Chapter 24

Austin

I was greeted at Piper’s front door by a Viking. At over six and a half feet tall, the guy made me look small.

“You must be Andy,” I said, putting out a hand to shake his.

Andy’s arms were crossed in front of his chest as he regarded me like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to kick my ass or shake my hand. Finally, he reached out and took my hand. “That’s me. I’m a big fan of Reckless Release.”

With the scowl he’d been giving me, I’d expected some macho handshake designed to make sure I understood he could crush my hand. Instead, Andy shook my hand and released it.

“Did you see us play at Euphoria?” I asked.

Andy shook his head. “Piper didn’t even invite me.”

“I’m sure you were fine at home with the swing,” Piper muttered as she pushed her way around Andy.

My lips twitched, but I said nothing.

“I’m sure Austin doesn’t want to hear about that.” Andy was blushing to the roots of his hair.

Piper turned to swat Andy’s belly. “I’d better not come home to your bare ass in my living room again.” She gave that warning before heading out to my car.

Andy was still blushing slightly, but his scowl was back in place.

“Is this where you threaten to kick my ass if I hurt Piper?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Why would I need to make that threat? You’re just friends, right? That’s all you’re after.”

“If that’s all I can have,” I replied honestly.

“You should be more worried about what Cerise will do to you if you hurt Piper again,” Andy warned.

“I don’t want to hurt Piper,” I assured him.

Andy nodded. “Then don’t.”

He shut the door without another word.

As I walked toward my car, I studied the gorgeous redhead beside it. Her dark jeans and wine-colored sweater hugged her curves nicely.

“Why don’t you take a picture, it’ll last longer?” she teased with an impish grin.

“That’s a good idea,” I agreed, pulling out my phone.

“I was kidding,” she said with a laugh.

“I know, but it’s still a good idea,” I insisted. “Then when you call me, your picture will pop up.”

Piper blew out a breath, pushing her temptingly plump lower lip out. As expected, my dick took instant notice. “Fine,” she relented before posing by my car.

I didn’t hesitate, taking the picture before she could change her mind.

I let her into the car and made my way around to my side. “What did Andy do before he started managing The Project?” I asked when I was behind the wheel.

“Why do you ask?” was her response.

“He looks more like a bouncer than a manager,” I explained. “I was a little surprised when he opened the door. The guy is huge.”

“Why do you seem so surprised by Andy’s size?” she asked. “Reckless Release used the VIP room at The Project, so you must have met Andy before.”

I shook my head. “Since my cousin owns the club, we mostly dealt with him. I only saw Andy from a distance the night of the party. I thought he was a bouncer.”

“He was a bouncer who worked his way up in the business,” she explained.

“Where did you start?” I asked. “This is a far cry from opening a bed-and-breakfast.”

“You remember that?” she asked in surprise.

“Sure,” I replied. “You even made me pretend to be a customer one time.”

“I totally forgot about that,” she admitted. “That is such an embarrassing memory. I wish you’d forgotten it.”

“It was cute,” I assured her. “You even brought in some fresh-baked muffins to serve at your bed-and-breakfast. They were great.”

“I didn’t make them,” she confessed.

“You lied to me?” I asked in mock horror. “You lied about muffins?”

“I wanted to convince you I could cook,” she explained. “You must have noticed. I took them out of a shopping bag.”

“I suspected you hadn’t made them,” I admitted. “It was still cute. What happened to your bed-and-breakfast plans?”

“It costs a lot of money to open a bed-and-breakfast, and I decided it would be best to get some experience in that field first,” she explained. “In college, I took classes with the intention of going into hotel management, but no one wanted to hire me until I had more experience. I needed money, so I took a job as a bookkeeper at The Project and kept moving up until I was assistant manager. I’m still amazed that Mercy gave me this job at Euphoria.”

“Based on what I saw at Euphoria, she made a good choice. You really know what you’re doing.”

“Thanks,” she replied with a smile. “I definitely don’t want to do it forever, but it’s an exciting challenge.”

I looked over at her while we were at a stoplight. “Where do you think you’ll go when you’re done with club management?”

She shrugged. “It’s hard to say. All I know is that eventually I’ll get tired of the long hours and loud music.”

“Maybe you’ll open your bed-and-breakfast then,” I said before returning my attention to the road.

“Probably not,” she told me. “The bed-and-breakfast was a childhood dream. We all have to grow up someday.”

“Nope,” was my response.

“Those of us who aren’t rich have to grow up,” she clarified.

“Maybe you have to grow up a little,” I conceded. “That doesn’t mean you have to give up on all your childhood dreams.”

“You’re right,” she agreed. “I have new dreams now.”

“But no more bed-and-breakfast dreams,” I said with a sad smile.

“It would be another job with long hours,” she pointed out. “There are times when I’m jealous of people with normal schedules. When I stop doing club management, I want to find a job where I have weekends off and sleep normal hours. My social life definitely suffers because of the hours I work.”

“I’m glad you were able to make time for me before I leave,” I admitted softly.

We were both quiet for several heartbeats. I’d expected Piper to cancel, but she hadn’t.

“I’m sorry about last night,” I told her.

“It’s okay,” she assured me. “You obviously needed to talk.”

“Are you pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about to avoid this conversation?” I asked.

“Yes,” she admitted. “We should pretend that never happened.”

“The first time I wanted to kiss you last night or the second?” I asked.

“Both,” she replied. “You were emotional and not thinking straight. There’s no reason to bring it up or to apologize.”

“I want to kiss you now.” I quickly added, “I’m not going to push you or plan some big seduction.”

“Oh,” was her response.

“You sound disappointed,” I remarked, hoping she was disappointed that I wasn’t going to seduce her.

“Answering this question could get me in a lot of trouble,” she stated.

“You might be right,” I agreed. “I don’t need an answer.” The answer was obvious. Piper wanted me to seduce her, she just wasn’t happy about wanting me to seduce her.

“I can’t believe you agreed to take me to see this movie,” she told me.

As far as subject changes went, this was a good one.

“Why not?” I asked.

“It’s not exactly your typical guy movie,” she pointed out.

“True, but I figured you’d be less likely to cancel if I let you pick the movie,” I explained. When Piper had messaged me earlier that day to suggest lunch at the movie theater, I’d agreed. I’d do just about anything to see her.

“Good call,” she agreed.

“Did you know they have a bar at this theater?” I asked. “I haven’t been to many movies recently. Is this a new thing?”

“There are bars at a few cinemas now,” she replied. “This one is better. They serve some good beer from local microbreweries.”

“This date keeps getting better,” I praised.

“We aren’t on a date,” Piper reminded me.

“Right.” I tried not to sound disappointed. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”