I snorted. Should’ve known she’d been listening. “How can glasses even be naughty?”
“Grayden manages it.”
I glanced at Ollie to make sure he was fully absorbed in building his paperback tower. Then I stage-whispered, “I kissed him.”
“Youwhat?”
“Shh!” I glanced toward Ollie again, but he was ignoring us.
“Piper Carmichael. You must tell meeverything.”
Rina poked my arm with the broom handle from across the counter until I glared at her. She scurried around to the other side of the register, putting the broom away as she went.
I grabbed a pair of tongs to top-up the pastry display case. “There’s nothing to tell,” I said quietly. “It was just a kiss.”
“Just a kiss,” she scoffed.
More like three kisses, I corrected silently. Rina didn’t need to know that. “It won’t happen again,” I said.
“But you want it to happen again.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to. It’s all over your aura, babe.” Rina was practically bouncing on her heels now. “This is the most exciting thing that’s happened since Manny Alvarez cursed out those snooty tourists while dressed in his Santa costume.”
I snorted a laugh. Yeah, that had been funny.
It was also a relief to tellsomeoneabout kissing Grayden. I certainly hadn’t told my best friend that I’d made out with her oldest brother and then offered up my body for sex.
And he’d turned me down.
“It wasn’t even just the kiss,” I whispered. “Grayden is renting my old house. A couple days ago, Danny broke in. I confronted him, and he was being awful. Grayden came home and kind of went…feralon him.”
Rina’s jaw dropped open in slow motion. “Piper, that isso. Hot. When are you seeing him again?”
“I’m not sure. We’re friends, but it can’t be more than that. I’m notinterestedin more than that.”
“Not what your aura says,” she muttered.
“I’m going to go call my brother back.”
I wasn’t avoiding Rina’s hints about my feelings for Grayden. Nope, not me.
“I’ll keep an eye on Ollie and hold down the register.” Rina glanced around the utterly silent, completely empty coffee shop. “You know, in case we get swamped in the next five minutes.”
“Thanks,” I said, already heading toward my office.
I had to get myself together. Had to stop thinking constantly about Grayden, because this wasn’t healthy.
After Grayden had told me he was innocent and took the fall for someone else, it had been hard not to go straight to Grace and repeat everything he’d said. His siblings needed to know. Especially Ashford.
Wouldn’t the truth make a difference? Maybe Ashford would finally give Grayden a chance.
But before, Grayden had said the truth would hurt Grace. That she would feelguilty. I couldn’t understand why or how, but Grace had already been through so much. She didn’t need more pain heaped on top of everything else.
This time, it was probably better to stay out of it. Just let things unfold between the O’Neal siblings naturally. They’d talk everything out when they were ready.
Besides, Grace had been in New York City with Dane since New Year’s. She wasn’t around right now to notice how overwhelmed I was, unlike Dillon or Rina.
