Charity Case - The Complete Series - Piper Rayne Page 0,91

invading girl time?

Me: No, you can come. I have some manly stuff I need done.

Reed: I do like when you make use of my manly skills.

Me: I need some grab bars installed in the bath.

Reed: Not what I had in mind, but I’ll be over soon.

Me: Okay and I’m kidding about the grab bars.

I head back into the kitchen, stuffing my phone in my back pocket. “I feel like the party is about to start without Jade.”

Chelsea already has one batch of cream frosting done and she’s on to the chocolate.

“Um, who are you? Betty Crocker?” I ask.

She shrugs. “I told you, big family.”

“Well then, I’ll work on the fondant face.” I sip my wine. “Reed’s coming over.”

All six eyes land on me.

“Talk to him.” Hannah pats my hand. “No need getting upset over nothing.”

“You’re a sensible woman,” my mom says.

“Not when it comes to the silver fox,” Chelsea adds, and I almost spit out my wine.

Hannah picks up a crumpled napkin and throws it at Chelsea.

“You know it and we know it. It’s only a matter of time before you sleep with him.”

Hannah balks, but it doesn’t escape my notice that she doesn’t argue against Chelsea’s claim.

A bit later the doorbell rings. We’ve got the frosting made and Chelsea’s demanding she spread it, but the cakes are still cooling.

I open the door to find him in a light sweater and dark jeans. Casual and edible.

“Good afternoon.” He grabs my hand and pulls me out onto the porch then shuts the door. “They’re all in there, right?”

He pushes me against the side of the house, his hands already on my cheeks, his lips millimeters away from mine.

“Yeah.”

“That’s why we’re out here.”

His lips crash onto mine, his tongue sliding in through my parted lips. His knee wedges between my legs and grinds into my center. If we weren’t on the porch and I didn’t have a household of friends inside, I’d suggest a heavy make-out session in his car. Then again, Abe probably dropped him off.

Closing the kiss, I drag oxygen back into my lungs. Luckily, he continues to hold me up before I crumble to the ground.

“Sorry, I missed you.” He leans in and kisses my forehead.

“Don’t be.”

He keeps me in his arms, staring down at me with the loving look I’m slowly becoming addicted to.

“Can we talk?” I ask.

“I knew something was wrong.” He leads me over to the bench on my mom’s porch, my hand in his. “What’s up?”

“The case you won. Biggest case you’ve ever had?”

Just the mention of the case, a look of exhaustion crosses his face. “Not the hardest, but the biggest spectacle, yes. The most televised one for sure.” His hand fiddles with mine. “Why?”

“Is there a chance you might become district attorney in Chicago?”

He huffs. “No. The DA spot isn’t going to be up for a while here.”

“Like how long?”

“Why all the questions?” He leans forward to look into my eyes, as if the answer lies there.

I shrug. “Just curious.”

“Remember, I like how forthcoming you are. Just spit it out, Vic.”

“Is there a chance that you’ll be offered a higher position somewhere else and you’ll leave Chicago?”

His head falls down and his hand grips mine even tighter. Looking up from the corner of his eye, he nods.

He fucking nods.

I want to scream NO and run down my street refusing to believe that he’ll be gone.

“There’s a chance, but I might not. I mean no one’s reached out yet.”

“The case just ended yesterday.”

He nods again. “Yeah, but all I can say is that at this point, I haven’t been asked to go anywhere.”

“And if you are?”

He blows out a breath. “Honestly?”

I pull my hand from his grasp and tilt my head in a what-the-fuck-do-you-think, mannerism.

“I don’t want to think about it. I can’t stay assistant forever, there are things I want to achieve in my career but leaving Henry and you wouldn’t be easy.”

I can tell he’s thought about it which makes me think the possibility of him getting an offer is much higher than he’s implying.

“Did you sign those guardian papers for Henry?”

He shakes his head. “Not yet. I have a friend looking over them first. I told Ned I’d let him know next week.”

“And if you move?”

He turns directly to me, gripping both my hands. “I don’t want to discuss this, Vic. If the time comes, we’ll talk about it of course, but that time is not now, and I feel like this is all wasted breath. You’re getting upset when nothing’s