Play It Again

  But I can’t help it.

  I’m shaky and edgy, the tears and anger making me feel an odd mix of hyped-up and exhausted. The police have come and gone, snapping pictures of the damage and taking down an incident report. They went through the empty video file for tonight, discussed with Vance where the cameras are located, and how far on the property someone has to be to trigger them.

  I listened to everything, walked through the paces with them, testing the cameras and determining where the person must have stood based on the direction of the paint spray and lack of video feed, but the problem is that no matter how many times I hear the explanation, I still don’t understand and it’s making me crazy.

  “It’s just that I don’t understand,” I say quietly, suddenly feeling an overwhelming need to backtrack and explain myself. “How did the person know about them? How did they know if they stood on the sidewalk the cameras wouldn’t catch them?”

  He squeezes my hip, his frown softening slightly. “Piper ...” he sighs. “Look, I can’t tell you anything more than I already have. The cameras are set to record your property. They’re on motion sensors, just like you wanted. If the sensors aren’t tripped, they won’t record. If a person doesn’t come on the property—”

  “But they painted my property,” I interrupt, anxiously glancing down the driveway, catching sight of the paint once again. “The cameras should have picked that up.”

  My words make him hesitate. He pauses, and stares down at me with a peculiar mix of adoration and irritation, but he doesn’t speak.

  I’m not sure what to do, or say. I know I’m being a pain in the ass, but I can’t rein it in, so I just stare back at him, working hard at keeping the swirl of emotions off my face.

  After a moment, Vance sighs. “They painted from the sidewalk. You saw that, how the words run between the sidewalk and your driveway. Spray paint ain’t enough to trigger a sensor, honey.”

  “Why did you install motion activated cameras?”

  The hostility in my voice makes me cringe and my stomach sinks. Ugh, I sound bitchy and accusatory, not curious as it was meant to be.

  I just want to understand.

  I want to know if I need something more—something better.

  Vance groans in frustration, and lets go of my hip, taking a step back. He says nothing, just stares at me for a moment, before he turns away, shaking his head as he wanders back down the driveway and yanks out another sign.

  I stand still, just staring at him as he grabs the rest of the signs, and then stalks back up the driveway, tossing them in the garage, before walking away from me once more, heading over to his truck still parked at the curb. My stomach coils as he jumps in and starts it up, the sudden fear that he’s going to just drive away, without even saying goodbye, surges through me.

  I don’t want him to go.

  I don’t want to be alone.

  But it’s more than that, too. I want him to stay because I like having him here; I like how I feel when he’s in my space. I want him to stay because he’s Vance and I’ve wanted him for so long I barely remember a time before him.

  My heart stalls as the truck pulls away from the curb, and then kicks up, pounding in my chest when he pulls into the driveway, parking right in front of the garage where I’m standing. He doesn’t turn off the truck right away, and he doesn’t get out. Hesitating with his hand on the steering wheel, his gaze sweeps over me. I can’t make out his expression, the headlights causing a glare, but I can feel his eyes on me, the intensity of them searing my skin.

  My body flushes with embarrassment from the way I’ve been acting, and I know my nervousness is written all over my face, as I round the truck, heading for the driver’s side.

  Vance cuts the engine as I start to move, opens the door, and folds out of the vehicle. He meets me at the front fender, pausing right in front of me, so close that I nearly take a step back, and it takes every ounce of strength I have to hold my ground under his irate stare.

  I open my mouth, ready to spew out a jumbled apology, but he speaks before I can get a single word out. “Have I given you any reason not to trust me, Piper?” he asks. “Any reason at all to think I’m not doing everything I can to figure this shit out for you?”

  “No,” I say quietly, forcing myself not to recoil from the bite in his tone. “No, you haven’t.”

  “Then trust me,” he says. “Trust that I put in the best security system. Know that the cameras I used are exactly what you need. Believe that I’ll find the person doing this. If you want me to do a new install, rip everything out and upgrade it, I will. I’ll do whatever it takes for you to trust me here, to believe that I’ll fix this shit for you.”

  “No, I don’t want you to do that,” I say. “I just … I’m sorry. I’m stressed and I’m taking it out on you, and that’s not cool. None of this is your fault.”

  He leans into me then and kisses my forehead, wrapping his arms tightly around me, hugging me close. I don’t know how long we stand there, before he finally pulls away, grinning down at me. “You should probably head in,” he says. “Try to get some sleep, put this shit behind you, yeah?”

  “Will you stay with me?” I ask right away, my voice soft, barely audible even to my own ears, but he hears me. I can see it in his eyes, the flare of heat, the subtle flicker of uncertainty. The odd mix has my skin heating and my nerves jumping.

  “Is that okay?” I ask when he doesn’t respond. “Can you stay with me tonight and, uh, maybe hold me?”

  He nods. “Yeah, freckles, I can do that.”

  Vance lets go of me then, moving over to the garage, closing and locking it up, and then comes back to me, taking my hand.

  He pulls me into the house, locking the door and setting the alarm as he tugs me down the hallway to my room. For a fleeting second, my nerves resurface as he closes the bedroom door behind us, but they don’t last. Exhaustion is winning the battle on my emotions, and all I want is to curl up under the blankets and put this day behind me.

  Grabbing a sleep shirt and new panties from my dresser, I dip into the bathroom as Vance slips back out of the room, mumbling something about brushing his teeth. I get changed, and do my bedtime routine, brushing my teeth and washing my face, before venturing back in the bedroom to find Vance stripped down to his boxers, fiddling with the monitor on my dresser.

  I stare at him momentarily frozen as I get my first look at him without clothes. My body flushes as I take in all that tanned skin and hard muscle.

  Jesus, he’s gorgeous.

  “Get in bed, Piper,” he says, drawing my attention from the solid length of his backside. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “What are you doing?” I ask curiously, watching as he taps the screen, bringing up what looks like the control panel.

  “Adjusting the volume,” he says. “Don’t want it waking you up when Jimmy stumbles in.”

  Huh. I didn’t even know that was an option.

  “But what if something happens?” I ask, crossing over to my bed and climbing in. “What if the person comes back tonight?”

  “I’m a light sleeper,” he says. “I’ll hear it.”

  He turns to me as he finishes, smiling as he flicks off the light and strolls over to the bed. The mattress shifts as he climbs in beside me. His hand seeks me out, wrapping around my waist and pulling me to him, his chest pressing close against my back. The motion eases the remaining strands of anxiety from before, and I sigh, settling into him.

  “You okay?” he asks quietly.

  I probably shouldn’t be. I think it would be reasonable enough to still be freaking out, to be twisted up, upset and unnerved.

  But I’m not.

  I feel comfortable and warm and safe.

  “Yeah,” I say. “I’m okay.”

  He nuzzles my neck, kissing the skin there lightly as he pulls me closer, deeper into his arms, settling in behind me. It doesn’t take long for sleep to catch me, dragging me down into a dark nothingness.

/>   I sleep deeply and soundly right through the night. When I come around much later, I’m greeted with sunlight and silence, instantly aware of how empty the bed feels beside me.

  Vance is gone.

  Rubbing my eyes, I sit up in bed. His clothes are gone from the bedroom floor; his wallet and phone are no longer sitting on the dresser.

  A glance at the clock tells me that it’s eleven-thirty in the morning, so I’m not surprised he’s gone, but undeniably it stings to realize I’m alone.

  Slipping out of bed, I hit the bathroom and pull on a pair of shorts, before venturing out of my room and down the hall, listening for any sounds of life within the house, hoping he’s still here somewhere.

  Everything is quiet and still, but I smell coffee brewing, so I pad over to the kitchen. When I get there, Vance isn’t around, but Jimmy is here, hunched over the counter, watching the coffee brew.

  “Morning,” I say, strolling past him and grabbing a mug from the cupboard. “Have you been up long?”

  “Yeah,” he says, his voice quiet and serious. “Since five-thirty.”

  I laugh, thinking he has to be joking, because Jimmy is not a morning person, but when he turns around to look at me and I see his face, the first thing I notice are his bloodshot eyes and the black circles underneath. “Long night?”

  “And morning,” he mutters, leaning back against the countertop. He’s still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, I notice, as his eyes regard me peculiarly, a smirk turning up his lips. “Wasn’t expecting to see a guy coming out of your room this morning. Nearly beat Vance with your lamp when he walked by the couch. Lucky for him, I was still drunk as shit and I fell back down the second I stood up.”

  I let out a loud laugh and he grimaces, looking back at the coffee pot, glaring at it as though it will make it brew faster. “Oh God, I’m sorry. I should have warned you. I didn’t think he’d leave so early.”

  “He’s not gone,” Jimmy says. “He’s in the garage.”

  Wait … What?

  “He’s in the garage?” I ask, my brow furrowing. “Why is he in the garage?”

  Jimmy rolls his eyes, opening his mouth to respond, but I don’t wait for his answer, turning away from him and moving through the living room, heading for the door that leads to the garage.

  I find Vance winding the garden hose on the reel when I open the door. He looks up and smiles as I tentatively make my way down the steps toward him. “You’re awake.”

  “You are, too,” I say. “What are you doing out here?”

  He raises an eyebrow, his expression amused as he says, “Just finished washing down the driveway.”

  I blink at him, dumbfounded, still half asleep and out of it. He washed down my driveway? I don’t know what to say. “Um … wow, thank you,” I say. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  He laughs at my reaction. “We’re taking off for the afternoon. Wanted this done before we leave.”

  “We’re taking off for the afternoon,” I parrot, blinking at him again, caught off guard.

  He nods. “Yeah, we are.”

  “Um … where are we going?”

  Vance chuckles, shaking his head at my reaction. “You’ll see when we get there.”

  I roll my eyes. He looks so relaxed, sounds so confident that I’m going to just drop everything and follow him blindly.

  Most days I think I would.

  “I’m supposed to get my stitches out today,” I remind him. “The appointment’s at twelve-fifteen, so, uh, I can’t just take off.”

  “I remember,” he says. “It’ll take five minutes to get those stitches out, and then we’re gonna go have some fun.”

  “But it’s Friday. What about drinks with the guys?”

  He lets out a laugh of disbelief, and steps toward me. “Are you making excuses, Piper? Trying to get out of spending some time with me?”

  I laugh as his words strike me, because they sound utterly ridiculous, but my amusement doesn’t last long when I notice his dead serious expression. I open my mouth to respond—to say what, I really don’t know—but he doesn’t give me a chance to speak.

  “Because if that’s what you’re doing, you can forget it,” he continues. “Go get dressed while I finish up here. And pack a swimsuit. I’ll be there in a few minutes to help you with the picnic.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Vance

  Two and a half hours later, Piper’s standing on a dock at the Sacramento Marina, looking down at my boat. I’d taken her to get her stitches out, spending far more time in the waiting room than it did to have the things removed, and she’s had a hand in her hair, unconsciously scratching at her fresh scar since we left.

  She looks perplexed, chewing on her bottom lip as she takes in the boat. It’s nothing overly special—nothing like the sailboat I used to own—just an older cabin cruiser, but the way she’s looking at it, fuck if it doesn’t make me nervous.

  Maybe this was a bad idea.

  I probably should have asked her if she was interested in boating before bringing her out here, but damn, I really want her to like it.

  Like it as much as I do.

  Piper tilts her head, shifting slightly to look back at me. A hint of a smile touches her lips, before morphing into a full-blown grin. “I can’t believe you have a boat and I didn’t know about it.”

  I smile at the sound of her anticipation, the knot in my gut slowly unwinding. “You probably didn’t know because Kim’s not allowed anywhere near it unsupervised.”

  She turns around, facing me fully, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “Why is that?”

  I chuckle. “She thought it’d be a great idea to take it out and party on it. Cost me nearly five grand in repairs and cleaning when she brought it back.”

  Shock freezes her in place as she stares at me, stunned for a tick, before her pretty lips turn down in a pout, and she lets out a rueful laugh. “I can’t believe she didn’t invite me.”

  “I’ve had this thing about four years now,” I say. “Her party happened a long time before you showed up.”

  “I’ve never been on a boat before.” She looks back at it. “I’ve always wanted to. Is it as fun as it looks?”

  “Climb on and find out,” I say, motioning with my hand for her to hop in.

  Hesitantly, she grasps onto my arm, carefully jumping in. Once she’s steady, I grab the foam cooler off the dock, following her on board and moving straight to the cockpit, setting the cooler down.

  Piper drops her bag on the deck and wanders about the boat, checking out the deck, running her fingers along the seats, as I quickly move around, getting us ready.

  After her thorough inspection, she perches on the seat beside the steering wheel, watching me curiously.

  Christ, I fuckin’ love the way she looks at me, the way her eyes trace over me, as though she’s trying to memorize everything about me.

  “Jesus, it’s hot out today,” she says, pulling her long hair off her neck and holding it in a bunch on top of her head.

  “It won’t be bad once we get out on the water,” I tell her. “You can change in the cabin, though, while I get us moving, if you want.”

  Piper hesitates for a tick, seemingly unsure if she wants to put on her swimsuit, but the heat eventually wins out, and she grabs her bag, disappearing into the cabin. She’s only gone for a few minutes, just long enough for me to untie the boat, and get us out and away from the docks, before she emerges from the cabin, wearing a barely there bikini. It’s white, tied to her with blue strings at her hips, and around her neck and back.

  My eyes instinctively scan her body, taking in all the curves and dips and dimples. The material of her swimsuit covers her most intimate places, but otherwise leaves little shielded from my sight.

  So damn pretty.

  My cock perks up, hardening once again within the constraints of my jeans. I’ve been in a state of semi-hard since seeing her again, and after last night, curling up with her and feeling her soft warmt
h pressed against me, seeing her in that tiny thing is nearly unbearable to look at and it takes every bit of self-restraint I have to not reach over and haul her to me.

  The flush of her cheeks tells me very clearly she’s caught me openly checking her out, and the small smile lets me know that she’s not unhappy about the way I’m staring. She makes her way over to me, perching on the edge of the seat beside mine.

  Piper doesn’t say a word. Doesn’t ask where we’re going or what the plan is. She just sits back, and enjoys the wind and the water as her eyes scan the shoreline, her face split into a wide smile.

  It’s … awesome.

  We cruise around for a while. Piper laughs and smiles, and although she chats a little, she seems more than content in just experiencing the boat ride.

  She doesn’t bring up her case. Doesn’t question the security system again, or ask what the new plan is.

  She just relaxes and seeing her like this, all loose and smiling, makes me feel so goddamn good.

  Eventually, I slow down, pulling the boat off to the side of the river. I drop the anchors, and we settle down on the large L-shaped couch at the back of the boat, the cooler settled on the floor between us.

  “You know,” Piper says, settling in, pulling her legs up under her. “I think this is exactly what I needed. I don’t remember ever feeling this relaxed. Not even in Mexico.”

  I laugh. “We’ll have to make this a regular thing then.”

  She looks at me, a tiny frown tugging her lips. “Do you do this a lot?”

  “Do what?” I ask curiously.

  “Make picnics and bring girls out here,” she asks, her voice hesitant, as though maybe she doesn’t actually want to hear the answer.

  I stare at Piper.

  She stares right back at me.

  Jesus, she sounds … jealous. She looks it, too.

  It’s a pretty look on her.

  Always so damn pretty.

  I grin at her, and then pull the lid off the cooler, reaching in and retrieving a beer.

  “You’re the first,” I say, twisting off the cap and handing it to her. “Don’t bring too many people out here, actually.”