Undercover Obsession (23 page)

“No, you’re not. Hopping in the sack a few
times a year with Cole when his tours bring him this way does not
make a relationship. And, be honest, does Cole push your happy
button as well as Brody?”

“Nobody pushes my happy button as well as
Brody.” Piper finished her first beer, ordered another then bit
into her sandwich before saying, “I’ve seen the way you look at
Ian, Haley. You’re interested, and for you, that alone is a huge
step. I don’t want you to resent me for being where you might want
to go, especially after all this time.”

Haley took a deep breath then admitted, “I
think I’m ready to have my happy button pushed again, but until I’m
sure, feel free to indulge. Just make sure you give me details.
Just hearing what they did to you has my panties damp, and for me,
that’s huge.” The sex sounded exciting and erotic, but she didn’t
tell Piper her reservations about the spanking. She knew what it
felt like to be hit by a man and, even though she had heard of
people responding to erotic pain, she didn’t think she would be one
of them

“Okay, but you’ll never be sure one hundred
percent until you actually get back in the sack, so to speak. Let
me tell you what I remember about their first night here, that’ll
really get your panties soaked.”

Chapter Eleven

Brody made a visible effort to keep his
conflicting emotions under wraps as he stepped into Rowdy’s. As if
it wasn’t bad enough to still have nothing concrete to go on in
regards to the harassment aimed at Piper, both he and Ian were
being pressured by their boss to head to Atlantic City as back up
for Carlos. The undercover agent in with Pasquino reported that
Pasquino is planning a party at the Empire this weekend on the same
floor Charles used to hold his private parties, another slap in the
face for Charles if he was still alive and keeping tabs on his
business. As frustrating as those two things were, they didn’t
compare to what he felt when Ian told him what happened between him
and Piper earlier today. Any other time, any other woman, and all
he would have said was, ‘Why didn’t you wait for me?’ He had always
known Piper had the potential to be someone special to him, but it
wasn’t until he had popped back into her life again so unexpectedly
and gotten to know the woman she had become that he knew it for
certain. If his own lust for her wasn’t enough of a clue, the
possessiveness he found he had was all the proof he needed. But
since it was his fault Piper acted out today and Ian, being only
human, reacted, he had no one to blame but himself. It had been
difficult sending her upstairs alone last night, especially when
she gave him that devastating look of rejection followed so swiftly
by stoic acceptance, but not as difficult as it was picturing her
with Ian on that dock. Funny, he mused, how he didn’t feel any
jealousy as he thought of the three of them together, it was only
when he thought of those two alone.

“Fuck it,” he griped as he removed his
sunglasses and looked around for Piper.

“Don’t tell me her muttering’s rubbing off on
you,” Ian said, secretly grinning over Brody’s irritation. It was
past time he came to terms with what he wanted from Piper, and if
their actions pushed him to do that, it was worth having his friend
irked with him.

They both saw and heard Piper at the same
time, their gazes swiveling to the small stage set up for Karaoke
where she was belting out the lines to ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’,
her voice woefully off key. Brody spotted Crack lounging in a booth
with Haley that faced both the stage and the room in general. “A
lot about that woman is rubbing off on me. Let’s go see what’s
going on.”

He couldn’t help but smile at her pathetic
attempt at both dancing and singing, but that smile slipped when he
saw the four empty beer bottles on the table. “Those better be
yours,” he said as he slid into the booth next to the bartender,
Ian joining them on the other side.

“Nope,” Crack answered without a qualm.
“They’re Pipers, every one of them. I told you that girl could
drink you under the table.”

“Why the hell did you let her have so many?”
he demanded as his eyes moved back to her gyrating on the stage,
her coordination poor but nonetheless arousing.

Crack threw his head back in a loud,
guffawing laugh. “You think her piss poor voice and dancing are due
to alcohol? Trust me, they’re not.” Crack didn’t try to disguise
his fondness for Piper as he watched her. “But neither she nor
anyone else cares. Every once in a while she comes in just to let
her hair down and I’ll boot anyone out who bad mouths her,
including you.”

Brody believed him. The older man watched
over both women like an over protective parent, something he was
grateful for. Watching out for Piper was a full time job, at least
on this trip. He was beginning to hope there’ll be future trips to
Hope that aren’t filled with the stress of an unknown stalker.

Piper stepped off the stage and headed to her
booth with every intention of getting another beer when she saw
Brody and Ian sitting with Crack and Haley, grins splitting their
faces. She barely had a buzz from her four beers, but it was enough
to keep her from crawling away from them in mortification. She was
well aware of what she sounded and looked like when she was on that
stage, but she simply didn’t care. It was mindless fun that helped
clear the cobwebs from her head. It was even more fun when Haley
joined her.

“You were supposed to have a fresh one
waiting for me,” she told Crack, ignoring the other two. “I worked
up a thirst, so gimme.”

“No, darlin’,” Brody said as he stood and
took her arm. “Time to take your cute little self home. You
promised us spinach lasagna for dinner and I want you sober when
you’re making it. There’s no telling what’ll end up in it if you’re
not.”

“Why do you always have a good point when
you’re trying to tell me what to do?” she grumbled as she told
Haley good-bye and let him lead her out.

“Because I’m a guy and we’re always
right.”

Her indelicate snort had both of them
grinning as they poured her into the back seat, but if they
expected her to nod off, they were sorely mistaken. She gabbed all
the way back to the cabin, flirted and teased them while she made
the lasagna they both had to admit looked really good, and then
announced she was going to work for an hour while it baked. Crack
had been right, she held her beer better than most men.

Piper came downstairs the next morning
feeling better than she had all week. By the time she had fallen
into bed exhausted, she had resolved to quit pining for Brody and
what he wasn’t willing to give her. Before he had showed up
unexpectedly last week, she had gotten along fine without him, had
made it through weeks at a time without giving him or their one
night together a thought. If she had still been plagued by erotic
dreams that featured him on occasion, she had simply put it down to
the fond memory of the best sex she had ever had and set it aside
the next day. Now she knew she would always have a thing for him,
the one man who had always been beyond her reach for one reason or
another, but that didn’t mean she was going to let him bring her
down again.

Today was the Fourth and, as small towns were
wont to do, there were going to be celebrations all day, starting
with a parade down Main Street at noon, and she intended to enjoy
every minute of it, up to and including hooking up with Cole again.
She was determined to take back control of her life, at least as
much as she could until Brody and Ian either found who was after
her or until they left. She would always be grateful to both of
them for coming to her rescue and for being here for her this past
week, but it was time she accepted the fact that Brody would never
be more to her than a friend. And, if it turned out Charles was
still alive and he and Ian managed to send him to prison, she knew
he would no longer have even that tenuous hold on her. Despite his
possible involvement with a drug lord, Charles was still the only
person she could call family, the only one who was there for her
after her mother died and the only father figure she had ever had.
As devastating as it would be to discover he had survived his
assassination attempt and then had simply dropped out of her life,
that would be preferable than seeing him go to prison.

“Good morning, darlin’,” Brody greeted her
when she entered the kitchen, his smile easy and unaffected.

Crap, it happened again. Every time he called
her darlin’ in that slow drawl, her nipples peaked, her pussy wept
and her toes curled, a reaction she hadn’t outgrown despite their
time apart. Refusing to let her body threaten her new resolution to
distance herself, at least emotionally from him, she returned his
smile with ease. “Good morning. Want some eggs before we go into
town?”

Sitting at the counter, Brody watched her go
to the fridge, his eyes automatically lowering to her ass and the
enticing way those damn shorts clung to her round globes. Shifting
on his seat to adjust his stiffening cock, he replied, “Sure. Why
are we going into town?”

“For the Fourth of July celebrations. The
parade is followed by activities and games all afternoon in the
city park and then, of course, there’ll be fireworks over the lake
when it gets dark.” Setting a pan on the stove, she sautéed chopped
onion while breaking some eggs in a bowl and mixing them with milk.
“You and Ian would be sure winners in the three legged race. You
ought to enter.”

“Did she just say we ought to enter a three
legged race?” Ian asked as he joined them, his dark brown hair
still damp, his equally dark brown eyes suspiciously wary.

“I think it sounds like fun,” Brody goaded
him.

“You would. I now know why you keep so much
beer on hand, Piper. It’s to keep you from going bat shit around
here.”

Piper simply smiled at him, added some cheese
to the scrambled eggs then put a plate in front of him. “I’d go bat
shit in a big city with all the noise, rude people and no open
space to simply breathe. Eat. We don’t want to be late for the
parade.”

“Yes we do,” Ian grumbled, but dug into his
eggs anyway.

A few minutes later, Brody picked up his
empty plate and started to take it to the sink when his phone rang.
His good mood switched to anger and worry as he listened to Sheriff
Norton and by the time he hung up, both Piper and Ian were waiting
to hear what he had to say.

“What’s happened now?” Piper asked
resignedly.

All the joy and playful enthusiasm for the
day had left her face and she looked at him as if she was bracing
for a blow. “I’m sorry, darlin’, Haley found a badly mutilated
rabbit outside her back door this morning with a note attached to
it. It said stay away from your friend before she gets hurt
next.”

“It sounds like he wants Piper isolated so he
can get to her again,” Ian said, anger evident in his tone. He was
not only thinking of the threat to Piper, but of Haley’s reaction
when she found the rabbit. His sudden urge to go to her was
uncharacteristic, but he wasn’t going to waste time analyzing his
feelings for Piper’s friend. “I’ll go into town and talk to Gary
and Haley,” he offered quickly.

“I’m sorry again, Piper, but I think it’s
best if we stay here today…”

“Like hell I will! I am not going to let this
jerk continue to run my life. I’m going into Hope and spending the
day like I have the last four Fourth of July’s, socializing with my
friends, eating and having fun. You can come or not, but I’m
going.”

Tears of anger and frustration swam in her
eyes and Brody could tell it was taking a tremendous amount of
effort to hold them back. He simply didn’t have the heart to force
the issue, and not only would he and Ian be there, but Gary, as
well as Crack and practically the whole damn town would be out
ensuring her safety. The man would have to be an idiot to try
anything today.

“Let’s go then. I imagine Haley wants to see
you, despite the threat.”

Haley was exiting the sheriff’s office when
they pulled up front, her face pale and her eyes haunted and Ian’s
first reaction was to turn her over his knee for backing away from
him as he got out of the car and came towards her. He wasn’t
accustomed to having such strong reactions to women, he had always
been foot loose and fancy free with the opposite sex, dallying with
women who wanted nothing more than a few good orgasms from him and
generally avoided women who had hearth and home stamped all over
them. Haley didn’t fall into either category, in fact, as far as he
could remember, she was the only woman who didn’t want anything
from him. Telling himself it was just his ego ruling his lust for
this woman, he shoved it aside and tried to control his anger on
her behalf.

“What’s it going to take to get you to trust
us?” he asked her point blank.

Haley blinked at him, wondering where the
anger was coming from. Her mind was still reeling from Sheriff
Norton asking her when her ex, Tim Carlisle, was up for parole. As
best as she could recall, he still had eighteen months before his
first parole hearing and, since her attorney hadn’t notified her of
his release, she assumed he was still imprisoned in Florida. Even
though Gary had assured her he was going to check on him as a
precautionary move in light of the threats against Piper, just
talking about Tim had left her edgy and uncertain. She was
struggling to keep from reverting back to that fearful twenty-four
year old who nearly had a break down after testifying against the
man who had beaten her so badly in a fit of drunken rage, she had
to spend two weeks in the hospital. It had been six years since she
had been too young and too stupid not to see the signs that she had
married a man who was a ticking time bomb, but she had come a long
way since then and refused to take any steps back. She admitted she
was edgy since finding what remained of that poor tortured rabbit
and was now worried even more for Piper, but why that bothered Ian,
she had no clue.