said, “Dad? What’s she not telling me?”
“Oh no, don’t pull me into your argument.” He hated conflict as much as Piper thrived on it.
“It’s nothing,” her mother insisted. “I send her lotions and body washes for the girls and soaps for Axsel each month. She wants something with a little fertility boost, that’s all.”
“Mom, seriously? That stuff doesn’t really work. It’s just timing, that’s all.”
“How can you say that? Look at you and Harley.”
“What? How do you know about us?” Piper snapped. “We just started seeing each other!”
Her mother’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “I didn’t. But now I do. I need to tell Debra! It must be the combination of potions and matchmaking.”
“Ugh! Matchmaking?”
Her mother pretended to zip her lips and throw away the key.
“You are shameless! This is unbelievab—wait. I threw out his body wash. See? Your potions had nothing to do with us getting together.” She refused to believe her mother’s famous concoctions had magical powers, even if just about everyone else in town believed in them.
“If you say so,” her mother said lightly. “But you did use Bridgette’s body balm over the winter.”
“She said she got that online!”
“Really?” Her mother’s eyes widened. “That was clever of her. In any case, Harley’s been using the body wash for a few years.”
Piper gave her an incredulous look, and her conversation with Harley came rushing back. She’d asked him what had gotten into him, and he’d said, You have, Pipe. For three years I’ve been trying to get you to go out with me. Her knees weakened, and she grabbed the edge of her father’s desk.
Her mother looked amused as she said, “Oh, baby girl. You don’t have to believe for love to work its magic.”
“I’m not in love with Harley Dutch!” But she could hardly breathe as the emotions of the last few days rained down on her. She needed an umbrella made of steel to fend them off. “I have to go get the girls from school.” She started to walk out of the office, but turned back, pointing her finger at her mother. “Stay away from Harley!”
Her mother lifted her hands, palms up, and said, “What’s done is done, baby. Once love makes its mark, there’s no going back.”
“Love has not made its mark on me or Harley!” she seethed. “This is lust, Mother. Pure, unadulterated lust. Nothing more. You’re fooling yourself if you think your potions are controlling us. I’ll be over him as soon as he no longer needs my help with the girls.”
“Sounds like I’m not the only one fooling myself,” her mother said.
Piper stormed out of the room, trying to outrun the sound of truth ringing in her ears.
Harley followed the girls into his bedroom Monday evening, where Piper had been working since she’d gotten home with the girls after school. She worked tirelessly, without complaint, and seemed genuinely excited about the work she was doing in his bathroom. He’d cleared out his closet so Piper could tear down walls to allow the plumber to reroute pipes for the new shower, and based on the number of trips she’d made carrying drywall out to her truck, she must be making progress. He couldn’t wait until his damn ankle was better. He hated not being able to help her, and he’d like to take some of the pressure off from helping with the girls and driving him to and from work. Although selfishly, he knew that once his ankle was better, Piper would have no reason to come by every morning and afternoon, and he hated that. If he had it his way, they’d be together more often, not less.
Piper was bent over, using a Shop-Vac to clean the bathroom floor, giving Harley a brief but glorious view of her ass before she turned off the vacuum and picked up a bucket of drywall mud. Their eyes met, and heat zinged through him. Her white tank top clung to her body, speckled with dirt and drywall dust, as were her arms and her right cheek, and she still looked like a million beautiful bucks. He’d come upstairs to sneak a few kisses when the girls were eating dinner, and they’d gotten so carried away, they hadn’t heard the girls coming upstairs and had almost been caught with his hand down her pants. Luckily Jiggs had come into the room a few seconds before the kids, giving Harley and Piper time to fix their clothes and their expressions. Thank God for long T-shirts, because it