Seeing is Believing (20 page)

“Brady, what are you . . .”

He chose a spot on the wall, between the doorway and the window, just a few feet from her, and he drew his first line, starting with the shape of her face. The sense of relief he felt was catastrophic. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed drawing, and he took a deep, shuddering breath. When he looked over at her, he saw that she understood. Her confusion had been replaced with sympathy, and maybe, some relief of her own.

“Don’t move,” he repeated.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said quietly.

It was exactly what he needed to hear. His hand moved quickly, capturing the shape of her head, the graceful arch of her neck. As the minutes passed and her image appeared before him, confident and flawless, Brady felt a mix of elation and arousal. Appreciation. And something that he was finally willing to label. He didn’t understand it, didn’t know how it was possible after such a short time, but given that he’d never felt it before, he knew exactly what it was.

There was no denying it.

“Piper.”

“Yes?”

Glancing back between her and his sketch, he tried to emulate the soft flow of her wavy hair, wishing he had acrylics to really capture the subtlety of colors in it. “I’m not going back to Chicago.”

He heard the sharp intake of her breath and he turned back to her, pausing his hand for just a second.

“What?” Her bottom lip quivered a little.

“I know it’s crazy,” he said quietly. “But what am I going back for? Everything I could want is right here, with you.”

Her head shook back and forth. “I don’t understand. You mean you’re staying here . . . indefinitely?”

That was what he meant. It should scare the shit out of him, but it didn’t. “Yes. I want to see where our relationship could go. Relationship, not affair. I want there to be a you and me.”

Then he turned away from her, to the face he’d created on the wall, because he’d just made himself about as vulnerable as he’d ever been, but Brady felt an enormous sense of relief. He needed to be honest, with himself and with Piper. He didn’t know where they could go with this, but he needed her to know that she was so extraordinary that he had fallen for her, that he had done a total free fall.

He knew he was asking her to defy her family’s wishes, but Danny was a reasonable man. He would get over it, once he saw Piper was happy. Brady had every intention of making her happy, if she let him. Her silence was stretching out and starting to worry him.

“Piper?” He forced himself to face her, not her re-creation.

“I want there to be a you and me, too,” she said.

Thank God. Otherwise he was going to be feeling pretty damn stupid and pretty damn heartbroken.

“I’m scared,” she added, with an embarrassed laugh.

“Well, that makes two of us,” he told her honestly. “I’m terrified. I’ve never felt this way and I know . . . I know that what I’m asking is a lot, that you could do better and your family has every right to be concerned because I’ve never been the settling-down kind, but—”

She broke her pose and reached out, her fingers softly covering his mouth. “Shh. There is no better man for me. You’re what I’ve always wanted.”

It almost undid him. The trust he saw in her eyes, the confidence, the gentle understanding of what he needed. His throat felt so tight he was going to need a crowbar to pry it apart to swallow.

But he managed to say, “There is no way to express how beautiful you are to me.” He gestured to the rough sketch. “But I had to try. And it feels good. Everything feels . . . right.”

Brady stared at the wall, at his representation of Piper. He would come back to it, would try to capture the glossy shine in her eyes, the wonder and conviction on her face. She deserved to be preserved in oil. He dropped the pen and pencil on the floor as he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him.

“It’s lovely, and I’m honored.” She glanced at his sketch. “I still have every sketch you ever did for me in my closet. I was in awe of your talent. Still am. And I wanted you to fall in love with me. Still do.”

He brushed his lips along her jaw, loving the feel of her soft skin. “Oh, I think I’m well on the way to doing just that.”

In fact, he might already have.

* * *

PIPER GLANCED BETWEEN THE IMAGE OF HERSELF
Brady had created in such a short time and Brady himself, overwhelmed with joy and awe. This was the man she had been waiting for, the man she had been saving herself for, if not literally, then emotionally.

No one told her she was beautiful except for her family. Not only did Brady say it, he proved it by sketching her in a way that took Piper’s breath away. She did look pretty in his rough sketch. Because she looked like a woman falling in love, and what could be more beautiful than that?

When Brady kissed her, his hands cupping her cheeks, she shivered, eyes fluttering closed.

In relief she realized that while her father might not initially approve, he would come around. She trusted that. She had trusted so few people in her life, really, but she trusted her parents.

And she trusted this moment, she trusted that right now Brady was sincere and that he wanted to stay with her here, in this house on Swallow Street.

“Let me see what you’ve done with the bedroom,” she murmured to him, wanting to feel him inside her again, wanting to run her hands across his nakedness.

He gave a soft laugh. “I put your bed in it. And now I’m going to put you in your bed.”

That sounded like a fantastic idea to her. Before she could respond with encouragement, Brady stepped back and peeled off his T-shirt.

“I can’t be taken seriously wearing this,” he said. “I don’t want you laughing at me while I’m trying to get it on with you.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m not laughing.” Piper swallowed hard, realizing that this was the first time she’d really seen him in the light with his shirt off. Shelby’s room had been moonlit, as had the orchard, and while she had felt his muscles, she hadn’t really been able to see them in all their perfection. That first night, when he’d stripped off his wet shirt, she’d been aware that she couldn’t really gawk at him. Now she had every right to, and she had an incredible view of all that definition, the lines of his abdomen that disappeared into his jeans.

Reaching out, she ran her hands over him, trailing her fingers across his chest, up and around to his biceps, marveling at how solid he was. He nuzzled her ear, his tongue slipping inside, while she continued her exploratory path down to his abs, then on to the snap of his jeans. She popped it open and he sucked in a breath.

“Bedroom, Piper,” he said, hand coming to cover hers.

“Sure,” she said, though she was feeling impatient, wanting to see all of him naked. Now. So she didn’t wait for him. She just walked quickly to the bedroom, peeling off her tank top as she went, knowing he would follow right behind her.

Turning around at the foot of the bed, she kissed him again, deeper, embracing the plunge of his tongue into her mouth, her fingers taking down his zipper. Slipping inside his jeans, she stroked along the length of him, enjoying the low groan of approval he gave into her mouth.

“Take your jeans off,” she urged him, stripping her own down to the floor.

Brady sat on the bed and did as she asked, taking his briefs off along with his jeans, before pulling her, still standing, between his thighs and kissing her. His head descended down onto her breasts one at a time, his tongue teasing across her nipple through her bra.

“Your breasts are amazing,” he murmured, easily reaching around and undoing her bra.

“So is your . . .” Piper flushed, realizing she couldn’t bring herself to say what she was thinking out loud.

Brady glanced up at her, amused. “My what?”

“This.” Piper went down on her knees in front of him, nestled between his thighs, and enclosed his erection with her hand.

“Oh, yeah, that’s perfect, baby,” he told her, as she stroked up and down.

She was just getting started. Feeling emboldened, and wanting to do what she had been giving some considerable thought to, Piper bent over and slid her mouth down onto his smooth heat.

“
Fuck
.”

His agonized approval was exactly what she wanted to hear. There was something intensely satisfying about showing her appreciation for him this way, for resting her palms on his thighs and drawing him deep into her throat. It felt profoundly intimate, her surrounded by him, in her new bedroom that he had been sleeping in, like there was no denying the connection being drawn between them. Like the image of her in the living room, the strokes were getting darker and more obvious, bringing them as a couple into shape, into being.

When his groans grew more pronounced and he dragged his fingers through her hair, urging her to stand up, Piper didn’t. She stayed down, on him, until his grip tugged her hair so tightly her eyes teared, and he exploded in her mouth with a hot pulse.

“Holy shit,” Brady breathed. “I haven’t done that in ten years. Fuck, fuck, fuck, you are hot.” He just sat there for a second, stunned, staring down at Piper, her hair tumbling over his thighs, as she wiped her mouth, a sweet but satisfied smile on her face. The combination of sweet and sexy was going to kill him. Literally kill him.

He hadn’t done anything to deserve this amazing woman, and yet, here she was, with him. It felt like a dream he didn’t want to wake up from, and he wanted to hold on to it with both hands, both feet, and anything else he could use to grip her to him.

“I’m glad you liked it,” she said, too damn cute for her own good.

Brady gave a soft laugh. Then he pulled her to her feet. Her bra was dangling on her breasts loosely, and he divested her of it completely. Then her panties. Goosebumps rose on her skin as he bent over, breathing deeply the scent of her, brushing his nose across the warm flesh of her stomach, teasing her. He slid his tongue up and down her inner thighs, moving his hands around to her smooth ass to grip it lightly. She had started to make quiet moans of anxious desire, wanting more, and he reveled in the sound, the feel of her. She got wet so easily for him. She came so easily for him. For him. No one else.

He slipped his tongue over her clitoris and felt himself start to harden again as she whimpered, and her tangy moist arousal greeted him as he moved further south, tasting her thoroughly. Her nails dug into his shoulders and her head fell back in abandon. When she came on him, he marveled that he could take so much pleasure in her pleasure.

And when he pulled her down onto the bed and rolled her beneath him, sliding his cock inside her welcoming body, he also marveled that so much could change in such a short amount of time.

And that it would be so easy to free fall with Piper like this, with no thought to whether or not he had a parachute.

* * *

PIPER SMILED AT BRADY AS THEY RINSED THE BRUSH
and paint roller they had abandoned an hour earlier in the kitchen sink. She put the lid back on the paint can, her inner thighs pleasantly sore, her body satisfied.

“Well, we did about ten percent of the room,” he said, with a grin. “It’s a start, anyway.”

“We could buy a new brush and roller and keep going tonight,” she said, not wanting to leave him and go back to the farm.

“Nah. Screw that. It can wait. I’m starving. Want to go to the Bee and get some dinner?”

She would most likely go anywhere with him. “Sure. I’ll text my mom and let her know I’m not coming back for awhile.”

Brady, whose hair was sticking up from her fingers racking through it, finished rinsing the brush and dumped it on a rag on the counter. “Are you ready to go out in public with me? Tongues will be wagging, you know.”

“I can handle it.” Tongues had been wagging about her since the day she’d shown up in Cuttersville. It was not going to bother her if they were talking about how had little Piper Tucker managed to get Brady Stritmeyer to stick around town for awhile. She almost welcomed it.

Brady leaned over and kissed her. “I bet you can handle anything.”

She smiled. “Even you.”

He laughed. “Oh, you handle me just fine. Better than fine. You have me firmly handled.”

She wasn’t sure about that, but she was sure she’d love to keep trying.

Brady hadn’t underestimated the attention they would receive when they walked into the diner, his hand firmly in hers. Every eye in the place swiveled and settled on them, openly curious. For a split second, Piper worried about her father, and his opinion of what she was doing, but then she squashed it. She wasn’t going to ruin the moment, and she was going to trust that her father trusted her, whether he was comfortable with Brady or not.

Fortunately, Brady shared none of her hesitation. He strode right in, giving everyone a charming smile. “Hey, Marge, how are you this evening?”

“Still above ground, so that’s something.” Then Marge noticed their hands. “So that’s the way the wind is blowing, huh? I’ll tell you what, Brady Stritmeyer, you hurt this girl here and you’ll have a whole lot to answer to.” She snapped her chewing gum in her mouth to emphasize her point.

Oh, Lord. Piper felt her cheeks burn. “Marge, I think Brady has been threatened enough already by my father, but thanks for the concern.”

Marge barked out a laugh. “I bet.”

Brady didn’t look as annoyed as Piper felt. “How come no one is worried about me getting hurt?” he asked, the corner of his mouth turning up. “I bleed too, you know.”

The waitress’s answer was a snort of derision.

Tucking her hair behind her ear, Piper took the menu from Marge as she slid into the worn booth. She ordered a coffee and Brady ordered a glass of milk.

“Milk?” she asked him, amused.

“It does a body good.” He smiled at her, the secret smile of someone who knew her intimately, and it warmed up her insides, the memory of what they had shared, what they were going to be. “I need to get my strength up these days.”

“All this home improvement?” she asked, teasing.

“Uh-huh. Among other things.” He winked at her, his knee bumping hers. “But in addition to all of that, I suppose I need to do some job hunting here in town.”