Imperfect Love: Operation: Girl Next Door (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read online

  “That’s just the thing. Since picking you up, those are the only thoughts running through my mind.”

  “Goodnight,” she whispered as she lay down and rolled away from him, leaving him to decide if he was going to share the bed with her or not.

  Despite every part of him screaming that if he got in that bed, there would be no finding the playboy he’d woken up as that morning, he peeled off his clothes and climbed in beside her.

  Her shallow breathing told him that she hadn’t fallen asleep.

  Her scent called to him.

  So, to add an extra element of torture, he turned to her back, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her right up against his chest and closed his eyes.

  Chapter 6

  Piper struggled to fall asleep, and Trevor was solidly to blame. Who the hell did he think he was, just wrapping his arm around her and snuggling, making her terrified to take a deep breath, and then falling asleep as if he didn’t have a care in the world?

  She’d spent a good hour analyzing the way he spooned her, and then decided to put her energy to much better use reworking strategies for Exclusively Piper. She hadn’t given in to exhaustion until the wee hours, but that time might have been just what she needed to figure out how to proceed with her business expansion. She had every intention of going for it. The minute she got home, she’d lay out the idea for Rafe and see what he thought.

  Relieved to have come up with a solid idea for the future, she eased into Trevor’s embrace and drifted off.

  Awake, and sensing he might be too, she hesitated, the feel of Trevor’s soft, light chest hair under her fingers. She had no idea the protocol for this: snuggle in as if it was the most normal thing in the world or try to extricate herself from his embrace. High-heeled Piper would run her fingers through that hair and maybe kiss his chest, just to make a statement.

  High school Piper would have done anything possible to get out of that bed and get dressed without waking him up. She certainly wouldn’t have been brave enough to crawl across the bed seductively as she had last night. She seemed to be hovering between that confident woman who used her curves as a sort of defiance, daring the world to look and find her lacking, and the artsy, shy girl she had been in high school.

  She didn’t want to slide back into that persona. That girl would not have been able to build a successful design line. She definitely wouldn’t live in Tribeca and enjoy the nightlife of New York City three or four nights a week.

  And where was all that nightlife getting her? She spent more time at clubs clinging to Rafe as though she was coupled, than she spent dating the eligible bachelors sliding up to the bar night after night.

  If she had been totally honest, the few dates she had been on had bored her to tears. The men she chose seemed safe, respectful, unlikely to treat her like a piece of arm candy, but they had the personality of a pet rock. Maybe it wasn’t them, maybe it was her.

  Not a single one of them woke up the feelings in her the way Trevor did.

  She curled her fingers along his skin and dragged her knuckles down the ridges and valleys of his tan chest to his hard, warm abs. She heard the hitch in his breath that told her not only was he awake, but her touch had affected him.

  Judging from the slow burn moving through her veins and the rising flush on her skin, it affected her, too. As much as she welcomed the sensation and anything born of it, they had a schedule to adhere to.

  “Good morning,” she said, smiling against his skin as she dragged her lips over his ribs.

  “Mmmm, good morning, Trouble.”

  She giggled and pushed herself up on her hands. “I think I like that nickname.”

  Pushing himself up on his elbow, he reached out and brushed the hair hanging in her eyes behind her ear, lingering a moment before he slid his fingers along her neck. “There she is.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Who?”

  “The Piper from prom.”

  Her breath stuttered in her throat. She reached up and intertwined her hand with his, brought it to her lips, and kissed his hand. “We need to get going. We have kayaking to do.”

  He groaned and dropped his head to the pillows, pulling her pillow over his face. “I don’t want to.” His words came out muffled as he made a feeble attempt to smother himself.

  “Bullshit. You know you want this partnership, so let’s go out there and earn it.”

  “I already earned the damn thing,” he mumbled as he swung his legs off the edge of the bed and sat up.

  They took turns in the bathroom showering and dressing, and surprisingly, after all the firsts from the day before, as well as sleeping together, it all seemed normal. She had been digging through her suitcase for clothes while brushing her teeth when he stepped out while brushing his own and winked. She went in to rinse and by the time she was done, he was ready for the sink.

  They were so seamless, it’s like they had been doing this for years.

  A total fluke, Piper. Don’t get used to it, it’s only a weekend.

  They found Mike and Christina in the kitchen with Davidson, eating bagels and drinking coffee.

  “Any chance we’ll get to meet your wife today?” Piper asked before sinking her teeth into a warm, sesame seed bagel.

  “Looks like we won’t see her until tomorrow. She has some dance business she’s attending to for the girls. Last minute planning fell through the cracks.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad. I’m excited to meet her.”

  Piper spotted Rachel and Steve making their way into the kitchen followed by Kent and Deanne. They all headed for the coffee station first.

  Davidson shifted away from the coffee pot, giving them room. “She feels terrible that she’s missing this. After all, I made a big deal about the candidates for partnership bringing their spouses so I could see what they’re made of, and here I am wifeless.”

  “I won’t hold it against you,” Trevor said.

  “Good man,” Davidson said, clapping Trevor on the back. “I appreciate it. I’ve been especially hard on you. I hope you understand. Partnerships aren’t just about how much money you bring in.”

  Trevor took a sip of his coffee and stole half of Piper’s bagel as she walked by. “I get it. You want someone dedicated and planning to stay on. I can’t fault you for that.”

  Piper stopped, looked down at her plate, then whipped around and gave him a look. “You’re lucky you’re cute, or I would trade you in for a loyal dog.”

  He set his coffee down, curled a hand around her neck, and pulled her in for a lingering kiss. Her muscles went limp, her skin heated, and liquid lust pooled in her center. God, the man could kiss.

  “I’ll make it up to you, Trouble,” he said when he released her lips.

  “You stole the woman’s food, that calls for Tiffany’s,” Davidson said.

  “Daisies. Fresh picked daisies are better than anything he could give me in a Tiffany box,” Piper said, her eyes never leaving Trevor’s.

  She didn’t want flash. She could do that for herself. She wanted a man to walk through the tall grass and go through the effort to bring her something full of natural beauty.

  “Ahhh, an interesting woman you’ve picked, Trevor. I like her,” Davidson said.

  He winked at her. “Yeah, I think I’ll keep her.”

  They were just words, words to put on a show for his boss. She’d do good to remember that. But she couldn’t help the flutter in her heart. A part of her wished it was real. In just under twenty-four hours, she had become so embroiled in Trevor that all of her business worries had flitted away.

  As a matter of fact, she had hardly checked her messages since she left. She really ought to do something about that. Rafe was her right-hand man, but with the decision to expand looming right before the beginning of the fall dance season, she needed to be a united front with him. As an investor, and her best friend, it was the right thing to do.

  “Do I have time to make a quick call before we head out?” Piper asked.


  “Sure. I figure we’ll be heading out in about twenty minutes or so,” Davidson said.

  “Thanks.” She slid her phone out of her pocket and stepped out onto the deck. Small signs of fall had started cropping up. The morning air had turned crisp as the temperature started dipping cooler and cooler at night. The leaves lost their bright green luster the way they did every year right before the first spots of color streaked through the trees like their own distinguished way of graying at the temples as they aged.

  She brought up Rafe’s number. Not even one full ring and he was all over his phone. Not entirely surprising, since it spent most of its time glued to his hand.

  “Good morning, Gorgeous. Tell me you’re having a blast wherever you ended up.”

  “Hi…yes, a blast. The couple’s massage was fun. Nothing like going from zero to naked within the first ten minutes of arrival.”

  “Oh, I so need to hear about this.”

  “I’m sure you will. I’m almost certain I’ll have plenty to rant about when this is all said and done. In the meantime, I have to get ready for couples’ kayaking, but I wanted to check in. Anything important happening?”

  “That Marla woman called again. I can’t lie, she sounded pretty desperate. Before she was just excited about us, but now, I guess Blush had promised her community troupe costumes and they’ve backed out. This isn’t a small troupe either; we’re talking over a hundred dancers.”

  “Oh no!”

  “Yeah, so I know you have a waiting list of people who want your designs, and they’re all waiting for you to expand, but my advice, expand and bump her to the top.”

  Piper bit her thumbnail, and remembering how long it had taken to grow pretty nails after years of chewing them, she pulled it out. “I was thinking about that last night.”

  “Shouldn’t you have been preoccupied with hot and hunky?”

  “That’s why I was awake.”

  “Not what I would do with a hot guy if I was awake.”

  She laughed. “I know, but seriously, I only have a few minutes, so question: How many seamstresses do you think you can round up? Ones you know personally and can trust.”

  “Off the top of my head, I’d say ten to twelve. Why?”

  She took a deep breath and when she let it out, she took the plunge. “I’m thinking we can do a partial expansion. Get our feet wet. We can increase production, but buy ourselves some more time to find a couple of designers to work with. What do you think? Stupid? Too safe?” She flinched as if she had spoken the words right to his face. As successful as she’d become, sometimes she still shied away from making the big decisions. She worried about making the right choices with the people closest to her. Their opinions mattered to her more than anything.

  “Actually, I think it’s smart. We never even considered taking this in steps. It’s been an all or nothing proposition.”

  “The idea made me nervous. Once it popped into my head, I didn’t give it much thought, just decided to go with it. I’ve had the same problem, thinking this was an all or nothing step, and that’s why it all just seemed so overwhelming. This way, we still follow through on the business requirements to expand, but with fewer employees out of the gate, it’s manageable and far easier to keep a close eye on quality control.”

  “It’s your name on the label, we’ll keep as close an eye as you need to.”

  “I love you, Rafe. I can’t thank you enough for being my partner in this.”

  “You do things all the time to thank me. Just keep being you, Piper. It’s enough.”

  His words burrowed inside her and niggled at the problem she had buried in there and didn’t want to acknowledge. Just keep being you…the words were a stark reminder that who she was behind closed doors was not who she presented to the world. Here she was giving Trevor crap about the same thing. Only, it wasn’t quite the same. He seemed to live this new version of himself. She erased her outer persona with every swipe of makeup remover.

  Her situation was totally different. She was representing her brand. That was all.

  Trevor popped his head around the corner. “Hey, we’re about to head out. You almost ready?”

  She moved her phone away from her mouth. “I’m just finishing up. I’ll be right there.”

  “Okay.” He ducked back out, the smile he’d had when she left the kitchen had vanished. She had to wonder if Rachel had pulled something while she was out of the room that caused it.

  “Look, Rafe, I have to run. Put Marla’s number on my desk and I’ll make sure to call her the minute I’m home.”

  “You got it, Boss.”

  She hung up her phone and headed for Trevor and their kayaking fate.

  ***

  Trevor took a deep breath to ease the tension in his shoulders and the churning in his gut. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but he heard part of Piper’s conversation, and there she was on the deck, talking freely with someone about her work, and it wasn’t school teacher talk.

  It wasn’t a slip, per se, since she thought she had privacy, but anyone could have snuck up on her and overheard what she was talking about, and Rachel, although a witch, was highly intelligent. She might have put the pieces together and outed Trevor and Piper before he even had a decent shot at the partnership.

  Piper came around the corner, a distracted smile on her face. “Hey, you okay?” she asked.

  She had smoothed her hair back into a high ponytail and not a bit of makeup covered her fresh face. She looked like those women from those facial moisturizer commercials.

  Absolutely perfect.

  But taking risks.

  “You can’t make calls like that here.” The words came out far more abrasive than he intended them.

  “It’s not like I did it in front of everyone,” she said, putting her hands on her hips.

  “Anyone could have overheard you,” he ground out, leaning into her space. She had a hell of a lot of nerve getting her back up at him. He wasn’t the one putting their plan at risk.

  “Only people snooping, which most decent people don’t do.” Her eyebrows snapped down low over her eyes.

  “Rachel would snoop.”

  “Apparently, so would you. Maybe you guys are cut from the same cloth.”

  He reared back, a low growl making its way up his throat. “Nice, Piper. After how careful I was with you, that’s what you think of me?”

  Her gaze slid away and she rocked on her heels. “No,” she mumbled.

  “It must be to some degree, because you said it.”

  “Look, I have a business, sometimes things need my attention. I was trying to be discreet.”

  He shoved a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his head. “Look, do me a favor and if you need to make any more calls like that, do it in our bedroom…just in case. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Can we kiss and make up?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in.

  She gave him a smile, but still leaned her upper body away a bit. “Is that why you jumped up my ass, so we can make up?”

  He grabbed her ponytail and tipped her head, giving himself access to her neck. He needed a taste, just one damn taste. He kissed that secret spot where the back of her ear met her neck and dragged his lips lower, gently biting her flesh.

  “I welcome any opportunity to interact with your ass in any way possible.”

  She giggled, patted his chest, and pushed him away. “I’m sure, and that’s a whole other conversation we’re not having at the moment. Now come on, we have kayaking to do.”

  They joined the group on the deck and followed Davidson down the stairs, along the path, and out onto the dock where six two-person kayaks bobbed in the water, tied along the edge of the wood railing.

  “These are kayaks?” Christina asked.

  “Sure are, young lady.”

  “I’ve never seen any that look like this. The ones I’ve seen looked so…confining,” Deanne added.

/>   “The wife was worried about kayaking accidents when the family comes up to visit, so she bought this kind. You sit on top of them. This way, if you tip one over, you fall right out of it, like a canoe.”

  “That’s a relief. I’ve been kayaking once and we had to go through training on how to roll it back over. All I can remember is something about wrist placement,” Christina said.

  “You won’t need any of that training with these. You just need good balance.” Davidson pulled out several scraps of black fabric. “And with these on, you’ll need good team work skills.”

  “What are those?” Steve asked.

  “Blindfolds,” Davidson said with a laugh. “We’re going to do this a little different. The men are going to wear the blindfolds and sit in the back. They’ll be the rowers. The ladies will direct them from the front seat. We’re racing to the sandy beach down there.” He pointed to the far end of the lake where a small, sandy beach was situated between the Cypress trees.

  “And if we go faster than you, how will you know who wins?” Trevor asked.

  “I already thought about that. That’s why I took out my trolling motor. I’ll be one step ahead of you the whole time.”

  “Clever,” Piper said.

  “Thank you. Grab a life vest, boaters, and load up,” Davidson instructed.

  Piper picked the purple vest, slid it on, and tightened the straps. “You ever kayak before, Trevor?”

  “Nope, you?” He grabbed the navy-blue vest, snapped it on, and checked the straps.

  “No, but I’ve canoed a few times.”

  “Think we’ve got a shot?”

  She nodded. “Sure. Between your football years and my dance years, we both have great balance. That will keep us in the water. And you’re strong. You should have this rowing thing, no problem.”

  Each couple lined up their kayak at the ladder to load. The men climbed in first and held the boat still by holding the dock while the women climbed in. They bobbled their way about twenty feet out into the water and lined up. If you could call it that. Their boats kept drifting and pointing in all different directions.