“Jesus, Piper, let me look at that,” he says gently taking my hand. I start to shake my head and pull my hand away. He won’t let me.
“I’m just a klutz, I burn myself at least once a day. I mean, if I don’t it is a miracle,” I ramble jokingly. He doesn’t look amused at my explanation. His light brown eyebrows are furrowed over his blue eyes.
“Maybe you should get some gloves,” he says. I start to laugh, but stop when I realize he isn’t joking.
“It’s just a little burn, really. In about 5 minutes I’ll forget all about it,” I try to reassure him. This is becoming a theme between the two of us. I successfully snatch my hand away and spin around to the tray. Picking it up, I begin to walk out towards the register and display case. I feel Holt follow me.
“How is the search for help coming along,” Holt asks me as I put the tray in the case. I turn around to turn the other pot of coffee on and snort.
“About as well as me winning the lottery,” I mutter. I’m flipping the espresso machine and coffee pot on when he comes up next to me.
“I don’t like that you don’t have any help here. It is dangerous for you to be working alone all the time,” he is trying not to sound grouchy— but I can hear the tone. I know what he wants to say. He wants to say,if you don’t get help in here soon, I will do it for you.
“I am trying, Holt. It isn’t easy. I have hired 5 people in as many months and none of them stick around for longer than 2 weeks,” I explain frustratedly. He holds his hands up.
“Hey, hey, I know you are. I just don’t want you to run yourself ragged here,” his voice is quiet but the caring tone hits me in the chest. I am usually the one that is worrying about others, and it is nice to have someone worry about me for a change. I swallow the lump that has formed in my throat.
“Thank you, I’m sure I’ll find help soon,” I say. Trying to get a handle on the emotions that have suddenly welled up. I don’t know why Holt brings out this side of me. I am not needy. I need to shut it down, though. I look at the clock. It is time to open. Before I can say anything, Holt is striding to the front door. He flips the sign and unlocks it.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” I exclaim as I grab a muffin and put it in a to go bag. Holt is already sliding a 20 dollar bill across the counter.
“You don’t have to—,” I start to say when he interrupts me. Putting a stop to the words coming out of my mouth.
“Take it, Piper. No arguments,” he orders. Before I start to protest the bell on the door dings, indicating my first customer.
“I’ll see you later,” he states and strides out the front door. I stare after him for a moment. My mouth agape. I’m broken out of my thoughts when someone clears their throat. Shaking my head, I get to work.
Chapter 2
Holt
This woman is infuriating. She is an accident waiting to happen, and refuses to acknowledge that. I have spent the last 3 weeks dragging my ass out of bed at 5:00 AM to check on her at Doe’s.
In a perfect world, Piper should be able to open her cafe alone. In a perfect world, Piper should be able to walk down a dark street, in the middle of the night, alone without being worried. We are NOT in a perfect world. Piper seems oblivious to the danger she is constantly putting herself in. If she doesn’t find some help soon, I’m going to do it for her.
I put the muffin in my saddle bag for later and drain my coffee. I put that in my empty saddle bag too.I’ll throw it out later.I straddle my Harley and pull my helmet on quickly. I’m late for a surveillance job.
Normally, I would change out my vehicle. My bike doesn’t necessarily have all the creature comforts of my truck. I just don’t have the extra time to do that this morning. Honestly, I don’t know how Piper keeps this schedule. She is at the cafe by 5:30 every morning and stays until close most days. Her only day off is Sunday. Which means, my only day off right now is Sunday. Something has to give with this schedule.
I pull up to the storage unit parking lot. According to the owner, unit 13 is seeing some unusual traffic. He is worried that something illegal is happening on his property. I park my bike behind the building. From this angle, I am hidden but I can see if someone comes into the lot. This job is also getting old. This is the fourth trip I have made out here, and nothing is happening. Looking at my phone, I figure Carter is up by now. He picks up on the second ring.
“Anything happening there yet,” he asks. He doesn’t even say hello. That is Carter, all business. I appreciate it though. Small talk is bullshit and annoying as hell.
“Not yet, I’m not sure what this guy thinks is happening. We need to set up a camera here. We have other shit to do,” I say quickly.
“Agreed, I’ll get over there today at around lunch and put a couple up. We don’t need to waste anymore time. Besides, you are busy being Piper’s shadow these days,” he needles.
“Shut up man, you know as well as I do that her schedule is crazy and dangerous. Plus, she hasn’t dealt with that situation from last month. The girl is a ticking time bomb,” I try to explain.
“I’ll see you at the office later today,” I say and hang up. There is no need to prolong our interaction. Carter doesn’t need to know that I have become obsessed with the woman.
Her sandy brown hair and curvy body keep me up at night. Which has been wreaking havoc on my sleep schedule. I don’t think I have gotten more than 5 hours a night since I met her. Which doesn’t help my real job.
My private security company needs me at the top of my game. I can’t be distracted. High Ridge doesn’t exactly have a highly skilled police force, a lot of what would normally be under their umbrella falls to my company. Our tiny mountain town may not have the crime stats of a larger city, but it can still be dangerous. People have a tendency to let their guard down, and outsiders know that. They use it to their advantage.
Before heading out, I decide to make one more call. My brother should be awake by now, and I need him to do me a favor. He owes me— plenty.
“Yeah,” Sterling answers after the 3rd ring. His gruff voice is quiet. I hear the rustle of what sounds like sheets. Looking at my watch I see that it is almost 9:00 AM.
