by Ali Parker
Piper licked her lips. “Those three goons, the Raptors, whatever the hell they’re called around here, were harassing me. And when I tried to get away from them, they tried to physically stop me. Cooper intervened. He asked them to leave. They refused. Then they threatened us, and it quickly became clear that we weren’t getting away in one piece. So Cooper did what he had to. To protect me.”
“Convenient,” Rico muttered under her breath.
“I beg your pardon?” Piper quipped. She was fearless. I supposed a good girl like Piper who’d never had any tangles with the law had no reason not to trust police officers. She leaned forward. “I suggest you do your job properly, Officer Rico, and leave your bias at the door. There were dozens of witnesses on that beach who can all attest to what actually happened. And for the record, if charges are pressed against Cooper, I’ll testify in his favor. In the truth’s favor. Now, unless you have any relevant questions for Cooper, I’m going to steal him away from you.”
Both officers stared at Piper with slack expressions. I wanted to kiss her right then and there.
Piper bristled under their lack of professionalism. She pushed herself to her feet. “Would you like me to escort you out, or do you remember where the door is?”
Jenson got to his feet, and Rico was quick to follow. He hooked his thumbs in his belt. “Very well. Thank you for your time, Mr. Diaz. We’ll be in touch. Please be available for follow-up questions. Both of you.”
“Bye,” Piper said, crossing her arms over her chest.
The two cops left without another word.
I raked my fingers through my hair as Piper lowered herself back down to the sofa and put her hand on my knee. “Are you okay, Coop?”
I liked that she’d started calling me Coop. “Yeah. I’m not very well liked by the police force here. My party-boy reputation paints me in a bad light in their eyes. Thanks for having my back.”
“Screw them. They don’t know you.”
“And you do?” I asked.
Piper held my gaze. “I’m starting to.”
CHAPTER 19
PIPER
I’d spent all of Sunday putting off calling my brother.
But it was officially seven o’clock, Cooper had ordered Thai food for dinner, I was starving, and I knew once I ate and wound down for the night, the last thing I was going to want to do was talk to Phillip about Mom and Dad.
It was now or never.
My phone taunted me from my nightstand as I braided my freshly washed hair off my face. Once I secured the ends with a hair tie, I swept the phone up off the nightstand and called my brother. If I hesitated, I wouldn’t call, and if I didn’t call, I’d have to go through this all over again tomorrow.
Phillip picked up almost right away. “Piper? Is that you? And to think, I’d almost forgotten I had a big sister.”
“Hey, Phillip. I’m sorry. I know it’s been a while.”
“Three weeks, Piper. It’s been three weeks.”
“You could have called too, you know?”
Phillip laughed. “Yeah. And interrupt you in the middle of doing who knows what with some dude? Pass.”
“Gross.”
“Tell me about it.”
I sighed and flipped my braid over my shoulder. “How are you?”
“Tired.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“Yeah. Funny thing is, I don’t think you do know, sis. It’s brutal here. And I don’t think I can keep doing this for another five months. I’m running on empty.”
I rubbed my forehead. I had no answers. No solutions. No ways to make this any easier on him. Phillip had been working so hard the last six and a half months to make this work for me. And now that we were past the halfway mark, I completely understood how he couldn’t keep going.
“Is it the restaurant?” I asked.
“It’s everything. The restaurant. Taxes. Fucking debt collectors. Dad’s heart. Mom’s anxiety and stress levels are through the roof. I don’t know where one mess starts and the next ends. Everything has just bled into each other.”
“I should be there.”
Phillip let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “No. You shouldn’t, Piper. You’re the only one who stands a shot at making this better. The rest of us are just chasing our tails in circles. Anyway. Forget about it. How are you? Better question, where are you?”
I didn’t want to tell him I’d been spending my month laid out on a beach getting a tan. But I did anyway. “I’m in Nassau.”
“The Bahamas?”
“Yes.”
Phillip groaned. “Want to trade places?”
“I don’t think Cooper would appreciate that very much.”
“Is Cooper the July guy?”
“He is,” I said. I sat down on my bed. It creaked softly beneath me. “I’m having a good time here. Things weren’t so smooth in the beginning. I thought I was going to bail and come home. But we’ve turned the corner.”
“You were going to bail on the Bahamas?”
“No, I was going to bail on the guy who happens to live in the Bahamas.”
“He was that bad?”
I smiled. “You have no idea, Phillip. He kept calling me ‘babe’ right out of the gate.”
Phillip snorted. “What a tool.”
“He’s better now. Less insufferable.”
“That’s good.”
I ran my hand down my thigh and played with a loose thread at the hem of my dress. “How’s Dad?”
Phillip didn’t answer right away. There was a long pause, and I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until he started speaking. I exhaled slowly. “He’s all right, Pipes. His checkup went well with the doctor, but they’re not happy with his blood pressure and his stress levels. The doc told him to consider taking some time off from work, and Dad almost blew his top. I had to get him out of there. I thought for a second he was going to throttle the doc with his bare hands.”
“So, the medication they thought he’d be able to stop taking after the surgery?”
“He’s still on it,” Phillip confirmed.
“Shit.”
“I know. It’s expensive. And the bills just keep pouring in. If not for Aaron, I can’t imagine how much worse things would be.”
I thought of Aaron and how he’d paid for my father’s surgery. My chest grew warm and tight all at once, and my throat burned. “He’s a life saver.”
“Literally,” Phillip said. I could hear the smile in his voice. “I liked him.”
“Me too.”
“Too bad you can’t end up with him in the end. Too bad our family is so fucked with money. You deserve to be happy, Piper. You deserve a guy like Aaron.”
“Please, Phillip,” I said, my heart aching. “Don’t say stuff like that. I can’t take it right now.”
“Sorry.”
His intentions were good, but I couldn’t stomach it. Mostly because I wanted the same thing. I wanted a husband at the end of this. But that wasn’t, and never had been, on the table.
I bit my bottom lip. “I think I’m going to tell Mom and Dad about what I’ve really been doing.”
“What?” Phillip asked sharply.
I nodded to myself. “I have to. They need to know this money is coming. Do you really think they can keep going at this rate, aimlessly working to pay off a debt they know full well is impossible to even make a dent in?”
I heard my brother swallow. “No, I don’t. But this is going to hurt them, Piper. It might not go well.”
“I don’t expect it to. But the truth needs to come out. I can’t keep lying. They’re going to find out eventually. Right? Why not now?”
Phillip didn’t have anything to say to that.
I licked my lips. “Will you be there with me when I do?”
“Promise.”
A little bit of relief washed over me. “Thank you.”
“But you fucking owe me, Piper.”
“I already owe you.”
“You bet yo
ur ass you do. This shit isn’t easy. Putting up with Mom and Dad and all the other crap. I’ve woken up smiling after dreams about the restaurant burning down. How messed up is that?”
I found myself laughing and nearly crying all at once. “Pretty messed up.”
“Right? Fuck. And one of these days, it’s going to be ours, Piper. Then what do we do?”
I considered his question for a moment. But only a moment. “We sell it.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, I’m not going to be like them. I’m not going to flush every penny and dime I’ve worked hard for down the toilet for a place that has been nothing but bad memories for me. For you. They remember the good old days. We don’t. We can make our own legacy. Start fresh. We can honor them in other ways that aren’t Piper’s Paradise.”
“I never thought about it that way.”
Probably because he didn’t hate the place as much as I did. But he was well on his way. The dreams were just the beginning.
I pushed myself up off the bed. “I have to go, Phillip. But I’ll see you at the end of the month. And we’ll talk to Mom and Dad. Well, I’ll talk. You just have to sit there and hold my hand under the table.”
“You got it, sis.”
“Don’t go off the deep end and set fire to the restaurant, okay? We can get through this.”
Phillip’s laugh was lighter than it had been at the beginning of our call. Clearly, we both needed this conversation. “I won’t. Take care of yourself, sis.”
“Always.”
My body was lighter, and my head was clearer after talking to my brother. I kicked myself for not calling him sooner as I made my way downstairs to join Cooper, who was just standing at the kitchen island with his back to me. The bags of Thai food sat at his back, and he was on the phone. His voice was low, annoyed, and when he hung up, he cursed under his breath.
Then he turned around and saw me standing there.
“Hey,” he said before setting to opening the Thai bags.
I could tell he didn’t want me to ask about whatever the phone call was about. But I wasn’t the kind of girl to let something like that lie. “What was that about?”
Cooper shrugged. “The cops called to let me know there won’t be any charges pressed for the fight on the beach.”
“Obviously. They had no grounds. No proof. Because it wasn’t your fault.” I smiled and leaned over to rest my elbows on the table.
But Cooper wasn’t smiling. His forehead was creased, and he practically scowled down at my red curry dish as he popped the lid off.
“Why aren’t you happy about this?” I asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“Coop. Come on. We’re past the bullshitting stage, aren’t we? What’s up?”
He lifted his gaze to mine. “It’s probably nothing.”
“But?”
“But in my experience, bad guys like Lennon don’t press charges so they can settle the score on their own.”
“Oh,” I breathed. Now I was the one with the creased brow. I didn’t like the sound of that. Not one bit.
“I don’t want you to worry about me,” Cooper said, coming around to my side of the island. He put his hands on my upper arms and smiled down at me. “I’m a big boy. And I won’t be caught unaware like at the beach. I’ve tussled with them before, and I’m still standing.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “I don’t like it.”
He chuckled softly. “You don’t have to like it. I don’t like it either, if I’m being honest. But it is what it is. I’ll fill Mitch and the boys in, and we’ll keep our wits about us. Okay?”
“I leave in a week,” I said slowly. “I’m going to worry about you.”
Cooper’s gaze softened. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine in the softest kiss we’d ever shared. When he pulled away, my eyes were still closed, and I was reeling in the aftermath of the tenderness of it all.
“What was that for?” I whispered.
“Nothing. It’s just, that’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. That’s all.”
CHAPTER 20
COOPER
Piper had a flower in her hair.
It was pink, a couple shades lighter than her dress. Her cheeks were flushed from the last few days in the sun or because I’d just told her she looked beautiful, and her big brown eyes were fixed on the band in the corner of Bassau.
They were a local group here on the island, and they toured different bars every night to sing their melodies. Some were covers of famous songs, others were ones they wrote, but they were all upbeat and worthy of dancing to.
And damn, Piper was worthy of dancing with.
Her eyes glittered like dark diamonds as they caught the lights twinkling above. Her foot tapped in beat to the song as the ukuleles and harmonicas and guitars filled the place with music. The singer cooed into his microphone and made eye contact with Piper, and she blushed an even deeper shade of pink and tucked her hair behind her ears bashfully.
How the stars had aligned to put me across the table from her on a night like tonight, I had no idea.
But they had.
And I’d be a fool not to take advantage of every minute I had left with her.
The end was fast approaching, and it would be the end for us. I knew we weren’t a match. She knew it too. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t something between us. Maybe if we’d met last year on this same beach and fate had given her patience to deal with me, something more might have come from our meeting.
Perhaps she and I could have been something. But that wasn’t in the cards. She was destined for someone else, someone very lucky.
And that was all right.
I pushed myself to my feet. “Want a drink?”
Piper nodded and rested her chin in her palm. “One of those coconut things, please?”
“Of course,” I said. That was what I would have ordered her anyway. She’d enjoyed them too much the last time we were here for me to forget.
I wove through the crowd up to the bar. The place was jumping tonight. Bodies were packed in close quarters, taking up the dance floor, and several tables had been pushed against walls to clear more space. I pushed my way up to the bar, nodded at Bass, and ordered a beer and a coconut drink.
At the end of the bar, just an arm’s length away, was a polaroid camera.
I frowned at it and then looked up at the ceiling.
The polaroid photos had been strung up with the lights long before I first came to Nassau. The first time I’d come to this place, I’d snapped a picture with Mitch, and we’d jokingly hung it up amongst the others. I’d found it once before but hadn’t gone looking for it since.
I grabbed the camera and tucked it under my arm. Seconds later, Bass handed me my two drinks. I thanked him with a nod and made my way very carefully back to the table I shared with Piper. People cleared a path for me when they saw the drinks in my hands, and I made it back in one piece to set the drinks down.
Piper picked hers up and pursed her lips around the straw.
She didn’t notice I had the camera, and she was too absorbed in the music to pay much mind as I made sure there was film in it. Then I put a hand on her shoulder, bent over to press my cheek to hers, and held the camera in front of us.
“Smile.” I grinned.
Piper still had her lips around the straw.
I turned to the side to press a kiss to her very pink cheek as I snapped the picture. We were blinded by the flash, and she blinked. I dropped down into my seat across from her and retrieved the printed-out polaroid. I fanned it gently.
“I wasn’t ready,” Piper said, still blinking furiously.
“Candid is better.”
She paused. “Yes, it is.”
“How’s that drink?”
“As good as all the others. I’m going to miss them. You can’t get anything like this in New York.”
“I imagine not.” I laughed, leaning back in my chair to lift my beer to
my lips. I was very aware of her watching me as I turned to look at the band. “Good, aren’t they?”
“The band?”
I nodded.
“Yes,” she said, a smile pulling at her lips. “They play nice songs.”
“Want to dance?”
Her eyes widened a little. “I don’t know if I’ve had enough drinks for that, Coop.”
“You don’t need any drinks to dance. I’ll lead.”
“Our drinks.”
“You have until the end of the song.” I winked.
Piper accepted my challenge. She swayed in her seat to the music as she sucked her drink back. During the chorus, she would close her eyes and hum along, and all the while, I watched her, trying to capture every second, every movement—all of it—in my mind. When she was gone and the Casanova Club for the year was over, this would be a moment I would look back on with fondness.
I hoped she would too.
When the song ended, Piper still had a good quarter of her drink left. It wasn’t her fault. The drink was served in a full-sized coconut after all. It was massive.
“Give me a minute,” she said as I stared expectantly at her and drummed my fingers on the table.
“I’m not getting any younger. And we’re losing floor space. Ah! And this is such a good song!”
Her brow furrowed. “I don’t think I know it.”
“You will when it gets going,” I said.
The tune picked up. Piper’s foot tapped along to a beat she claimed not to know, and she drained the remnants of her drink before slamming it down on the table with a victorious grin. “Shall we dance?” she asked.
I stood and offered her my hand. “Please.”
She smiled and put her hand in mine. I guided her to her feet, and before I had a chance to head to the dance floor, she paused and picked up the polaroid photo. A smile stretched her cheeks wider than I’d ever seen.
“Let’s see it then,” I said, peering down at the picture over her shoulder.
The image was perfect.
Her eyes were wide as she looked up at the camera. The hot pink umbrella in her drink made her slight sunburn a little less obvious. There was a twinkle in her eye anyone with any sort of sense would say was photoshopped.
