A Moment on the Lips (A Whistle Stop Romance, #3) (15 page)

In the next second, his head lowered, and her eyes fluttered shut. She wanted this. She needed this. Just this once, she needed to know what it would be like to be wanted for herself and not for who she might be someday.

Her heart pounded in her ears. This had to be a dream. There was no other reasonable explanation. Sexy Joe Montoya, who could have his pick of the single ladies, was going to kiss her. And he was going to do it in broad daylight, right here in the middle of town where anyone could see them.

His lips brushed over hers, soft as a gentle, warm autumn breeze. This was definitely no dream. The feathery touch only escalated her desire. She longed for more of his kisses. Her hand moved to his whisker-roughened cheek.

As though her touch had shocked him, he jerked away. Her eyes sprang open in time to find him alighting from the bench and walking away. A bereft feeling swamped her. For a moment, she’d let down her guard. She’d tossed caution to the wind only to be rejected. How could that be?

He’d been the one to initiate it. He’d wanted her. She was certain of it. She needed to know where it’d gone wrong. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to go after him to demand an answer.

What is wrong with me?

Then a moment of clarity came to her. The kiss had been a pity kiss.

She didn’t need anyone’s pity. She could lose weight. She could be beautiful...if she tried. Maybe it was time she gave the fitness and dieting some serious effort.

She’d show Joe that she didn’t need his pity.

W
hat had he been thinking?

The kiss, though days ago, still played in Joe’s mind like a skipping record, constantly repeating the most delicious sensation of his life. But how could that be?

He hadn’t meant anything by the kiss other than to let Piper know he found her beautiful, inside and out. It’d been meant as a confidence boost. Nothing more.

Somehow, it’d backfired on him. The memory of her warm, soft lips pressed to his even kept him up at night. Worse, he’d noticed that things between him and Piper had grown tense as they continued working on the plans for the festival and meeting for their morning runs. And the awkwardness between them was only intensifying.

He’d been the one to kiss her, so it was up to him to fix things. But he certainly wasn’t going to do it in the bakery, where they were always under scrutiny by either customers or Piper’s employees. No, this had to be done in private—at least where no one would overhear.

While out on their morning run, Joe knew this was the best time to clear the air between them. Piper was a few steps behind him, so he slowed down, letting her catch up. He had no idea how to begin this conversation, but he couldn’t deal with the one-syllable answers and the long periods of strained silence anymore.

“Piper—”

The blare of the train whistle interrupted him. It was easier to wait until it passed than to try to shout over it. At last, there was silence once more.

“Piper, I need to apologize for the other day.”

She stopped running. With her hands on her waist, she turned to him. Her chest heaved as she gulped down one breath after the other. “It’s...fine.”

“No, it isn’t. You barely speak to me anymore.”

He really did miss her chattering, even if it was to insert her unsolicited opinions about the coffee shop. There had to be a way to get their friendship back. Other than Holden Wainwright, who’d purchased Joe’s family ranch, Piper was his closest friend in town. Any childhood friendships he’d had evaporated years ago. Not that he’d had many of them. But those people he’d known had either moved away or now gave him leery looks, as though he’d been a traitor for leaving town. Maybe if they knew the raw, unvarnished truth, they wouldn’t look at him like he’d committed an unpardonable sin. But he wasn’t that lonely—nothing would get him to share those horrific memories.

“What do you want me to say?” Piper’s questioning stare searched his face.

“The kiss, it didn’t mean anything. I...I just wanted you to know that you are beautiful. And that jerk who wanted you to change, well, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Instead of relief sweeping across her face, the lines between her brows and bracketing her mouth deepened. “So you were just proving a point?”

Joe nodded. “Exactly.” He sighed. “Now you understand?”

Once Piper realized he wasn’t pressuring her into starting anything with him, she’d relax. They could go back to their playful verbal sparring, and he could enjoy her beautiful smiles that warmed him from the inside out. Something that had been lacking since he’d lost his head and kissed her. If he could do it all over again, he’d take back the kiss... Wouldn’t he?

The indecision left him feeling off-kilter.

And so did the frown that touched her eyes, making them sad.

It didn’t seem like he was saying anything right. He had to give it one more shot. He cleared his throat. “Piper, I’m sorry. Honest. Can we just forget the kiss ever happened?”

She blinked. “Sure. I understand. It meant nothing. We’re fine.”

The pressure on his chest eased. “You’re sure?”

She nodded, but her gaze didn’t meet his. “Of course. Sorry if I made you think I read more into the kiss than there was. I...I knew it was just a pity kiss—”

“Whoa. Wait. It wasn’t a pity kiss.”

“So if it wasn’t a pity kiss, then what was it?”

He raked his fingers through his hair, not caring if he messed it up. This woman could be so frustrating. It seemed that no matter what he said, it was bound to be wrong. “Fine. I kissed you because I like you.”

She cocked her head and smiled. “That sounds like the smartest thing you’ve said today. Now how about we get on with this run? I have work to do.”

Well, he’d certainly bungled that conversation. And now she had him admitting that he liked her. Before he could clarify his statement, she took off running. His gaze latched on to the sway of her hips.

He was in trouble—big trouble.

With effort, he lowered his gaze to the pavement. Things between them would be all right, he assured himself. He’d straighten everything out. Somehow...

♥♥♥

H
e liked her.

A week had passed and Piper couldn’t stop smiling. She’d been all wrong about him. That kiss hadn’t been out of pity after all. Not that she was ready to get involved with him. But as they continued to work on the details for the festival, there’d been less discord and a lot more harmony. Maybe running at the crack of dawn did have its benefits.

She was still thinking of Joe when her mother strolled into the bakery. Piper didn’t want her mother to stomp all over her good mood. But Piper was cleaning the front of the display case, leaving her no chance of getting away unnoticed.

“Hi, Mom. What has you out and about this morning?” Piper straightened, smoothing her white apron over the dark jeans she’d found in the back of her closet.

Her pants were a size smaller than she’d been wearing. They were snug but not uncomfortable. It felt so good to be in something that didn’t make her feel dowdy or dressed like a wallflower. Still, even though she was down a size, she automatically sucked in her gut, like she’d been doing for years when in her mother’s presence.

“I wanted to talk to you about the cake auction.” Her mother paused and gave her a discerning once-over. “Have you lost weight?”

Piper tightened her stomach a little more. “Uh, maybe. I hadn’t really noticed.”

“I knew those supplements I picked up for you would do the trick,” her mother said smugly.

“I don’t know about that.” Piper’s pride stung after her mother’s attempt to steal the credit for her shrinking figure. The truth was, she’d forgotten about the pills and hadn’t taken any of them.

After running for a couple of weeks, she’d gotten the drive to push herself harder to run more and more and to cut back on what she ate, hoping to make that scale fall faster. She’d never admit it to her mother, but the scale had barely budged. Piper assured herself that it was because muscle weighed more than fat. She’d started to wonder if she was truly making any progress, but her mother’s comment was all the proof she needed. Her mother wouldn’t lie about her weight loss, not even to make Piper feel better.

Maybe at last things were starting to go her way. If she just didn’t give up, if she kept pushing a little harder, maybe that blasted scale would start to move.

Her mother gave her that all-knowing smile. “Trust me, dear. I’m your mother. I know what’s good for you. And I just happen to have picked up another bottle for you.”

Her mother retrieved the white bottle from her green and aqua quilted purse. “This is the largest bottle they had. Just let me know when you need more, and I’ll pick them up for you.”

As Piper accepted the bottle, Joe strolled through the door. He was right on time for them to go over the organization of the game and food booths in the street surrounding the town square. He waved before making his way to their usual table in front of the window.

He didn’t even pause to notice she wasn’t in her usual faded, baggy jeans. Even her mother had noticed the change in her. What was his problem? Frustration bubbled up inside her.

Instead of Joe thinking of her as the cupcake girl who served him coffee each morning before they got down to work, she wanted him to really notice her—as a woman—like he had the day he’d kissed her.

She just had to make some more adjustments to her exercise and diet was all. Her gaze moved to the bottle in her hand. And maybe these supplements would help her push her weight downward. At this point, she was willing to give it a shot if it meant turning Joe’s head and having him see her as a desirable woman and not some pathetic waitress.

“Thanks for the herbal supplement, Mom. They’ll come in handy,” she said, having made up her mind to take them. What could they hurt?

Her mother beamed. “Glad I could help.”

“Now,” her mother said as she moved closer to the display case, “I want to place an order for the cake auction. Since I don’t bake, I was hoping you could do up something special for me to hand in at the festival.”

Piper wanted to laugh, but she refrained. Her mother, who was always going on about how bad baked goods were for her, was asking Piper to whip up something special. It was kinda ironic, but pointing this out to her mother would only succeed in ruining this surprisingly pleasant visit. And Piper was in no mood to get in a squabble with her mother. She had other things on her mind today—like making Joe notice her slenderizing jeans.

“Sure, Mom. I’ll make sure you have a cake that you can be proud of.”

“And you won’t tell anyone.” Her mother gawked around the bakery to make sure there weren’t any witnesses to their exchange. When her gaze landed on Joe, she asked, “You don’t suppose he heard us, do you?”

Piper shook her head. “I doubt it. And if he did, he won’t say anything. You can trust him.”

Her mother worried the inside of her painted red lip. “If you’re sure. I wouldn’t want anyone to know...well, that you helped me.”

“Of course, Mom. No one will know. I’ll drop it by the house the night before the auction.”

Her mother’s mouth lifted into a satisfied smile. “I knew I could count on you. Thanks. Now I’ve got to run. I have a little shopping to do before I meet Mrs. Sanchez for lunch.”

Her mother rushed out the door as Piper turned to Joe, who still wasn’t paying any attention to her. Well, she’d just have to do something to change that. “I’ll be right with you.” She held up her rag. “I just want to finish cleaning this glass.”

His gaze met hers, and her heart jumped in her chest. He shouldn’t have that effect on her. She didn’t want to be attracted to him. She just wanted to prove a point—that kissing her hadn’t been a mistake.

“Take your time.”

And she would, too. She bent over and went back to cleaning, going over glass that she had already cleaned just to make sure she got all of the fingerprints. A display case could never be too clean.

For the first time, the colorful cupcakes lined up on the tiered shelves didn’t tempt her after a visit from her mother. She stared at a red devil’s food one with an extra big dollop of butter cream frosting and a maraschino cherry on top. Usually, it would make her mouth water, but not today.

Today, she had something...erm, someone else distracting her. Piper resisted glancing over her shoulder. She was dying to know if he’d noticed her figure-flattering outfit, but she’d know soon enough when she joined him to go over the plans for the fundraiser.

Not wanting to linger too long, she straightened. Once her cleaning supplies were put away, she grabbed his coffee and headed to the table. “Ready to figure out the layout for this shindig?”

He smiled at her. “Sure. All I’ve got so far is a scaled drawing of the town square and the surrounding street. I thought we’d want to do this with actual dimensions to make sure we can fit every booth and stand.”

“Sounds good to me.” She leaned forward to look at the graph paper, admiring his neat handwriting and straight lines. “Did we already figure out the dimensions of the game booths?”

“I have it written down somewhere.” He flipped through the legal pad where they’d listed various items for the fundraiser. “Here it is. Most are the same size, but there are a few that require a different configuration.”

The bell over the door chimed. Automatically, Piper’s head lifted. A tall cowboy strolled through the door. She didn’t recall ever seeing him before. The man’s gaze darted around the room before settling on Joe.

Piper stood and approached the man. “Welcome to Poppin’ Fresh Bakery. If you’re looking for a sweet treat, you came to the right place.”

When the cowboy’s gaze took her in, he removed his hat and held out his hand. “Howdy. I’m Holden Wainwright. I’m new to town.”

“Welcome. I’m Piper Noble. And this is Joe—”

“I know.”

Her gaze darted between the two men, and then his name rang a bell in her memory. “Oh, you’re the one who bought the Montoya ranch?”

The man nodded. “That would be me. I was hoping I could talk Joe into giving me a hand.”