Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Piper gingerly climbed into the front seat, afraid the seams of her dress would explode any moment.
Having Cole witness her humiliation would be just freaking perfect.
Bad enough he’d seen her squished into the thing in the first place—every roll, lump, and dimple on display.
Her ass and tits jiggled so much when she walked she totally had the two-puppies-fighting-under-a-blanket thing going on.
The dressmaker had mucked up the last-minute alterations after the final fitting.
But what could she do? It was too late now.
And because of the cut and fabric, she’d been forced to forgo underwear, or have them outlined for the world to see.
As it was, the tiny spaghetti straps were digging into her shoulders, straining to hold her double D’s.
But today wasn’t about her and her discomfort. It was about Alex and her brother. About two people who loved each other like crazy, celebrating their love. And she wanted their day to be perfect.
Cole opened the door and slid behind the wheel.
He didn’t look at her. Didn’t say a damn thing, just started the engine.
What the hell was his problem? She was sure he’d cut her off back there on purpose.
She stared out the window, refusing to look at him, more from humiliation than anger at this point.
She was so done throwing herself at him. Done hoping he’d wake up and finally see her as more. More than pathetic, desperate little Piper. More than his best friend’s kid sister.
Wasn’t going to happen.
She knew that now.
Today was a special day, and she planned to enjoy herself. No way would she let the man sitting to her left get to her. He could scowl and grunt all he liked.
They were still idling, parked in front of her cottage.
Frowning, she glanced over at Cole. What was he waiting for?
He sat there jaw tight, checking his mirrors—then he checked them again—and just when she thought he might take off, he glanced into the backseat at Alex and Rusty, then over at her and scowled. “Seat belt.”
She actually jumped at his rough command.
“Oh…right. Sorry.” His no-nonsense tone made her anxious—well, more than usual—and she fumbled for the belt.
She tried to pull it down, but it locked up.
Releasing it, she tried again, but the same thing happened.
“Um…I’ll just…” She tried pulling it slowly this time.
Nope, wasn’t happening. “It won’t…I can’t get it to work.
” She yanked on it. “Oh, come on you piece of crap.”
The two women in the back started laughing. “You tell it, Pipe,” Rusty called.
The guy made her nervous to the extreme, and ever since the car wreck that ended his career, she found it hard to talk to him.
He’d thrown up walls that were thirty feet thick, and there was no busting through.
He was so different from the Cole she remembered.
The old Cole used to laugh all the time, tell silly jokes.
When they were teenagers he came by their house a lot, and every time, without fail, he would seek her out, like she was important to him, just to ask how she was.
She missed that Cole.
Cole was suddenly there, leaning in. He brushed her hands aside and pulled the belt slowly around her body.
He smelled ridiculously good, and her pulse jumped as the back of his hand brushed her hip.
With just the thin fabric between her and the heat of his fingers, it almost felt like he’d touched her skin to skin, sending a shock of sensation through her body.
She glanced up, and his gaze locked with hers.
It didn’t matter how many times she saw him, she would never get used to the haunted look behind those arctic blue eyes.
They held so much weight now, none of the light or humor remained of the old Cole.
There was not a trace of the boy she’d fallen for when she was just a teenager.
Her gaze traveled lower, to firm, unsmiling lips.
They may as well be zipped shut for all the talking the guy did nowadays.
Still, the urge to lean in, to touch her mouth to his, to kiss that frown away, rushed forward so fast she sucked in a startled breath.
His mouth parted slightly, and she quickly looked up before she did something stupid. “Thanks.”
His nostrils flared, and he cleared his throat, mouth going hard again. “In the future, put on your damn seat belt.”
“I do. I was…I just…” Her gaze dropped, drawn to the rapidly pounding pulse just below the smooth, tan skin of his throat. Was he nervous? She straightened in her seat. “I’ll be sure to do that.”
A muscle in his jaw jumped before he straightened, then without another word they eased away from the curb.
Rusty and Alex were deep in conversation in the back, and as much as she wanted to join in, she refrained. Cole seemed on edge, and she didn’t think he’d appreciate her yelling into the backseat while he concentrated on driving.
Darting another look in his direction, she took in his smooth, clean-shaven profile.
She could only see his right cheek, the undamaged side, but was struck by how handsome he looked.
Even with his brows drawn and his lips compressed into a thin line, the man was gorgeous.
Fiercely masculine. His square jaw and strong, straight nose made sure of that.
But his eyes, they’d always been her weakness.
Vibrant blue and thickly lashed. Whenever he held her gaze, she was sure she could see right inside him, see everything he tried to hide.
She’d almost forgotten what he looked like without the beard.
His skin was a shade lighter on his chin and cheeks, lighter than the tan skin of his throat and hands.
She loved his hands, too. They were big, manly.
A light dusting of dark hair on the backs, fingers long and thick.
Right now those sexy hands, which she’d fantasized about having on her many times, were currently gripping the steering wheel like his life depended on it.
And she suddenly realized just how uncomfortable he was behind the wheel.
How could she have been so stupid? Of course he was uncomfortable.
“Remember that time Dad caught you and Deke smoking behind the garage?” she blurted.
He frowned harder, fingers flexing around the wheel. He didn’t take his eyes off the road. “Yes.”
“You tried to tell him you found them lying around and were just burning them, not smoking them, so me, Rusty, and Alex wouldn’t be tempted to take up such a filthy habit.” She darted a glance in his direction.
His lips twitched. “I thought it sounded plausible at the time.”
She snorted. “You’re a terrible liar. Always have been.”
His shoulders relaxed a little more. “Your dad saw right through us, made us clean out the workshop and haul old tires till it was dark.”
That was the longest sentence he’d said to her in months.
A shiver trickled across her scalp and down the back of her neck at the sound of his extremely rough, damaged voice.
He’d suffered injury to his vocal cords in his accident, and she was still struggling to get used to it. “The pair of you totally deserved it.”
Another lip twitch. “Yeah, we did.”
God, seeing that, being the cause of it, felt like she’d won the lottery. Don’t go there, Piper. “Um…so how’s the new job?”
“All right.”
She continued to rattle on, about the garage, about the cars they’d been working on, the ones booked to come in.
Although he still looked tense, he seemed to be listening and answered the occasional question.
His grip hadn’t loosened on the steering wheel all that much, but his jaw no longer looked wired shut.
Why had he agreed to drive them if it made him so uncomfortable?
They finally arrived at the church, and as the car rolled to a stop Piper noticed Cole’s wide shoulders fully relax.
Reid, Rusty’s boyfriend, was waiting for them outside and opened the back door to help Alex, then Rusty, from the car. Piper reached for the door handle to let herself out, but the warm, rough surface of Cole’s fingers sliding around her wrist, stopped her.
She froze, tingles skating up her arm from his touch.
She turned to him, and he stared over at her with those extremely clear blue eyes.
Unable to hold his stare, she let her gaze travel to the scarred side of his face and sucked in a sharp breath.
She hadn’t seen it clearly at the cottage, and seeing it now, up close, she felt a stab of pain for him, for what he’d been through.
Cole released her wrist like she’d scalded him, and she wanted to slap herself. Idiot. But it was impossible not to feel the impact of that vicious, jagged scar running from his left eye all the way down to his strong jaw. How lucky he was to be alive. To be sitting beside her now.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
He flinched. “Don’t be. I know how I look.”
“It’s not that. I didn’t mean...” She reached out and touched his arm. “It’s just…I can’t imagine how much you must have gone through.”
He pulled his arm out from beneath hers and glanced out the window. “I know what you were doing…distracting me.” He cleared his throat. “Thank you.”
Then he climbed out and limped to her side of the car to open her door.
The ceremony was beautiful and went off without a hitch. Alex and Deacon had written their own vows, and since Alex was Alex, this meant lots of laughter and an equal amount of tears from the guests—and the bride and groom.
She’d glanced over at Cole several times, and every time she’d found his penetrating gaze trained on her.
She didn’t know what his problem was, why he kept looking at her, but it had taken all her concentration to stay in place and not shuffle around under his intense scrutiny.
Then again, he was probably horrified by the smudged mascara running down her face from all the crying she’d been doing.