Caution

by Tara Mills

  An old-fashioned carriage, ornate with its bright red and gold detailing was selling fresh popcorn near the curb. It looked to be a popular stop for moms with strollers but just as Piper was being lured over by the intoxicating aroma she heard the crack of a bat followed by the answer of a crowd coming from behind the grove of trees on her left. Interested, she turned her feet that way instead and followed the winding path.

  Why not? Community baseball at its finest. To her surprise there was a pretty good crowd in the bleachers. Piper took a second to study the stands then headed up to the top of the risers so she could have a backrest. The sun was low enough now that it hit her right in the face. She regretted not wearing sunglasses. Using her hand as a visor Piper read the scoreboard. The Bobcats were ahead by one run at the top of the seventh.

  • • •

  Piper’s mouth dropped open when she saw the man from class rise from his team bench and take the field. He tossed an ice pack onto the grass against the fence and limped over to third, slipping his hand into his glove. The very sight of him gave her a chill that raised both goose bumps and her nipples simultaneously.

  Was there no mercy in the world? Now, completely annoyed, all she wanted to do was slip off without him seeing her but it was probably too late for that. She decided to wait it out and see what happened. Moving might just make her more conspicuous. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with this guy again.

  Chapter 3

  “Chad!”

  A call from the mound dragged Chad’s attention back from the stands just in time to snatch the ball out of the air and whip it across to first. He spared a second look at the crowd and confirmed the impossible. That was definitely Piper — no doubt about it — and she looked terrific with her hair down.

  His knee hurt like a son of a bitch but he smiled anyway, very aware of this golden opportunity to impress the hell out of her. This was his game, this was his base, and he was good. Now he’d be great because nothing motivated a guy more than the chance to show off for a woman.

  The first batter walked out to the plate and went into his stance. Chad spread his legs, knees bent, ready to move in any direction. He was tense, every muscle in his body poised to react. Only when the batter struck out did Chad hazard another look at Piper.

  The next man up hit a single over second base. Finally, Chad’s moment to shine came when the third batter blasted the ball right at him. Chad leaped into the air, caught it, then twisted and in one fluid motion rifled it to second before he even landed on his feet. The runner was tagged stretching for the base — a gorgeous double play.

  Feeling inordinately pleased, Chad trotted off the field, accepting the congratulatory back slaps from his teammates as his due. The smile he bestowed on everyone was bright enough to strain the power grid.

  • • •

  Ugh, Piper thought with distaste. So, he was the arrogant jock type. She should have figured. One of those guys with the “use ’em and lose ’em” mentality. Still, it made perfect sense considering the mantle of entitlement he wore draped across his shoulders.

  Piper slipped away as the other team took the field.

  • • •

  When Chad’s turn at bat came he walked out confidently but his swagger turned into a sorrowful plod when he tried, and failed, to spot her. It was no good, he knew she was gone. He deflated like a balloon, his adrenaline rush a distant memory.

  • • •

  Piper was in a deep sleep when four minutes shy of one A.M. she let out an earthy moan that startled her awake. She rolled inside the sheets, her body sticky with perspiration despite her nudity.

  Damn him! It was extremely rare for Piper to have provocative dreams but several in a row? Unheard of! If that wasn’t disturbing enough all she had to do was recall the last in that alarming series and cringe. That horrifying spectacle actually strayed into the pornographic. Was it any wonder, judging by the images still burned on her brain, that her heart was racing the 10K? No matter how hard she tried to exorcize the image of his strong thighs, calves, and even worse, his bare flexing buttocks from her brain it didn’t work. He was haunting her, taunting her.

  Piper expelled a deep frustrated breath and kicked back the covers. This was not good. Dreaming of him? What was that all about? She didn’t want this and she certainly didn’t want him. Did she? No way. But her pulse told her otherwise. She definitely had in her dreams. Just remembering the way she writhed against him like a cat in heat disgusted her. It didn’t matter that it never happened if she herself planted the idea, the images in her own mind.

  She needed air. Stomping to the window she snapped on the air conditioner and leaned into the blast. The hum soothed her while the cool stream lifted her damp hair from her face and shoulders. She pulled her hair up and let her neck take a direct blast. Yes, yes, this was moan-worthy — not what she was dreaming of doing with what’s his name! Oh baby, this was good.

  Only when she was completely cooled off did she go back to bed but before she settled down she gave her pillow a sharp look and a solid punch for good measure, putting it on notice that she’d brook no more of that nonsense. Finally satisfied, Piper dropped her head into the pocket she created and closed her eyes.

  • • •

  Unless one of the kids was sick nothing woke Chad during the night so when he jerked awake from a sound sleep feeling restless and tense he wandered down the dark hallway to look in on his children. It wasn’t until he saw the empty bunk beds in Kenny’s room that he remembered they were spending the night with their grandma.

  He scratched his mussed up head and frowned. Something set his heart rate spiking. He wondered if he should phone his mom to see if everything was okay. No — better not. She would have called him. Waking her up at this time of night would only panic her and she wasn’t a young woman anymore.

  Rubbing his hand over his face he headed into the hall bathroom, stepped around the bath toys on the mat and filled a SpongeBob Dixie cup with cold water. He downed it in one go without shutting off the stream. After two more gulps from the faucet he finally turned off the tap and shuffled back to his room. He scratched his chest absently, suddenly confronted by another mystery.

  Normally a sound sleeper, Chad didn’t move much during the night but for some reason his bedding was a mess. It looked like he’d been in some kind of wrestling match. Perplexed, he bent down to re-tuck the sheets and sort out the blankets when out of nowhere a bewildering chuckle burbled out of him. He froze in surprise.

  “What the hell?”

  Now this was getting weird.

  Chapter 4

  Chad breathed a deep contented sigh and slipped out of his blazer, tossing it through the window and onto the back seat. An easy smile warmed his handsome face as he flicked open a third button on his shirt then moved on to his cuffs. He rolled back his sleeves because he needed to feel this air, this sunshine on his bare skin. What a fantastic day.

  It was a gift really, utterly beautiful and not even two o’clock in the afternoon. With a little hustle he was able to clear up his work earlier than expected which left an hour and a half of free time before the kids got home from school. His plan was simple, certainly, but sometimes that was all one needed to recalibrate the machinery. Chad was more than ready to exchange the noise and dust of the construction site with a breezy drive around Scenic Lake. It wasn’t that much farther off his route but sometimes the heart aches for those tranquil moments and he was listening to his for a change.

  He let his arm drape out his open window as he drove, toasting it brown in the sunshine. He dipped and dunked his hand into the wind, playing the stream of resistance like a dolphin breaking waves. Chad felt alive to sensations, keenly aware of the cooler temperature close to the shore and attuned to the hair on his forearm rippling and waving like a field of tall grass.

  It was interesting bu
t right somehow that the depth of the blues of the water and the sky should clutch at his chest, engage him emotionally. He was captivated, his eyes straying repeatedly to the lake, until something else grabbed his attention — Piper’s car parked along the curb.

  He knew it was hers right away by the faded hat in the back window but the license plate clinched it. He got a good long look at it the other night when she sped off. The creases around his smile deepened when he saw an open space two cars ahead of hers. Chad threw on his blinker.

  With so many people out enjoying the perfect weather, the chances that he’d find Piper were slim. She could be halfway around the lake by now. Still, Chad tipped up his sunglasses and got out, scanning the faces for the only one that mattered. He wandered across the grass, lifting his chin to the sun for one glorious moment before making his way to the nearest bench. He sat down and stretched out his legs, leaning against the back and soaking up the atmosphere. Chad shifted his gaze to a couple of windsurfers moving away from shore.

  His jaw dropped. There she was, cutting through the water with her feet spread comfortably on her board, leading her friend out. She was wearing a skin hugging wet suit with long sleeves but cut high at the legs. Chad sat up and squinted, trying to get a better look but the life vest interfered so he moved on, grinning at her wet ponytail and utterly dazzled by the quick flashes of her radiant smile.

  He leaned back again and spread his arms out across the back of the bench, making himself comfortable. When Piper whooped and laughed so did he, vicariously enjoying her happiness. Only when Piper and her friend were specks on the other side of the lake did Chad finally check the time. He swore and jumped up, racing for his car.

  • • •

  Piper was giddy — pure and simple. Surfing was the closest she could come these days to the exhilaration she loved chasing as a kid. Once she flew recklessly down long, steep hills on her bicycle without ever touching the brakes. The speed, the risk of a car pulling out in front of her had always been at the back of her mind but it fed something wild in her. Age and a sense of her mortality eventually tempered her childish taste for thrills, or so she thought, until she discovered windsurfing. The charge wasn’t always there but when it reared up powerfully and she wrestled with it, there was nothing better.

  She had to give Mick grudging credit for introducing her to the sport. It was big kid fun and one of the few highs in their otherwise rollercoaster relationship. Still, even for a person who got off on the plunging stomach sensation, living that way was unendurable on a daily basis. It was depressing to think that had he not screwed up the last time, royally, she’d still be making excuses for him and feeling guilty about wanting to quit his merry-go-round.

  When had he stopped being her partner and become her responsibility? If he hadn’t given her the nudge she needed to break free she’d still be supporting the prick. Okay, maybe she should thank him for his philandering too.

  But the truth was that Mick was at his best on those rare occasions when he took over. He taught her with the patience of a saint how to get up on her board, how to feel and enjoy the power of nature as she worked with it to invite motion. They laughed when she tumbled off repeatedly and he was supportive and encouraging when she tried again. So what if she wasn’t a natural. She knew what she was doing now and it pleased her. She’d grown strong and the muscles in her legs and thighs were more defined and she was proud of her sculpted arms. She liked the tone that came with the exercise. Even more, she liked the freedom. She never felt so unencumbered in her life, so liberated.

  She glanced over at her friend and gave the signal to head back. Joy nodded and Piper turned. As the sail caught the wind with a snap Piper was struck by the mood to race. She let out a giddy yell as she took off, leaving Joy in her metaphorical dust.

  • • •

  Chad hung up the phone and sighed, kicking back in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose. It wasn’t easy, but he’d dealt with McPherson.

  “Daddy.” Missy came storming through the door in a huff.

  He sat up. “What are you doing in here? You know I’m working.”

  “Kenny’s pointing at me.”

  His chair creaked as he leaned forward and laid his cheek on his hand. “And?”

  “He’s pointing at me!” she explained again as if he were dimwitted.

  “In what way?”

  She demonstrated, her fingers making a gun.

  “Kenny!” Chad bellowed then looked at his daughter shrewdly. “You enjoy getting your brother into trouble, don’t you?”

  “Sometimes.” A flash of a smile stole across her face before she hid it away.

  His son, Missy’s twin, popped into the office.

  “I didn’t do anything.” His automatic response to everything.

  “Were you shooting your finger at your sister?” God, that sounded ridiculous out loud.

  “I don’t know.”

  Chad felt drained. “Just don’t do it again, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay, Missy?” He looked at his daughter.

  “Okay.”

  Kenny was just turning when Chad caught the sneer he gave his sister.

  “That’s enough! You two have to start getting along better because I’m sick of being a referee.”

  “What’s a referee?” Missy asked.

  “A zebra,” Kenny answered and they walked out, pals again as he explained exactly what the men in striped shirts did.

  Chad shut down his computer and desk lamp. He followed them out and closed the door to his office behind him.

  While he made dinner, Missy hung over the counter watching.

  “You make the best sandwiches.” She grinned and slithered over the counter on her belly. He could see her feet coming up behind her like two purple antennas.

  “Do I?” he asked absently. “Sit on that stool the right way please.”

  She slid back onto her butt. “Yeah, you butter every spot of bread so there aren’t any dry places and you do my sandwich first.”

  “I learned.”

  He couldn’t stop the wry smile when it popped up as he recalled the day he made her sandwich second and with the same knife he used for Kenny’s. His son wasn’t nearly as picky. Missy was firmly against mayonnaise.

  Now it was time, the crucial moment of truth. He looked at her and asked, “How do you want it cut today?”

  She tilted her head to the side and thought about it, carefully. “Small triangles.”

  After he cut it to her specifications he slid the plate towards her and she picked up a soft section. “Mmm good.”

  “Kenny,” he called.

  The boy ran like a herd of buffalo through the house. How could one eight-year-old boy make such a racket?

  The kid came sliding into the kitchen on his stocking feet. He didn’t stop until the edge of his foot hit the bottom of the cabinets.

  “Yes!” Kenny punched the air excitedly. “Did you see how far I went?”

  “Impressive,” Chad said. “How do you want your sandwich cut?”

  “In half.” He climbed up onto his stool and dug into the bag of Fritos.

  “In half how?” Chad asked. He showed all the ways it could be cut.

  Kenny looked at his sister’s sandwich and chose straight down the middle instead of diagonally, just to be different. Chad didn’t understand why everything had to be the opposite with them but for some reason it did.

  He ate his own sandwich — uncut — while leaning against the counter and staring out the window into the backyard.

  “Can I be excused?” Kenny asked with his mouth full.

  Without turning Chad said, “Don’t talk until you’ve swallowed. You know that. And you have to finish your milk first. All of it.”

  Kenny chu
gged his milk noisily. “Done.”

  Chad gave him a distracted nod and Kenny dropped down to the floor and took off.

  “That was very good. Thank you, Daddy,” Missy complimented in the kiss-ass style she’d adopted recently.

  He thanked her without getting into it.

  A minute later Chad turned to clear the dishes and was surprised that she was still sitting on her stool, watching him thoughtfully.

  “What is it, kiddo?”

  “I was just wondering why pretty women don’t chase you.”

  Chad sputtered. “What?”

  “Why don’t pretty women chase you and want to kiss you?”

  “Honey, if I knew that, I’d tell you.”

  She looked him over carefully. “Maybe you’re just too old but I don’t think so.”

  He smiled, charmed. “You don’t think I’m old?”

  “No, you’re old.” She shook her head, completely erasing his smile. “But so are a lot of pretty ladies. Someone should like you.”

  “Why are you asking about this?”

  “I got to watch Sex and the City at Cassidy’s.”

  “Her mother let you watch Sex and the City?”

  “No, her mom was watching it and she sent us to play quiet in Cassidy’s room. We turned it on up there just to see what it was about.”

  Missy opened the sugar dish and licked her finger then dipped the moistened tip into the very center. She poked the granule-coated finger into her mouth. Chad stared at her, momentarily stunned, then took the cover and clapped it back on top and pulled the sugar dish away from her.

  “Don’t ever let me see you do that again.”

  “Do you miss kissing Daddy?”

  Did nothing faze her?

  Chad scratched behind his ear and wondered how to answer that question. He finally opted for the truth. “Yeah, I guess I do.”