Seeing is Believing (Cuttersville #3)(16)
Author: Erin McCarthy

He was going to stick around his old stomping grounds for a little while and further renew an old acquaintance or two.

Hopefully while naked.

* * *

PIPER WATCHED BRADY WALK ACROSS THE ROOM IN his underwear, his shoulders twisting as he slipped through the door and pulled it softly shut behind him. She could hear him go into Zach’s room and flop onto the bed, the frame creaking, the sound so loud that she marveled that they hadn’t woken up the girls.

A flush of shame rose up her body. Whatever she had wanted to do with Brady, whatever she had done, it shouldn’t have been with the twins in the house. She was horrified at her lack of discretion, her inability to separate her lust from what was right. She loved those girls and she would never want them to see anything inappropriate, hear anything she couldn’t explain.

The thought had her out of bed and pulling on her now-dry clothes with trembling fingers, the dampness between her thighs an obvious reminder of what she had done. As was the soreness she felt. What had felt so glorious when it had been happening now felt a little tawdry. She climbed back in bed and tried to remember the certainty she’d felt when Brady had taken her hand, the wonder she’d known when her orgasm had just reached out and yanked her into a freedom of pleasure she’d never experienced before.

That was what she had to think about—remember—tomorrow when it was awkward and she felt guilty.

That for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, she had done something selfish, and it hadn’t hurt anybody. It had felt amazing to take what she wanted. Or to be taken, more accurately.

The house was silent, only the occasional pop as the old Victorian settled. The rain had stopped. Yet Piper felt something.

She realized Rachel was standing in front of the bed.

Of course she was. Piper pressed the palm of her hand to the soft tank covering her chest, startled even though she really shouldn’t be. “Please stop doing that.”

She lay on her back, eyes wide-open, Rachel at the front of her bed, very much aware of Brady in the next room. Was he sleeping? He had the biggest penis she’d ever seen. Not that she’d seen a lot, but still. It was a lot to contend with. Could she fit that in her mouth? She wasn’t sure.

Rachel glared at her, and waves of recrimination rolled off her. Or maybe Piper just thought they did. But for some reason she felt like she was being judged. “I’m a grown woman,” she told Rachel. “It didn’t mean anything.”

But that was a lie. Even as she spoke the words she knew it was a lie. And while Brady might have willingly screwed her, more to the point she had screwed herself. It was a real challenge to eat one potato chip and leave the rest of the bag untouched. Brady was going to be in town for a few more days and he was one salty, crunchy hunk of delicious that she wanted to taste all over again.

The way he kissed her . . . Have mercy.

Sighing, Piper gripped the bedsheet and watched her new ghost BFF hovering as clearly as her thoughts of Brady.

It seemed there wasn’t going to be any sleep for her that night.

           Chapter Five

“HEY, SHEL, WHAT’S UP?” BRADY WAS SURPRISED HIS cousin had answered her cell phone. She wasn’t known for even remembering where it was, let alone answering it. But then again, she was probably worried about being away from her kids.

“Brady? I’m fine. How are you?”

Hopping onto the kitchen counter, his favorite place to sit since he’d been tall enough to jump up there, he stared at the note Piper had left him. He’d stayed in bed until he was certain she and the girls were out of the house. Slightly cowardly—okay, a lot cowardly—but he couldn’t face eight-year-old twins whose babysitter he had banged until he’d had some coffee. Truthfully, when he saw Piper for the first time since he’d left her naked in the dark, he wanted to be alone with her, though he didn’t see that happening anytime soon. Piper’s note said they had gone out to the farm so the girls could play with her brothers, and he was welcome to join them. And that there were fresh towels under the sink. And coffee ready to be perked. Fresh eggs in the fridge.

The note was almost a novel, she was being so considerate. She’d left her cell phone number and told him not to worry about Snoopy, that she’d already let the dog out. There was a spare house key sitting next to the note.

Another marked difference between the women of his childhood and the women in the city. Back in Chicago, a woman would have left him before he’d woken up and sent him a brief text that was more or less a breezy thanks and blow-off. Or maybe it was just the women he’d been dating, women who thought more about themselves than anyone else, or were more concerned about appearing in control and unaffected. It cluttered his already jumbled thoughts, clouded his feelings. What did he do with Piper Tucker? Well, aside from what he’d already done, which he’d like to repeat as soon as possible.

But he shouldn’t. He should talk to her, thank her for a great time, explain how they both knew it couldn’t happen ever again.

That was exactly what he should do.

“So Shel, how is it that you never leave town, yet you manage to do it the one weekend I’m here in Cuttersville?”

“What! You’re in Cuttersville? Are you shitting me? Why?” He heard her shifting the phone. “Boston, Brady’s in Cuttersville.”

Boston’s response was too muffled to understand.

Brady put his foot on the kitchen chair across from the counter, stretching his leg and inspecting his toenails. Time to clip those f**kers. “You having fun in Cincinnati?”

“Why are you in Cuttersville? Is everything okay? Is your dad dead?”

He rolled his eyes for the benefit of the empty room. “As far as I know, he’s not dead, and if he was, I imagine you’d know before me. I just wanted to visit my family, that’s all. I had some time off work.” A lot of time. An indefinite amount of time.

“Well, how long are you staying? We won’t be back until suppertime tomorrow.”

Which was when he’d originally been intending to go back to Chicago. But he heard himself say firmly, “I’ll be staying all week.” And maybe longer.

“Good. Where are you staying?”

“Last night I stayed at your house. I came late, it was raining. I thought you’d be home. Fortunately, Piper let me in. Damn, Shel, that girl has grown up. She’s beautiful.” Brady winced at the sound of enthusiasm in his voice. He hadn’t meant to be that obvious, but it just came spewing out, like corn from the thresher.