“Are you 100 percent sure of that? Because there are two witnesses now who saw what he was doing to you, and I’m pretty sure we all know what he was about to do before he got his butt kicked.” He frowned. “He’s dangerous, Piper.”
“He’s also a coward,” she said. “I know him, he won’t be back.”
“You can’t be sure of that. And what about your sister and your cat? Who knows what that maniac is capable of? Promise me you’ll talk to the police in the morning—I’ll come and drive you to the station. Or we could do it now.”
She shook her head. “In the morning, I promise, but on my own. I don’t need my hand held.”
“Okay, have it your way.” He sighed and brushed her tightly clenched fist with his knuckles. “You can’t stay here on your own now, it’s not safe. Let me stay with you if you won’t leave with me.”
He had a point, but she had to dust herself off and face reality at some point after all this, and she still had an unanswered question. “Why did you come over when I asked you not to?”
“Do you wish I hadn’t?”
“Of course not, but no meant no. It really did.”
He sighed and looked at the ceiling. “Okay, I sent Frank over to keep an eye on things after you were dropped off this evening. Just in case.”
Her jaw dropped open. “You had me under surveillance? Spying on me?”
“Just looking after your welfare,” he said quietly, but had the grace to look awkward. “If it hadn’t been necessary to intervene, you would never have known.”
“So that makes it all right?” She crossed her arms over her chest to stop herself from shaking. Shock over what had just happened was setting in. “I’m beginning to wonder what your real motive was. Control freaks do this kind of thing, Matt. Is that what you are? A control freak?”
He shrugged and looked around him. “You’re right, I didn’t get where I am today without needing to be in control. And total control at that, so maybe I deserve that label.” He nudged the toe of his shoe thoughtfully against the leg of the coffee table. “My name is Matt DeLeo and I’m a control freak.”
Was history just about to repeat itself? Could she even consider letting a man take control of her life again? “It’s not that funny from where I’m standing. Stanley’s a control freak, and I don’t want to be around guys like that anymore.”
His face darkened. “I might just have saved your life a second time if that counts for anything at all. And I’m sure as hell not another dickwad like Stanley.”
Matt was right and now, as well as feeling revulsion at being assaulted by her ex, she felt miserable for not even saying thank you. Great. “I get that, and I’m grateful. Thank you.”
“Thank you, but good-bye?”
She needed some time alone, some space and silence to work through the sickening events of the last half hour. To heal, like a wounded animal. “Sophie’s at my parents’ house. We had a heart-to-heart a few days ago about her staying here because it wasn’t working out. She doesn’t live here anymore, and we’re both fine with that.” She gave him a weak smile. “I’ll be fine here on my own now, Matt, and when you go, I’ll put the chain on properly just to make sure, okay? I usually do, but Aspen enjoys playing with it dangling there. Makes one hell of a noise, it’s a miracle the neighbors haven’t complained.”
“You could come back to my place.”
“And which ‘your place’ would this be? One of your cabins? A studio over a burger bar? Some prime office space?”
“Actually it’s a five-star penthouse suite at the Crowne Embassy a few blocks away. For a few days. There’s a gym and you get breakfast made for you—”
“Matt, it’s a place, not your place. It’s not your home. I don’t know how you can stand it, moving around all the time.”
“I don’t have to worry about cleaning,” he said wryly as he looked around her living room. “Or clutter.”
“Once I’ve cleaned up, it’ll stay that way now that Sophie’s moved out. But y’know, some of us like clutter, stuff that holds memories to comfort us, to help us remember good times.”
“And bad times? Do you keep stuff that reminds you of all the shitty things that happen?” He picked up Stanley’s empty beer can, crushed it, and looked her hard in the eye. “It’s hard enough to forget some of the shit in my life as it is. Reminders I do not need.”
She didn’t want to go any further with this. Even though she ached to know what had made this man so averse to putting down roots or forming ties, she sensed it would pull her more into his orbit. She couldn’t risk taking a glimpse of this tortured hero’s past history. It would be like following Alice down the rabbit hole and she only had ten days to find her way out.
“We’re very different, you and I,” she murmured and cast her eye over the piles of magazines, junk mail, and pens lying about the place. “You must think I’m crazy, too.”
“I think you’re amazing and beautiful and…” He pulled a crochet blanket off the back of the sofa and wrapped it around her shoulders. “And you’re worth so much more than all this.”
Piper made a snorting noise. “I must also be delirious. You’ll never guess what I thought I just heard you say.”
“Huh?”
“Amazing and beautiful. I don’t think anyone has ever said that to me before.”
“You must have only dated jerks before in that case.” He squeezed her shoulders through the blanket. “Are you sure you won’t let me stay and look after you? I’ll take the sofa.”
She shook her head. “I’ll be fine, really, and I’d prefer to be alone right now. This is my home, and it’s kind of sacred right now, a place for just me and Aspen to live in. Does that make sense?”
He nodded. “All right, but someone will be watching this place until I’m convinced you’re safe. At least until that police report is filed.”
“Okay, I know there’s no point in arguing with you, and I need some sleep.”
“You can sleep after tonight?”
“I’m exhausted, I need to try. So should you.” She closed her eyes as he kissed her on the cheek. “I need to be alone now, Matt.”
And within seconds, she actually was. When she opened her eyes, Matt DeLeo had left as surprisingly as he had arrived and had taken a crushed beer can with him.
Chapter Twelve
“You look amazing,” Matt said two days later, as Piper slid into the backseat of the luxurious limousine that had been waiting outside her apartment for ten minutes. “I’m sorry we’re starting a little earlier than planned, but I need to talk to you about something before we get to the wedding.”
They were heading to the wedding of the year in a vehicle with blacked-out windows and Piper was dreading it. “Is that why your driver isn’t actually driving and is propped up against wall smoking a cigarette? I have this sudden sinking feeling…”
“Did you file that police report?”
Piper sighed. “Yes, boss, I filed the police report just like I said I would. They’re doing what they need to do.”
Matt nodded stiffly. “And if they want to speak to me or Frank—”
“They have your number, don’t worry.”
“Good.” Matt glanced at the chauffeur outside for a second and then gave her all his attention. “I’ve been thinking things over in the last couple of days. Longer than that. The thing is…” He stared at her and she was sure she saw a spark of something in the chestnut depths of his eyes, like the fizz of a comet in the night sky, gone before you even knew it was there. “Piper, the chemistry between us is off the scale. Look what happened in the elevator two nights ago and how close it came to happening in the cabin during the storm. This isn’t a one-sided infatuation we’re dealing with here.”
Infatuation? Is that what he had once thought it was?
“I wasn’t expecting that.” She raised her eyebrows with surprise. “I don’t really know what to say—”
“Don’t say anything yet, just listen.” H
is face became animated. “I have a new proposal for you.”
“Oh God, no.”
“Listen to me, hear me out for just a minute.”
She was tired and cranky, but she knew by now he wasn’t the kind of person who ever gave up, so she might as well listen. “Go on.”
“I’ll release you from all future engagements, even the spring beer launch party at the mayor’s mansion if you like, if we can agree to find a way to burn this thing out between us. A fling, let’s call it that. Lots of fun, no stress, maybe some no-strings sex, just enough to get Piper and Matt out of our systems. The strain of this will kill me otherwise.”
She shook her head. “You’re crazy.”
But the really scary thing was that she secretly agreed with him. She hadn’t been able to get him out of her mind since they’d last been together, in spite of what Stanley had done. As the shock of the assault faded, the tenderness Matt had shown her, the caring gestures, and his protectiveness had a deep effect. She wanted to be near him in spite of everything, and the way her hormones were now going wild… He was right, they had to do something, but she needed to guard her heart.
“I’m crazy?” he said. “So is this thing going on between us. We can’t risk another event where we have to have sex in a public place. It’s only a matter of time before we get caught.”
Remember, it’s just great sex, nothing more.
She let out a laugh. “You could blame it on the pink beer.”
She could tell by his expression that he was genuinely considering the idea. “Maybe my excellent beer helps things along, but I still can’t get you out of my head. I’m crazy about you.”
Those were strong words, and maybe she should feel scared by his admission, too much too soon, an infatuation on his part driven by the amazing sex they had shared. This was probably just a guy thinking with his dick and saying what she wanted to hear to get her in the sack. But wasn’t she crazy about him too? For real?
She was also reluctantly impressed by how far he was prepared to go for her. Trashing his precious PR campaign at this late stage to get what he wanted was a serious sacrifice, she knew that. Maybe his suggestion was a good way to move forward, a clinical solution to the physical symptoms they were experiencing. She didn’t need any more hassle and stress, but…
“I need to think about this.”
“Sure.”
“What if I say no?”
“Then we’ll be back where we started: me blackmailing you with black lacy panties behind the bar, a big beer launch, and inevitable sex in awkward places.” He shrugged. “You have forty-five minutes before we get to the wedding of the year. Is that long enough? I won’t interrupt your thoughts, I promise.”
True to his word, he didn’t utter a word as they sped through the Colorado landscape. Piper stared blankly out at the blur of ragged mountains, snow, pines, and rock. Her body wanted her to say yes to his proposal—heck, so did her brain if it meant she could avoid more events like the gallery opening—but she couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth and commit. None of this seemed right. Or maybe it all seemed too easy.
“We’re almost there.” His palm rested on her leg and a bolt of awareness rocketed straight between her thighs. “So, what’s your answer?”
Her heart felt too large for her chest as it pulsed with adrenaline. She had to say something. “Matt, I’m just not sure.”
He sighed and pressed a button on his armrest to activate the privacy screen between them and the driver. “Then I’m going to have to prove something to you.”
His arm snaked over her waist and, before she could protest, his mouth was down on hers, kissing her without restraint. She wriggled and squealed with protest for a second or two, held firm by the seat belt and by his other determined hand holding her jaw steady. But as his tongue probed and explored her mouth, she crumbled and melted into him like she always did. It was so unfair that her body refused to obey her brain and that hormones were so unbelievably potent, like a narcotic drug for which there was no effective antidote except orgasm. It was insane—just one touch from this man and she was like an animal in heat.
His hand slid up between her thighs and she felt his thumb press against her through the silk of her panties. Then he began to circle slowly. She arched her back, instinctively seeking more, either the length of his fingers inside her or the feel of him on her breasts. She couldn’t believe how responsive her body was to him. Just the flick of his finger and she was his. It felt wonderful…
He broke the kiss, but his lips were just inches from hers. “You see? It’s still there, this wildfire attraction, and it’s not going away unless we feed it and let it burn itself out.”
She moaned and closed her eyes as he continued to work between her legs. “Don’t…”
His finger moved under the elastic of her underwear. “Don’t stop? Or don’t do this?”
He slipped inside her slick heat and ran his finger up and down slowly until she began to pant and squirm against his hand. “Yes,” she gasped.
Her eyes flew open as he suddenly withdrew, leaving her feeling cold and frustrated. “What?”
“Sexual blackmail this time, Piper. No more orgasms until I get the answer I want.”
“Douchebag.”
He shrugged the insult off and arched a dark eyebrow at her. “Whatever label you put on it, we’re having that fling anyway. It’s unstoppable, so you might as well give in and agree. We’ll still call it quits after launch day on the fifteenth.”
She stared at him as he sucked his finger into his mouth. It hurt that he was so confident he’d have had enough of her by then, but…what was she thinking? It had always been about sex, just sex for both of them. Straight up. There was never going to be any future for them. They wanted different things. “Midnight on the fifteenth and it’s all over? And I don’t have to go to the beer launch if I don’t want to?”
“Nope.” He ran his hand through his hair. “But it’ll be a great party. Everyone who is anyone in the Passion Creek business world will be there if they can. I’d like to have you there if you have nothing else planned.”
She laughed bitterly as she pulled down her dress. “I have nothing planned, believe it or not.”
“So it’s a deal? And a date?”
“It’s a fine example of your control freakery all over again. You’re scheduling me and making crazy deals and I should resist you with my last breath. But okay, I’ll go to the party.”
His eyes brightened. “Only eight days left. Eight days of no-strings sex, whenever we want. You like sex with me, I like sex with you. You get to promote your business, I get laid, you get laid, and we’ll both be very happy.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It is.” He adjusted his jacket as the car passed through the gates of the exclusive Bosco di Montagne Mountain Chateau, where the wedding was soon to take place. “And we’re here now, so let’s enjoy ourselves.”
Piper stepped out of the limo and smoothed down the pale aqua silk of her shift dress over her thighs. The wedding of the year and she’d never had so much couture collateral clinging to her body. She had discovered to her disgust that you really did get what you paid for—not only was her outfit stunning, it fit like a second skin, just a whisper of a garment on her body. It was gorgeous. And her hands were trembling. Even a car journey with Matt DeLeo turned out to be something much more than she could ever have anticipated.
“It’s colder than it looks out here.” She crossed her arms as she and Matt joined the shivering crowd of guests heading for the warmth of the wedding venue’s front desk. The bright medley of hats and dresses was like a sea of extra-large confetti bobbing up and down, with excited chatter and laughter bouncing off the still quietness of the banks of snow that surrounded the estate. This couldn’t be anything other than a wedding; it reeked of anxiety, oozed with joy, and rustled with designer labels.
“See what I meant about the clothes now?” he said. “There
’s a lot of money here today.”
Her heart leaped as she caught a glimpse of Melanie’s head in the distance. She was busy greeting guests and ushering them into the fleet of horse-drawn sleighs that would take them to the wedding chapel. Piper smiled as she remembered her buddy’s excuse for not replying to her texts and emails on the night of the storm. At last Melanie seemed to be getting a taste of romance, and she sincerely hoped it would turn out well. It certainly stood a better chance than her own morally questionable, sex-fest, non-relationship with Matt DeLeo.
Half an hour later, everyone was settled in their beribboned seats, and a hush descended as the harpist began to play the bride up the aisle. The ceremony itself went off perfectly, a carefully choreographed occasion adorned with silver lanterns, church candles, and pink roses set against a natural backdrop of mountains and snow. The quaint chapel set deep in the foothills was almost magical, with guests still breathless and excited by their sleigh rides. It was the perfect choice for a wedding at the tail end of winter. The vows were made, the happy and impossibly handsome couple kissed, and Piper knew Melanie would still be nervous. She always was until the whole thing was over, but that was what made her so good at her job. A perfectionist down to the tiniest detail.
A nudge at her elbow made her look at Matt sitting next to her. He was offering her a handkerchief. “And?” she said with disdain.
“You’re supposed to be wiping away tears of joy, overwhelmed with the romance of the ceremony by now.”
“Not me,” she said smartly as the front rows of guests obediently stood to follow the bride and groom out of the chapel. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I can’t stand weddings.” She wanted to make a comment about divorce statistics, but stopped herself just in time as she realized how inappropriate that would be.
He shoved the hankie back in his pocket. “You’re the first woman I’ve ever met who didn’t become an emotional mess at a wedding.”
Blackmailed by the Billionaire Brewer Page 12
