Page 59 of Reconcile
I know she said we’re friends, but the way she’s been watching me is not friendly.
Maybe it’s all in my head. Maybe I’m just really fucking horny. It’s been way too long since I’ve been laid, but that’s not really where my mind has been.
I’ve been focused on trying to prove to her I can be a good dad.
We tuck Audrey in, and then Piper grabs my hand, pulling me into her room instead of me following her.
“You okay?”
She nods her head slowly, her teeth pulling on her bottom lip and leaving it swollen and so fucking kissable I can barely stand it. She changed after work into a faded cropped t-shirt and jean shorts.
Fuck, she’s sexy.
She closes the door behind us and locks it, drawing my eyes to hers as I search, trying not to read anything into it.
We’re friends.
But friends don’t usually lock the door.
She moves closer to me, allowing me to breathe in her sweet perfume, placing her hands on my chest. “Ask me.”
I swallow my nerves. She can’t be doing what I think she is. I haven’t been this fucking nervous since the first time I kissed her.
“Are you sure?” I barely recognize my own voice, which sounds raspy and full of gravel.
“Ask. Me.”
Her face is close to mine, and her eyes land on my lips. “If we weren’t Sawyer Ross and Piper Ward, what would we be doing right now?”
She cocks her head playfully to the side. “You mean, if I wasn’t still reeling from finding out that you didn’t actually have sex with my sister but you made me think you did to push me away? And it was a whole plot to hurt your brother and father?”
“Yeah. That.” I eye her, wondering if this is a trap.
“I think we’d kiss.”
Is she for real? What the hell is going on? “Did you have too much wine at dinner, Pipes?”
She laughs at that, and it’s free and easy. Her real laugh. “Kiss me, stupid.”
I don’t question it anymore, wrapping my arm behind her back, pulling her to me by her slender waist and pressing my lips to hers. She runs her tongue over the seam of my lips, and I open for her eagerly as she thrusts her tongue inside, taking the lead.
We kiss fervently, way past just friends, moving toward the bed, our mouths and limbs tangled together before she pushes me back only slightly, allowing me to continue to cling to her body.
“Ask me.”
My breathing is rapid as I pant for this fucking woman. My dream girl who I always wanted but didn’t feel worthy enough to have. The girl I hurt on purpose. “What would we do?”
She smiles, her hands smoothing over my chest as she rests her forehead against mine. “If you weren’t trying so desperately not to screw all this up and to make it up to me? If you weren’t killing yourself to prove to me that you’re the good man I thought you always were?”
I swallow thickly, my emotions too much to deal with as I nod, my head rubbing against hers. “Yes.”
“I think we’d get naked.”
“Piper,” I groan, wanting that so damn bad, but she’s right. I’ve been walking on eggshells and trying so damn hard not to fuck it up. “I don’t want to mess this up. I can’t lose her.” My eyes lock on hers. “And I can’t lose you again.”
“Sawyer.” She brings her hand slowly over my cheek, and I lean into it. “Get naked.”
A man can only take so fucking much. I step out of her hold and grab my t-shirt from behind my neck, lifting it off and tossing it to the floor. Her eyes rake over my chest, and her finger finds the tattoo she always gravitates toward.
