Chasing the Runaway Bride (7 page)

“Mornin’ darlin’.”

She swallowed. Desire rippled through her, making her fingers itch and her mouth water.

Damn it!
What the hell was wrong with her? This guy was trouble and she was salivating?

She shook herself out of her haze. “Good morning.”

He motioned toward the cashier’s cage. “How about if we go to the office? There’s a little something I’d like to discuss before we open.”

She held his gaze but couldn’t stop thinking about that soft T-shirt molded to his perfect chest, and she prayed to God he could not read minds. Because right now hers was envisioning her fingers rippling along those corded muscles. “There is?”

He smiled again, but the automatic doors swished apart. Bunny entered for her shift. “Morning.”

Cade and Piper simultaneously said, “Morning.”

As Bunny stowed her purse under her register, Cade gestured to the office again.

She almost followed him but couldn’t quite get her feet to move. Given her desire to run her hands down the smooth line of his torso, she wasn’t sure being alone with him was such a good idea. She wasn’t worried that she’d actually touch him, but she might stutter. Or her voice could quiver. Or her tongue could tie.

And wouldn’t that be embarrassing?

…

Cade watched her debating coming into the office and frowned. Why the hell was she hesitating?

Then her eyes met his. Their green hue glistened. His gaze moved to her throat where her pulse beat just enough that he could see it jumping. Just as it had on Saturday, at the drugstore, when she flirted with him.

He smiled.

He’d thought the attraction had fizzled when she realized who he was.

Apparently not.

A wave of heat surged through him. Vivid images popped into his head. All those things he’d wanted to do that day at the drugstore came tumbling back in great detail. The devil took his impulse control and tossed it so far away, Cade grinned.

“Come on, darlin’. Ten minutes. That’s all I need.”

“Ten minutes?” She met his gaze. “A lot can happen in ten minutes.”

She pressed her fingers to her lips as if she couldn’t believe she’d said that, and he laughed.
So she does remember our encounter in the drugstore.

“I can make it ten minutes you’ll never forget.”

But he suddenly noticed Bunny Farmer, standing in her checkout aisle, watching every move he made, hearing every word they said.

“If you wanna count green beans, go ahead.” He took a step back, too. The reminder that this entire town had eyes and ears brought him back to reality. What was he doing flirting with Piper O’Riley? Was he insane? “We can talk whenever you’re ready.”

He turned and headed back to the office, forcing himself to think about finding the proof that his grandfather hadn’t cheated her dad. The day before, he’d skimmed through the computer records but hadn’t found a file marked “proof I didn’t cheat Sean O’Riley.” It was absurd to think his grandfather would be so brazen about whatever it was, but he’d have been a fool not to look for the obvious. Today, he’d get into the subtleties.

He worked for two hours, once again seeking files that might have the word “proof” in them. When that didn’t pan out, he searched for Sean O’Riley. Nothing. He searched poker game. Nothing again.

Rubbing his eyes, he leaned back in his chair just as there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened slowly. Piper entered hesitantly. “Hey.”

Seeing her brought back their thirty seconds of flirting that morning, after she’d given him the once-over. He bolted up in his chair. His gaze ran from her long inky-black ponytail, down the press of her breasts against her pink T-shirt, along her delectable behind. Heat swooshed through his blood.

He caught her gaze.

Glancing away, she headed for one of the chairs in front of the desk. “I…um…You’d wanted to talk to me this morning?”

She clearly intended to pretend the attraction between them didn’t exist and, honestly, that was probably the best way to go. But he’d just spent two hours staring at a boring computer screen. And besides, they were alone…and her family and friends had tortured and tormented his for years. Was it so wrong to want a little payback?

Especially since he had such an innocent way to get it?

He rose from the chair behind the desk and walked to the front corner—close enough to her that when he leaned against the desktop, their knees almost touched.

“I was going to suggest a strategy session.”

Her gaze rose slowly to meet his. “You mean like how we both shouldn’t have to be at the store at the same time?”

He laughed. Wow, no subtlety to this woman. “You don’t like working with me? I’m crushed.”

“It’s not that.”

His laugh was smooth and easy. “Oh, I know exactly what it is.” He inched closer. Feigning innocence, he egged her on. “It’s the whole feud thing.”

She edged away. “It’s not that either. It’s more about efficiency.”

“Right.”

She boldly caught his gaze. “I mean it. No store needs two managers in-house at the same time.”

He slid down the desk again, angling his legs next to hers, almost touching but not quite. “What if we get a delivery?”

She swallowed hard. “Huh?”

The devil currently residing where his common sense should be laughed with glee. She was so attracted to him that she was silly with it. Like a teenager. Almost as if she’d never really been attracted to a man before. If she wasn’t the sworn enemy of his family, he could have her blouse off in one good, wet kiss.

“You know…” He nudged her shoe with the toe of his. “You weren’t this eager to get away from me on Saturday.”

That seemed to bring her back to reality, and she laughed. “Yes I was.”

“Maybe after you figured out who I was. But before that…if I remember correctly, we talked about a stripper pole.”

“Temporary lapse of sanity.”

He chuckled. “Right. You keep telling yourself that.”

She rose so she was standing in front of him. “What’s the matter? Can’t handle dealing with a woman who doesn’t find you irresistible?”

With her delectable body inches away, it was hard to keep his hands at his sides. He wrapped them around the edge of the desk. “Oh, you find me irresistible. You might be able to tough talk your way through this, but it won’t make what you feel go away.”

“What I feel is stupid.”

He frowned. “Really? ’Cause to me it feels like nothing but fun.”

She snorted. “Maybe that’s why you’re the Donovan who got stuck running the store.”

“What?”

“Maybe if you thought about more than fun, your grandfather wouldn’t have exiled you here. Devon’s a lawyer. Finn’s the most successful small-business owner in Harmony Hills, and you…” She tapped her chin. “What is it you do? Aren’t you a cowboy or something?”

“I’m a ranch foreman.” He rose, putting them toe-to-toe. “And as soon as my work here is done, I’m buying the Double K.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh. That’s great.”

Her instant reaction made him chuckle. “You’re not really impressed by my job?”

“Sure I am.”

He laughed. “Ah, darlin’. You’ve got to learn to watch your eyes. You cannot lie as long as your eyes are telling a different story. And right now they’re telling me that you like standing this close.”

She pushed away from him. “You think you’re so smart. That you know everything.”

“I can read when a woman’s attracted to me…and maybe scared of it.”

“Scared because of gossip.”

His eyebrows rose. No denial of the attraction? She just didn’t like gossip?

“We’re enemies, Cade. We shouldn’t even be able to run this store together, but we have to. If you think I’m going to risk my reputation for a cute guy, you’re crazy.”

She turned and marched to the door, but when she caught the handle, she blew her breath out on a sigh and faced him. “I honestly believe we shouldn’t work the same shifts. And not because of this stupid attraction. Because it’s a waste of both of our time. Do you agree?”

He pushed away from the desk. “Whatever you want is fine.”

“No. I think we should make decisions equally.”

The softness of her voice seeped into his blood. No matter what their status, she was a beautiful, sexy, very feminine woman. No matter what town they were in, he would want to sleep with her.

And right at this minute, with the scent of her shampoo riding the air, her soft voice tiptoeing up his spine, her total femininity lighting up the room, he suddenly realized this thing between them wasn’t weird, or freaky, or fun. It was dangerous.

Unless he wanted to take his mom’s share of his family’s inheritance and hand it to the man who had beaten him his entire life, running the grocery store had to look real. And the reality was he did not like Piper O’Riley. He could not sleep with her. He could not
want
to sleep with her.

Whatever the hell hormone she had awoken in him, he had to kill it. Now.

“Okay. So maybe you’re right. It is a waste of money for both of us to be here.”

Her eyes lit as if she were thrilled he agreed with her. “Really?”

“Yeah. With the store open from seven to eight, thirteen hours, how about if I work six hours alone and you work six hours alone, and we both work an overlap hour or so when we’d be in the store together so we can discuss things?”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Great. I’ll take mornings this week.”

“Great.”

She turned and walked out of the office with a happy smile on her face, and he tossed a pencil at the computer. It shouldn’t sting that she was so glad to be away from him. He tried to get rid of the odd feeling tingling through him, but he couldn’t.

Damn it!

He wandered to the little window that looked out over the sales floor. A man didn’t get to his age without knowing that a certain kind of itch didn’t go away without a good scratching. He didn’t want to marry her. He just wanted one good session in the sack.

And she’d all but admitted she wanted it, too. She was only worried about gossip, about people finding out.

Maybe they should just do it and get it over with?

Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. He’d had plenty of temptations that fizzled after one or two nights together.

Given how different they were, how much they didn’t like each other, this one probably would, too.

Now all he had to do was get her to agree.

Chapter Six

The next day when Piper arrived for her shift at three, she walked up to the office door calm and confident. Not working the same shift as Cade had solved her little attraction problem. She hadn’t thought about him all day. She’d done her laundry. Watched her soaps. And never once thought about that dragon tattoo. Or his possible washboard abs. Or his butt.

Her mom’s human resources file in her hand, she knocked twice on the office door, then stepped inside. “Good afternoon.”

He glanced up from the computer screen. “Good afternoon.”

She waved the manila folder. “I’m just in here to file this.”

He frowned. “File what?”

“My mom’s employee paperwork.”

His frown deepened. “You took it home with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“She didn’t have her social security card. So this morning she dug it up and we photocopied it at the bank.” She displayed the file again. “So now her file is complete.”

He rose from the desk. “It might be complete, but the information has to be entered into the payroll software.” Walking toward her, he held out his hand. “I’ll do it.”

He wore his usual butt-molding jeans, but this time he’d chosen a black T-shirt. The form-fitting shirt showed off his muscles, and the color made his tattoos obvious, sexy. When he reached her, she could almost feel him pulling her like a magnet. The desire to touch him, just squeeze one of those biceps to see if it was as hard as it looked, raced through her.

Remembering the warmth that had rushed through her the day before, standing so close to him, she yanked the file back. “No. No. It’s okay.” Not liking the tremble in her voice, she paused before she added, “I’ll do it on my shift.”

His head tilted as he gave her face a quick once-over. Undoubtedly, he was recalling their near-misses with flirtations the day before, too. Even though she seriously did not want him to mention it, pinpricks of excitement trembled through her.

He frowned. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were keeping the file away from me.”

Thank God for their feud. “I’m not.”

He took a step closer. “Then give it to me.”

Heat rose from her toes to her crown. He was gorgeous. Sexy. So hot she’d bet that if she did touch him her finger would sizzle.

She took a step back. “There’s no reason for you to see it.”

“Don’t be silly. I’ve been playing with the accounting software today, figuring everything out. You haven’t.” He took the step that separated them. Wiggled his fingers. “Hand it over.”

“Come on, Cade—” She said his name slowly, hesitantly, and their gazes met. She’d never called him by his name before and, with him standing so close, the way it rolled off her tongue felt warm, intimate.

She ignored it. “Do you really have to see it?”

He took another step closer. When she stepped back, she met the filing cabinet.

He angled his hand against the wall, effectively trapping her. “Might as well hand it over. You’ve got nowhere else to go.”

The woodsy scent of his aftershave drifted to her.

“Unless you’d like to finish yesterday’s discussion?”

Telling herself to get her mind on the store and forget about him, about the way her pulse scrambled when he was this close, she swallowed. “Yesterday’s discussion was finished when we decided to work opposite shifts.” She sucked in a breath. “As for my mother’s file? She isn’t comfortable with you seeing her records.”

“Now isn’t that interesting.”

She wished he was talking about her mom’s file, but from his grin she knew he wasn’t. Her skin felt flushed. She couldn’t seem to control her breathing. Her eyes felt bigger than they should be. The day before, he’d said her eyes always gave her away. She couldn’t pretend having him so close didn’t affect her. She also couldn’t pretend she didn’t suspect he’d pinned her back here to push her. Into what, she wasn’t quite sure.