put it on the couch after I put your toiletries in the bathroom down here.”
As she walked out of the room, Harley pushed himself up on one foot and shoved his jeans down to his knees; then he sank down to the couch.
“You can shower down—” Piper stopped cold, looked at him sitting in his boxer briefs, and frowned.
“That’s not the response I was hoping for,” he teased.
Her eyes narrowed. “Why aren’t you putting those shorts on?”
“I need help getting my jeans off.” He pointed to his ankle. “My ankle and foot look like Fred Flintstone’s. Sprained ankle. Ring a bell?”
“Fine.” She came around the couch and held out her hand. “Give me your good foot.”
He lifted his leg, which caused him to lift both, since his jeans were at his knees. Piper looked at his feet; then her eyes drifted up his legs to his crotch, and his cock twitched. She scowled, her eyes flicking up to his.
“You were looking. It’s your fault,” he said through a laugh.
“I wasn’t looking—”
He scoffed.
“I didn’t mean to! It was right there!” She pointed at his crotch and then waved her hands. “I was trying to figure out the best way to get your pants off without hurting your ankle!”
He chuckled.
Jiggs looked at Piper.
“Shut up,” she snapped. She pushed the coffee table back and sat on the floor, gently guiding his pants down his legs. “You okay?” she asked as she maneuvered the stiff denim over his sore ankle.
“Yeah. I’m digging this view.”
She scowled, mumbled something about jackass, and finished taking off his jeans. She put his shorts over his feet and pulled them up to his knees. “You can do the rest.” She stood up and said, “You can’t take another dose of pain meds until three o’clock. Do you want me to set an alarm on your phone?”
He hiked his shorts up, using one foot for leverage. “No. I’m sure I’ll wake up if it hurts.” His eyelids were so heavy, he had doubts about anything waking him up once he allowed them to slam shut. “Take my extra keys so you can get in tomorrow morning. In case you’re early or we’re still asleep.”
“Okay. I need you to stay standing up for one sec.” She spread the sheet on the couch, and as he sat down, she said, “The instructions said to stay ahead of the pain. Are you sure you don’t want me to set an alarm?”
“I can handle pain.”
She helped him prop his ankle on the other end of the couch, then put the pillow behind his head and handed him the blanket. She moved the coffee table closer to the couch, got a bottle of water from the fridge, and put it with the pill bottle on the table.
Jiggs whimpered, the leash still hanging from his mouth.
She crouched in front of the pup and petted his head. “I know, Jiggs. I’ve got you.”
As she hooked Jiggs’s leash on his collar, Harley thought about Piper walking down his secluded road. “Piper, he can skip his walk.”
“No he can’t. Daddy spoiled him. He can’t pee without a walk, remember?”
“Then just walk him down to the water so I can see you from the deck.” He sat up, and she put her hand on his shoulder, pushing him back against the pillow.
“I’m a big girl, Harley, and I’ve got this ferocious dog to keep me safe. Your job is to get better, not tell me what to do. I’ve lived in Sweetwater all my life and nobody’s ever attacked me. I think I can handle walking your dog.”
“Damn it, Piper. Why are you so stubborn?”
She shrugged. “Part of my charm, I guess.” She opened the door, then pointed to him and said, “I will walk him down by the water, but if you get up from that couch, I will not come back to help you tomorrow. Close your eyes and chill, okay? I promise not to get raped or pillaged.”
Piper made her way down to the water, trying not to think about Harley. The trouble was, she couldn’t stop thinking about him in those damn boxer briefs. She tried to shift her thoughts to work, but they kept circling back to Harley—his laugh, the heated look in his eyes when she was taking off his jeans, his thick thighs, and that enticing package pressed against his thin cotton boxer briefs. She didn’t know what was worse, that she was thinking about all those things or that he suddenly had