“Any topping preferences,” I ask as I pull out my phone. I watch her think it over. She seems to overcome some kind of internal struggle and finally speaks.
“Do you care if half is just pepperoni,” She tentatively asks. It is almost like she doesn’t want to inconvenience me.
“I mean, it is okay if you want something else. I don’t mind. Really—,” She trails off when I hold up my hand.
“Pepperoni sounds great,” I say in what I hope is a relaxed and good natured tone. This woman worries too much about other people and not herself.
“I’ll order it and swing by your place in about an hour. Does that give you enough time,” I ask her. I don’t want to rush her, but also don’t want her staying here too late. She nods at me thoughtfully. Before she has a chance to complicate my plan, I start heading for the door.
“See you soon, Piper,” I promise. As far as plans go, pretending to fall asleep on her couch and camping out for the night is as basic as it gets. It is all I have. I’m just going to have to take it one night at a time. I pull my phone out to call Sterling. On the fourth ring he picks up.
“If you aren’t dying, you will be soon,” he grits out. I chuckle. My brother is all bark and mostly no bite. I hear Meg in the background scolding him tobe nice.
“Jesus, don’t you come up for air. It is 4 o’clock in the afternoon,” I tease him. I am taking advantage of being the instigator. Soon the tables will turn. Sterling will be giving me hell about Piper.
“Just wanted to let you know I’ll be at Piper’s tonight,” I casually announce to Sterling. He is silent for a moment.
“Look, I’m not going to get into this with you now. I have other things on my plate, but don’t do this if you aren’t serious,” he warns me. I’m almost offended.
“Sterling, you know me. I wouldn’t be doing this if I weren’t serious,” I leave my explanation there. I’m sure we will hash this out in person soon. Right now, it seems to be enough for Sterling. Before he can respond to me, I hear a bit of commotion and then a female voice floats through my ear.
“Holt, be careful with Piper. Oh, and don’t let her push you away. She will try,” Meg says to me. I chuckle.
“Thanks Meg, I didn’t plan on that. I may need your help down the line though,” I am not too proud to use resources at my disposal to get what I want.
“Sure thing, oh and Holt—hey, I wasn’t finished,” I hear her say as the phone is taken from her.
“Holt, don’t call me again tonight,” he says. I laugh, but don’t respond. Hanging up the phone, I mount my bike and pull on my helmet. I head down to Angelos.
Angelos is on the other side of our small mountain town. We have a lot of seasonal residents and tourists that cycle through here, but a few of our restaurants stay open year round for the locals.
High Ridge is known for attracting diverse groups of people from hikers and nature enthusiasts to the upper class. The skating rink has just been set up and holiday decorations are coming out. Before we know it, the town will be inundated with families trying to chase the snow, and come to the mountains for winter break.
I enjoy the peaceful and short ride to the other side of town. It is only 2 miles, and Piper lives in a small cottage just a mile from there. While her place is only a mile outside of town, I’m not a huge fan that it is in a desolate area. Around here, it is rarenotto be in a desolate area. The lack of security that she has is enough to drive me to drink.
Before I get to Angelos, I decide to pull into Darkside Brewery. I can fit a 6 pack in the saddle bags on my bike. High Ridge is home to a few breweries, but Carter, Sterling, and I frequent Darkside for the food, atmosphere, good beer, and convenience.
It doesn’t take me very long to find a good spot for my bike. I check my watch. I might beat Piper home, but that isn’t a bad thing. I can do a quick perimeter sweep. You can never be too careful.
Within 20 minutes, I have hit all of my stops and am on my way to Piper’s. I need to get a copy of her house key. I should have asked for her key before I left. I pull into her driveway and park. Slipping off my helmet, I quickly walk around the house. Stepping around the laurels that are scattered around, I am on high alert.
Satisfied that there is no one around, I make my way to her front door. I look down and spot a fake looking rock.She doesn’t have a a hide-a-key rock right outside her front door, does she?I bend down and pick it up. I am furious. How reckless of her. She should know better. Anyone would have spotted that from a mile away.
I grit my teeth, tamping down the sudden urge I have to turn her over my knee and spank her luscious ass. I unlock the door and pocket the key. I guess I don’t need to make a copy after all. Going back to my bike, I unstrap the pizza, grab the beers, and make myself at home.
Chapter 5
Piper
I watch Holt walk out. My mind starts to race. One hour. I have to get a move on if I’m going to close up in that amount of time. I look around and discard the idea of sweeping. It was a dry day and I can skip that for once.
I move quickly. Wrapping up pastries and taking the trash out back. I do this in the middle of the day so there isn’t much to take. While I work on autopilot, my mind drifts.
I can’t believe Holt is bringing pizza to my house.MY HOUSE. It’s a good thing I’m hardly there these days. Aside from some junk mail on the counter, and maybe my laundry basket in the hallway, it is fairly neat. My 600 square foot cottage isn’t large, but it is cozy and it is my oasis after a long day at work.
I sigh as I think of Holt’s large frame sharing that small space with me. He has only been by my house one other time, briefly. Not for the first time do I wonder what he is up to. Why does he insist on hanging around. In the middle of my internal musings, I think I hear the back kitchen door shut.
I freeze and listen. I grab my phone out of my pocket and slowly make my way to the kitchen. Creeping around the corner, I duck behind the cash register.What are you going to do if there is an intruder? Throw day old muffins at him?It isn’t like I’m trained inANYkind of self defense.
