His eyes widened, and they trailed my body before flicking to the perfectly made bed in the center of the room. “Did you two, you know?” He mouthed the word “sex” as if he worried someone else would sneak in and find us talking about dirty subjects.
Ewww. “No,” I said holding back a laugh. Pierce and I barely had a long-term conversation. We definitely weren’t jumping underneath any covers together.
“Good, because you know Pierce still wets the bed?” Oliver said, stopping beside the large fourposter bed, which took up significant space.
I stepped back, hitting the wall in shock and letting a small squeak fall for my lips. “He does? He’s in his thirties.” I assumed he had secrets but nothing like that. Maybe a gambling addiction or occasionally he drank too much. Family drama.
Oliver’s face fell, and he shook his head. “No, I lied. That’s taking it too far even for me.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Not that I had any plans to spend time in bed with Pierce, but I didn’t want to be known as the woman who married a bed wetter. “Why would you lie about that?”
Oliver chuckled once and shook his head. “Because I’m dumb. Pierce always gets what he wants in life, and I worry he’s set his sights on you now.”
I don’t know where he picked up that idea. “I don’t think that’s a problem. Pierce needs me for a single reason.” Public relations for the town—nothing more and nothing less. If there was more to our expensive agreement, those plans did not involve winning my affection.
“I don’t want to see you hurt. I love Pierce as a brother. We will always be family, but you must understand that he doesn’t have a heart to give anyone.”
Wow. Harsh much? I bristled at his comment. It’s one thing for Pierce to think the town hated him and be wrong, but now it came from his own cousin? Family should never turn against one another. I’d been slighted by my mother and father. I didn’t want to sit around and listen to someone speak ill about Pierce.
“Great, now you think of him as big bad guy too?” Shouldn’t a cousin who loved him like a brother be on his side?
Was Oliver hiding outside motives underneath his good guy image? Did he have more in his agenda than finding a factory? Was he here for Pierce’s money too?
Did that make him any better than me? No. I was here for the same reason. We were using Pierce one way or another and for whatever reason he let us.
Oliver took another step toward me putting himself in the end of Pierce’s bed so only a foot or two separated us. “No, you misunderstood. Pierce is an amazing man, but he gave his heart away a long time ago and I don’t think he ever got it back.”
It was obvious Oliver left much unsaid, but I didn’t press. There was more to Pierce Kensington than met the eye. I just wasn’t sure if I was ready to find out exactly what he had hidden under his first few layers.
I had an idea of what was going on with Pierce and who held a chunk of his heart, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I had my own problems and a standing agreement with Pierce to be his fiancée—an agreement I planned to carry out until I’d secured the funding for the project. Mari Chambers wasn’t someone who went against a promise. Not when lives and fresh water were on the line. Some things were bigger than our petty problems in life, including love.
But, as long as Oliver came clean it wouldn’t hurt me to do the same. “I promise. I was only in here to make sure Pierce left for the morning. We definitely did not break rule number three.”
Oliver rested against one of the posts of the large bed, still looking freaking spectacular. I’d spent long days in the scorching sun with buff men without shirts, and the man standing in front of me right then put them to shame. “Why do you care if that happens?”
I smiled, and it was the first genuine one since the last time I’d seen Oliver. “I have spying to do.”
His expression matched my own, letting me know Oliver agreed with a little espionage. “Well then, don’t let me stop you.”
I was used to being the boss, and I hated secrets. But what I hated more than secrets was when someone made a decision I didn’t agree with. In San Francisco, I always had the final say, and it wasn’t that I didn’t trust Pierce. I just thought he’d been wrapped up in his own emotions when he fired Melissa.
He explained how Ridge Jefferson stopped a large crime syndicate in Pelican Bay who used the city as a stopping point before hustling drugs in the Canada. But that seemed too unrealistic, like something from a novel. One of those big thick ones that would take you a full week to read. Pelican Bay was a small town. It wasn’t New York. I didn’t buy the drug angle.
“He gave me permission to search for clues and prove Melissa wasn’t lying.” I used a few seconds to bring Oliver up to speed on Pierce’s thoughts on the issue and how I disagreed. “I need to get in his office.”
Rather than chastise me and tell me it was a stupid decision Oliver smiled bigger and leaned in, looking like he couldn’t wait to see what trouble I’d cause. “How can getting into Pierce’s office help?”
“If I can find what Melissa was looking for, I’d have proof. She said it wasn’t money, so then what? What would she need for her grandmother’s nursing home?” Was she really searching for something for her grandmother or was Pierce correct and she was trying to steal money to pay for her boyfriend’s lawyer?
“Shall we?” Oliver asked, turning from his position and holding out his hand to lead me through Pierce’s bedroom and across the hall to his office.
He placed himself against the new threshold and smiled as I creeped toward the office door slowly as if I worried he had a camera and he’d have me arrested at any moment. My hand snaked out, and I slipped my fingers around the door handle. My eyes grew wide as I twisted the doorknob, not wanting to make more noise than necessary.
Nothing happened.
Oliver’s eyes fell, and I turned the door handle further. “It’s locked.” Pierce didn’t lock anything. Ever.
Oliver smirked and leaned back, relaxing his posture. “Of course, it is. Pierce keeps his good stuff locked away.”
