’t, he will look for you, he will find you, and he will ki—”
“Mia!”
“Piper! Jesus Christ, what’s going on?”
I glance at Brody. His face is locked in fierce concentration as he weaves through the traffic. I can’t talk to Mia now. I can’t tell her what’s going on in front of Brody.
So instead, I laugh nervously. “Did you just do the speech from Taken?”
“Yep.”
“And you know Hudson’s ‘particular set of skills’ involves putting out fires for a living?”
“You cannot tell him I said that, or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
The car settles in one lane, and I sense Brody’s eyes on me. “Is that Mia?”
“Who’s that?” Mia demands.
“Can’t talk now. Okay, gotta go. Bye, bye.” I end the call and send her a message.
Piper: As soon as we stop for a break, I’ll call you and tell you everything
Mia: WTAF? You can’t leave me hanging like that!
Piper: I’m perfectly safe
“Is that Mia?” Brody repeats.
Shoving my phone in my purse, I nod. My heart’s still pounding so hard there’s not enough room for my lungs to work properly.
I want to look to my left and stare at him. Trace the lines on his face that time and experience have etched. I want to know who he is now, and if any part of the boy I once knew remains.
But I’m not a creeper. Much. So instead, I look ahead, my forward gaze unfocused, as my peripheral vision gets all the attention, zeroing in on his right arm as he shifts gears.
Brody’s running super-hot in all senses of the word, dressed in a cream Henley with the sleeves rolled up to reveal a muscular, tanned forearm dusted with dark hair.
Around his wrist is a silver bracelet made from tiny shackles that I know is from Tiffany & Co, and a leather braided bracelet with a Dolce & Gabbana clasp.
Pretending to look for something in my purse, I sneak a glance further left, noticing the vintage Rolex on his left wrist and the tailored navy pants that cling to his thighs.
Gone is the slightly scruffy teen who loved hiking with Ethan, and in his place is a very rich, well-dressed man who probably hasn’t seen the inside of a Target for over a decade, and whose life is several tax brackets above mine.
Brody clears his throat, and that’s all the excuse I need to face him. He’s clean-shaven today, his dark brown hair freshly cut but still long enough for me to run my fingers through and—
“So … who knows I’m coming back to Hideaway with you?”
I swallow, then reply, “Well, no one … yet.”
He frowns. “Why haven’t you told anyone?”
“Um …” Because I wasn’t sure you’d show?
“You might as well let them know now. Give them a chance to get their head around it,” he continues. “And explain why we’re faking it.”
Well, shit. Now I’ve got to fess up that we’re faking it for real.
At my silence, his gaze quickly flicks from the road to me. “Piper?”
I’m suddenly too hot. But it’s not horny hot. It’s guilty and embarrassed hot. Shuffling out of my coat, I toss it onto the back seat along with my scarf.
“I’m going to tell Mia the truth,” I say, then lapse into silence, brushing invisible lint from my jeans.
“And …” Brody draws out the word, expecting a reply.
I don’t know what to say, so I approach the final destination of my answer from far away. Very far away. “You know the founding story of Hideaway Harbor?”
“Ye-es …”
“When my fourteen-times great-grandparents fled their warring families to be together during the Puritan era?”
“And when they made it over the mountains, dehydrated, and at the edge of death,” Brody continues in a sing-song voice as if reciting a children’s story he’s heard too many times before.
“They were saved by the waters of the Hideaway spring, decided to stay in this corner of paradise by the sea, and founded a town that was the most perfect place to live. A town where everyone finds their one true love, unicorns fart rainbows, and nothing bad ever happens.”
I’m silent, listening to the bitterness in his voice. Brody didn’t have a particularly happy childhood, and no, Hideaway isn’t perfect, but it’s still pretty darn special to me.
“And what has any of that got to do with us, Piper?”
He’s right. We’re not in love. At least, he’s never been in love with me. As my older brother’s good-looking and kind best friend, Brody was always dazzling to me, like a first celebrity crush.
Now? My hormonal body still wants his in every sexual position I know the name of, but I’m just fangirling because God gave him too many sexy genes, not because I’m still in love with him.
“Well?”
Just rip the Band-Aid off.
“I had a boyfriend, but he dumped me for someone else a few months ago.”
My cheeks are burning with embarrassment. It’s like being in high school all over again.
“I didn’t tell my mom,” I plow on, “I didn’t want to disappoint her. She was so happy. You know how she is about love.”
Brody’s eyes are focused on the road ahead, his posture rigid, but he gives me a small nod in agreement.
“I promised to bring him home for Christmas. And I thought I could find a replacement. I never told Mom his name because I didn’t want to jinx it.”
I let out a huff and shake my head. “But I haven’t been able to. So, when I thought about Marv’s idea … I …”
“So … you need me to pretend to be your boyfriend.” Brody’s words aren’t a question but a statement. He delivers them slowly, as if tasting their truth.
I shrug.
“And getting me to advertise a printer is, what? Just to fuck with me?”
“No! I actually really need you to do that,” I reply quickly as his tone sharpens with anger.
“My company is merging with another in the new year, and we’ll be competing for our jobs. The new owner’s son is also a graphic designer, and my ex.”