Seeing is Believing (Cuttersville #3)(12)
Author: Erin McCarthy

She peeled off her tank top, goose bumps rising on her damp skin, her ni**les painfully hard. Draping it on the windowsill, she stripped off her shorts and panties as well. Standing there naked in the dark, staring out at the rain trailing down the window in driving rivulets, she was very much aware of her body. The goose bumps on her skin, the ache between her thighs, the brush of air across her backside. She didn’t spend a lot of time naked, given that she still lived with her parents and her little brothers. It felt decadent to stand there, her frizzy damp hair teasing across her back and her bare br**sts, flesh warming to the temperature of the stuffy room now that her wet pajamas were off.

Sensual. Like the woman that she knew she was. Piper stood up straighter, raking her hands through her thick hair. She always loved to feel her hair, to bury her fingers in its richness, to feel it brush against her back and her br**sts, to hold it between two fingers and idly twist it, to drag its weight up on top in a messy knot. All those things she had longed to do as a little girl.

Glancing at the door, she changed her mind. She could do this. She could stroll in there and take what she wanted from Brady. She could prove that she was an adult. She could indulge in one night with her childhood crush knowing that it wouldn’t result in anything. There weren’t enough times in her life when she gave herself credit. She had survived abandonment, being bald, feeling like the odd kid out next to her beautiful blond baby brothers. She had lived her life quietly and diplomatically, and she was good with that.

But tonight, just for once, before he walked out and the opportunity was never there again, Piper wanted to be selfish. She wanted to feel sexy, and she wanted to be satisfied.

Grabbing the robe she had brought for traversing back and forth to the shower, she pushed her arms through the sleeves. It would have been really bold to stroll in there naked, but she couldn’t risk it with the girls in the house. Nor did she think she was really capable of being that sassy. Not yet, anyway.

Belting it, she opened the door and moved into the hallway, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of the windowless corridor. Then she moved towards the blue bedroom.

Only to halt when she realized that Rachel was standing in front of the door, shoulders drooping with sorrow. Piper drew up short. “Oh, geez. Rachel, give a girl a little warning.”

The spirit didn’t respond. She just stared at Piper.

With . . . disapproval? Piper’s cheeks went hot. Why did she feel like she was being called out by a ghost?

“If I want to sleep with him, it’s none of your business,” she whispered, feeling foolish even as the words came out of her mouth. She was explaining herself to a dead woman. That was just dumb. And maybe an indication that she wasn’t as sure of herself as she liked to think.

Rachel shook her head, a silent tear rolling down her opaque face.

Which left Piper in a conundrum. Did she reach through Rachel to turn the knob? Did she try to scare her off? Or did she abandon the slutty ship she was on and go back to dry-dock in her room?

There was no way she could stick her hand through a ghost. It would be like touching her eyeball. She just couldn’t do it. The very thought made her queasy. Nor could she shoo her, which just seemed cruel. Hell, maybe Rachel was purposely blocking her entry into Brady’s room. Maybe the ghost had more sense than she did. Piper sighed. Seduction didn’t really suit her anyways.

She was about to retreat in defeat when Brady opened the door, causing her to jump and Rachel to disappear in a blink. “Oh!”

“Are you okay? I thought I heard you talking out here.”

Piper nodded, her tongue suddenly stuck to the roof of her mouth. Brady was in his underwear. Tight boxer briefs that showed firm thighs and an oversized package. The kind that would require extra postage down at the Cuttersville post office.

Good Lord in heaven.

She was both intrigued and horrified.

“So what were you doing?” Brady pressed.

Prying her tongue down, she forced her gaze up to meet his. “Going to the bathroom,” she managed to lie. “Sorry for disturbing you, Brady.”

But she realized Brady was no longer listening to her. He was staring at her chest.

A glance down showed that the robe had shifted. Her left breast was about 50 percent exposed. Including the edge of her nipple.

Before she could react, paralyzed by the horror of her failed attempt at sexy, Brady reached out and yanked the robe closed. Gripping both lapels, his face close to hers, he said grimly, “You’re going to kill me. Pick a door now and use it before I remove your free will from the equation, and then feel guilty as hell about it.”

Before she could think, respond, scoff at herself doing anything against her will, or overanalyze what his feeling guilty really meant, a low, keening wail started up down the hall. At first she thought it was one of the twins, but Brady didn’t seem to notice, and the sound wasn’t right.

It was unearthly. Starting, she turned to the right. It was Rachel, making the most god-awful sound of frustration and despair Piper had ever heard in her life.

“You don’t hear that, do you?” she asked Brady.

“Hear what?”

“Never mind.” Piper moved towards Rachel, intent on shushing her, soothing her, anything to get that sound to stop. But the minute she took a step in her direction, the wailing cut off. It annoyed Piper. Why couldn’t she ever just be normal? Why couldn’t she attempt to flirt with a man without a dead woman getting involved in the business?

Her heart was pounding in irritation and anxiety, and she could feel her face flushing with embarrassed heat. That was it. She was in this far, she was going all the way. Brushing past Brady, she went back into Shelby and Boston’s bedroom, right inside the doorway, and pivoted to face Brady again.

And she dropped her robe.

If this failed, she would most likely dig herself a hole quicker than Snoopy and dive into it to die of mortification.

If it succeeded, well, she might just be too nervous to enjoy herself.

But she was naked and something had to happen one way or the other, so she tried not to squirm as she waited for his reaction.

She didn’t have to wait long.

With a muttered curse Brady took her by the hand and just about yanked her arm out of the socket as he dragged her farther into the bedroom.

After he locked the door behind him.

Piper’s heart kicked into overdrive, but before she could say a word he was all over her like stink on hogs.

Yeah, he was attracted to her. Thank you, baby Jesus.