When You Became Mine

by AS Teague

  “Piper!” she shouted. “Be still and look at me.”

  I froze and turned in her direction. I’d FaceTimed her after outfit number two, panicked because I couldn’t find the right thing to wear. I’d had to mute the volume after telling her my dilemma because her squeal had threatened to wake the dead.

  “That’s the one.” She smiled broadly.

  I smoothed the skirt of the pink dress and did a quick twirl. “Are you sure?” I asked.

  She smiled triumphantly, as though she had dressed me herself. “That dress would make anyone fall for you. Hell, I would try to pick you up in that one. But let’s be honest, you could wear a potato sack and Lawson would still fall over himself when he saw you.”

  I laughed, her theatrics easing the fluttering in my belly. I grabbed my favorite pair of heels and made my way to the edge of the bed to slip them on.

  Georgia arched an eyebrow. “You’re wearing your ‘fuck-me’ heels?”

  I blushed and shrugged. “They match the best.”

  “Uh-huh,” she deadpanned. “Tell me again what happened the other night that started this whole thing?”

  I launched into the story about how Lawson had been so sweet taking care of me, but she quickly interrupted.

  “No. I know all that already. Tell me why you decided to kiss him.”

  I pulled my lower lip in between my teeth and thought about it for a minute before answering. “I don’t know exactly,” I told her honestly. “He said something about being over me and it caused my heart to stop.” Absentmindedly, I put my hand to my chest in an effort to slow my pounding heart. “Like, I didn’t want him to be over me when I hadn’t even known he was into me in the first place. And then he mentioned selling his soul to kiss me or something and I swear, I don’t know what came over me, Georgie, but I just needed to feel his lips on mine so badly in that moment. I went for it. God, I hope I didn’t have swamp breath.” I shuddered at the thought and kept going. “And then, when we did kiss…” I trailed off.

  When we had kissed, it was...everything I had ever thought a kiss should be. And I felt something I hadn’t felt before. My stomach had flipped when his tongue had slid into my mouth and a shot of desire had gone straight to my core. It was the most delicious kiss of my life, and I had poured myself into it. But then a moment of dawning had ensued, and I realized who I was kissing, and I’d panicked. Pieces were starting to fall in to place, and it had freaked me out.

  I needed time and the space without Lawson’s tempting mouth, to figure out what the hell had happened. Like a wimp, I’d pulled away and shut down.

  “When you did kiss what?” Georgia nearly shrieked. I glanced back and saw her face filling the screen, her eyes wide, waiting impatiently.

  I smiled softly. “When we did kiss, I liked it. A lot,” I said simply, still lost in the memory of how it had felt to be in his lap with his hands on me. “More than a lot.” I blinked, shaking myself back to the present, and focused on my best friend’s face. She was grinning, her smile so wide I thought her cheeks must hurt. And her eyes were shimmering. “Are you crying?” I asked.

  She shook her head hard and quickly swiped under her eyes. “No. It’s just allergies.”

  As if she were in the room with me, I leaned in close to the laptop screen and lowered my voice. “This feels like something. Something big. Something huge.” I pressed my lips together and then whispered, “And I’m scared.”

  A big fat teardrop spilled from her eye and she let out a sob. “Oh my God, it’s finally going to happen.”

  “You are crying! Why are you crying?” I asked, worry lacing my voice. She just shook her head hard again. “What’s going to finally happen?” I questioned, but then someone knocked on my door and her eyes widened.

  “You better call me when you get home!” she whisper-yelled, disconnecting our call before I had a chance to respond.

  I didn’t expect her to FaceTime with me the whole date, but suddenly, with the room silent and Lawson waiting on the other side of my door, I was more nervous than I’d ever been. I could have used the moral support, even if it was across an electronic device.

  Before I had a chance to chicken out and shout through the door that I was feeling sick again, I took in a deep breath through my nose and pulled the door open.

  The breath I’d sucked in came out in a rush when I took in the man standing before me. It was Lawson, but…different.

  His usual attire of T-shirt with a geeky phrase and low-slung jeans were gone, replaced by a pair of khaki pants and white linen shirt, rolled up to the elbow. His hair that was always unruly was cut and styled, with a hard part and brushed away from his forehead. And he wore a pair of stylish thick black frames, which contrasted perfectly to the evenly trimmed five o’clock shadow he was sporting.

  In a word, he was sexy.

  In two words, he was drool-worthy.

  And I had no words to say at all as I stood there staring at him.

  The longer I stood there in silence, my mouth hanging open, the wider his smirk grew. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he cleared his throat and handed me the bouquet of wildflowers he’d been holding.

  I took them and brought them to my face, inhaling the intoxicating scent of lilacs and jasmine, and grinned at him. “Thanks, Law. You look…” The words died in my throat as I noticed his eyes roaming my body.

  Suddenly, I was self-conscious all over again. Would he like my dress? Did I put on enough makeup? Too much? Crap, I was starting to second-guess this whole thing. Really, it was more like twelfth guess it. His gaze landed on my feet and his eyes widened.

  “Nice shoes, Pippie,” he rumbled, his voice gravelly.

  It was my turn to smirk. I kicked a foot behind me and did a little curtsey. “They are nice, aren’t they?”

  Lawson shook his head and then stuck his arm out. “Ready?”

  I wasn’t sure if I was.

  Not for the date.

  And definitely not for whatever this was unfolding between us. But that didn’t stop me from taking the arm he offered and smiling as I replied, “Let’s do this.”

  24

  Lawson

  Fuck me.

  She was wearing those damned heels.

  I was nervous as I knocked on her bedroom door. I’d spent the better part of fifteen years imagining this very moment. What I would say, how I would be smooth and not awkward like I’d always been. I wasn’t going to let a case of jitters ruin this shot. But then, she’d opened the door, her bottom lip pulled in between her teeth, a shy smile on her face and the nerves returned.

  And as we’d stood there, both of us appraising the other, my heart had begun to pound.

  Piper Kelley was stunning.

  There were a million other adjectives I could use to describe the way she looked, and all of them rushed through my head at once.

  I’d known her my entire life. I’d helped potty train her, giving her stickers every time she’d been successful. I remembered the day she’d finally stopped sucking her thumb for good. It had taken a bottle of hot sauce, but she’d finally kicked the habit. I’d watched as she went from a chubby toddler to an awkward kid. Big teeth in a too small mouth. I’d had a front row seat to all of her ridiculous shenanigans as a teenager, watching her grow into her own skin. She’d gone off to college and changed again, going from a wild undergrad to a serious medical student, spending more time taking care of other people than she did herself. And through it all, I’d always thought she was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen.

  But this woman standing in front of me in a pink dress that showed off just enough skin to get my imagination going was something else entirely. It was like seeing her for the very first time, and damn if she didn’t knock my hypothetical socks off.

  She was every fantasy I’d ever had come to life and that was before my gaze had traveled the length of her shapely legs. When my gaze had hit on her where her slender ankles had slipped into those nude peep toe heels I knew
I was completely and totally screwed.

  And I couldn’t wait.

  “Lawson, how did you get reservations here?” She breathed, her clear blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

  We’d just walked into the nicest restaurant in town. As the hostess led us to a table in the corner, I put my hand on the small of her back, guiding her along beside me. I told myself it was the gentlemanly thing to do, but really, I just needed to touch her. I’d been disappointed when she’d been forced to drop my arm to get into my car, but the drive over had been brief.

  “Did some work for the owner.” I shrugged.

  The hostess set the heavy leather menus on the table and I pulled a chair out for Piper before settling into my own. After ordering a bottle of champagne, the hostess disappeared, leaving us alone. The silence that ensued was awkward and I struggled to think of something to say to fill it.

  I didn’t have to wrack my brain for long.

  “Lawson.” Piper looked up from the menu, her face bright. “They have escargot! Have you ever had it before?”

  My stomach turned at the thought of snails drenched in butter. “That would be a no,” I told her matter-of-factly.

  Her eyes lit up. “Me neither. Let’s get it.” She glanced back at her menu and then back at me. “Let’s only order the stuff we’ve never had before!” she proposed.

  I didn’t want to get the escargot. I’d had my heart set on the Wagyu Filet. But I couldn’t tell her no, not when her face was more animated than I’d ever seen. I swallowed the lump of disappointment and forced a smile. “Sounds like a plan.”

  She squealed and then clapped her hand over her mouth, glancing around the crowded dining room. No one so much as blinked in our directions so she pulled her hand away from her face and grinned. “This is going to be so much fun!”

  The waitress returned with our drinks and Piper ordered for us. If the waitress thought our menu choices were odd, she didn’t raise a brow, just wrote it all down and then hurried away, once again leaving us to ourselves.

  This time, with glasses of champagne in our hands, there was no awkward quiet between us. Piper began prattling on about the ER and her upcoming residency.

  She paused and took a sip from her glass, her eyes fluttering shut when the liquid hit her tongue. “Mmm…” she moaned softly. “Where did you learn about the bubbly?”

  I settled back into my seat and took my own sip, appreciating the dryness. “Living in Vegas, you have the opportunity to do and learn all sorts of things.”

  She looked at me over the rim of her glass. “What else did you do in Vegas?”

  I turned my gaze to my glass, pretending to ponder her question, and stroked my chin before answering. “Let’s see. I learned how to count cards, performed in a few of the Cirque du Soleil shows, was a backup dancer for the Backstreet Boys, an extra in that Hangover movie, and got into shape.” I flexed my arm with the last bit and her mouth fell open.

  “You’re so full of it!”

  I lifted a shoulder as I struggled to keep a straight face. “If you say so.”

  Her eyes wide, she leaned across the table. “You know the Backstreet Boys?”

  I shook my head. “We aren’t bros or anything, but, man, Brian has some moves that rival Magic Mike.”

  Her eyes narrowed as I continued. “And I should know, I did a few shows with that crew too.” I waggled my eyebrows.

  She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips together. “And you were actually in a movie? If I watch it, I’ll see you?” Her voice was laced with skepticism.

  I nodded. “Yep, at the forty-three-minute mark you’ll see yours truly for a whole minute and twelve seconds.”

  She leaned back in her chair and took another swig from her glass, her arms over her chest. “And you expect me to believe that you also know how to fly through the air on a wire like a trapeze artist?”

  “Scout’s honor,” I told solemnly, holding up a hand with two fingers in the air.

  “You weren’t a Boy Scout. You couldn’t stand to be outside most of the time!” she quipped.

  Again, I lifted my shoulder in a nonchalant shrug as I bit the inside of my cheek to keep the shit eating grin off my face. “People change, I guess.”

  She took another sip from her champagne glass. “It’s like Lawson Reed went to Vegas and turned into 007.” She made a point to look around the room and dropped her voice. “Are you really on a secret mission and we’re here so you can watch the bad guys?”

  She was joking, but she had no idea how close to the truth she was. I pressed my lips together and leaned forward. “That’s classified.”

  Her head fell back, her blond hair spilling over her shoulders, and she laughed heartily. “You are not at all who I thought you were,” she told me when the peals of laughter finally subsided. Her eyes twinkled as she finished. “I like it.”

  She may have said ‘it’, but what I heard was that she liked me. And that was all the encouragement I needed. “I like you too.”

  Her face softened and her lips that were stretched wide in a grin just moments ago parted, forming a perfect ‘o’. I reached across the table with my free hand and took hers, lacing my fingers with hers. She didn’t hesitate for even a moment. Instead she gave my hand a light squeeze.

  “I have a surprise for you,” I told her.

  Her eyes lit up. “I love surprises!”

  “I know.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small wrapped object. I slid it across the table to her. She pulled her hand from mine and greedily ripped the paper off.

  “A Backstreet Boys CD?” she asked, one eyebrow arched.

  I lifted my chin. “You love them.” I reminded her.

  “I do. I already have this CD.” She laughed, her gaze going back in time. “Gah, remember how you drew on all the posters that were on my walls? Giving them black teeth and eye patches. I was so mad at you!” She opened the CD and pulled out the booklet from the front. “Wait a minute.” Her eyes jumped to me. “Is this signed?”

  The corner of my mouth tipped up in a smile. “Maybe.”

  She ran her fingertips over the front where it was, in fact, signed by all the members of the band. “How the hell did you get this signed by everyone?” she asked, the wonder in her voice causing my chest to squeeze.

  “I told you already, I know them.” I winked.

  She was flipping through the pages when she let out a strangled cry and turned it to face me. “Lawson! You ruined it!”

  My brows drew together. “I did not! Personally, I think Nick looks better with a beard, that’s all.”

  She huffed again as she turned another page to see where I’d enhanced yet another picture of the band. “Ran off to Vegas a boy, came back an even more immature boy,” she muttered under her breath. “Can’t believe you had them sign this just to draw all over it!”

  She got to the last page and a piece of paper fluttered to the table. “What’s this?” She picked it up and opened it, revealing tickets to the concert they were having the following weekend.

  Her head snapped up, her eyes so wide they nearly popped out of her head. “Front row seats? How did you do this?” she squealed. This time, she didn’t bother looking embarrassed when the other patrons around us looked to see what the commotion was about.

  “I’m a man of many talents,” I told her. “I—” I was interrupted when she jumped from her seat and came around the table, launching herself in my arms.

  “I’m not even going to ask how you knew this was one of my bucket list concerts.” It came out mumbled as her face was pressed into the side of my throat, her arms looped around my shoulders. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into me, burying my nose in her hair.

  She smelled sweet and her scent hit me right in the gut.

  Holding her in the crowded five-star restaurant, breathing in the very essence of the woman I’d always wanted, I decided I wasn’t done worrying about the what-ifs.

  It didn’t matter what cou
ld happen between us, she had unknowingly convinced me that whatever the outcome was, it would be worth it with nothing more than her excitement for a small gift and an embrace I felt to my toes.

  She pulled away, her face bright, and slipped back into her chair across from mine just as the waitress arrived with our ridiculous assortment of food and began unloading platters in front of us.

  “Thank you, Lawson.” She smiled brightly as she began piling different foods onto her plate.

  I shook my head. “You’re welcome.”

  Her lips pressed together for a fraction of a second, her throat working to muster the courage to say, “This is the best first date ever. I can’t wait to see what you come up with for the second.”

  I knew I should be worried. I’d never be able to top this. But I didn’t fucking care. Because Piper Kelley had just told me she wanted a second date. “This?” I waved a hand at the table and the ridiculous amounts of foods laid out on it. “This is nothing. Just wait.”

  25

  Piper

  “Dinner was amazing, Mrs. Reed. It always is, though.” Smith smiled widely, his perfectly straight teeth gleaming. He grabbed his bottle of beer and took a swig before wrapping an arm around Hampton’s broad shoulders.

  Beside me, Lawson muttered under his breath, “Ass kisser.”

  I jabbed him with my elbow and hissed, “Be nice!”

  Hampton’s eyes narrowed in our direction and I faked a broad smile at him. Oblivious to nearly everything around her, Mrs. Reed smiled warmly and pushed away from the table. “If you thought dinner was good, wait until you see dessert!”

  “Please tell me it’s pound cake,” Lawson rumbled. His arm casually draped along the back of my chair flexed. Every now and again, when I would shift in my seat, my head would graze his arm, sending jolts of electricity through me.