him back to reality.
He shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable with a raging hard-on.
Piper stopped at a red light, and her gorgeous green eyes trailed over his face. “Geez, you are drugged up. Look at that goofy grin. How’s your . . . ?” Her eyes moved lower and her jaw dropped. “Oh my God! No wonder you’re smiling. Geez, Harley, what are you doing? Fantasizing about that nurse?”
“That nurse isn’t in this truck.”
“Ugh!” The light turned green, and she gunned the engine. “Do not think of me like that.” She glanced at him and said, “Turn your head! Look out the window. I’m glad I’m taking you home before I get the girls. They can’t see you like this.”
“There’s no time,” he said, still grinning, because damn, he was high as a kite and she was so angry it made her even hotter. “Just head to the school.”
She shot him a death stare. “I told you to stop looking at me.”
He chuckled and tipped his head back, closing his eyes.
“And stop smiling!”
Piper barked orders like a drill sergeant, gave him as much grief as he gave her, and rolled her eyes so often he was surprised they didn’t fall out of her head. She also swore like a sailor, loved sports and beer, and she was the most organized, hardworking, and ornery woman Harley had ever known. Her brilliant mind was always ticking, planning a project, or thinking of her family and friends. According to Piper, who was never too embarrassed to say what was on her mind, she also loved good, hard sex and wasn’t looking for more. Harley wasn’t sure he believed the latter part of that claim, but either way, he’d been utterly captivated by her for the last few years and considered himself lucky to have Piper in his life.
She drove to the middle school, ranting about him getting control of himself. “They probably mixed up your meds and gave you Viagra by accident.”
“No little blue pill, Pipe,” he said with a laugh. “You’re hot and I’m a dude, so . . .”
“Okay, enough of this,” she said with a huff. “What happened to you? And how’d you get to the hospital?”
He turned his head, watching her drive. “Got into a fight with three guys.”
“Bullshit, not on a Wednesday afternoon.” Her lips curved up sassily.
“Wrestled a bear?”
“Nope.” She turned into the school parking lot.
“Come on, Trig. Let me man it up a little.”
She glanced at his crotch and said, “I think you’ve done enough manning up for one day.”
“That was your fault.”
She gave him the narrow-eyed give-me-a-break look she’d perfected as a teenager.
“I fell, okay? No big deal. Jasper was busy, so a customer drove me to the hospital.” Jasper Lennox was one of Harley’s employees. He managed the bar in Harley’s absence. Harley pointed to the line of cars in front of the side doors to the school and said, “That’s the pickup line.”
Piper pulled to the end of the line and said, “A customer drove you?”
“Yeah. She was pretty cool about it. Thanks for coming to get me. I appreciate it.”
“No worries.” She took out her phone and started thumbing out a text.
“Who are you texting?”
“Nosy much?” She continued typing and said, “I need to let Kase know I’m not coming back today.”
Kase seemed like a good guy, and Piper trusted him, which was what Harley cared most about. Piper was as tough as nails, but Harley still worried about her every time she started a new project, working with new clients and subcontractors. He’d seen her hold her own at the pub, and when she was going out with a guy for the first time, she always met him at the pub. She claimed it was a good way to weed out the weak from the strong, since Harley was quick to size them up and get rid of the assholes. But Harley had another thought on why she met them there. Piper was bullheaded enough to bring them by just to get Harley’s goat. She’d never shown any interest in Harley beyond their friendship, but he was sure that was because she simply wouldn’t allow herself to go there. His asshole younger brother had taken care of her trusting men with her heart years ago, much less trusting a Dutch in that way.
He watched her typing furiously, her thin brows knitted in concentration as she sent one text and began typing another. She was completely in control of her