“Oh, Tag, when your sarcasm shows, you sound like Torren. I won’t hold that against you, though,” she promised. She ordered Tag another beer and herself a burger. The girl could pack away some food. Sunny leaned forward, almost as if she had a secret to whisper to Tag. He found himself leaning towards her, waiting.
“I know where Piper is staying, and I know her grandmother’s address. You’ll just need to stake out the building until Pipe shows up. She has a meeting scheduled with a real estate auction company in two days. I bet you’ll find her at her grandmother’s apartment that day.” Tag dropped the rest of his burger on his plate.
“Why make me suffer, Sunny? Why didn’t you tell me all these days ago?” He motioned for the waitress. He couldn’t waste precious minutes sitting around with Sunny when he could be spending his time persuading Piper to come home with him.
“Pipe needed time, and frankly, so did you. You were angry and grumpy for days. I know Piper probably wasn’t in much better shape than you were. You two belong together, but that doesn’t mean that everything is going to be easy. You expected Piper to forget all the pain that she experienced, fall in love with you, and live happily ever after. Well, that’s not Pipe. She’s been through more shit than anyone I’ve ever met. You both have. You just need to figure out a way to live with your crappy pasts and make each other happy now and in the future.” Tag sat back in his seat, weighing Sunny’s words. She wasn’t wrong. He thought he could fix Piper, but she didn’t need fixing. She just needed to be loved.
Shit.“I’m in love with her, Sunny,” Tag almost whispered. Sunny laughed and reached across the table to take his hand, squeezing it in hers.
“I know, you dumb giant. I’ve known that for a year now. It just took both of you a while to catch up. I’m pretty sure she feels the same way about you, but I’ll let her tell you that. You’re just going to have to be patient with her while she figures it all out. Whatever you do, Tag, just don’t give up on her. She’s one of a kind.” Tag pulled Sunny’s hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it.
“Thanks for being such a good friend to both of us,” Tag said. Sunny blushed, slapping Tag’s hands away.
“Enough mushy shit, just go get our girl!” Sunny ordered. For the first time in more than a week, Tag felt hopeful. He paid their bill and kissed Sunny on his way out. He needed to pack a bag and book a flight to New York. He was going to claim the woman that he loved, whether she was ready for him or not.
Piper wasn’t sure how much longer she could stretch out her stay in New York. She went through all her grandmother’s belongings and decided to keep only a few items—mostly family pictures and a few sweet figurines of angels. She loved angels, and after reading the letter, she felt that maybe that one connection was enough to find some common ground. She tried not to think too much about her grandmother’s words. She lived the exact opposite life that Agnes hoped for her. Would her father want her to find love? She knew that her parents loved her and that they loved each other. They were always touching and kissing in front of her, usually to her squeals of “gross”. Would they have wanted that for her? Was she so consumed with losing them that she forgot to live? She arranged to meet with the estate auctioneer this afternoon, and then she would be finished with her business in New York. She would never really get used to being wealthy, so she was choosing to ignore her newfound money. Sure, staying in one of the ritziest hotels in New York was nice, but she was determined not to let it change her. She needed to go back to Colorado and figure things out from there. She needed to face her friends and family to apologize for just leaving. She also needed to face Tag—she owed him an apology, too. She needed him to know that it wasn’t his fault. When she left, she blamed him for doing his job. He was good at it, too. Being in the adventure business was a part of him. She couldn’t imagine him not hiking up the side of a mountain to save someone if the situation arose. How could she ask him to give that up? She would be asking him to give up who he was, and she wasn’t willing to do that. He shouldn’t have to change for her to accommodate her fears. It was time for Piper toface the darkness that had consumed her for so long. She needed to do it for her parents, Lorna and Sunny. She needed to do it for herself to find the happiness that her grandmother spoke of. The time for being a chicken was over. Piper greeted the doorman at Agnes’s apartment and took the elevator up to the penthouse. She would have her meeting, and then she was going to find a way to take her life back.
Chapter Eighteen
Tag watched Piper as she came out of the building that matched the address that Sunny gave him and turned the corner. He was desperate to call out to her but afraid that if he spooked her, she would run again. He carefully stepped into her path as she was searching in her bag for something. She seemed to be in a hurry. He couldn’t let her get into her waiting car—she would disappear from his life again, and he couldn’t handle that, not after he traveled this far. He reached out to catch her as she ran into his body, still not paying attention to where she was going or her surroundings.
“Oh—excuse me, I—” Piper looked up from rummaging through her oversized bag to find that she landed in Tag’s arms. Her eyes widened with the realization that he was standing in front of her.
“Miss Flynn, are you all right?” Piper’s oversized driver tried to pull her away from Tag, but he refused to let her go. Piper was his, and she was the only one who could tell him that she wanted out. God, she already did that back in Harvest Ridge, but he was here now. He wanted another shot at—well, everything.
“Ma’am?” The brawny driver waited for Piper to respond. His hand rested on her upper arm. Tag wanted to pull her away from his grasp, but he also didn’t want to rush her. Piper needed to figure out what she wanted, and he prayed that it was him.
“You need to tell your driver that you’re okay, Honey,” Tag ordered. He knew that her driver’s patience was wearing thin; he could feel the tension rolling off the guy. Tag couldn’t take his eyes off Piper. The way she looked at him, as if she was both confused and happy to see him all at once, gave him hope that he didn’t want to feel.
“Yes,” she stuttered, “I’m fine. This is a friend of mine from Colorado.” Tag flinched at the term “friend,” but he would take it. At least she wasn’t denying knowing him altogether. Her driver eased back, leaned against his SUV, and waited for Piper’s next order. “Tag, what are you doing here? How did you find me?” she asked.
“Sunny,” they said in unison. Piper groaned. “How could she do this to me? I needed time.”
“I gave you time, Honey. It’s been almost two weeks. I’ve been in hell waiting for you to come back, not knowing where you were, not being able to touch you or talk to you. It’s been agonizing. I’m done waiting, Piper.” He didn’t miss the slight hitch in her breath or the way her eyes hooded with desire. Tag wanted to kiss her, but he knew that she could still bolt. He needed to get her where they could talk, preferably without her driver listening in.
“Is there someplace that we can talk, Pipe?” She seemed to weigh her options, going over the pros and cons of the situation as she always did. His Piper. God, how he missed her. She was always so careful, so calculated. She nodded her agreement, and Tag exhaled the breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. Piper motioned towards the bulky driver and expensive car.
“Do you mind if we take my car? It’s already here,” she asked. Now it was Tag’s turn to consider his options. On the one hand, he knew that if he got into Piper’s car, they could go somewhere to be alone. On the other hand, her driver would be privy to their conversation while they were in the car.
As if on cue, Piper laughed and reached for his hand. “Tag, it’s not a hard decision. Do you want to ride with me to my hotel or meet me there?” He didn’t want to let Piper out of his sight, so his answer was clear.
“We can take your car,” he agreed. The driver opened the door, and Piper slid into the back seat. Tag was starting to get the feeling that this guy was more than just a driver for Piper, and the idea was rubbing him the wrong way. It was only two weeks—did Piper move on? He eyed the guy as he slid in next to Piper. He wanted to pull her onto his lap or crush his mouth to hers to send a clear message, but he knew that they weren’t quite at that point. First, they needed to talk. Then, he would convince Piper that they belonged together. He didn’t give a fuck about her driver or what he was to her. Piper belonged with him in Colorado or wherever else she wanted to be. He didn’t care as long as she let him come along for the ride.
They pulled out into the New York traffic, something Piper was getting used to. She was a small-town girl at heart, but there was something about being able to get lost in a big city, especially one the size of New York. No one here knew her story, and she liked that. She didn’t have to put up with whispers and looks of pity from people who knew who she was and what happened to her family. Here, she was just a number. She was one of the millions of New Yorkerswho just existed in the city. Except she missed home. She knew that she wanted to end up back in Colorado with Sunny and Lorna and God help her, Tag. She also knew that moving forward meant that she would have to relive some of her painful past. Just after she met with the estate auctioneer, she called the precinct where she spent the night all those years ago. Of course, they didn’t remember her. She explained who she was and what happened to her parents, and while the officer was sympathetic, she heard hundreds of stories like Piper’s. She asked about Officer Kennedy, the kind man who held her hand and talked softly to her. She never got the chance to thank him—she was young and in shock. He probably didn’t expect to be thanked—heck, he probably didn’t even remember her. But she needed to tell him how much it meant to her that he took care of her until her aunt could get to New York. She was able to get Officer Kennedy’s number and was hoping he would want to meet with her. Tag showing up threw a wrench in that plan. If she told him what she wanted to do, he would insist on going with her. While she loved that he wanted to protect her, this was something that she needed to do on her own.
“Listen, Tag, this isn’t a good time.” He did a double-take, looking at her as if she were crazy. She almost wanted to laugh, but knew him well enough to know that now wasn’t the time for humor. Instead, she reached for his hand and linked their fingers.
“I have things left to do here, and I can’t have you talking me out of them or even distracting me. I need to finish what I’ve started for us to have any chance at a future.” Tag pulled her hand to his lips and kissed each of her fingers, lighting an ache in her soul.
“Honey, you take all the time in the world—I’m not going anywhere.” Tag watched her, waiting for her to respond.
“I need to do this alone, Tag. I can’t have you picking me up every time I fail at life. I need to find my strength.” Piper hoped that he would understand that she was doing this for them, not just herself. “I want a future with you, but I can’t have that until I straighten out my past. I want to meet with the officer who helped me that day—” She paused, almost not wanting to say exactly what day she was referring to. “The day that my parents died. I’ve never talked to anyone about this. Well, except for my therapist. Not even Sunny or Lorna has heard this story.” Tag undid his seatbelt and slid closer to her, pulling her legs over his lap.
“You can tell me whatever you need to, Piper. Nothing you say will ever make me not want you.” Tag dipped his head down to gently kiss her lips. God, she missed him. She especially missed the way he held her and kissed her. She needed him like she needed her next breath, but she also needed to stand on her own.
“I was there the day my parents died. I watched the entire scene through the windows of a convenience store. It was almost like I was watching a movie or a show, like it wasn’t happening to me. But it was—it did. I froze, too afraid to run into that store. All I could do was watch them die,” she whispered.
“I’m so glad that you were too afraid to run into that store, Honey. You wouldn’t be here now if you did. I wouldn’t be able to touch you or tell you that I love you.” Piper sucked in a big breath, not wanting to feel so much hope. That emotion was dangerous and wonderful all at the same time.
