She was leaning against the truck with her coffee cup waiting for me to unlock the doors. I let my eyes rove over her figure a bit. She tried to hide it, but she had curves in all the right places. I would enjoy uncovering them one piece of clothing at a time. She started to bite her lip, her eyes darting around. One of her tells that she was nervous. I would be lying if I said I didn’tenjoy making her a little nervous. Some deep seated animalistic trait. I unlock the door for her and walk around to my side.
She is in the vehicle with door shut before I round the driver’s side. Smirking, I open the door and slide in.This is going to be fun.She has no idea what she is in for. I start the truck and look at her again, making sure she is buckled in. I back out of the space and head toward her house. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice that she is fidgeting.
I know I have to start asking her some questions. Holt and I are going to need something to go off of to figure out what the hell is going on. Before I can open my mouth she starts to speak.
“ So, did you make any headway on my bronco? Do you know what is wrong with it?” She is picking at the seam of the coffee cup sleeve.
“It looks like someone tried to cut some wires under your hood— they also poured something in your gas tank. You are lucky that the truck died where it did. If it didn’t the engine would be trash,” I explained to her.
I’m glad she started the conversation. I glance over at her watching her reaction. She looks surprised, worried, and confused. My gut tells me she has no clue what is going on, but I press on.
“I drained the gas tank and worked on cleaning it up— your truck should be good to go in a few days,” I explain. Hoping to reassure her. She is quiet for a bit and then she swallows.
“Thank you for your help, I’m not sure what this will cost— but if it is a lot I can pay you in installments,” she explains.
Ignoring her ridiculous offer to pay me, I finally just cut to the chase. “Do you know who would do something like this,” I ask. She is silent for a moment and a flash of anxiety sparks in her eyes.
“I have no idea, there has to be some kind of mistake,” she says. She almost says the last part to herself. She has a far off look in her eyes and is biting her lip with worry.
“I’m sure it will be fine,” she goes on. I glance at her again. Knowing she is going to try to dismiss it. I change the subject for now.
“ I should be able to get the sink fixed tonight,” I offer, giving her a minute to digest the confirmation that she is likely in some sort of danger. We will have more time to talk about it tonight.
“You don’t have to do that,” she starts to protest. I raise my hand from the steering wheel and shake my head cutting her off.
“It needs to be fixed,” I ground out. Not sure how else to tell her that I will take care of it. I’m not a big communicator.
She trails off and I hear her hum. It is like she is waging an internal battle. Finally her shoulders slump and she murmurs an “okay”. She turns to look out the window. I wonder what she is thinking. Suddenly her phone vibrates in her backpack. She reaches to get it. I hear her scoff at the message.
“Something funny,” I ask. I am curious— which is new for me. Usually, I could care less about other people’s conversations.
“Just Piper being Piper,” she states. She fires off a quick response and shakes her head. I am obviously not going to get any details about it, but I could guess. Piper isn’t going to let this go, and I’m thrilled. I can use all the help I can get. Meg is going to be a tough one, but I have never backed away from a challenge before. I don’t plan on changing my track record anytime soon.
Chapter 11
Meg
I’m not sure what to tell Sterling. I have no idea why anyone would want to purposely sabotage my only form of transportation. I’m also not sure what to make of the threatening messages I have received. I feel like I’m in some kind of fog. Nothing is clear to me. I’m internally struggling about whether or not to tell him about the e-mail and the note, when I get a text. Reaching into my backpack I see that it is Piper.
Piper: Sterling and Meg sitting in a tree… K-I-S-S-I-N-G…
I huff a bit under my breath and respond.
Meg: You are delusional.
I put my phone away. Piper is going to be the death of me. I don’t know where she comes up with some of this stuff.
“Have you known each other for a while,” he asks as he scratches the back of his neck and keeps his eyes on the road. He almost looks uncomfortable asking.
“Basically 20 years, we met in middle school and have been friends ever since. It is hard for me to remember a time when we weren’t friends,” I explain to him. He puts his signal on to turn into my neighborhood.Maybe he is interested in Piper.Before my mind can run away with that thought, we pull into my carport.
I grab my backpack as I exit the cab. I round the back of the truck and reach in to grab one of the bags that he has in his tool box. He is too quick for me and grabs the last one. “I got it,” he says as he shuts the lid.
Shrugging, I trail him as he heads toward the front door. He smoothly unlocks the door with one hand and pushes it open. Stepping back, he lets me in first. I scurry past him quickly, not wanting to hold him up.
The clock on the stove reads 4:00 in the afternoon. My mind drifts to dinner, I don’t know what I’ll do for that. I wonder if he is going to stay. I don’t want to ask, I mentally shrug and figure that’s a later problem.
“I’m going to get started on your sink,” he states gruffly as he opens up the door under the cabinet. As he crouches down, I can’t help but notice the way his well worn jeans stretch across his muscular thighs and ass.
