Seeing is Believing (Cuttersville #3)(54)
Author: Erin McCarthy

Relationship.

God, he was out of mind. Too much fresh air out here in the sticks. He needed to get back to Wrigleyville, hit an exciting new restaurant and a bar for drinks.

He had music cranked, intense heavy metal that felt like there was a drummer banging away on his kit inside Brady’s skull. It was perfect for his mood. Maybe the high volume would drown out his thoughts.

Having spent the day sanding and scraping and prepping, he was ready to paint, and he had to admit, the no-brainer work was satisfying. He didn’t have it in him to think, which might explain why he had yet to update his resume and send it out. It wasn’t good to ignore his unemployment status, but at the moment he didn’t particularly care.

Doing a little head banging, he moved on down the wall, singing along with the screamer lyrics. Standing up to move to the window, he even did a little air guitar since there was no one there to see him.

Spinning around, he suddenly stopped strumming. No one there to see him except Piper.

Jesus. Really? He’d been hot to see her for days and this was their first post-mind-blowing-sex encounter? He in dusty jeans and an old T-shirt he’d found in his dresser from high school to paint in that stated, PROFESSIONAL MUFF DIVER. While doing air guitar. He’d picked the shirt because he knew it was going to get trashed painting and he didn’t share the opinion of his fifteen-year-old self that this was a funny statement. It was just stupid, and now it felt even more stupid given that someone else was seeing it. A someone whose respect he actually wanted.

“Hi,” he blurted out, feeling like a douche bag tool idiot moron.

She was smiling. “Hi.”

Or at least that was what he thought she said, since the music was blaring and making conversation impossible. Brady hit the volume button repeatedly until the music went down to something other than earsplitting.

For the first time in a very long time, he was unsure of himself with a woman. He didn’t like it. So he mentally pulled his balls back out of his body and got a grip. He crossed the room and gave her a kiss. “I’m glad to see you.”

He was. Ridiculously so, despite his offensive shirt. Which he felt compelled to explain. “This is an old shirt. Found it in my old drawer at my parents’ to paint in. And I was never a pro.”

Fortunately, she laughed. “There’s still time.”

Brady loved that she had a sense of humor behind her quiet exterior. “Well, I am unemployed. Maybe I should check out the pay scale.”

“I can give a letter of recommendation.”

Oh, yeah. She was remembering the other night. He liked the sound of that. “Thanks. But truthfully I’d rather keep my services exclusive to one woman. And by that, I mean you, so don’t ask me who.”

Her eyes darted to the floor. “Brady, I want to spend time with you. I do.”

His throat closed. Jesus, was he getting dumped? That definitely sounded like he was getting dumped.

“But my family’s opinion is very important to me, and they don’t understand why I would get involved with you knowing you’re going back to Chicago. They have concerns.”

A small curse slid out before he could stop it. “What it really means is they don’t think you should be involved with me. Hey, I can’t say I blame them. I would feel the same way if I were Danny. But what happened to us having fun? Us having an affair?” He wanted her to remember that. Even as he knew he never wanted to jeopardize her relationship with her family, he still wanted what he wanted.

And what he wanted was her.

Her eyes were agonized. “I want to do that. More than anything. But . . .”

“But you have to live here after I leave.” Brady sighed. “I get it.” He hated it. But he got it. “I have to say, I’m more than a little disappointed, Piper. I enjoy spending time with you.” He took her hand in a move that could probably be classified as manipulative. Rubbing his thumb across her palm, he said coaxingly, “I want to spend more time with you.”

She was caving, he could tell. Her eyes were soft and wide, her lips parting. “I . . . I have to think about it.”

“Thank you,” he told her in all sincerity. He was being a total selfish prick, but if she chose to see him, then he didn’t have to feel guilty about that, right? “So did you just stop by to tell me that?”

“I have bags from Shelby. She sent some food for you. But I figured it’s about time for me to make good on my bargain to your grandmother to help you paint. It looks like I’m right on time.”

He was down with that. “Sounds good to me. Let me take care of these bags and then we can get started.”

When he picked up the shopping bags and headed for the kitchen, Piper burst out laughing. “What?” He liked to think his ass was cause for groping, not laughing.

“The back of your shirt is even better than the front.”

Uh-oh. He hadn’t looked at the back. “What does it say? Or do I even want to know?”

“It says, ‘I yodel in the Valley.’”

“I don’t even know what that means,” he told her, trying not to wince at his total lack of game. He was not pulling out a stellar seduction in Piper’s case. He did know what it meant, but for some reason he felt compelled to act innocent. Frankly, it was a look that didn’t work on him.

“I’m not sure either. It’s like it could be a double entendre, right?”

“I’m fairly certain it is, come to think of it.” He waggled his tongue at her to demonstrate.

Her eyes widened in understanding. “Oooh.”

Brady peeked in the bags before setting them on the counter. Yay. He had cookies. “By the way, I much prefer sleeping in your bed than sleeping on the floor. Thank you.”

When he turned she was in the doorway. He just realized it was the first time he’d ever seen her wearing jeans. They seemed to be work jeans of some kind. There was a paint smear on the thigh and the cuffs were frayed. Her little navy tank top said OHIO across it, and she was painfully cute. He wanted to lick her from head to toe. He wanted to lock her in the bedroom. His bedroom, soon to be her bedroom, but not their bedroom. It was so damn frustrating.

“You’re welcome. It’s my pleasure.”

“No. I think ‘pleasure’ would be a good description if you were sharing the bed with me.” Just to drive his point home.

Her cheeks tinged with color. “I imagine so.”

He figured that was enough laying the seeds for the moment. “Do you want a drink or anything before we start painting? It seems I have cookies now.”