She Loves Me (Harmony Pointe #3) - Melissa Foster Page 0,55
and Sophie told them every detail about her time with Bea. It was nice to see them so happy. As the afternoon progressed, Piper was sure the girls would notice how much things had changed between her and Harley, because she felt it in every word they spoke, every furtive glance, and every hungry touch. But the girls didn’t seem to notice. They’d enjoyed a fun afternoon, and they’d all begged her to stay for dinner. But after Saturday night, when Harley had blown her mind, anticipating everything she’d wanted, touching her so perfectly, erotically, and making her feel things she’d never felt before—things she didn’t know what to do with—she’d had to escape the perfectness of it all. Being with Harley was too good. He made it easy to forget her emotional boundaries.
Her mother touched her arm, startling Piper from her thoughts. She hadn’t heard her come into the office.
“Are you okay, honey?”
“Mm-hm. I was just thinking about the bathroom renovation for Harley,” Piper said, putting on a smile for her always bubbly mother. Roxie was free-spirited and laid-back, with a mass of blond curls and a flair for bohemian fashion.
“I see,” her mother said. “The bathroom renovation. That Harley is a smart man. He knows something special when he sees it.”
“Mom,” Piper warned. Her mother was always trying to matchmake.
“What? He knows you’re good with your hands.”
“Mom!” Her comment sent Piper’s mind to Harley’s hands. Hot dogs, hockey, and Harley were the perfect combination for an epic night out. She still couldn’t believe he’d gotten tickets to the playoff game.
“Oh, honey, all I meant was that you’re the best there is, and he knows it. Debra said the girls are doing well, and they really seem to have taken to you.”
Piper looked at her father, sitting at his desk studying something on his computer and pretending not to listen, and said, “I took them to the Mad House after their visit with Delaney last Friday.”
Her father looked over. “Did it do the trick?”
“Yes, at least for now.” Both girls were in good moods this morning when she’d taken them to school, and Harley was in an especially good mood—as was she, which she was still trying to wrap her head around. Her pulse quickened every time he texted. It had been so long since she’d texted with a man, she’d actually felt her cheeks burning as she’d read his text late last night after she’d gone home. My truck feels left out. I think we need to christen it. She’d responded with, I’m not buying the truck-envy angle. Her phone had vibrated a minute later with the message, How about bed envy? My bed is jealous of yours because you’re in it. They’d gone back and forth with silly jokes that turned dirty. Her blush had quickly faded, and she’d gotten lost in their sexting. He was as demanding over text as he had been in the truck, telling her where and how to touch herself.
The man had serious game.
Her mother’s phone chimed, bringing Piper’s head down from the clouds.
As her mother read the message, her hand moved over her heart and her face lit up. “Oh, goodness. Look at little Emma Lou. I can’t believe she’s a year old already. She’s got such pretty dark hair, just like her daddy, and those blue eyes are going to bring Brindle a lot of heartache in a few years.” Emily Louise, “Emma Lou,” was Piper’s cousin Brindle’s baby with her husband, Trace. They lived in Oak Falls, Virginia, near five of Brindle’s six siblings. Her rock-star brother, Axsel, was always on the road. Brindle’s mother was Piper’s aunt Marilynn Montgomery, Roxie’s sister.
“Brindle would give you the evil eye for calling her Emma Lou and not Emily or Emmie. Let me see.” Brindle thought Emma Lou was too country for her daughter, but her cowboy husband refused to call her anything else. Piper took her mother’s phone, and her insides turned to mush at the sight of the precious little girl wearing tiny cowgirl boots and a pretty blue dress.
“She is too cute for words,” Piper said as another message bubble popped up from Marilynn. “Mom, what does Aunt Marilynn mean by Send the usual plus a little extra F?”
Her mother took the phone from her, looking guilty. “Nothing.”
Piper crossed her arms. “What kind of shenanigans are you up to?”
She heard her father chuckle.
“It’s nothing. Aunt Marilynn is mad that I have more grandbabies than she does.”