Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright © Emma Hart, 2021

CHAPTER ONE – PIPER

CHAPTER TWO – PIPER

CHAPTER THREE – PIPER

CHAPTER FOUR – PIPER

CHAPTER FIVE – MAVERICK

CHAPTER SIX – PIPER

CHAPTER SEVEN – PIPER

CHAPTER EIGHT – PIPER

CHAPTER NINE – MAVERICK

CHAPTER TEN – PIPER

CHAPTER ELEVEN – PIPER

CHAPTER TWELVE – PIPER

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – PIPER

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – MAVERICK

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – PIPER

CHAPTER SIXTEEN – PIPER

EPILOGUE – PIPER

THE END

LOVE LANGUAGE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BOOKS BY EMMA HART

THE INTROVERT’S GUIDE TO BLIND DATING

The Introvert’s Guide, Book Three

Copyright © Emma Hart, 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Design by Emma Hart

CHAPTER ONE – PIPER

RULE ONE: YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY SHOW UP.

“You missed your date.”

I handed the tray of baked goods to Felicity for her to take to the front of the store and flashed a look Kinsley’s way. “Really. I had no idea.”

“There’s no need to be snarky.” Her lips twitched. “I’m just here to moan that I’ve not had a break all morning. Your brother has been complaining about it since his friend called him last night.”

I shrugged and checked the oven with the bread. The rolls were ready to come out, so I grabbed my oven mitts and retrieved them. They were the most gorgeous shade of light golden brown.

“Piper.”

Sighing, I shut the oven door and looked at her. “Look, I told him I wasn’t going. I have to be here at four a.m. every morning. I don’t have the time to be out dating, nor do I have the inclination to be.”

“I know you told him that, and I know you want to franchise this place, but you’re allowed to have a life, too.”

“Queen of Tarts is my life,” I replied, putting the bread rolls on a cooling rack. They could go out when they were warm in about fifteen minutes. “Just because you guys are all loved up and getting married and moving in together doesn’t mean that’s something I want or need in my life right now. Is that so hard for everyone to understand?”

“I think it is. I get it, okay?” Kins held her hands up, her engagement ring flashing when it caught the light. “You’re focused on your career, and that’s absolutely fine. It’s not like I don’t know how hard it is to run your own business, but I run mine with two other people.”

Right. She’d bought the bookstore with Holley and Saylor years ago when the old owner had passed away and given her long-standing employees right of first refusal at a cheap price in her will. Their parents had cobbled together and, along with their own savings, they were able to purchase the store and mortgage the building.

“That’s the point. You run yours with two other people. You have two other people to pick up the slack. Felicity is amazing, but I’m still the sole owner here. All the finances and everything like that is on me.” I shrugged and got the ingredients together to make a batch of buttercream for the cake that was now cooled. “Besides, I like what I do. I don’t feel left out when we’re all together and you guys are all loved up. And any late nights I can take, I’d rather spend with my best friends than some random guy who probably isn’t right for me anyway.”

“All right. Well, at least now I can say I tried.”

“I solemnly swear that when Josh calls me to bitch, I will tell him you gave it your most valiant effort.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” She got up and hooked the strap of her purse over her shoulder. “Just don’t forget that in two weeks we’re looking at bridesmaid dresses.”

I touched my fingers to my temple and saluted her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there. Two-thirty, Saturday, at White Peak Weddings, right?”

“Yes. Can I grab some stuff to take back for the girls?”

“If you pay for it.” I grinned.

“Hey! I’m marrying your brother!”

“I’m running a business and you already get everything for half price.”

“Good point.” She wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t worry. I know that what happened in Vegas—”

“Me not wanting to date has nothing to do with what happened in Vegas.” I put the sugar in the bowl ready to turn on the mixer. “But thank you for the concern.”

“Okay.” She squeezed me lightly and left.

I shuddered out a breath. I wasn’t lying. My experience in Vegas—in which my boss harassed me and my company swept it under the rug until me and other members of staff went to the police—wasn’t the reason I didn’t want to date.

I was, genuinely, happy by myself.

That would probably change in the future, but for now, I was living the life I wanted. The settlement my old company had given me when I’d left had been little more than an apology for not listening to me, but it had been a very large apology, and it’d enabled me to move back home to White Peak and buy the bakery.

I was just thankful there was an apartment above the bakery that was now my home, because I’d bought the bakery outright and I didn’t want to buy a house. I needed all my money so I could franchise the bakery and create a Queen of Tarts chain across North America.

All right, I’d settle for Montana, but it was nice to have goals.

Thus, there was no room for dating in my life. Every waking second had to go into making the bakery a success. I couldn’t be beholden to the whims and wants of someone else while I was trying to build an empire.

An empire made of cakes, bread, and donuts.

It could be worse.

***

“If you’re here to lecture me about dating, you’re going to have to turn around and leave,” I warned my brother.

He smiled sheepishly. “I’m actually here to apologize. I brought pizza.” He held up two boxes.

“Awfully presumptuous of you.” I opened the door further so he could come inside.

“And correct, evidently.”

“Well, it’s not my fault if after baking all day for other people I want pizza, okay?” I closed the door behind him. “Now, this apology?”

Josh put the pizza down on the dining table and turned to me with a grimace. “I’m sorry I sent Kinsley to bug you about dating. It’s just that you’re the only one in the group that’s single and—”

“And I’m okay with that,” I said, telling him the same thing I’d told her this morning. “Truly, Josh, I’m happy. I’m happy that you’re all in relationships and I’m just as happy that I’m not. Can we leave it at that?”

“Yes, absolutely.” He pulled me into a hug. “But just a warning, I don’t think Holley and Tori have given up.”

I groaned, sagging against him. “They’re sending me on a blind date, aren’t they?”

“I think so. They were talking about it today when I went to get Kinsley for lunch from the store.”

Pulling away from him, I grabbed the top pizza box and opened it. Ugh. Vegetables. Who put vegetables on pizza? If I wanted to eat vegetables, I’d have a salad or something.

Or I’d be vegetarian.

And, quite frankly, I liked bacon far too much for that.

I took the other box. It better have pepperoni and bacon on it. If it wasn’t, my brother could shove his apology up his butt and into next week.

Luckily for him, it was, and I sat down at the table to eat. “Why can’t anyone accept that I’m happy alone?”

“You want me to get them to stop?”

“Nobody can get Holley to stop. Especially when she teams up with Tori. I’ll just have to go on their stupid blind date and suffer through it.” I sighed, breaking a bit of stringy cheese when it looked like pepperoni was going to slide off. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not.”

“I know it’s not, and it’s all your fault, no matter how well-meaning your actions were.”

He held up his hands. “I get it. I’ll stay out of it. Until you meet someone, then I’ll scare them off.”

I stared at him. “You’re marrying my friend. You have no say.”

“Oh, come on. It’s been well over a year. Are we still discussing that?”

“Yes, because you’re marrying her.”

“Would you prefer I broke her heart instead?”

I snorted. “You’ve been in love with Kinsley for, like, ten years. You couldn’t break her heart if you tried.”

“All right, no need to remind me of all the years I pined after her.”

I grinned and bit into my slice of pizza.

Shame.

That was my favorite hobby.

It was practically a requisite, being his little sister.

Despite what everyone thought, I really wasn’t lonely. And it wasn’t like I wasn’t seeing anyone—I was. They just happened to be different people that I saw once and hopefully didn’t see again the next morning.

The occasional one-night stand was about all I had the time to commit to.

But that wasn’t the case now. Wedding season was here, and that meant I had orders coming out the wazoo. Cake tastings were happening every other day it felt like, and even though Josh and Kinsley weren’t getting married until next spring, they were with me next week for theirs.

So yes.

I was grateful for the concern of my friends, but it was decidedly misplaced.

“How are the plans coming along? For the wedding,” I added, almost unnecessarily.

Josh walked to my fridge and pulled out a beer, then held up an open bottle of wine in question. When I nodded, he said, “Not a clue. I gave my input for the venue which was surprisingly accepted. Offered it for the color scheme, which was wholeheartedly rejected, and now I just smile and nod as Kinsley throws out ideas. It’s book-themed, which I should have known from the start, but I’m wondering if I need to draw the line at Harry Potter wedding favors.”

“Saylor?”

“Who else?” He handed me my glass and sat down. “It’s just a lot of organizing for something so far away.”

“Well, she’s dreamed about this her entire life. All she wants to do is be a princess for a day. Is that so much?”

“It is when you see the prices these places charge.”

I smirked. “Just as well you don’t have to pay for a cake, isn’t it?”

Josh blinked at me. “What do you mean?”

“You’re coming to a taste test with me next week. Kinsley already told me I’m doing it.” I shrugged. “You think I’m going to charge my brother for his wedding cake?”

More blinking. “You’re—you’re doing it for free?”

My smirk turned into a grin. “Of course I am.”

“Piper—”

“Don’t go soft on me. It’s your wedding gift, so don’t expect anything else.”

Josh smiled at me. “Thank you. You don’t have to do that.”

I jerked a shoulder. “Nah, I do. If I ever get married, it means you’re totally in my debt for one hell of a wedding present.”

He reached over and squeezed my shoulder. “As far as sisters go, you’re not a bad one.”

“I’ll assume that’s a thank you.”

“It is.”

“Good. I usually charge a fortune for those. Now, tell me more about this stupid freakin’ date I’m being manipulated onto.”

CHAPTER TWO – PIPER

RULE TWO: BLIND DATES ARE BEST ORGANIZED BY STRANGERS. OR SERIAL KILLERS.

My alarm blared out of my phone, and I moaned as I rolled over. I stretched my arm out to find the offending device, knocking it off the nightstand, and let out a string of cuss words.

Damn it.

I reached down, grabbed my stupid phone, and turned off the alarm, then looked down at myself.

Great.

My boob was hanging out of my tank top.

Every damn time.

I tucked the escapee titty back inside the shirt and dragged myself out of bed. Four a.m. never got easier. I was hoping by now that I’d wake up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to get going.

At least I could go to work in my pajamas. That was something.

I dragged myself to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, then quickly changed into a shirt my boob wouldn’t pop out of while I was kneading bread. I rubbed my hand down my face and yawned as I headed downstairs to the bakery.

I didn’t have a coffee machine in my apartment. It seemed pretty redundant given I had an industrial one downstairs—if I wanted coffee, I could just run down and get some or make a big pot to take up.

Which was what I did now.

I turned on the kitchen lights as I walked through, pausing for a second to preheat all the ovens, then walked behind the counter at the front of the store.

The coffee machine whirred to life the way I wished I could this early on a morning. After filling it with fresh beans, I set it to make my coffee and scanned the bakery.

It was clean.

God, Felicity was good. Having her work for me was a godsend—she loved baking as much as I did, and she was way more sociable than I was, which meant she’d work everywhere. She also didn’t complain about cleaning.

As soon as I could, I was going to up her salary.

She deserved it.

With my coffee firmly in hand, I went back to the kitchen. It was now perfectly warm to start work thanks to the ovens, and I got the mixtures I’d made yesterday afternoon out of the fridge ready to get baking.

I started with the chocolate chip cookies. Using an ice cream scoop, I carefully set all the cookie dough balls on the trays, cleaning it thoroughly when I went between mixes. Cookies were, unsurprisingly, one of the best sellers, and today I had a batch of some with M&Ms going out. They always sold out fast, so I’d doubled my usual mixture.

If they didn’t sell, I knew my brother would have no problem finishing them up for me.

I put all the trays in the oven and turned my attention to the bread. It was another thing I made the day before—it gave it more than enough time to settle and rise ready to manipulate to my will and meant I didn’t have to mess around on a morning.

I filled the remaining oven space with all the bread, a selection of loaves and rolls, and got to mixing the cake batter. By the time the first few batters were ready, the cookies were good to come out of the oven, so it was a straight switch.

My process continued on for another three hours until there was a knock at the back door. A quick glance at the glass told me it was Felicity, and I grabbed a tray of cheese Danish from the oven and unlocked the door with my other hand.

She pushed it open. “Good morning!”

“Morning, yes. The good is up for debate.” I put the tray down and pulled off my oven mitts. “I burned my pinky finger.”

Felicity came over and took my hand, surveying my finger, and her dark skin against my much paler one was a stark contrast. “There’s nothing there. You’re fine.”

“I know, but sometimes you need to moan. That nail color is amazing.”

She grinned, holding out her hand. “Isn’t it? Mom told me yellow was too bright, but it’s summer, and I like bright.”

She was telling me.

Her box braids were intertwined with bright pink and purple and it looked amazing. I’d seen her have blue and green and now this combination and I was kind of jealous that she could pull off any color in the rainbow.

Yellow was as adventurous as I could get.

Red washed me out entirely.

Felicity took an apron from the hooks by the door and put it on. “What needs doing? We have an hour until we open, what can I do?”

I talked her through all the cooled cakes that needed icing, and she immediately got to work collecting the ingredients. For the next forty-five minutes, we worked together in perfect harmony, occasionally singing along to music when Felicity got tired of the silence.

Thankfully, she had an excellent taste in music, so it only served to make the hour go faster.

And thank God for that.

Ten minutes before we opened, Felicity got to work stocking the display cabinets with all the sweet baked goods while I took control of the bread. By the time she unlocked the door and flipped the sign to show that we were open, the shelves and cabinets were all stocked, the coffee machine was ready to go, and she’d taken her place behind the register ready to greet our first customers.

“Morning!”

I turned at the bright tone of one of my best friends and narrowed my eyes. “What do you want?”

Holley pressed her hand to her chest, stopping in front of the counter. “Is that any way to talk to a customer?”

“It is when the customer is you and I know you’re trying to set me up on a date,” I retorted. “Again, what do you want?”

She groaned, leaning on the counter. “Josh opened his big mouth, didn’t he?”

I blinked at her.

“Fine. I’ll take three coffees the usual way, one loaf of white bread, one blueberry muffin, two chocolate chip muffins, three white chocolate chip cookies, and a chocolate cake.”

Felicity froze for a second, likely figuring out where to get started, then jumped into action.

“Are you all on your periods?”

“Saylor is. The blueberry muffin is for her. The rest is for us to get through the day.” She snorted and slipped to the side as more customers came in.

I told Felicity I had her order, and she turned to the newcomers. “That bad, huh?”

“Mm. Dylan used the last of the milk for his eggs this morning so she couldn’t have her Oreos cereal. On second thoughts, you got any of those white chocolate brownies?”

I wrinkled my nose. “I have regular ones?”

“Two of those, too.”

“Okay, you’re gonna have to run that by me again. I’m not a robot.”

Holley did just that, and I dutifully bagged up each of the items, cutting the bread loaf to her desired thickness before I wrapped that. “Thanks,” she said. “I think Seb will cry if we run out of your bread.”

I grinned. “I’ll pretend you didn’t just tell me that.”

She waved a hand. “He’ll get over it. Anyway, I do have to speak to you.”

“I wholeheartedly guarantee I don’t want to hear it.”

“Probably not,” she said brightly. “I know a guy who—”

“No.”

“—would be perfect for you.”

“No.” I put her things in a paper bag and turned to the coffee machine, quickly initiating it to do its thing. Thank God it could do two cups at a time. “I don’t want to date.”

“I know, but the thing is, I already told him you’d be there.”

I pulled two takeout cup lids down and closed my eyes. “Holley.”

“I know, I know, but it was a couple days ago and now he’s in town and I can’t back out of it.”

“Yes, you can. You can tell him something came up and I’m busy.”

“He’s here for two weeks.”

“That’s really not my problem.” I programmed for the third cup and put the other two into a cup holder. “It’s yours.”

“Please. Just this one time, and I’ll never try to set you up again.”

I’d heard that before. “I’ve heard that before.”

“Piper!”

I put the third coffee in the cup holder and looked at her. “How well do you know this guy? Is he some random you found online or in a coffee shop? Have you had more than one conversation with him? Will I find him attractive or interesting?”

“He’s not a random. I’ve worked with him, yes I’ve had more than one conversation, and yes, you’ll find him both attractive and interesting.”

I made a noncommittal noise as I slid her good along the counter to the register. “So he’s in publishing?”

“He is.”

“Better than the last hick you tried to set me up with,” I muttered. “Fine. This is it, though, and I mean it. This is the last date you set up me up on. You leave me alone after this.”

Holley rolled her head back. “Fine. I swear.”

I held out my pinky finger.

“What are we, ten?”

“I don’t trust you.”

With a groan, she looped her pinky finger around mine and shook. “Damn it. I bet you have security cameras that caught every bit of that, don’t you?”

“I do, and I’m going to download that bit of footage right now,” I warned her, ringing up her order and giving her the total. She swiped her card across the machine, and I smiled. “Thank you for your business. Have a nice day, now.”

She tucked her card into the back pocket of her jeans, grabbed her things, then smirked. “Your date is tonight. I’ll text you the details.”

What?

“Wait!”

She darted outside, helped by a customer who held the door for her.

I swear I almost growled at her.

I was so not on board with this.

***

ME: I’m not happy about this.

KINSLEY: I tried to get her to stop.

ME: Not hard enough.

I threw my phone on my bed and screamed into my pillow. I had two days to get this month’s accounting to my accountant, and instead of doing it like a responsible business owner, I had to go to on this stupid date with someone I could guarantee I wouldn’t even like.

I no longer cared about the good place my friends were coming from.

They needed to move out of it.

I had no idea what to wear. I didn’t care about what I was wearing. I didn’t want to be there, and I didn’t intend to stay long.

I wasn’t going to play this game anymore. The longer I stayed at a date, the more my friends thought it was acceptable to continue setting me up.

No, I was going to walk in, sit down, and apologize to the poor guy who was wasting his time, then cut the date short.

I pulled some jeans on and tugged them right up. I didn’t care what the internet said—you could pull my skinny jeans from my cold, dead hands. There wasn’t a chance in hell I was giving them up.

I tugged on a flowy shirt, added a blazer, and slipped my feet into some low-heeled boots for good measure. At the very least, I could look nice, and with any luck, I could swing by one of the restaurants that did takeout, so I didn’t have to cook tonight.

After running a brush through my hair, I grabbed my keys, phone, and purse, and headed out. I drove across town to the Italian restaurant where my blind date was waiting for me and, after parking up, steeled myself for what was to come.

I was not having fun and I wasn’t even inside yet.

I took a deep breath and walked inside. It smelled amazing—rich scents of marinara, pizza, and pasta—and my stomach rumbled, making me wish I wasn’t so against this date.

I was hungry, damn it.

Ugh.

“Hi. Holley set me up on a blind date,” I said to Harvey, the host.

He smirked. “Another one?”

“Kill me,” I muttered in response.

With a gentle laugh, Harvey motioned for me to follow him. “She did good this time. He’s cute.”

“You take my place, then. You have my blessing.”

“Can’t. I don’t think he bats for my team.” He sighed, leading me to the back of the restaurant. “It’s always the way.”

Amen to that.

“Here we are. I’ll send someone over to take your drinks order.”

I stepped around him to my table. “Oh, that’s fine, don’t—” I swallowed when my gaze landed on the guy who was waiting for me.

Oh no.

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

Maverick Donovan looked at me, his eyebrows raised. “Piper. What a surprise.”

“Harvey?” I said, my voice scratchy. “I’m going to need that drink after all.”

CHAPTER THREE – PIPER

RULE THREE: IT’S NOT A BLIND DATE IF YOU’VE SEEN THE OTHER PERSON NAKED.

I slid into the empty chair opposite Maverick and flattened my hands on the table. “What are you doing here?”

His blue eyes twinkled with silent laughter. “I could ask you the same question.”

My mouth was bone dry. Where was the server to take my drink order? “My friend set me up. Which you know, because you’re here.”

“Holley.” He nodded. “I met with her yesterday to talk about doing a signing when my next book launches. My publisher was going to do it, but since I live nearby, I said I’d stop in.”

Right.

Of course.

The things I knew about Maverick Donovan could be counted on two fingers. One was that he was a superstar romance author who wooed women all over the world with his words, and the other was that he was probably the best sex I’d ever had in my life.

And I had never expected to see him again.

Ever.

“I’m going to kill her,” I breathed, burying my face in my hands. “I told her I didn’t want to have this stupid freaking date.”

He chuckled.

“I’m glad my annoyance is amusing to you.”

“What do you want me to say, Blondie? I’m not mad you’re the person sitting in front of me, despite your insistence that I’d never see you again.”

And this was why I never saw my one-night stands again.

It was awkward when you did see them.

“Okay, fine—” I paused when the server came by. I ordered a double gin and tonic because screw it, I would get a cab home. My car would be safe here, and I needed a strong freaking drink to get through this conversation.

When the server was gone, I turned my attention back to Maverick.

He was unfairly gorgeous with his bright blue eyes and dark hair that was just the right amount of messy. You know the kind—the kind you wanted to run your fingers through, especially once you knew how soft it was.

And it was.

His hair.

Soft.

Ahem.

Earth to Piper.

“I’m going to make this very clear,” I said firmly, keeping my voice low. “I do not want to be here. I want to be anywhere other than here, I didn’t consent to this date, I didn’t want this date, I didn’t ask for this date, and this date is going nowhere.”

Maverick sat back, a smile tugging at his lips. “So why are you still here?”

“Because the food smells really good and I’m hungry,” I admitted. “But I’m paying for my dinner and when I’m done, I’m leaving.”

“Okay, fair enough.” He held up his hands as our drinks were brought over.

We asked for a couple more minutes for our food, and we both picked up a menu. Silence reigned supreme for the minutes we both scanned it, and I settled on a good old spaghetti Bolognese with garlic bread on the side. Our server returned and I ordered, then so did Maverick.

And he ordered the same as me.

I stared flatly at him. “How awkward.”

“Nah, I love spaghetti Bolognese. Best Italian food there is, and I’d know. I’ve been to Italy.”

I rolled my eyes. Please. Like anything was better than pizza. “So you have a new book coming out?”

Another smile tugged at his lips. “In a year. I still have to finish writing it. I’m hitting a block.”

“Seems like a long time away to be planning a signing.”

“That’s how the publisher likes to do it. Get it all locked down, especially for an in-person tour.” He sipped his beer. “What about you?”

“What about me what?”

“What do you do?”

That’s right. I hadn’t ever told him. “Oh, I own the bakery here in town. Queen of Tarts.”

His eyes flashed. “Do you do all the baking?”

“Yes. I went to culinary school in Vegas, got experience with a major chain out there, and happened to come into some money as the previous owners were selling.”

“Nice when things work out.”

Yeah. Nicer if that money had come from the lottery instead of a psychotic stalker.

“Mm,” I demurred. “I haven’t been open long and that’s why I don’t really have time to date. I’m trying to get it sorted so I can franchise.”

Maverick raised his eyebrows. “Franchising? That’s a dream right there.”

“Nobody ever got successful by being happy with where they were.” I shrugged, reaching for my drink. “I’m a dreamer, what can I say?”

“You’re talking to an author. If anyone knows anything about dreaming, it’s me.”

“Yeah, but you have voices in your head. It’s a little different.”

This time, he cracked a whole smile. “No kidding. I’m just grateful that the voices in my head don’t get me in trouble.”

“I don’t know. Have you been on Twitter? They’re pretty passionate about books over there.”

“No. As a rule, I avoid Twitter. That’s what social media assistants are for.” He shrugged. “Too much arguing to deal with.”

He wasn’t wrong there.

Felicity was the one who handled all our social media. I simply didn’t have the time… Or the inclination.

Our food was brought out at this point, and we both tucked into our spaghetti dishes with little chatter. I was glad of that—it meant I didn’t have to come up with a topic of conversation. On the other hand, it was annoying that we were eating the same thing and I had to keep some semblance of good manners so I couldn’t complain about it.

Also, it was annoying that I was daydreaming about what he looked like naked.

Ugh.

Apparently, I was a whore for more than just carbs.

I was an ab whore, too.

But sit me down and slap me silly, I was all about a man who loved books.

Which meant that Maverick was danger with a capital D.

I had to come up with a way to explain to Holley why this date hadn’t worked. I knew I couldn’t just say he wasn’t the right guy for me because we both knew he ticked all my boxes of the kind of guy I liked.

If he were anyone else, I’d consider dating him.

But he was exactly the kind of guy my ass needed to stay away from. I knew enough about him to know that he was a womanizer, the guy of guy who flitted from woman to woman, and while I myself wasn’t against a lifestyle like that, I wasn’t interested in dating someone who was.

Especially when that someone could write smoking hot sex scenes from a male perspective.

Why was it so much hotter to read sex in a male perspective than a female one?

“Do you want dessert? Another drink?”

I blinked at Maverick and realized we were both done eating. “No, thank you. There’s enough dessert at home, and if I have another drink, I definitely can’t drive home.”

He glanced at my glass. “That was a double, right? I’ll drive you home. That beer wasn’t strong.”

I swallowed. “It’s fine. I’ll get a cab or call my brother.”

“No, really, I insist. If you’re going to pay for your own dinner, the least I can do is take you home. Can you get back for your car tomorrow?”

“It’s fi—”

“If you tell me it’s fine one more time, I’m going to pay for your dinner.”

I sighed. “Okay, yes, I can get my car tomorrow. It’s parked around the back and Tony won’t mind if I leave it here.”

“Great.” Maverick motioned for the bill to be brought over and stacked our plates.

Ugh.

He even stacked plates for the servers.

How annoying was he?

Not to be outdone, I slid the plates to the end of the table and put my empty glass next to it. His lips twitched as if he knew what I was doing, but he didn’t say anything when the bill was put down.

“What’s my share?” I asked, pulling my wallet from my purse. He quickly added it up and gave me the total, albeit on a grumble. I was glad I’d taken cash out with the intention of getting takeout, and it was enough to cover my share and leave a tip.

He did the same but with a card, and our server processed that all for him, and we left right after.

I was a little happy after that gin and tonic.

Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea for him to drive me home.

Maverick guided me over to a forest green Jeep and unlocked it. It was clearly a new model and probably new given how shiny it was—there wasn’t even a bit of dirt on the wheel arches, for God’s sake.

He grinned. “I just picked her up this morning.”

I rolled my eyes and got in the passenger side. It still had that dreamy new car smell, and mixed with the fresh leather of the seats, it was a heady scent. It was the kind of thing you’d buy a wax melt of to burn forever in your living room.

I mean, not me personally. I preferred citrus scents. I spent so much time with sweet stuff, I liked a sharper scent outside the kitchen.

Maverick pulled out of the parking lot. “You’ll have to give me directions. I don’t think I’ve been to Queen of Tarts.”

“It’s easy enough to find. It’s just at the end of Main Street,” I explained. “The big red and white canopy outside tends to draw people in.”

He grinned again. “Noted. Don’t have any leftovers, do you? I skipped dessert.”

“If you wanted dessert, you could have stayed. You’re the one who insisted on driving me home.”

“I’m nothing if not a gentleman,” he replied. “Do you?”

“Sorry. With a friend group the size of mine, there’s always someone poking their head through the door late in the day to get half-price cakes.”

“You charge your friends for leftovers?”

“Of course I do. I’m running a business, not a charity.” I snorted. “Besides, I bake stuff for them all the time for free. Birthday cakes and stuff. My brother and one of my friends are getting married next spring and I’m doing their wedding cake for free.”

“Pays to know people who can bake,” he mused. “I am not one of those people.”

I glanced at him. “I can’t imagine you baking a cake, I’m not going to lie.”

“It’s dreadful, really. The lead in my next book is taking over her grandmother’s bakery, and I’ve been trying to familiarize myself with the kitchen. It’s not going well.”

“May I suggest Betty Crocker’s box mixes?”

“Isn’t that blasphemous for you to suggest?”

“Absolutely, but it might be easier to get you started.”

He laughed as he pulled up outside Queen of Tarts. “I think I’ll just stick to Google and The Great British Bake-Off.”

“Solid plan,” I agreed. “Well, thank you for the ride. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks for dinner.”

“Ha! No way. I’m sorry you expected a successful date and got stuck with me instead.”

“Nah, it wasn’t that bad.” He winked. “I’ve had worse dates.”

I pursed my lips, fighting back a smile, and picked my purse up off the floor of the car. “Good luck with your book, Maverick.” I got out of the car and walked toward the bakery, fishing in my purse for the keys to the front door. I would have gone around the back to the bakery kitchen door but I wasn’t even sure I had a back door key on my car keys.

I unlocked the bakery door and peered back over my shoulder as I stepped through the doorframe. Maverick’s features were illuminated by the streetlight on the other side of the road, and he nodded goodnight. With a quick return of the gesture, I closed the door behind me and locked it, hesitating at the window until I saw him pull away and disappear down the street.

There was only the glow of the streetlight left, and I double checked the door, pulled the blind, and headed for my apartment.

What a night.

***

“And then I told her that wasn’t acceptable! Can you imagine?”

I shook my head as I wrapped Mrs. Fernandes’ bread. “The worst. Is that everything for you today, Mrs. Fernandes?”

The elderly woman adjusted her glasses. “I’m having my grandchildren tonight, so why don’t you pop two of those cupcakes in a box for me? And maybe a slice of cheesecake for me.”

I fought a smile as I grabbed a cupcake box and reached for the sprinkled wonders Felicity had decorated this morning. “Would you like the white chocolate strawberry cheesecake or the chocolate caramel?”

“Oh.” She pressed a finger to her lips. “Oh, dear. That’s quite the conundrum.”

Dipping my head, I smiled. I knew exactly what she’d do.

“Better go for one of each, honey. Just in case.”

I didn’t ask what it was ‘just in case’ of.

I agreed.

I fixed her order and rung it up. The transaction was completed easily, and I wished Mrs. Fernandes a good day as she left. It took her a good ten minutes thanks to her talking to almost everyone on her way out, and I shook my head with a quiet laugh at her antics.

That was just the way she was.

“Has she gone?” Felicity whispered from the door to the kitchen.

I grinned. “She’s gone.”

“Phew.” She joined me behind the counter. “She keeps trying to set me up with her grandson, and I’m not sure why. Everyone knows he prefers dicks over chicks.”

“I don’t think she knows that,” I said gently. “I’m sure she thinks she’s just doing him a favor.” A bit like my damn friends did.

“True. How was your date last night?”

“Don’t go there.” I shook my head. “Are you good here if I grab some lunch? I haven’t eaten since six.”

“Go, go. I just ate before I came out.”

“Sure?”

“Yeah, take your time. Have we had the lunch rush?”

“Mostly. I’m sure there’ll be a second wave shortly, so just shout if you need me.”

“Nah, I got it.” She reached up and tied her box braids into a ponytail, then waved me off through the door with another reassurance that she’d be fine.

Of course she would. I knew she would.

I grabbed myself a chocolate muffin and went to the kitchen where I had a salad in the fridge. After grabbing it out, I paused and decided where to go.

I’d sit in the bakery.

I poked my head back through the door and, noticing an empty two-seater table, I fetched my book and claimed the table, then made myself a latte. I didn’t often sit inside the bakery because I always found something that needed to be done, but I really wanted to finish my book.

Also, if I didn’t, Saylor was going to spoiler book two because she was a bitch like that.

I sat down with my latte and dove into both the book and my salad. I knew this was the first book in a trilogy and that shit was going to go down with the main relationship, and given I was in the final third of the book, it had to be coming soon.

I was halfway through my muffin when I heard Felicity referring to me.

“She’s over there,” Felicity said. “But she’s on her lunch, so you might want to wait.”

Glancing at the counter was all it took for my mood to sour.

What the hell was Maverick Donovan doing in my bakery?

“It’s fine,” I said dourly. “But you’ll have to wait until I’ve finished this chapter before I’ll talk to you.”

His lips curled up. “I can handle that.”

Good.

I didn’t care if he couldn’t.

I turned my attention back to the book. The heroine had just suspected the hero—her new boyfriend—of keeping secrets from her, and it was like, yeah, he’s a mafia boss. That was some secret.

How didn’t she know? The gun safe in the bedroom was a pretty big giveaway.

Felicity laughed, and I glanced over at the counter. She and Maverick were getting along like a house on fire, evidently, and I narrowed my eyes. Why was he here? What was he doing in my bakery? And why did he want to talk to me?

I’d made it clear I wasn’t in the market for a boyfriend right now.

I had nothing to offer that I hadn’t already given him, if I was honest.

I forced my gaze back to the book, but I couldn’t focus. I reread the same sentence four times before I finally gave up, sighing as I put the bookmark between the pages and closed the book.

“Finish your chapter?”

CHAPTER FOUR – PIPER

RULE FOUR: DON’T WORK WITH YOUR DATE.

“I’ll do it later,” I muttered, motioning for Maverick to sit down opposite me. “What can I help you with?”

“Who said I needed help? I dropped you off here last night and wanted to try your food to see if I could get some inspiration for my book. Call it research.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Really? You’re going to write off two muffins, four slices of cheesecake, two loaves of bread, and a croissant?”

He glanced at the bag. “How did you know what I ordered?”

I tapped my ear. “It’s called listening. I’m rather good at it.”

Snorting, he pulled out a muffin box. “I should have gotten one of those chocolate muffins. They look amazing.”

“What did you get?”

“Didn’t listen to that bit, huh?”

“Shut up.”

“White chocolate and raspberry and lemon and blueberry.”

I nodded my approval. “Good choices. The white chocolate and raspberry is my favorite, but I needed something a bit chocolatier today. Do you want one?”

“Want one?”

“The double chocolate muffin?”

“No, it’s fine,” he said, looking at the remaining third of mine.

I caught Felicity’s eye and lifted my muffin, wordlessly asking her to bring one over.

“Piper, it’s—”

“Consider it a thank you,” I replied, meeting his eyes. “For giving me a ride home last night.”

He smiled, nodding, and put the box back in the bag.

Felicity brought the muffin over and set it on the table with a napkin. “Two muffins? Are you sick?”

I laughed. “No, it’s for Maverick. Goodwill gesture in the hope he’ll go away.”

“Giving people your muffins tends to have the opposite effect.” She grinned. “Do you need anything else?”

“No, thanks.” I smiled, and she left. “Well? Try it.”

Maverick pulled the small plate over and peeled back the muffin case, then broke a chunk off with his fingers. He almost moaned when he bit down into it, and I had to clear my throat and hope like hell I didn’t blush at the sound.

“That’s so fucking good,” he said after swallowing. “That might be the best muffin I’ve ever had.”

I’d been doing this for a long time, but damn.

That never got old.

“Thanks.” I blushed. “They’re one of my favorites to make. It’s my own recipe and took six months to perfect.”

“Well, those six months were worth it.” Maverick wiped the corner of his mouth. “I don’t think I’ll ever eat another muffin unless you’ve made it.”

More blushing. Ugh. “Thank you. Feeling inspired for your book? Or are you going to admit why you really came?”

He rubbed his hand over the lower half of his face, dragging it extra slowly across his lips. “I really am here for your baked goods.”

“I’m sure you are, but it’s not the only reason.”

“Why don’t you believe me?”

“I’m a woman. I could smell bullshit in the womb.”

Maverick choked on a laugh. He reached for his bottle of water and glugged a few mouthfuls, then met my eyes. “All right, I give up.”

“It does make it easier when you do.” I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms. “Why are you here?”

He screwed the cap back on his bottle and leaned forward, but not before glancing around the bakery. “Can we talk somewhere more private?”

“I’m not sixteen. I’m not falling for that shit.”

He bit back another laugh.

I was funny.

Who knew?

“It’s… business.”

I blinked at him. “Business?”

“Yes.”

“If you’re saying this to get in my pants, I should warn you that it’s futile.”

Maverick’s eyes sparkled. “Noted. It’s still business, though.”

Good God.

Sighing, I stood up and motioned to the table. “Get your stuff. We can talk in the kitchen.”

To his credit, Maverick cleaned up after himself and put his dirty dishes on the counter for Felicity to deal with. I did the same, and after she’d served the last customer, I said, “I’ll be in the back with Mr. Donovan discussing business. Let me know if you need me.”

She smirked. “Yes, boss.”

I pointed my finger at her. “Watch it.”

She didn’t stop grinning.

She was lucky she made good bread or I’d fire her.

Lies.

I wouldn’t.

Nobody else in this town could bake like Felicity. She was mine, and I was keeping her.

I guided Maverick into the kitchen and held up a finger. I needed to check on the latest round of donuts. They were one of the biggest sellers for us and we always needed an afternoon restock. The donuts were done, so I pulled them out and turned off that particular oven.

“What do you want to discuss?” I asked, setting the donuts on a cooling rack. “You don’t mind if I work while we talk, do I?”

“Please, carry on. But be aware that I can and will use it all in my book.”

“Noted. Start talking, then.” I checked all the ovens and set timer on some bread rolls that were a few minutes from being done.

Maverick leaned against a counter. “Remember last night when I said that my heroine in my new book is a baker?”

I paused. “I think so. You suck at it, right?”

“Something like that,” he said dryly. “I tried to bake this morning and, honestly, the only thing I’m baking is my fire alarm. The fire chief actually called me after and asked me to stop or he was going to report me for wasting their time.”

I clapped my hand over my mouth. “Wow. That’s… something.”

“Yeah, something like that.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Piper, I need your help.”

What the—

No.

Surely not.

The oven timer went off like an alarm system.

I slapped the button to shut it off and removed the bread from the oven. “I don’t see how I can possibly help you.”

“The best research for a book is when it’s done in person. Can you help me? Tell me about your routine, your baking—”

I looked over at him. “You’re crazy.”

“Please.”

“There’s nothing I can tell you that you can’t find out by researching it yourself.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, the thing is—”

“I don’t like things.”

“I don’t imagine you do.”

I blinked at him. “Don’t tell me the thing.”

“What I really need is a recipe—or two. Maybe three. Brand new ones. And since I can’t even make box cookies, I doubt I’m coming up with any anytime soon, and you’re the only baker I know.”

“Let me get this straight.” I stared at him. “You want me to tell you everything about how I run my business, from my routine to how the bakery works, and create you three brand new recipes for your book, that you can sell and make thousands of dollars from?”

Another rub on the back of his neck. “Well, when you put it like that…”

“You’re insane.”

“I’ll pay you,” he said quickly. “You can keep all your business secrets. I’ll commission the recipes from you and credit you and your store.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “You’ll pay me.”

“Five grand per recipe.”

What the—

“Are you insane?”

Maverick shook his head. “I’m desperate, Piper. My deadline is approaching and I’m way behind. If you commission me three recipes, I’ll pay you fifteen grand. Half up front and half after you’ve done the recipes. You and the store will be fully credited in the book, and you’ll retain ownership of the recipes so you can sell them in your store.”

I said nothing.

“You want to franchise, right? Turn Queen of Tarts into a chain? Both the money and the recognition in my book will help you do that.”

He was right.

Damn it, he was right.

Fifteen grand was the start of a second bakery. It was a down payment on a store—a down payment I didn’t currently have. While I wasn’t in the immediate position to open another store as we were still settling here, it was a huge step to my dream.

“And I’ll make sure you cater all my signings,” Maverick continued. “Having the exact bakes at every signing for everyone to try will be a great PR tool for us both. My publisher will love it, and all your expenses will be covered.”

I still didn’t say anything. Creating recipes was a huge thing—I hadn’t made one from scratch in such a long time. I usually cut a corner and modified an existing one, but almost all my current recipes were either pure classics or had been changed by me in some way. The only original ones I’d created were a couple of seasonal holiday recipes.

Like my cinnamon pumpkin cookies.

“That’s a lot of work,” I finally said. “Creating one recipe is time consuming, never mind three, and you haven’t said what kind of recipe you actually want.”

“Anything,” he replied quickly. “You’re creating them, and I can work anything into the story.”

I blew out a breath and looked around. “Um…” My creations were all cooling, and the sheer magnitude of what he was asking me to do sank in. “How long would I have?”

“More than you’d think,” Maverick said slowly. “If I can spend some time here just seeing how things work behind the scenes, I can get writing. I can add the recipes and exact goods even in edits.”

“How much time would you need to spend here?”

“As much as you’re happy with, but I’d like to see you create at least one of the recipes so I can recreate the process in the book for authenticity.”

I swallowed, then drew in a deep breath only to huff it out again. “It’s an early start. I start baking at four-thirty every single morning and do it flat-out until Felicity arrives. Sometimes I’m here alone and have to bake and serve.”

“Four-thirty in the morning?”

“And you couldn’t get in my way. At all. Like you need to stay in the corner, sit quietly, and take your notes or whatever. I have a process and I don’t like being interrupted. I’ll let you know when you can ask questions.”

His lips tugged to one side.

“I’ll teach you how to use the coffee machine. I will feed you, but you will get me coffee on demand.”

“That seems fair.”

“And I want to be in the book.”

“You want to be in the book?” Maverick fought a laugh.

I shrugged. “Never been in a book before. I don’t see that I’ll ever get a better chance than this, so why not?”

He rubbed his hand over his chin. “All right. I’ll write you into the book.”

“Awesome.” I put my hands on my hips. “Fine. I’ll help you. Only because I don’t want the fire chief to have to report you to the police.”

“I told him I’d turn off the fire alarm next time, but he threatened to whoop my ass.”

“That sounds like Ray,” I muttered. “Where do you even live?”

“Here and there,” he replied vaguely.

“What does that mean?”

Maverick sighed. “I’m between places. Trying to find a place to settle down, so I’m renting an apartment just outside White Peak right now.”

“Why not just say that?” I rolled my eyes and eased a loaf of bread out of the tin. “When do you want to start your research?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Okay.” I shrugged. “Be here at four-thirty. Exactly. Or you can watch through the window.”

CHAPTER FIVE – MAVERICK

RULE FIVE: IF YOU’RE ATTRACTED TO YOUR BLIND DATE BUT SHE’S NOT INTERESTED, IT’S PROBABLY NOT THE BEST IDEA TO KEEP HANGING OUT.

Four-thirty was a time I only wanted to see on a clock in the afternoon.

Especially since I’d had to wake up at three-thirty a.m. to make sure I would be at Queen of Tarts early. I didn’t doubt Piper for a second when she said she’d make me watch through the window.

I also didn’t want to piss her off. I could see how begrudgingly she’d agreed to help me, and I was paying her well over the odds for the recipes.

Well over the odds.

But I really was desperate. I was so fucking behind on this book, because what kind of an idiot wrote a book about a baker when he couldn’t bake himself?

Thankfully, the hero couldn’t bake either. At least that point of view would fall off my fingers.

I parked outside the bakery and walked around to the back door. The sun was just coming up, but the alleyway was still dark, and the light from the bakery kitchen snapped on as I approached.

She was early.

Thank God I was, too.

I knocked on the door three times while stifling a yawn. The click of the lock seemed extra loud in the silence of the early morning, and I smiled when Piper’s eye appeared in the crack of the door.

“How about that? You’re actually here.” She backed up and let me in. “I brought a table through for you over there, but first, you need to learn how to use the coffee machine.”

“So I can make you coffee on demand?”

“Exactly that.” She grinned. “Before we go through, though, I need to heat all the ovens. I always cook the same kind of thing in the same ovens so it’s easy to set the temperatures.” She went from oven to oven, setting each one at a specific temperature, and she told me which oven belonged to what.

I was half asleep and didn’t have anything to write that down with, so she was going to have to do that again later.

Still, I nodded.

“You’re not going to remember any of that, are you?” she asked, amusement tinging her tone. “Oh, dear. You’re not a morning person.”

“Not really,” I admitted. “The last time I saw this time of the morning I was nineteen and in college.”

She snorted and walked through to the front of the bakery, turning on the light on her way. “Amateur. Right, this is the machine. It’s a beast and makes all kinds of coffee, but I’ll just show you the basics. It’s pretty easy.”

Piper talked me through the process, and I successfully managed to make a cup for us both.

“You’re right. That’s pretty simple.”

She smiled at me. “Come on. I brought a stool down from my apartment for you to sit at the table. There’s power to the unit for mixers and stuff, so you can power your laptop.”

“Thanks. That’s great.” I followed her back into the kitchen to the big stainless-steel table in the middle of the kitchen. There were already various mixers, bowls, and ingredients strewn across the table, and I eyed it speculatively. “Are you sure there’s enough room for me here?”

“Yep. I was just getting the pre-mixed stuff from the fridge ready to get in the oven.” She tied her hair into a knot on top of her head, grabbed an apron, and threw it on. It had a picture of a cupcake with a friendly face and a slogan that said, “Here, have a shut-the-fuck-up-cake.”

I laughed.

Piper looked down. “Not the most professional apron, I know.”

“But absolutely perfect for a romantic comedy.” I pulled my phone from my pocket. “Do you mind?”

“As long as you don’t get my face in it, go ahead.”

I snapped a picture of the apron for future reference. “Thanks. Sorry, I won’t distract you anymore. I’ll get set up.”

She sipped from her mug with a smile. “I’ll talk you through a couple things as I go. Don’t worry. Just let me get this coffee in. I’ve already spoken far too much for someone who isn’t caffeinated yet.”

I returned the smile, holding her gaze, and she blushed and dipped her head. I cleared my throat and got to work setting myself up to observe her. I was truly grateful for her allowing me to do this, and I had no intentions of making a nuisance of myself.

For the most part.

I was extremely attracted to Piper, and I wasn’t going to sit and look pretty in the corner. I wasn’t going to lie and say I didn’t have an ulterior motive for being here aside from my book, but I wanted her to actually like me.

I really wasn’t a bad person, despite my reputation.

I also wasn’t a playboy like the media made me out to be. I had no more one-night stands than the average person, but since my last book had been opted for a movie, I’d become stupidly interesting to the media.

They hadn’t yet found me in Montana, and I hoped it would stay that way.

Until my book published, of course. I’d have to fucking move before that, given that I was giving Piper credit.

Not that I cared.

She was doing me a huge favor. A paid favor, but a favor all the same.

I plugged my laptop into the outlet on the leg of the table and booted it up. Piper was already uncovering a huge mixing bowl of something and pulling it out onto the table, and I peered over the top of the screen to watch her.

She molded it like it was nothing more than kid dough, working it with her nimble hands until it was the size she wanted, then she cut it into equal sized pieces.

Bread rolls.

Genius.

Piper side-eyed me. “Bread rolls. Bread dough needs to rise, and I realized early on that it saved a ton of time if I baked the dough in the afternoon and left it to slowly rise overnight. People love our loaves of bread, and we offer four different types every day. White and brown are standard, and I call sell at least six of each a day, so batch matching the dough streamlines the process and means I can easily put it in the oven on a morning.”

“That much, really?”

She nodded. “Not so many rolls, but it’s the same principal. Being ahead helps. After everything for the morning is in, I can make more dough for things like bread that I know we can sell out of. Usually, by the time it sells out, I’ve got more loaves in the oven and people happily come back later.”

“That makes a lot of sense. Very smart.”

“Thank you.” She put a tray of rolls in an oven. “It’s not such a big deal for cake or pastry mixtures since they can go right in, but I like to get some done at the end of the day so I’m not under pressure on a morning. It just makes things more streamlined.”

I typed that out in a document on my laptop, albeit a very abbreviated version. “It’s a lot of work.”

“Sure is. Anything that makes it easier is a plus, to be honest. I don’t make all this—Felicity does some, too. You spoke to her yesterday.”

“Sure did. Pink and purple braids?”

“That’s her. Her mom owns the café in town and wanted to buy this place when it was available.”

“Isn’t that awkward?”

“Not really.” She put several bread pans in the oven and moved to clean the surface. “It was a closed auction, and I won. The worst part was asking Johanna if she minded me poaching her daughter.”

“Did she?”

“Not that she said,” she continued, and I could tell she was working purely on instinct as she pulled a stack of muffin trays toward us. “Here, put these cases in these.”

“Yes, boss.” I took the cases from her. “Anything else?”

“One case at a time. Just pay attention.” She winked. “No, Felicity’s dream has always been to bake. She did the few baked goods at the café, so Johanna wanted to buy the bakery for her to eventually run. I know she didn’t enjoy losing her daughter to what is technically a competitor for her, but she also wants Felicity to do well and achieve her dreams, so it worked out well for us all.”

I slid a finished tray over to her. “It was good of you to hire her.”

She shrugged. “I needed someone who could bake. She can bake. It’s just that simple.”

I had no response to that, so I got on with the job she’d assigned me. She occasionally gave me a nugget of advice that I quickly tapped into my laptop midway through dropping the cases into the trays.

The kitchen was rich with the various smells of baking. The bread was a particularly fucking delicious one, and when Piper combined that with her pastries and muffins, there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop my stomach rumbling.

Piper smirked. “Hungry, Maverick?”

“You could at least call me Mav,” I said after a moment. “And yes, I am. This is hours earlier than I’m used to being awake, and it smells like a dream in here.”

She pulled a tray from the oven and carefully set everything on a cooling rack, then reached into the cabinet above her head and pulled out a small plate. She set a croissant on it with a little, “Ooh, hot!” said to herself, and she set the plate in front of me. “There are little jelly and jam pots in the fridge. Help yourself.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I’m baking. You’re hungry. I can’t leave you hungry. It goes against everything I believe in.”

“I think I just fell in love with you.”

She laughed. “Don’t get too comfortable. I could kill you just as easily as I can feed you.”

“Good to know.”

***

I stretched out on the sofa and hit my head on the arm. Motherfucker. I was too tall to be napping on this stupid sofa.

Sitting up, I stretched my neck side to side and rolled my shoulders. The early start had really messed with me, and I was completely shattered. I had no idea how Piper did that every single day without turning into a zombie.

I was a complete night owl. There was something calming about writing in the dark when everyone else was asleep.

Which was a problem since my neighbors in this apartment block had parties at least four times a week. My whole writing schedule was messed up, and I especially needed to sit today and try to organize the notes I’d taken this morning with Piper.

I was going to do that after I’d had something to eat.

I got up with every intention of making a sandwich, since I’d napped through lunch. I was pretty sure I would be ruined for all bread at this point after tasting Piper’s, so thank fuck I still had some left from yesterday.

I opened the fridge for the butter right as a boom came from above my head.

I hoped someone had just dropped a glass and it wasn’t a precursor to an afternoon party.

Another thud followed, and that was chased by a hum that had a suspiciously fast beat.

Fuck me.

There was no way I could work here.

Not if they were already starting in the middle of the afternoon. I really had to fucking move—and now. If I was going to stay here for the next couple of months, I could easily go for a six-month lease and decide what to do then.

The music got louder.

Shit. I had to get out of here.

I abandoned my plans for a sandwich, grabbed my backpack that still had my laptop in, and left as quickly as I could. I didn’t really want to go back to the bakery, and there would be too much noise in the café.

Was there a library here? I don’t think anyone had mentioned one. Shit. Trust me to find a town without a library.

I drove in the direction of Main Street. Surely there I would find somewhere I could—

The bookstore.

Of course.

Maybe Holley, Saylor, and Kinsley would take pity on me and let me camp out there for a while.

I quickly turned in the direction of the store and blew out a long breath. It was the next best thing to a library. I just had to hope that they’d let me work there.

I pulled up a block away and made the short walk to the store. Bookworm’s Books might have been one of my favorite ever bookstores—it was deceptively large, but it had such a charm about it that it really didn’t feel like it.

It was a little like Narnia.

The bell over the door rang as I stepped inside. Saylor was behind the counter ringing up a customer, a very fraught looking woman trying to wrangle two little boys who were running around her legs in circles.

“Boys! Boys, please stop.”

Saylor handed her back her card. “Thank you for stopping by. We appreciate it.”

“I’m sorry about these two.” She tucked her purchase into an oversized tote, slung it over her shoulder, then grabbed their jackets at the shoulder and dragged them toward the door.

I opened it for her, and she shot me a grateful smile with a whispered, “Thank you,” as she literally hauled them outside like they were mere shopping bags.

Saylor laughed as soon as the door shut. “That poor woman. They’ve been absolute nightmares, and she had to buy one of them a book because they ripped a page and she felt so bad.”

“Was the kid happy about it?”

“Ecstatic. I think he did it deliberately after she warned him to be careful because she’d have to buy it if he damaged it.”

“That kid is going places.”

“Right?” She smirked. “Did you need to speak to Holley about something? She’s on the phone with our accountant right now, but you’re welcome to wait.”

“No… Actually, I was wondering if I could hang out here for a while. I have the neighbors from hell, and I need to get some work done. I can’t focus with their music blaring through my ceiling.”

“I hear that,” she replied. “I’m so glad me and Dylan are finally moving into an actual house.” She shook her head. “Sorry, yeah, of course. Stay until close if you really want.”

“Thanks. You’re a star.” I put my bag on the nearest table—this store was practically half library, to be honest—and looked back at her. “I’m running to the café to get some lunch. Do you want anything?”

“I won’t turn down a vanilla latte,” she replied. “Actually, make it two. Holley’s always a demon after she’s spoken to someone on the phone.”

“No Kinsley?”

“Nope, it’s her day off.”

“You got it.” I smiled. “Mind if I leave my bag here?”

“Nope. I’ll keep an eye on it.”

“Thanks.” I quickly exited the store and made my way down the street to the café. I was, in fact, far too hungry not to get anything to eat, and I knew Piper provided the café with its bread for its sandwiches.

It was quiet, so it only took a few minutes for me to place and receive my order. After getting it—plus two slices of pie for Saylor and Holley as a thank you—I went back to Bookworm’s Books. Holley was talking to Saylor at the counter when I returned, and she turned to me with a beaming smile.

“Hi! I wasn’t expecting you anytime soon.”

“I know. Saylor said I could work here. My neighbors are loud.”

“Of course!” Holley paused. “Hey, we just got a delivery this morning. If I can find out your books, would you sign them for me?”

I smiled. “Sure thing. Here, this is yours.” I set the coffee holder on the counter and handed them both the box with the pie in from the bag. “As a thank you for letting me camp out here and work.”

Saylor opened the box. “Damn. You can work here all you want if we get free pie.”

I grinned. “That’s what I was hoping for.”

Laughing, Holley took one of the vanilla lattes. “Thanks, Maverick. That’s really sweet of you.” She raised the coffee. “I’m taking this to the back to find out your books. If you need another coffee, feel free to use the staff room.”

“And pay no attention to me at all when I take a photo of you to post on Instagram so I can brag you’re working in our store.” Saylor winked.

“Wonderful. Can I hide in the staff room if people come to bug me?”

“Saylor, don’t post it!” Holley called from somewhere in the store. “I mean it!”

“I won’t, I won’t. Not yet, anyway.” She grinned. “So… how was your date with Piper?”

I paused. I assumed she had no idea about the fact we’d already met and slept together, so I wasn’t going to drop that into the conversation. I needed to keep Piper on my good side.

“Didn’t work out,” I said slowly. “But she’s agreed to help me with research for the book I’m working on, so it wasn’t a total bust.”

“Damn, that’s a shame. I thought you two would get along well.” She shrugged. “Let me guess, she’s still adamant she’s not interested in dating?”

“Something like that,” I replied. “I’m not hugely into it either right now, and I only went because Holley had set it up.”

“Makes sense. You don’t live here, do you?”

“Temporarily. Since Piper’s helping me with research, I need a better place than the one I’m in. I don’t suppose you know any realtors who can help me, do you?”

She paused. “White Peak Properties is probably the biggest one and more likely to help you. That’s who is helping us buy our place. Actually, I think there are a couple of rentals in the street over from us. Let me text my boyfriend. He’ll know better than me. Plus he works with the sister of one of the owner. Short term lease?”

I nodded. “Potential for a long one, I’m not sure yet, but immediately just six months or so.”

“Got it.” She pulled out her phone and tapped out a message. “Done. He’ll be able to find out for me.”

“Thanks, Saylor. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.” She smiled, tucking her pink hair behind her ear. “I’ll let you work now. Let me know if you need anything.”

“I will, thanks.” I sat down at the table and set to getting my little corner ready.

There was something about White Peak.

I wasn’t even a Montana native, and it called to me. The surroundings, the mountains, the peace, the people…

For the first time in a very long time, I wondered if this might be the place to set down roots and call home.

CHAPTER SIX – PIPER

RULE SIX: IF YOU CAN’T FAKE IT, BAKE IT.

“Nobody cares about your darn ducks, Mabel!”

“Speak for yourself! Quackie Chan is an icon.”

“Quackie Chan is a stupid name for a duck.”

“You have a stupid name, Agatha.”

“You have a stupid face, Rosie.”

“Ladies, ladies,” Leonard said, interjecting.

“Are the infantile insults necessary?” Amos asked, looking at the squabbling seniors. “Can’t we all get along?”

My grandmother sniffed into her teacup, and by the expression on her face, she was most perturbed by the disturbance to our afternoon tea date. “Unlikely,” she muttered. “They’re all heathens.”

I wasn’t about to disagree. I’d been away so long that I’d forgotten about the insane rivalries the seniors of White Peak engaged in, and I sure as hell wasn’t here for the great duck and chicken migration of the town.

Did elderly people need so many feathered pets?

I wasn’t sure.

My grandmother was a staunch protestor of both the chickens and the ducks, and I had to admit that I was kind of on her team.

I didn’t understand them, either, and I kind of felt bad for the staff who had to clean them out. Ducks were messy little suckers.

“Why are there so many chickens?” I whispered to Grandma.

She sniffed, cradling her China teacup. “They got stiffed by the breeder. Ended up with a rooster, and when Mabel and Agatha researched hatching chicks, they couldn’t convince them to not do it.”

“What about the ducks? Are there ducklings?”

“No, darling. They learned their lesson after that. Females only. The drake was rehomed.”

“There’s a bonus, I suppose.”

“Mm. I’d prefer not being woken up by that godforsaken rooster every morning. I’ve petitioned for him to be rehomed as well, but I fear I’m in the minority.”

I wrinkled my nose up. “Is he necessary?”

“Depends on who you ask, dear. I don’t want to be a party pooper, but five a.m. is a little too early for me.”

I was an early riser on account of the bakery, but after experiencing night owl Maverick this morning, I understood my grandmother far more. “Do you want me to talk to the manager about it?”

God, I felt like a real internet meme after saying that out loud.

“No, Piper, it’s fine. I’ve requested a new room, away from the yard.”

I frowned. “There aren’t any available rooms, are there?”

“No, but if Mabel and Agatha want that rooster so badly, they can live closer to him. Mabel has a huge room on the other side of the building and doesn’t understand how noisy Cluck Norris is.”

I tilted my head to the side. “You want to swap?”

“I don’t want to hear that blasted rooster singing the song of his people at an excruciatingly early time,” Grandma replied. “And if Mabel wants to keep the blasted thing, Mabel can listen to his blasted concert every day!”

Oh, dear.

She was getting very agitated.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said, finishing my cup of tea.

I didn’t even like tea.

I just drank it because she made me.

“Yes, please do. Your brother is blasted useless and ignores me!”

“Grandma, maybe you should go inside and calm down. You’re getting very upset.”

“I’m fine, Piper, I’m just very annoyed that nobody listens to me. This isn’t Mabel’s personal farm, and I don’t understand why she’s the authority on everything here! I’d like a dahlia bed, but does anyone care? No. Dahlias are my favorite flowers, but I was told because Mabel’s blasted animals will eat them. I just want some gorgeous flowers. I miss gardening. I wish your mother had listened to me when I told her I wanted to keep my house.”

Yep, she was upset. She knew as well as I did that her house was unmanageable for her because of her hip.

I held up both my hands then leaned forward and clasped hers. “Grandma, I understand. What you’d like is not unreasonable, and I’ll see if I can make that happen for you, okay?”

Her eyes were actually sparkling with tears, and it broke my heart. She’d never much been one for vegetable gardening, but flowers had been her jam for years. Dahlias were her absolute favorite, and I believed my parents had cuttings of all her beloved flowers before she’d sold her house.

“Grandma, let me get you some more tea. Are you hungry?”

She shook her head. “More tea would be lovely, Pipey.”

I touched her shoulder briefly before picking up the teapot and heading back inside. My heart was heavy—my grandmother was clearly unhappy, and that didn’t make me happy.

I’d spent many years away from her while my brother had been right here. Did she keep her feelings to herself? Did Josh know? Was my brother aware of how unhappy she was right now?

Were our parents? Who were currently living it up in the Caribbean?

At least I thought that’s where they were…

I filled Grandma’s teapot just the way she liked it and grabbed someone to take it out to her with the excuse that I had a call I had to take. There was obviously no call, but I just needed a moment to breathe.

I pulled my phone out and opened my chat with Josh.

ME: Did you know Grandma isn’t happy here?

He replied quickly.

JOSH: No. She didn’t mention it.

ME: I’m with her now and she’s miserable. She says the rooster keeps waking her up every morning and she can’t have the flowerbed she wants because the birds will eat them.

JOSH: That’s absurd. They can get a run for the birds, can’t they? Fence them in.

ME: I don’t think Mabel will allow it. It sounds like she’s running roughshod over everything in the outdoor area. Grandma loves gardening and she can’t do it.

JOSH: Hm. What do we do?

ME: Meet me at the bakery? I’ll feed you.

JOSH: On my way.

***

“Why are we going to the bookstore?” Josh asked, adjusting his grip on the bag full of baked goods I’d swiped from behind the counter.

“Because we all have grandparents at the senior center and if Grandma is unhappy, the others might be, too.”

“Oh. Makes sense.”

I pushed the bookstore door open and froze. Maverick was sitting at one of the tables at the front of the store with headphones on, typing furiously at a robust-looking laptop with a little alien face on the on the lid.

What was he doing in here?

Holley popped up from behind the counter. “I smell food.”

“Remarkable,” I said. “Are Saylor and Kinsley here? And what’s he doing here?” I nodded in Maverick’s direction.

“Who is it?” asked Josh. “Oh, wait, is he that author guy?”

Holley nodded. “Maverick Donovan. His neighbors at his apartment play music loud pretty much all the time, so he’s hanging out here to work. This is the second day, and he brings coffee and snacks so I don’t mind. I actually forgot he was there,” she finished in an amused tone.

“Oh. Right. Why doesn’t he just stay at the bakery?”

“Well, yesterday you’d already spent the whole morning together and he didn’t want to bother you by going back, and today he stopped by to get some food but you weren’t there.”

“I was with the seniors,” I replied, glancing over at Maverick. He had no idea we were here, and his fingers were flying across the keyboard at a breakneck pace.

I was jealous.

Was he even looking at the keys?

“Are Say and Kins here?” I asked again, dragging my attention back from Maverick.

“They just ran out. Why? And are there pastries in that bag?”

Josh nodded.

“Good, I’m starving. I skipped lunch. What’s wrong?”

“Has your grandma said anything about the retirement home lately?”

Holley rounded the counter, frowning. “Just her usual bitching and whining about everyone and everything. Why? Is something going on over there?”

“There’s always something going on over there,” Josh muttered.

“Amen,” Holley added. “Here, sit. What’s going on?”

Josh set the bag on the table, and I was about to open my mouth to recant the conversation I’d had with Grandma this morning, but Maverick looked up at the motion. His face broke into a bright grin, and he pulled his headphones down to hang around his neck.

“Hey.”

“Hey, sorry. Did we disturb you?” I grimaced.

“Nah, it’s fine. I need a break anyway.” He smiled, but it dropped a little when he looked at my brother.

I turned to Josh. His eyes were narrowed as he stared at Maverick, and I punched him. “Don’t be so rude.”

Holley fought a laugh.

“Ignore him,” I said to Maverick. “He’s an idiot. Josh, this is Maverick. Mav, meet my big brother.”

“Oh, of course. Hey. Nice to meet you.”

Josh grunted. “Yeah.”

I punched him again. Harder this time. “You’re being a dick. Stop it.”

“Let’s pull it back,” Holley interjected, emptying the bag of all the food I’d smuggled over. “What’s going on with the seniors?”

I quickly explained what Grandma had told me, then sighed and pulled a slice of chocolate cake toward me. I rarely indulged in cake for frivolous means given that I spent so much of my time actually baking them, but today felt like a cake day.

“Wow.” Holley frowned. “That’s… unfair. If the rooster is upsetting them, they should have to get rid of it. There are, what… Thirty-five seniors? Yeah?”

“Probably about right,” Josh said. “Plus they’re looking to get planning permission for an extension for another ten rooms. We quoted them last month.”

“And the problem is that Mabel and Agatha keep letting the hens sit on eggs, so they’re hatching them, and you know as well as I do that Agatha won’t let them get rid of any of the hatched birds.”

“This place sounds like somewhere right out of a book,” Maverick said after a moment of silence. “Sorry, I don’t mean to butt in, but that’s wild.”

“You’re telling us,” I muttered. “Try being there when there’s a party. They’re out of control.”

“Do you think they’ll let her move rooms?” Josh asked, rubbing the back of his neck. “I feel so bad. I thought she was happy.”

“Thought who was happy?” Saylor appeared from out of nowhere with Kinsley behind her.

Holley did a double take. “Where did you come from?”

“We came through the back. Margaret Miyazaki is on the warpath with the mayor in Main Street and we wanted to watch without being seen.” Saylor grinned. “She’s mad the box hedges in the park got some caterpillar infestation or something like that.”

“And the mayor hasn’t sorted it yet,” Kinsley finished, walking over and sitting next to Josh. “He tried telling her that it wasn’t his main priority and he’s arranging for them to be sprayed.”

“And that really set her off,” Saylor continued. “Apparently she doesn’t want him spraying pesticides because it’ll kill the wildlife.”

“I’m assuming she’s failed to see the contradictions there, hm?” I raised my eyebrows.

“You assume correctly. Is there food left? We got too distracted and didn’t get anything.” Kinsley leaned over. “Yum.”

Maverick blinked and looked between us all. “This town might be the craziest place I’ve ever been.”

I grinned. “There’s never a dull moment, that’s for sure.”

“So why are we having a random meeting in the bookstore?” Kinsley asked. “Did someone die?”

“No, but Mabel might if Grandma doesn’t cheer up,” Josh said dryly.

Saylor groaned. “Oh, Jesus. What’s she done this time?”

For the third time today, I launched into the story, this time with the added information that Mabel was Saylor’s grandma for Maverick’s benefit.

Saylor sighed. “Shit, I’m so sorry. Vicki shouldn’t have to put up with her behavior. I’ll head down there later and speak to someone about it. I don’t know what I can do about a garden, but at the very least, I can talk to Grandma and try and get rid of the rooster.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I replied.

“No, I do. I might be the only person she’ll actually listen to. Failing that, I can probably get management to lie and say the fees are going up because of the rooster.” A wicked grin flashed across her face. “Given how much that place charges, it’ll start a mutiny.”

“That’s genius,” Maverick offered. “Are you sure you’re not secretly a superhero villain?”

She shrugged. “I have a thing for the bad guys in books. If I were in one, I’d probably be the bad guy myself.”

I wasn’t going to argue that.

“Thanks, Say.”

“No problem. The garden argument might be a bit tough, but they have enough land that I don’t see why they can’t make that happen.”

“Because they’re lazy and nobody wants to dig out a flowerbed?” Holley suggested. “The simplest explanation is usually the right one.”

Saylor finished the bit of cake she’d been eating and got up. “I’m going to head over there now. I think Sandra is there this afternoon, so I’ll see what I can do.”

A customer came in right as she left, and Holley got behind the register.

“I need to go back to work,” Josh said, kissing Kinsley. “Let me know if Saylor has any luck, Piper. I’ll see if there are any spare pallets lying around on our current job—I might be able to make Grandma a couple of planters so she can plant something at least.”

“Good idea.” I smiled. “I’ll clean up here and head back to the bakery to get started on the bread dough for tomorrow.”

“Mind if I join you?” Maverick asked. “I’ve hit a bit of a wall and could use a change of scenery.”

“Sure.” I smiled. “Here. Have this last bit of cake before I do.”

CHAPTER SEVEN – PIPER

RULE SEVEN: IF YOU CAN’T STAND THE HEAT, GET THE HOT GUY OUT OF YOUR KITCHEN.

I put the ingredients for the zucchini bread into the mixer and glanced at Maverick. He’d set himself up in the same spot as yesterday morning.

“So your neighbors, huh?”

“Mm.” He met my gaze. “They’re a nightmare. I’m looking at a house tomorrow morning.”

“To buy?”

“No, to rent. I drew the short straw in the neighbor pool this time around, and I really need peace and quiet to work and focus.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Sometimes a change of scenery works, but when I find a good writing spot, I like to stay there.”

“Well, you’re welcome to write at the bakery. If you really need somewhere alone, my apartment is always empty since I’m here.”

He blinked at me. “I can’t use your apartment.”

I pointed at the ceiling. “It’s right up there. I’m not using it, am I?”

“That’s… a weirdly sweet offer. Thanks, Piper.”

“Anytime.” I set three mixers going and turned my attention to some cupcakes that needed icing to go out.

“Is that all the same bread?”

“In the mixers? No. all different.”

“How do you know what’s where?”

“They’re all labeled,” I explained. “And I always use the same mixer for a certain bread.”

He shook his head. “That’s genius. No wonder you’re so efficient.”

Laughing, I pulled a tray of cooled chocolate cupcakes toward me. They were going to have a salted caramel frosting, and that was already sitting in the fridge waiting for me. I grabbed it out along with the necessary piping bag and went back to the cupcakes.

“What’s that?” Mav asked.

“Aren’t you supposed to be quiet in my kitchen?” I teased him. “Salted caramel frosting.”

“Oh, man. It’s a good thing you’re not interested in dating. If I married you, I’d be three hundred pounds by Christmas.”

I laughed and carefully iced the first cupcake. “That is the problem with marrying a baker. Problem is, I’m not the best at actually cooking, so all I’d have to offer is pies, pastries, and cakes.”

“I don’t see a problem there.” He grinned and walked over to join me. “You can reconsider not dating, you know. I can’t bake for shit but I’m a great cook.”

“Hmm. Get me drunk and I might just do that.”

Mav laughed. “You’re good at that.”

“What? Getting drunk?”

“The icing.”

“Oh, right.” Of course. That’s what I was doing. “I would hope so, I’ve iced thousands of cupcakes in my time.” I paused and looked over at him. “Do you want to try?”

“Try icing one of these?”

“Sure. You said yourself that firsthand research is the best.” I held out the piping bag.

Maverick looked at it like it was going to blow up if he touched it. “I’m not sure.”

“You’re icing, not baking. If it goes wrong, it goes wrong. Give it a shot.”

“All right…” He took the bag warily, and I put a single cupcake in front of him, then grabbed another bag.

I put a little icing inside it and said, “Here, watch me carefully.” I took my time icing it and talked him through the technique to get a perfect swirl on the top. “Got it?”

“Not at all,” he said slowly. “I’ll try, though.”

I grinned as he leaned forward and squeezed the bag. A huge dollop of frosting splurged out of the end, and I burst out laughing at the high-pitched noise of shock that escaped him.

“Shut up,” he muttered. “It comes out easier than I thought.”

The teenager in me so badly wanted to reply, “That’s what she said,” but I bit back the urge and stayed quiet as he tried again, this time gently squeezing the frosting onto a side plate until he got the hang of it.

Maybe I should have given him a basic buttercream.

“All right, if you can’t make it, don’t waste it.”

“Calm down, calm down.” He leaned forward until he was right in front of the cake and raised the tip of the bag to his starting point. Slowly, he squeezed, gently covering the top of the cupcake in the frosting, but he went too fast for the finish and ended up with a point that was almost two inches high. “Oh.”

It was obviously too much as the frosting flopped to one side and slid right off the cake, splatting all over the counter.

“Oh,” he repeated. “That didn’t go well.”

“Never mind.” Laughing, I took back the main piping bag, then quickly re-iced the cupcake before handing it to him. “There are boxes on the shelf if you want to take it home with you.”

“Here?”

“Next shelf up.”

Maverick took down a single cupcake box and built it, then put the cake in the box.

I met his gaze. “That’ll be two dollars.”

He blinked at me.

I laughed. “Kidding. Don’t look so alarmed.”

Shaking his head, he sat back down at the table. “I get whiplash in this town.”

“Ah, it could be worse. At least your harem of fangirls don’t know where you are.” I tossed a smile over my shoulder. He’d told me the night we met that it was nice to be somewhere where he wasn’t recognized—one of his latest books had blown up overnight, one was being optioned for a movie, and he’d become a heartthrob for book lovers everywhere.

By his own admission he wasn’t against such a portrayal, but apparently his partying had gotten out of control and he was showing up in the media pages, he realized he needed to calm down.

After he’d left a trail of broken hearts, of course.

And that was the reason I wouldn’t and couldn’t date him. I was in no hurry to join that long list of women who’d fallen for Maverick Donovan.

“Don’t. Saylor took a photo of me working in the store and wanted to post it on the bookstore’s Instagram, but Holley managed to talk her out of it until I can move.” He shook his head. “I appreciate the support, but I do miss the anonymity a little bit.”

“Oh, yeah, being a superstar author with the whole world loving your work must be horrible.”

“Well, for every person who loves it there’s someone who despises it, so it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.”

“How horrible. I bet you cry into your large piles of money when someone leaves you a one-star review.”

“I wipe my eyes with one-hundred-dollar bills.”

“Poor Benjamin Franklin. He didn’t ask to be your tissues.”

Maverick laughed, leaning forward as I came over and checked the bread mixes. They were done, so I turned off the mixers and covered the bowls so the dough could rise overnight.

“What are you doing next?”

“Probably make some donut dough,” I replied. “Why?”

He tapped his laptop. “Taking notes.”

“Will you include a scene where your heroine teaches the hero to ice a cupcake and he fails dismally?”

His lips tugged to one side. “Right before he kisses her for the first time.” He held my gaze for a moment as he said that.

My cheeks were uncomfortably warm.

I cleared my throat and bent down, fetching a mixing bowl from under the table.

I’d walked right into that one.

“Ah, she blushes. So you aren’t immune to romance.”

“I never said I was immune to romance,” I replied, hoping my voice didn’t break with how dry my throat felt. “I said I wasn’t looking for it.”

“What if it finds you?”

“Then it’s probably gotten lost. Or it’s attached to a bad boy who’ll break my heart.”

“You’re reading the same books as Saylor, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m a woman. That does happen in real life, you know.”

“A pessimist, then.”

“Of course I’m a pessimist. What’s the use in being an optimist?”

He fought back a chuckle. “A bright outlook on life?”

“Hardly. You’re just setting yourself up for disappointment.” I shook my head as I weighed out the flour. “No, I prefer to always expect the worst. That way, you’ll never be disappointed, but you’ll always be happily surprised.”

Mav looked down and typed.

“What are you doing?”

“Writing that down. Seems like the kind of thing a jaded baker not looking for love would say.”

“Har, har, har,” I muttered. “Why don’t you just name her Piper and be done with it?”

“Because in my book, when love finds her, she gives in. Unless you want life to imitate art, I probably shouldn’t.”

“Depends who finds me.” I tipped the flour in the bowl. “If it’s a billionaire with a puppy, I’d consider it.”

“Damn, that counts me out. I don’t have a puppy.”

I threw my head back and laughed. “You’re not a billionaire, either.”

“No.” He pointed at me. “But I am fucking hilarious, and that counts for something.”

“Funny doesn’t run a business.”

“Speak for yourself. Look at Ricky Gervais. The man is famous at this point for ripping celebrities.”

I tilted my head to the side. “But I am not funny, nor am I Ricky Gervais. I also don’t have access to Hollywood, so unless I want a regular slot at Bronco’s on karaoke night, it’s probably not for me.”

“Probably not,” he admitted. “How many donuts will that make?”

“Not enough, probably. There’s a half-marathon in the next town over in two days, so I’ll probably have to double all my baking. I might even have to rope Tori in to help me at the front of the store for a couple of days.”

“Really? It gets that busy?”

“Tourist season,” I said by simple way of explanation. “However much I think I’m going to sell, I usually need to double it. Which is why you find me here, making dough, when I should be going upstairs to my apartment to have a hot bath, order takeout, and watch TV until I fall asleep on the sofa.”

“Such a glamorous life you lead.”

“What will you do?” I raised my eyebrows. “Do you have a fancy gala or charity ball to attend tonight?”

He snorted. “No. No, thank you. I’ll probably go home, mutter endlessly about my noisy neighbors, try and fail to work, then fall asleep on my sofa with my laptop on my legs.”

“Damn. You live life in the rockstar lane, don’t you?”

“You know it.”

I grinned. “Well, I can help with that tomorrow. Give me a flavor, and when I have some leftover plain batter mixes, I’ll try and see if I can come up with a few tester bites for your book.”

His eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah, there’s always some left over, so I can try a few things. Plus I’m getting a delivery tonight so I’ll have more than enough to try. Make it a cake, though.”

“All right. Hmm.” He rubbed his jaw. “Strawberry.”

“Strawberry? Really? That’s the easiest of all the flavors!”

“Then you won’t have an issue making me a ton of stuff to try, will you?” He grinned. “I’ll go to the front of the bakery and leave you alone now. I’ll see you in the morning, Piper… with a whole bunch of stuff for me to eat.”

“Oh, go away!”

***

I added the last taster to the slate on my kitchen table and stood back to admire my handiwork. Felicity had saved my butt this morning and come in early to help me get everything done so I could whip up these twelve tasters for Maverick.

I’d never tell anyone, but I’d had the best freakin’ time. I’d even made extra batter, and if I wasn’t under a time constraint, I’d have kept going. It was only my most basic plain cupcake recipe and I’d obviously perfect it once he’d picked a flavor, but coming up with the combinations had been fun.

The strawberry and butterscotch one was a personal favorite, and that was going on my menu as a seasonal cupcake no matter what. I was also a huge fan of the strawberry, almond, and vanilla.

That one almost hadn’t made it to the tasting plate.

Either way, I’d tried every single one of these creations, I was sick to death of cake, and I was proud of them all. I’d be happy to serve every single one in the bakery, and I was seriously considering making a cupcake of the day with a different flavor every single day.

My phone buzzed on the table, and I grabbed it to read the text.

MAVERICK: The bakery is closed?

ME: Shut early today. We’re both tired. Are you here?

MAVERICK: How else would I know?

ME: It’s a small town. You’d be surprised.

ME: Two seconds, I’ll come and let you in.

I put my phone down and headed out. There was a side door that gave direct access to the apartment without having to go through the bakery, and I used that door when I reached the bottom of the stairs. I couldn’t see Maverick in the alleyway, so I walked around to the front.

He was leaning against his car, looking at his phone. His backpack that no doubt contained his fifth limb—A.K.A his laptop—was resting by his feet, and my stomach gave a little flip when he looked up.

God.

That was not good.

I didn’t want my stomach to get all fluttery or flippy when I saw him, thank you very much.

“Hi.” He grinned. “Are you sure you want to do this today?”

“Yeah, it’s already set up. Come on up.”

“Up?”

“To my apartment,” I replied, waving for him to follow me. “The store is closed so there’s no point staying downstairs.”

“Oh, sure.” He grabbed his backpack and followed me down the side of the store to the alley, and I took him inside. Mav closed the bottom door behind him and locked it when I asked, then we both went upstairs to my apartment.

I’d left the door open, so I stepped inside and waited for him. He kicked his shoes off at the door and walked in, looking around at my small yet homey place.

“Do you own the apartment, too?”

“Yeah, it was for the whole building. The previous owners used to rent it out, but I needed somewhere to live when I moved back.” I locked the door. “Plus, logistically, it makes sense.”

“I can imagine, especially when you wake up so early.”

“Exactly. I just need to get up early enough to wake up and go downstairs, really.” I smiled. “The cakes are on the table over here. Come and sit and see if you like any of them.”

“Based on what I know about your baking, I doubt I could hate any of them.” He ran his fingers through his hair and joined me at the table. “Holy shit, Piper. How many did you make?”

“I, uh, got a little carried away. Don’t worry—I’ll use some of these combos for the store either way.” I put my hands in my pockets and shrugged. “Why don’t you get started?”

His eyes scanned the slate where the bite-sized morsels were all laid out. “I don’t know where to start. What’s your favorite? I assume you’ve tried them all.”

I held up my hands. “No. Nuh-huh. I’m not falling for that. You’ll use me to choose when you get stuck, but you’re paying me for this. You’ll have to do it by yourself.”

Mav groaned. “Okay, fine. Left to right, then. Do you have anything to drink?”

“Like water? Or beer?”

“Beer and cake? I’m moving in.”

“Calm down.” I rolled my eyes and fetched a beer from the fridge, grabbing a bottle of wine for myself.

Not that I was drinking the whole bottle.

Not from the bottle, anyway.

I poured myself a glass then took the beer to Maverick. He took it gratefully, swigging before he set it down on a coaster.

A coaster.

Be still my heart.

It was his first time here, and he instantly used a coaster. My brother still hadn’t figured that shit out.

I wasn’t sure I could watch this. It was one thing to offer a wedding cake tasting selection, but this was something else entirely. He was paying me nothing short of a fortune for this, and I needed him to fall in love with at least one of those.

“Strawberry and basil,” he mused. “Basil? In a cake?”

“Try it. You might be surprised.”

CHAPTER EIGHT – PIPER

RULE EIGHT: THE WAY TO A MAN’S HEART IS THROUGH HIS STOMACH. OR HIS PANTS.

BOTH ARE ALSO ROUTES TO A WOMAN’S HEART.

He popped the square into his mouth, albeit dubiously, but his expression quickly changed. “Holy shit. That’s amazing.”

I blushed. “Sometimes the weirdest combinations are the best ones. Keep going.”

He worked his way down the line, munching his way through the ones with mango, lemon, kiwi, pistachio and cardamom, and finally to my favorites.

“This one is amazing,” he said, holding up the butterscotch one. “Actually, they’re all fucking amazing, but if I think about it, I know I’ll spend the next week trying to talk myself into every flavor, so use this one.”

“Strawberry and butterscotch.” I smiled, tucking hair behind my ear. “It’s my favorite, too.”

“Then I made the right choice.” His lips pulled up. “Thank you for this.”

“You’re paying me for it. A lot.”

He inclined his head in acknowledgement. “True, but twelve different samples? That’s above and beyond, Piper.”

“Well, it was a little fun.” I pinched my finger and thumb together. “And I really couldn’t decide once I’d written them all down. Now the flavor combo is done, I can work out the actual recipe, because that’s just done with my unseasoned cake batter.”

“It’s going to get better? Jesus, I might never leave this town.”

I laughed and picked up the slate tablet it was on. I needed to wash it before it got super sticky, and since this was my personal one, I didn’t want that. “Don’t forget frosting. Although I’ll probably go with a simple vanilla frosting with half a strawberry on because the cupcake itself is so flavorful.”

“I have no idea how you can come up with stuff like this.”

“I have no idea how you can pull a whole book out of your brain, so we’re about even here.”

His chuckle was low. “I suppose we’re not that different, really.”

“Except the fire department doesn’t threaten me when I bake.”

“That was low.”

“Like your baking skill.”

He opened his mouth but nothing came out. He smacked his hand against the table. “Fuck. I’m so much wittier when I write. That was brilliant.”

I couldn’t stop laughing. I’d always been somewhat quick-witted, but that was good, even for me.

“You win.” He shook his head, then swigged from his beer. “I’m writing that down as soon as I get home to go in this book.”

“I told you. You should just write my life at this point.”

“I think I might be. I have your routine, your recipes, your one-liners. It’s part biography.”

I flicked my hair. “You’re welcome. Isn’t your laptop in your bag? Why don’t you just write it down now?”

He rubbed his fingers over his mouth. “I don’t want to bother you any longer.”

“You’re not bothering me.” I finished wiping the slate down and put it on the draining board to dry off. “If you go back to your apartment, are your neighbors going to be playing loud music?”

“Probably.”

“So hang out here for a while.”

“Piper, I—”

I stared at him. “Mav, we’re friends. Everywhere else is either closed or closing, and I don’t mind.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m not going to beg you.” I snort-laughed. “But it’s fine. Really. But I warn you, I go to bed early. I’m part-grandma at this point.”

A smile slowly spread across his face. “Have you eaten yet?”

“Dinner? No. I was just going to order something in.”

He walked over to my fridge and stuck his head in it. “Chicken… potatoes… do you have any vegetables?”

“I don’t know what those are.”

He peered around the door and fixed me with a look. “Are you for real?”

I held out my hands and smiled. “I can’t cook. Kind of pointless to keep food I can’t really cook.”

“How do you look that good with your apparently awful diet?”

“Thank you.” I leaned against the kitchen counter and cradled my wine glass. “I’m on my feet all day and probably don’t eat as much as I should. I’m constantly moving around the kitchen.”

He slowly nodded. “All right. Anything in your freezer?”

“Oh, there might be some peas in there.”

“Peas.”

“Maybe. I only really use it for ice-cream.”

“Again.” He motioned to my body, waving his hand up and down. “How? I’ve put on like five pounds in the last week and I’ve been working out.”

My eyes dropped to his biceps before I quickly raised my gaze again. “But you’re sitting all day. You could do high intensity cardio for like forty-five minutes and have an amazing workout, but my nine hours minimum on my feet every single day will burn more calories in the long run.”

“I suppose you’re right.” He opened the freezer door and started rummaging through it. “Frozen pizza… ice cubes… ready meals… Jesus, Piper.”

“What?” I put my glass down. “I cook all day. I’m tired of ovens by the time I come up here.”

“Peas.” He held up a brand-new bag of peas. “How long have they even been in that freezer?”

“At least since I moved in, and I only bought them because my mother called and insisted I had vegetables in the apartment.”

“Well, there’s not much of a choice. That’s all there is.” He put them back and shut both doors, then turned to me. “What about herbs? Spices?”

I shook my head. “Not up here. They’re all downstairs in the pantry.”

“Do you mind?”

“Do I mind taking you downstairs to the pantry where you’ll find ingredients to cook me dinner? No.” Laughing, I padded barefoot to the front door where my keys were. “The door’s locked so I’ll have to let you in.”

“Just to be certain, you have milk and butter upstairs, right? Dishes to cook in?”

“I have a fully stocked kitchen, thank you very much.”

“We’ll agree to disagree on that.”

Rude.

I unlocked the access door to the kitchen and turned on the light. “I said I have a fully stocked kitchen. I didn’t say it was the one in my apartment.”

“Touché.”

“You can take whatever dishes from down here you want. Pantry’s here.” I opened the pantry door and turned on that light, too, stepping inside. There was just about enough room for us both to move in here.

“Holy shit. This is amazing.” Maverick ran his eyes over the floor-to-ceiling spice rack that held every spice and herb I could name and a bunch I couldn’t. “Do you really use all these in cooking?”

“Most,” I admitted, scanning them myself. “You’d be surprised how well things go together. Sometimes even a basic cake or bread loaf needs a little something and a pinch of this and that works. Of course I never write those down, so that’s between my oven and God at that point.”

He laughed. “I mean it. I’m never leaving.”

“Excellent. Then let’s get married. I’ll keep you in cakes, you keep me in homemade dinners, and everyone will stop trying to set me up with random guys who could be serial killers.”

“Done.” He winked at me, reaching for a spice bottle. He set it on a half-empty shelf and continued looking. Within minutes, Maverick had stolen himself a little stash that he quickly spirted out of the pantry.

Shaking my head, I shut off the light and turned to follow him, but I wasn’t paying attention. I walked right into him with a scream, and he grabbed my upper arms to steady me.

“Whoa,” he said softly. “Why are you screaming?”

“I didn’t know you were there.” A nervous laugh bubbled inside me, and I looked up.

His blue eyes were exceptionally bright in the dimness of the pantry, and as he smiled, his entire face lit up. “You got any whipping cream? And parmesan?”

He was still touching my arms.

Butterflies exploded in my belly, and I had to swallow down an awkward squeak that threatened to escape my lips. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. “In the big fridge. I got a delivery today.”

“Hey, that worked out better than I’d hoped.” He winked again and finally released me, and I slowly let out a breath.

Yep.

This was definitely a bad idea.

***

I could add one more thing to the list of things I knew about Maverick Donovan: he really wasn’t kidding when he said he was a good cook.

I wasn’t even sure what he’d made, but it was one of the best things I’d ever put in my mouth. It’d be so long since I’d had homemade food that I could barely believe it’d come from him and had been made in my kitchen.

“That was amazing,” I breathed. “Holy crap.”

He grinned. “That good?”

“I can’t tell you the last time I had homecooked food. Neither me or my roommate in Vegas could cook and my parents never stay in one place long enough to really do anything. At least they haven’t for a while.”

“Do your parents live in White Peak?”

“Technically speaking,” I answered slowly. “They have a house here, but they’re never really here long enough to say they ‘live’ here. Last I knew they were in the Caribbean.”

His eyebrows shot up. “You don’t know where they are?”

“They’re nomads.” I lifted my feet onto the sofa and propped my head up on the back of the sofa. “As soon as I left for college, they bought an RV and got the hell out of town. They come back every now and then, usually around Christmas, and honestly I’m pretty sure that’s just so they can say they were here.”

“Does it bother you or your brother?”

“Not really. We’re used to it. I think it affected Josh more than it did me, since I went to college in Las Vegas, and he went straight into work.”

“What does he do?”

“He’s a builder. He’s annoyingly intelligent, but school was never really his thing.”

“I feel that. I didn’t go to college either.” Maverick shrugged. “I kind of accidentally fell into writing when my sister adopted an eight-year-old girl. She was really shy, but she loved books and telling stories. I was one of the only people other than my sister and her husband that she’d talk to, but both of them are about as creative as rockslide. Abby asked me to write down one of her stories, and as I did, I realized I really loved it. My sister told me to write my own damn book, so I did, and the rest is history.”

Oh.

My heart.

“That’s so sweet,” I said softly. “Do you see them much?”

“Whenever I can. Abby is fifteen now and reads redacted versions of my books.”

“Redacted versions?”

“Yes. My sister gets an early copy, reads it, and puts Post-It notes over the sex scenes with a warning not to read them.”

My lips twitched. “Does she listen?”

“She buys the books on her Kindle and reads them there.”

“Does your sister know?”

He snorted. “Nobody has ever told her. And I’m not going to tell her. I’m no idiot.”

I laughed. “That’s amazing. Surely your sister knows?”

“Did your mom know what you were reading when you were fifteen?”

“Probably. I wasn’t the stealthiest teenager in the world.”

“There you are, then. I’m sure Beth knows, but it’s easier for everyone to keep up the ruse.”

“Hey, like the ruse my parents keep up.” I smirked.

“Do you really never need them?”

Boy, that was a loaded question.

“Yes,” I said after a moment, my mind flashing back to my ordeal in Vegas. “There was a time… in Vegas… before I moved back home, that I really hated being so far away and that my parents weren’t there to comfort me. I had some therapy and had to work through a little hatred of them that came on the back of my issues.”

Concern darkened his eyes. “It was that bad?”

I sighed. “After I graduated, me and my college roommate got an apartment together. It made sense since she’d gotten a job and the bakery job I had was pretty stable. After a couple of months I realized I’d never have enough money to own my own bakery by just working in someone else’s, so I started picking up some bartending shifts in the casinos and stuff. Well, one of them took me on permanently and my boss…” I trailed. “Wasn’t a nice person,” I finally settled on. “He didn’t like to take no for an answer, and he harassed me and some of the other staff members. We tried reporting him but nobody believed us.”

Maverick’s jaw clenched.

“He followed me home one night, and after a couple of women in the bar said he was making them uncomfortable, we realized we had to do something before he did more than just make people uncomfortable. So we all got together and reported him to the police. The casino owner was so furious that human resources hadn’t handled the situation that he paid for our legal fees and gave us all extremely generous settlements. A couple of the girls considered not taking it and pursuing legal action against the human resources department, but I wanted to get out of Vegas, so I took it.”

“Shit. I’m so sorry, Piper.”

“It’s fine. I handled it, and the settlement from my old boss meant I could fulfil my dream of owning the bakery. The worst part was that my parents weren’t there and I was completely alone.” I pushed my hair from my face. “But I worked through that, too, and I accept it. Traveling makes them happy, and I’d rather they got to follow their dreams. They raised us well, and the reason they keep the house is so me and Josh have an inheritance one day.”

He slowly nodded. “So what do they do for work? Do they just travel all the time?”

“Pretty much. Mom makes some money off some blogging, which is weird. She started her blog and Instagram as a diary for herself when she realized that carrying about eleven thousand notebooks wasn’t a good idea.”

“I can confirm they start getting heavy after a while.”

A small laugh broke out of me. “Of course. You’d know.”

“That’s why my laptop and phone go everywhere with me. I always have a notepad, but it’s not really that helpful if you get inspired in the grocery store. People look at you like you’re weird if you whip out a notebook and pen in the bread aisle.”

“You get inspired in the grocery store?”

“Sure. Why not? There’s inspiration everywhere, Blondie. You just have to look for it.” He held my gaze for a long moment. “And sometimes, the inspiration feeds you cake.”

My lips parted, and the fire that burned in my cheeks made me dip my head. I knew it was all about research, but I actually inspired him?

Wow.

My stomach was fluttering again.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“I’ve asked you enough over the past few days. Go ahead.”

I look back up and met his eyes. “Out of all the places in America, all the amazing small towns and cities and just cool places to visit, how in the ever-loving hell did you end up in the middle of nowhere in Montana?”

He grinned. “I have absolutely no idea.”

CHAPTER NINE – MAVERICK

RULE NINE: IF YOU CAN MAKE A WOMAN LAUGH, YOU CAN RULE THE WORLD.

THE PART OF THE WORLD SHE LETS YOU RULE, ANYWAY.

Piper threw her head back and laughed. “You don’t know? What did you do? Get in your car and just drive until you found somewhere you ended up?”

I rubbed my chin, grinning, because that was exactly what I’d done. “Writer’s block,” I said by way of explanation. “I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t think, and when my deadline started creeping up on me, I knew I had to go somewhere else in the hope inspiration would find me. I really did just get in my car and start driving. I stopped in various hotels and rental places along the way, but it wasn’t until I got to White Peak that I felt like it was a place I could be inspired. And then I met you.”

Her cheeks flushed at the memory of our first meeting. It’d been nothing special—it hadn’t even been in White Peak. She’d had a bad date in one of the nearest towns and gone to a bar after to drink. I still didn’t know if she’d even had a place to stay that night, but we met at the bar and one thing turned into another.

I’d known next to nothing about her until she’d walked into the restaurant for the blind date Holley had arranged. As soon as I knew where her bakery was, there was no way I could keep going.

There was a certain magic to White Peak, and the more time I spent with Piper, the more I realized a whole lot of it was centered around her.

At least in my opinion.

The longer I stayed, the less I wanted to leave.

“That’s amazing,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t fathom that. You just got in your car in the hope you’d find inspiration.”

“Just as well I did. I found it, didn’t I?”

Another blush. “I’m just glad I could help you, even if it did start off a little weird.”

“It was the first time anyone has ever walked up to me at a date and told me they aren’t interested in dating,” I admitted. “And I’m not going to lie, it did spark a new story idea.”

She raised her eyebrows, her cheeks still tinged with light pink. “Great. Can I get a commission on that?”

I laughed and finally finished my beer. “That’s not how this works. And I’m never writing another baker again. Your life is exhausting.”

“You don’t complain when you get free food.”

“Hey, I cooked for you.”

“And I bet you’ll leave the dishes for me, too.”

“Well, I was invited to write…”

She waved a hand as she got up. “Fine, fine. You write your book, and don’t forget my witty comment about how bad your baking is.”

I saluted her and moved to the kitchen table. I had cleaned up after myself except for doing the dishes, and she wasn’t fooling me with that complaining. There was a damn dishwasher in the kitchen, so she was hardly doing the dishes.

I took my laptop from my bag and booted it up, then went in search of a power outlet for my charger. There was one on the wall next to the fridge, so I plugged it in and trailed the cable along the floor.

I was stuck as hell on this scene. I had no idea what to do now—ironically, the progression of the relationship with my characters somewhat mirrored mine and Piper’s. They’d met on a blind date, the heroine wasn’t interested in dating, and the guy was open to it. The only difference was that he didn’t need her for research. They were almost rivals as his grandmother owned a cafe and didn’t take kindly to a new person moving to town and opening a bakery.

I really needed more inspiration.

The time for their first kiss was coming, and for the first time in my fucking life, I was stuck. I didn’t know how or when or where it would happen, and until I wrote it, I wasn’t going to get any further.

I typed a sentence, then deleted it straight away. I did the same thing three more times until I finally had one, then glanced up.

Piper was loading the dishwasher, and I had a full view of her every single time she bent over. Her jeans hugged her lower body perfectly, and I couldn’t help but keep glancing at her ass every single time she put something in the dishwasher.

Fuck.

This wasn’t helping.

I sighed.

Piper turned around. “What’s up?”

“No words.” I saved the document and shut the laptop lid, then slumped forward. “This book is a slog.”

She closed the dishwasher and set it going. “I’d imagine some are, sometimes. I love what I do but God knows I need a break every now and then. I’m actually closing on Monday when this marathon is done.”

“You are?”

“Just for the day,” she said quickly. “But Felicity usually has Sundays off, and I can’t remember the last time I had a day off.”

“When’s that? Three days?”

She nodded. “If we can get through this weekend, it’ll be fine. Is there anything I can do to help you get motivated?”

I shook my head. “Thanks, but there isn’t. If the words aren’t there, the words aren’t there. I might need to come away from it for a day and see if the words hit me.”

“What about research? That’s why you’re up my ass every morning.”

I smirked.

“Not, um.” Piper pressed her hands against her cheeks. “That came out wrong.”

“Little bit, yeah.”

“Oh, God,” she moaned, bringing her hands together so that her face was covered. “I need to go to bed.”

I fought back a laugh. “I’ll go. You look tired.”

“I am.” She dropped her hands. “I’m so sorry. Let me try that again.” She ran her tongue over her lower lip, then dragged the soft, pink flesh between her teeth.

Fuck, man.

“What about research?” she said after a moment. “That’s why you’re in my kitchen every morning.”

“There we go.”

“Much better.” She laughed. “Where’s your book set? Is there a movie or TV show you can watch? What about a book?”

“You know, I haven’t set a location. I like to write what I know, so maybe I should just set it in White Peak.” I tilted my head to the side. “I mean, I wouldn’t go to New York City and write a book set on the beach.”

“They are not the same,” she mused. “Well, if you set it here, I can help you. I think my brother and the guys are going for a hike on Monday morning. Why don’t you go with them? Fresh air, you’ll get some inspiration for the area…”

“Would they mind?”

“I doubt it. We all usually have dinner on a Friday night at Bronco’s. Why don’t you join us tomorrow and I’ll introduce you to everyone? You already know Holley, Kinsley, and Saylor. And my brother, he’s obviously engaged to Kinsley.” She paused. “I think the only people not there tomorrow are Ivy and Kai, but their daughter is only one so that’s not unusual.”

Shit, I had nothing to lose. It wasn’t like I knew anyone else in the town, and if it was going to grow on me as much as it was, making friends probably wasn’t a bad idea.

“All right, yeah,” I said. “No idea where Bronco’s is, though.”

Piper grinned. “Meet me here at six. You can park around the back with my car. I’ll take you.”

***

“Holley and Ivy’s parents own this place,” Piper said as we approached Bronco’s. “So, pro tip, never bring a date here. It’s the worst.”

I smirked. “I can imagine. What kind of bar?”

“The best,” she admitted. “It’s technically a sports bar, but it’s the only one in town except for the dive bar a few miles out, so it does like live concerts, karaoke nights, little bit of everything. Unless it’s the Superbowl or something, then you just avoid it because it’s full of wannabe head coaches for whatever team is in the game.”

“So like every bar in America on Superbowl night.”

“Pretty much.”

I darted ahead of her and got the door, and she beamed at me.

“Thank you.”

She darted inside in front of me, and I let the heavy door swing closed after me. There was a gentle lull of music that was enough for an atmosphere but not so loud you couldn’t hear each other across a table. The seating was a mix of stools at the bar, booths around the edges, and a variety of wooden tables both circular and rectangle spread through the middle. There was a stage set off to the side where a young woman and an older man were setting up what looked to be a huge karaoke machine.

“Oh, no,” Piper muttered. “I didn’t know it was tonight. It’s usually Saturday.”

“Is karaoke a bad thing?” I looked around. “Where do we sit?”

“Follow me.” She led me over to an area in the corner that had been cleared. Two tables had been pushed together, and twelve chairs were in place around them.

That was a lot of people.

“We have a running reservation,” she explained. “Do you want to sit down, and I’ll get us some drinks?”

“Uh… if a stranger is sitting at your table, won’t that be weird?”

“Oh, shit, yeah. Come with me.” She motioned for me to follow her once again, but this time it was to the bar.

“Piper! You’re early,” a woman who looked similar to Holley said from behind the bar. “On your own?”

She shook her head. “Nope. Jasmine, this is Maverick. He’s new in town. Maverick, this is Jasmine, Holley’s mom.”

Jasmine wiped out a glass and gave me a warm smile. “Pleased to meet you, honey. Aren’t you the author? Holley’s been talking about you.”

“Uh, yes, ma’am. That’s me.”

“Wonderful. I’ve asked her for one of your books. Told her if she liked you that much I wanted to know why.” She winked at me.

“Well if she doesn’t get you one, let me know and I’ll make it happen.”

“Oh, I like you.” Her smile widened. “Are you staying long?”

“I’m not sure,” I answered truthfully. “Piper’s helping me with some research for my next book, but I’m pretty comfortable here. I might stay awhile.”

“Fantastic. Well, let me welcome you to town with your first drink on the house. What’ll it be?”

“Don’t argue,” Piper said quickly. “I saw the look on your face. You won’t win.”

I laughed, scratching my ear. “Okay, fine. That’s very kind of you. I’ll have a Budweiser.”

“Piper?”

“Pink gin and tonic,” she replied. “Not too strong, I have to handle the tourists tomorrow.”

“Ooh. Done. I’ll have one of the girls bring them over to you.”

“Thank you.” Piper smiled and pushed me toward the table.

“Aren’t you paying for yours?”

She shook her head. “Stick around long enough and you’ll learn that your first Friday night drink is always on Jasmine. I tried getting lemonade when I realized that and she laughed me out of the bar and stuck gin in it to teach me a lesson.” She shrugged. “She’s kind of like a surrogate mom to all of us. Tori’s mom is a deadbeat, Colton and Kinsley’s parents don’t live in White Peak anymore, neither do Saylor’s, she’s London’s aunt anyway, and Dylan and Oliver are English so they don’t have their parents here either. Oh, Seb’s parents are nearby, but they’re a bit snobbish,” she added.

“Wow. That’s a lot of people.”

“Yeah,” Piper said slowly. “Okay, I need to connect everyone up for you. It’s like a puzzle figuring out who’s who.”

I wasn’t looking forward to this.

“Start with me.” She put one finger on the table. “And Josh, he’s obviously my brother.”

I nodded.

“Josh is engaged to Kinsley. Kinsley’s brother is Colton who is dating Tori, and Tori is one of Saylor’s closest friends. Saylor is dating Dylan, and Oliver is one of Dylan’s friends from back in England and now they work together. Oliver is dating London who is Holley’s cousin, and Holley is dating Sebastian.” She paused. “There’s also Ivy and Kai, Holley’s sister, but they’re not here.”

I stared at her as our drinks were brought over.

“Is London coming?” She frowned. “Yeah, she is, because Chris is here.”

“Who the fuck is Chris?”

“Leo’s dad.”

“Who’s Leo?”

“Oh.” She stifled a laugh. “Sorry, Leo is London’s son. Chris is her ex, he moved back here not long ago and he’s making up for some lost time when he lived in Florida.”

“Right.” I licked my lips. “And Chris won’t be here?”

“Nah, he’s not really a part of the group, but we all get along with him.”

“Right.”

“You look perturbed.”

“I feel like I’m in the middle of a fucking Hallmark movie. All I need is some snow.”

She sipped her drink. “Stay long enough and you’ll get it. You are a city boy in a small town looking to fulfil your dreams, after all. You’re halfway there.”

I didn’t want to laugh. I really fucking didn’t, but I couldn’t help it. “What makes you say I’m a city boy?”

“You know nothing about small town life. You’re amazed that everyone is so close, like just now when I told you how everyone is linked. You have no idea how fast news travels, even mundane things like someone’s car has broken down. The sense of community seems to fly right over your head half the time, like just now when Jasmine welcomed you without batting an eyelid, and you’re in a constant state of… I don’t know…” Piper tapped her chin. “Almost… wonder.”

Shit.

She had me.

Down to a tee.

“You might have been to a lot of small towns, but you’ve never really stayed in one, have you?” She gave me a half smile, and her eyes sparkled as she said it.

I pulled out my wallet and held out two fifties.

Piper looked at them, frowning. “What are you doing?”

“For the therapy session you just gave me.”

She stared at the bills for a long moment, then looked up at me and burst out laughing. She was still laughing when a group of guys I didn’t recognize except for Josh approached the table, and all but him gave me a friendly smile.

I got it.

I had a sister, too, after all. Even if she was ten years older than me.

“Hey!” Piper finally got herself under control. “Guys, this is Maverick. Maverick, this is Dylan, Oli, Colton, Seb, and obviously you’ve already met Josh.”

“Hey,” I said, raising my hand in acknowledgement.

“Hey,” came the echo from everyone.

The guy she’d pointed to as Seb frowned at me. “We’ve met, right? In the bookstore? You had a meeting with Holley.”

“Oh, yeah, I think so.” I nodded.

He looked familiar, though. More familiar than someone I’d seen in passing.

Where did I know him?

“Where is everyone?” Piper asked, looking around. “Did you all come alone?”

Dylan shook his head. “No, Ebony Winters is outside with her baby.”

Her face brightened. “She had her baby! I have to see her!” She escaped from the table and ran out of the bar toward the door, drawing the attention of everyone in her path.

Colton slowly shook his head. “It’s amazing what babies do to women. Twenty-four hours ago, Tori told me she’d twist off my balls if I got her pregnant. Now, she’s outside cooing over a week-old baby. I don’t get it.”

Seb chuckled. “I’m going to get drinks. Maverick, do you need another?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

“So, you write.” Oli sat down opposite me, moving Piper’s drink to the side. “Romance, right?”

There was a reason I kept my circle small and didn’t often make new friends.

That question right there was it.

“Yeah, I do,” I said warily. “Sorry,” I added when they all looked at me a little suspiciously. “It’s not usually a question I like answering. People always ask me why romance and not sci-fi or something like that.”

Dylan laughed. “As long as you do what you love, who bloody cares? You’re obviously good at what you do. Fuck anyone who doesn’t agree.”

Colton agreed. “If we all did the same thing, it’d be boring. If I was a baseball pro like Seb, he’d still be playing little league.”

“Yeah, right,” Josh muttered.

Baseball.

Fucking hell.

“I knew I recognized him,” I said, sighing.

Colton laughed. “Shit, he’s falling into obscurity. How will he cope?”

“He’ll cry into his millions. He’ll be fine,” Oli observed. “So Piper’s helping you with your book.”

“Yeah. My lead female is a baker, and I can’t bake for shit. She’s helping me out.”

Josh grunted.

Yeah. He didn’t like me.

“Shut the fuck up,” Colton said. “You’re fucking my sister.”

“I’m marrying your sister.”

“Doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

“Let me guess,” came a voice I didn’t know. A woman with long, dark hair approached the table and studied everyone. “You’re Maverick.”

“Hello?” I said, uncertain.

“You and Piper have a thing, Josh doesn’t like it, and Colton is reminding him of the time he hooked up with his sister behind his back.”

“We don’t have a thing,” Piper said, taking the seat next to me. “But the rest is probably true. That’s Tori,” she said, leaning.

“Yeah, looks like you don’t have a thing.” Tori laughed and sat next to Colton. “Hi. I’m the life and soul of the party.”

“We don’t have a thing,” Piper repeated. “I’m not interested in dating, and he knows that. We’re just good friends. People can be just good friends, you know.”

“Y’okay.” Tori grinned, leaning back. “If you say so.”

Josh grunted again.

CHAPTER TEN – PIPER

RULE TEN: AVOID ALL PLACES WHERE ANYONE KNOWS YOU.

“Tell me again why karaoke is a bad thing.”

I blew out a breath and watched as everyone except me and Maverick threw back a shot. “It’s not bad, but Kinsley tends to rap Kanye and the guys do Bohemian Rhapsody. It’s more fun if you’re sober and can watch from back here, though.”

Maverick laughed. “I can imagine. Should I give them the disclaimer than anything that happens here tonight can and will go in a book?”

“Nah, they’ll read it eventually and figure it out.”

“Good to know.” He leaned over as the music got louder. “Your brother doesn’t like me, does he?”

God, he’d been a rude ass shit all night. I was about ready to throttle him.

“Don’t take it personally,” I said. “I know it’s hard, but he’s just protective of me. He doesn’t seem to get that we’re just friends, and it’s not like Tori helped matters earlier.”

Just friends who once fucked and now have butterflies. No biggie.

I also had to agree that Tori hadn’t helped.

I finished my second drink. Three was my limit, and I usually waited until later on, but given my brother and Tori, I was going to need that third one right now.

“I’m going to get a drink. Do you want one?”

“Yeah, sure. Here.” He pulled a twenty out of his back pocket.

I shook my head. “You bought dinner.”

“You’re saving my ass.” He held it out further. “Take it.”

With a sigh, I did, and I headed over to the bar to order a drink. London was already there, and I slipped in next to her. “Did you order yet?”

“No, but I’m next, so good timing!” She grinned. “How’s your friend?”

“Shut up.”

“Oh, come on. You have a crush on him. Admit it.”

“I’m not interested in dating,” I said firmly. “And you know it.”

“Neither was I when I got to know Oli, and here we are.”

He’d just moved into her house. “Doesn’t matter. Mav doesn’t live here. We’re just friends who are working together.”

Nobody knew we’d slept together, and I was going to die keeping that a secret. My friends would meddle incessantly if they knew the truth.

“Okay, okay, fine.” London held up her hands. “But you’re spending an awful lot of time together for just a couple of friends. Even tonight.”

“He doesn’t really know anyone, and my brother has a stick up his ass. Plus, I have to be up early tomorrow because it’s the half-marathon and I don’t want to be hungover when the bakery is slammed.”

“Your excuses are highly convenient.”

“London.”

She wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “He likes you,” she said into my ear. “He can barely take his eyes off you, and you keep looking back at him. Just… don’t be so quick to shut everything down, okay?”

“He’s not looking at me. I’m not looking at him.”

“If you’re not looking at him, how do you know he’s not looking at you?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but we were interrupted by the bartender, and…

Well, she was right, wasn’t she?

I wouldn’t know where he was looking if I wasn’t looking at him.

I mean, I was. Looking at him. And I knew he was looking at me. But where else would we look, right? He didn’t really know anyone, and I was the only other single person at the table.

Damn it.

I tacked my order onto London’s, and we paid separately. We both headed back to the table where Tori was arriving with another tray of shots she’d obviously gotten at the other end of the bar.

“Shots!” she shouted happily to us.

I shook my head.

“Yes!” she said emphatically, putting the tray down on the end of the table.

I was still shaking my head when I looked up and Maverick was gone. “Where’s Maverick?”

Saylor side-eyed me as I sat down and nodded behind me. I set our drinks down and turned my head to look over my shoulder.

He was talking to another woman.

Tall, slim, beautiful.

Why were other women always taller, slimmer, and more beautiful than you?

Ugh.

They shared a laugh, and stomach plummeted right through the floor to somewhere beneath the Earth’s crust.

My stomach had no business dropping like that.

It had no business dropping at all.

We were friends.

That was it.

Nothing more.

He was at liberty to talk to whoever he liked.

“Oh,” I said simply, turning back around to join the table.

Kinsley put the shot in front of me with a smile that said she’d seen too much. “Change your mind?” she asked softly.

“I’m fine.” I picked up my glass of gin and sipped from that instead, looking anywhere but at her.

Unfortunately, the gaze I caught belonged to my brother.

Sure. Ten other people at the table and it was his eyes I met.

The look in them was indescribable, but when they flickered away to something behind me, a hard glint formed there.

Kinsley kicked him under the table, catching my foot on the way. “Stop it,” she said firmly.

“I’m fine,” I said, albeit a little too loudly.

Everyone at the table looked at me.

Oh, fuck it.

I grabbed the shot and tossed it back.

Tori whooped.

I was going to regret the shit out of that tomorrow morning.

I didn’t know if anyone else knew he was talking to someone else, but I wasn’t sure it mattered. I was unhappier about it than I should have been. I was the one determined to pigeonhole him into being my friend, so he was free to talk to whoever he wanted.

If it weren’t for business, I’d have never seen him again anyway.

Right?

Right.

I looked down into my glass. I was going to finish this drink and go home before Tori took my one shot as an invitation for anything more and I had to see Maverick get even closer with Miss World over there.

Then tomorrow I would wake up, unbothered, back to normal.

We’d already agreed that he wouldn’t be at the bakery on a weekend because it was too expensive. All I wanted to do was immerse myself in my baking and hopefully try and nail down his first recipe so I could get him out of my hair.

With any luck, I’d be able to make a start on the second one, too.

“Hey.” Holley nudged me.

“He’s coming back,” Saylor mouthed.

Even Dylan and Oli were eying me speculatively at this point.

I smiled. “Who’s doing karaoke first, then?”

***

My friends were the worst influences in the world.

As I’d suspected, Tori had managed to get another two shots in me—I had no idea how that happened—and Maverick’s one trip to the bathroom had lasted four times longer than any human being needed to be in a public bathroom.

Oh, wait.

That was how the shots happened.

Sometimes, it was a good thing to have friends who knew you better than you knew yourself, even if the end result was you staying at a bar way longer than you intended to with way too much alcohol inside you.

Felicity was going to kill me.

On the bright side, the huge burger I’d eaten before we’d started drinking had done its job and lined my stomach. I was nowhere near as drunk as I should have been, and for that, I was very grateful.

It meant the headache would shift quickly.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen unless I left now and went to bed.

“I’m going,” I said, wrapping my hand around Holley’s arm. “It’s past eleven and I have to be up way too soon to stay any longer.”

“Oh, okay, of course!” She grabbed my hand. “Um, do you want me to get Josh or one of the guys to walk you home?”

I shook my head. “I’m fine. It’s just up the street.”

“Are you sure? I can’t let you go. It’s dark.”

“I’m okay. It’s like ninety seconds away.”

“I got her,” Maverick said from behind me. “I need to get my stuff from my car and call a cab anyway.”

“It’s fine, I swear. I—”

He untangled my arm from Holley’s. “She’ll text you when she’s home.”

Great.

This was backfiring.

Should have said yes to my brother.

“You don’t have to walk me home,” I said as Maverick opened the bar door. It was almost freezing outside compared to the heat of the bar, and I shivered.

He pulled off his jacket and draped it around my shoulders. “Don’t argue.”

I didn’t.

“And yes, I did. I need to leave anyway to get some work done tomorrow. I’ve got a bit of inspiration so I’m going to take some notes and see if writing a later scene will help me break through this block.”

“Okay. Well, thanks.”

“Plus you haven’t seemed yourself for a while and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine. Just tired.” I looked over at him and smiled, but it was a weak effort, and I had the feeling he saw right through it. “Stayed too late as it is.”

“Sure.” He smiled.

For the first time since I’d seen him at the table and laid all my cards down, there was an awkwardness between us. The silence wasn’t comfortable at all, and I said the first thing that popped into my head.

“So, who was the girl?”

Smooth, Piper. Real freakin’ smooth.

Idiot.

Mav glanced over at me with a small laugh. “Nobody special.”

“She was cute.”

“She was,” he said slowly. “She also knew who I was, so that took the shine off a little bit.”

“Maybe she likes your books.”

“She probably likes the books I give to my accountant, sure.”

“Well, you never know.”

We were already at the bakery, and we walked down the side alley to where both our cars were parked in my designated spots. Felicity was going to have to find somewhere else to pull up in the morning, but that wouldn’t be a problem given the time.

I would have to text her and let her know.

“Thank you for walking me home.” I shrugged his jacket off my shoulders and held it out to him.

He took it with a little hesitation. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m sure.” I gave him another weak smile and pulled my keys out of my purse, then unlocked the apartment access door.

“She wasn’t my type.”

“I’m sorry?” I looked back over my shoulder.

“The girl. At the bar,” Mav said, meeting my eyes. “She wasn’t my type.”

“Oh. Of course. Sorry, I spaced there for a moment.” I looked down at the ground. “Maybe you’ll find someone who is next week.”

His lips pulled to one side. “Probably not.”

“You never know.”

“Oh, I do. Because talking to that girl tonight made me realize I already know someone who’s my type. Just sucks for me that she only wants to be friends.”

Oh.

Ohh.

His smile reached his eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Piper. I’m almost out of bread.” He threw his jacket back on and walked away, shoving his hand in his pocket.

My tummy was warm from the alcohol, and a tinge of bravado flooded through me.

Could I—

No.

I turned away, intending to go up the stairs, but my feet wouldn’t let me, so I held onto the door as he walked away from me. “Mav?”

His step faltered. “Yeah?”

“If this was your book, what would you write?”

He looked over his shoulder, frowning. “What do you mean?”

I looked down at where I was playing with the door handle. “Your book. The one you’re writing now.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Your baker. She doesn’t want to date, right?”

“Right.”

“But the—the guy does.”

He turned, slowly nodding. “Yeah.”

“Well.” I let go of the door, only to fidget with my hands. “Presumably there’s going to be a time that she’s going to change her mind. Or maybe. Or not—not be sure.”

“Yeah.”

“How will you—would you—write that?” I kept my gaze on the floor. “When she knows the guy wants more than friendship but… but she isn’t sure. Like. She saw him talking to someone else and realizes she might be a little wrong.”

Quietly, he laughed. “There’s only one way a scene like that can end in a romance.”

I didn’t say anything.

“Assuming the conversation happens after a night out and he’s walked her home to make sure she’s safe,” he said in a low voice. “And he’s just admitted he has some feelings for her, and she’s stopped him leaving to admit she doesn’t know how she feels, he would leave his car and walk back to the door where she’s still standing.”

I swallowed as he did just that, closing the distance between us, then raised his hand.

“And he’d cup her face, tilting her head back so she has to look into his eyes.”

His actions mirrored his words.

“Then he’d wait, just a moment, as she took a deep breath, so he could decide if he was crossing a line or not.”

My heart was pounding, and I took a deep breath just like he’d said.

“Then he would do this.”

Maverick lowered his head and kissed me. Warmth instantly spread through my body, and I found myself leaning into him. It was the simplest of kisses, gentle and sweet, and I reached up to touch the side of his face when his hand moved to cup the back of my head.

But he never crossed a line.

Never went too far.

It was just… perfection.

He pulled back after a moment, his hand still at the back of my head. “Then he’d stop and wonder if he’d crossed the line after all.”

I shook my head.

No, he hadn’t.

“I—I think, in your book,” I whispered. “That’s what she might have been hoping he’d do.”

“Good to know,” he whispered back, slowly letting his hand fall. “Goodnight, Piper.”

“Goodnight,” I replied softly. “Um, I’ll save you some bread.”

His smile hit his eyes. “Good.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN – PIPER

RULE ELEVEN: IF YOU KISS IN THE DARK, DOES THAT COUNT? YOU’RE TECHNICALLY A LITTLE BLIND…

I was in so much trouble. All I’d thought about since I’d locked myself in my apartment last night was Maverick kissing me.

Well, that and the stupid way I’d reacted when he’d talked to that other girl.

It’d really been none of my business, but something inside me knew I couldn’t let him walk away last night without saying something.

I guess I just wanted him to know I did care about him.

Thankfully, he’d already been in for his bread, but I’d been knee-deep in cookie dough so I’d been able to avoid the inevitable awkward conversation so far.

Although I was kind of proud of myself for the way I’d told him I wasn’t sure.

Obviously it’d been enough because he’d kissed me.

I sighed with my fingers buried deep in some bread dough. I hadn’t been out of the kitchen today thanks to the predicted rush of the tourists, but at least I didn’t have too much of a hangover. I suspected the tiny headache was actually down to me not getting enough sleep.

That was the reason for the banger I had now.

I’d been baking almost all day, and Monday couldn’t come quick enough. I’d have to make dough later in the day on Monday, but I wouldn’t be up first thing.

In theory.

I finished hand-kneading this loaf and put it back in the bowl to rise. After covering it with clear film, I set it in the fridge, washed my hands, and sat down to take a two-minute break.

God only knew I needed one.

I pulled one of the white chocolate chip cookies from the cooling rack. It was still warm, and I practically inhaled it.

What was the time?

Oh, my God.

I’d missed lunch.

No wonder I was starving.

The only time I’d left the kitchen was to give Felicity her break. I really should have taken one after, but I hadn’t had the time. The tourists for the half-marathon had bought all the cookies and donuts, and I was having to bake at double time to replenish them. I literally hadn’t had the time to eat.

I grabbed another cookie. The problem was that I didn’t have the time to go out now—there was no way Felicity could mind both the store and the kitchen, and all the ovens were full.

I could order food to be delivered. I bet Felicity’s mom, Johanna, wouldn’t mind bringing me something over.

I grabbed my phone from my apron pocket and unlocked it. I had a few unread texts, which made sense since I hadn’t checked it all day. One was from Kinsley asking if I was okay, and I replied quickly that I was, just busy. My grandmother had sent me a message asking me to call her after dinner, and Saylor had asked me if I was making pot brownies because the bakery line was up the street.

ME: No, I’m not making pot brownies. I haven’t even had a chance to pee today. It’s so busy. What’s going on?

Her reply was instant.

SAYLOR: There’s a whole festival with the half marathon. The park is rammed. I went on a run this morning and saw it all being set up.

ME: You ran?

SAYLOR: All right, I walked through the park then stopped into your place and got a croissant. What do you want from me?

ME: LOL. That explains the tourists. We haven’t stopped all day and I just realized I missed lunch. Send help before I eat all the cookies I just made for the tourists.

SAYLOR: You need anything?

ME: Food and six thousand pairs of hands. Preferably at least one pair that can bake.

SAYLOR: Give me five.

ME: I was kidding.

SAYLOR: I was not.

She was not, in fact, five minutes. Almost ninety seconds after sending that text message, Saylor poked her head through the kitchen door and grabbed the frame.

“Phew. There’s this weeks’ run done.”

“What are you doing here?”

“You’re busy. We’re not so bad and all three of us are in. I’ve kicked Maverick out of the staff room and sent him to the café to get you something to eat. I can’t bake, but I can work a cash register, so Felicity can come out here and keep an eye on stuff while you sit down for ten minutes and eat.”

“You sent Maverick to the café?”

A wicked smile crossed her face. “Well, I wouldn’t be here if I’d gone, would I? Holley and Kinsley have the store sorted. Go outside and get some fresh air, I’ll switch with Felicity.”

I didn’t deserve my friends.

I waited until Felicity came out a minute later and did as she’d said, stepping out into the alleyway. It wasn’t the freshest of air thanks to the dumpsters, but I crossed to the small parking lot that provided parking spaces for our cares. I hadn’t even noticed that Maverick’s car was gone until I walked out here. Felicity was still parked out front, and that was testament to how busy we actually were.

I pulled my keys from my apron pocket and got in my car where I blasted the air conditioning until my cheeks were numb from the cold air.

I was exhausted.

I wanted Thor to jump out of a movie and carry me to bed so I didn’t have to walk up the stairs. Maybe I’d just nap in the pantry tonight. There were a lot of stairs up to my apartment.

I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes. I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, there was a gentle knock on the passenger side window, and I jerked awake.

Maverick was standing there, looking sheepish. “Sorry,” I heard him say through the window.

I leaned over and opened the door. “Don’t worry. I didn’t intend to fall asleep.”

He held up a white bag with Johanna’s café logo on. “I didn’t know what you order, so I asked her for what you usually get. Is that okay?”

“All I’ve eaten today is one slice of toast and three cookies.”

“Three cookies?”

“They were still warm. I was hungry. I couldn’t control myself.” I shrugged. “So, yes. That’s perfect. Thank you so much.”

“Is there a reason you’re hiding in your car and not your apartment?”

“There are a lot of stairs. You can join me.” I took the bag from him and set it between my feet on the floor.

Yum.

Tomato soup and grilled cheese.

That was the one.

I barely remembered to dunk the sandwich in the soup. I was so hungry I felt a bit like a rabid animal as I chowed down on the food. The grilled cheese filled a hole and by the time I got to the soup, I was able to spoon it into my mouth like a normal person.

“Here.” Maverick handed me a coffee. “You were so hungry you didn’t realize I ran in and made you one.”

My eyes widened. “Oh, my God. Saylor. Is she fine?”

“She’s charming people. She told me not to tell Holley.” He grinned. “She’s fine, and Felicity is fine in the kitchen. I think she’s enjoying having a break from people, to be honest.”

“She’s been hammered ever since eight. I never did get to ask anyone to help us out, but it’s not usually like this. I don’t need another employee. I’m not even sure I can afford another employee. But Felicity can’t go on like that.” I sighed, wrapping my hands around the coffee cup. “God, I should have swapped with her. I didn’t know she was struggling. I’m a crappy boss.”

Maverick laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m not kidding. It’s my job to know she’s okay.”

“She’s fine. She’s tired, just like you, but she’s fine. So you both need a break. It’s crazy out there, Piper.” He reached over and touched my shoulder. “It doesn’t make you a crappy boss. The fact you care about how she feels makes you a fucking good one, yeah?”

“I guess.”

“You need to take ten minutes as much as she does, and yes, you own the business, but you’re allowed to need a breather too.” He squeezed my shoulder. “But I think Saylor wants her pick of leftovers after she’s done.”

I dropped my head and laughed quietly. “She probably does. I’ll whip up her favorite cheesecake and take it to her tomorrow.”

“Seems like a fair trade. Just take a breather, okay?”

“Yeah. Thank you. I forget to do that a lot.”

“No kidding.” He opened the door and patted my leg. “I’ll give you a few to yourself.”

“Um, no.” I grabbed his hand before he could leave. “Can we—talk?”

“That never ends well in books.” He closed the door again. “Go ahead.”

Well, that was impulsive. What an idiot I was.

“Last night. I know I’d had one too many drinks, but—”

“Piper, if you tell me that you only said what you said because you had one too many drinks, I swear that I’ll get out of his car and go and get a recipe from the label of a Walmart pack of cupcakes.”

I met his eyes, mine widening. “No, that’s not what I was going to say.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“I was going to tell you that I meant it,” I said softly. “But for now, as far as anyone else is concerned, can we just… not say anything? And between us, just…”

“Let things fall where they may?”

“I’m still not interested in going out and dating,” I said with a smile. “But I do like you. And I like spending time with you, and I don’t want that to change.”

Maverick’s lips tugged to one side. “That is one roundabout way of saying you’re open to the idea of seeing where things go with me.”

“Yeah, kinda.”

His shoulders shook with silent laughter. “I get it. I like you, too, Piper. A lot. But I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to. If you really don’t want to date, I understand that. It’s only been like two weeks since our blind date.”

“But we’ve spent a lot of time together and we’re going to spend a lot more,” I said after a moment, staring at the back of the bakery. “I don’t like not being honest with people. I always think that I’d rather people just told me the truth about how they feel, and I try to live that way myself.”

“Treat others how you want to be treated?”

“Exactly that. You were honest with me when you told me I was your type, and I understood what you were telling me. I owed you honesty, too.”

Maverick reached over and took my hand. “On the subject of honesty, you should know basically all of that last night got rid of my writer’s block.”

“You wrote the whole night into your book, didn’t you?”

“You’re the one who said you wanted to be in a book.”

I looked at our clasped hands then over at him. “Well, whatever works.”

He laughed, gently squeezing my fingers. “I do appreciate your honesty. I would much rather know the truth. I also know you’re less likely to punch me if I get too close in the kitchen.”

“Depends what I’m doing.” I fought a smile. “I should really get back inside and help out.”

“What are you doing tonight?” Mav asked as we both got out of the car.

“Passing out on the pantry floor. Why?”

“How would you feel about me cooking you dinner again?”

“There’s nothing in my apartment.”

“I’ll bring it all.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you want?”

“Shit.” He laughed and we stopped outside the back door, scaring a bird off. “Remember when I said I was looking for another place to live?”

“Yeah. Your neighbors are assholes.”

“Right. Well, a couple of realtors have sent some stuff my way, but the problem is I have no idea where any of them are and need some help.”

I sighed. “You know Google Maps is a thing.”

“I know, but I can’t look at Google’s ass when it loads the dishwasher.”

“I knew you were staring at me.”

“It’s not my fault. You have a great ass.”

“Thank you. It was brought to you by bread and cookies.”

“My compliments to the bread and cookies.” He grinned. “So are we good for tonight?”

“I’m not turning down food. I’m no idiot.” I shrugged. “Come over about six? Six-thirty?”

“Are you sure you’ll be done here by then?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m closing at five then taking a nana nap.”

“A nana nap.”

“It’s what my family calls it.” I shrugged again. “Oh, I do have to call my grandma when I’m done, so make it six-thirty.”

He smiled slowly. “Okay. I’ll see you then.”

“Okay.”

Mav leaned forward and kissed my cheek, then stepped back and disappeared with a wave.

My cheek tingled where his lips had been, and I pressed my fingertips against the same spot.

Oh, boy.

I was in trouble.

CHAPTER TWELVE – PIPER

RULE TWELVE: THE TRUTH IS ALWAYS THE BEST OPTION. ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE A THIRD NIPPLE.

“Hey, Grandma. What’s up?” I cradled the phone between my ear and shoulder as I tightened the towel around me. As soon as we’d shut the bakery and I’d sent Felicity home with a cash bonus for her hard work and a box full of leftover baked goods, I’d come right upstairs and showered before I sat on the sofa and didn’t get back up again.

“The blasted rooster has gone!”

I almost dropped my phone. She’d screamed down the line, scaring the crap out of me. “Don’t shout,” I replied. “You almost deafened me.”

“The rooster has gone!” she said, a little too gleefully. “A rumor was spread that the fees would rise to care for all the animals, but they would negotiate with management if the rooster went. Apparently, a lot of residents were very upset with the noise he kept making, too.”

Holy crap.

Saylor actually did it.

She started the fee rumor.

“Wow. That’s… dramatic. How’s Mabel taking it?”

“Better than you’d think,” Grandma replied. “She pointed out that the rooster didn’t eat much so it wouldn’t make sense if the fee raising was stopped if he was rehomed.”

Crap.

“She’s not wrong,” I said slowly, one-handedly getting my underwear on. “What did they say?”

“That nice nurse Stacy said the problem was that she was using the rooster to fertilize the eggs and hatch more birds, so it was going to escalate to a lot more birds than they’d planned for.”

Genius.

“So what happens now? She already let them hatch a bunch, right?”

“She did. All the roosters will be rehomed, and it depends how many hens are left as to if they can stay. If not, they’ll be sold, and the money put toward the chicken feed. And she’s allowed to let the one who wants babies now hatch nine eggs if they can all be sold.”

“That seems perfectly reasonable.”

“Exactly. After she agreed to that, I did feel rather bad about complaining about the rooster,” she said slowly. “But I realized that eventually she’d stop selling the babies, and the stupid animal would keep waking me up early.”

“I’m glad you got the outcome you were looking for, Grandma, and I’m glad Mabel isn’t too upset.”

“No, well, between you and me, I think she was quite relieved. The rooster really was a bit of a nuisance.”

“I can imagine.”

“And, it gets better!”

Oh, God. What was going on over there today? “It does?”

“There was an anonymous donation to the center for the purpose of a gated flower garden!”

I frowned. “An anonymous donation? Wow.”

“Yes, and it was quite substantial. It’ll cover the labor for your brother and his friends to put a fence in for us, plus build me some nice raised planters so I don’t have to bend over with my hip.”

“Didn’t Josh make you some already?”

“He did, dear, yes, and they’re lovely, but not very big. This gives me bigger ones.”

“Oh, right. Well when it’s done, let me know if you want me to go to Mom and Dad’s house and get some cuttings from their yard.”

“Dahlias have big tubers, dear. You’ll have to dig them up for me. I’ll come with you when I’m ready. Best to do that in the winter. Oh, Piper. I’m so happy.”

Aw. I loved it when she was happy.

“I’m so glad, Grandma.”

“Can you find out who the anonymous donor was, do you think? I should like to kiss them.”

I would not be passing that information on.

Because I was pretty sure I already knew who was responsible.

I had a big gut feeling it was the same person who was cutting me a check not so anonymously.

“If I find out, I will.” I sat on the edge of my bed. “Grandma, I’m meeting a friend for dinner and need to get ready, I’m sorry. I’ll come and see you this week, okay?”

“Oh, yes. Of course. Is it a man friend?”

“Goodbye, Grandma.”

“Oooh!”

I hung up—quite rudely, I must say—before she could go any further down that line of questioning, and grabbed my phone.

ME: You did it. Hahaha.

SAYLOR: Did what?

ME: Got rid of the rooster. They all believed the rumor you started about the fees going up.

I quickly explained what Grandma had just told me on the phone and sent the text.

SAYLOR: Stacy is a genius. And glad she’s getting her flower garden. They’ll all enjoy that.

ME: Unfortunately I think they’ll end up branching out into vegetables. You know Kinsley’s grandpa likes tomatoes.

SAYLOR: Ah, well. It’ll stop them getting into trouble.

SAYLOR: Maybe.

I put my phone down and laughed.

That was never going to happen.

***

“It’s a good neighborhood,” I said slowly. “But it can be quite busy. It’s a pretty family-orientated area so there are a lot of kids there who’ll make noise on weekends and on school breaks.”

Maverick groaned. “Why is it so hard to find a place to live?”

“I don’t know. Mine came with the job.”

“No need to brag.” He smiled at me. “What about this place?”

“Oh, hey, that’s my brother’s neighborhood.”

“We’ll skip that one, then.”

Laughing, I leaned over and took control of the laptop, making him go back to that listing. “One, he’s moving out,” I said. “He’s moving into Kinsley’s place, selling his house, and they’re going to put an extension on her place.”

“Seems like a lot of work.”

“Yeah, but she inherited her grandpa’s house, so it’s pretty sentimental. Just needs some modernizing. Oh, this one is like four down from Josh’s. Colton lives on the same street, and he’s not moving anytime soon.” I paused. “I think if he and Tori lived together in anything except a twenty-seven-bedroom mansion they’d kill each other.”

“Sounds… healthy?”

“Nah, it’s fine. It’s just how they are. They’ve always bickered. But then I have weird friends, so.” I shrugged. “Saylor met Dylan when she needed a roommate, and even after they made things official, they still kept their own separate rooms. I think they’re only changing that when they close on their house.”

“Makes sense. Even people who have been married for thirty years have their own rooms.”

“Let’s be honest, if you were married for thirty years, you’d probably want your own bedroom, too.”

He snorted. “Probably. So is this a good place? We’re going off on a tangent.”

“It’s not my fault. I’m halfway to a food coma.” I leaned back on the sofa and put my hand on my stomach.

“Nobody made you get a second helping of that curry.”

“But it was so good, and I was so hungry,” I whispered.

He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. “I’m kidding. It’s the biggest compliment. Just help me look at the rest of these houses, and I’ll leave you alone to go to bed.”

“Fine.” I rolled my head onto his shoulder and took control of the trackpad before he could move his arm from where it was wrapped around me.

What?

I was comfortable.

Don’t look at me like that.

“My first choice so far is this one,” I said, referring to the one near Josh and Colton’s place. “I know firsthand they’re built well, the rooms are big, and the yards are big but not unmanageable.”

I clicked through to the next one.

“This isn’t really somewhere I’d personally choose. It’s a little too far out of town for my liking, but Seb’s sports center where he has a great gym is only five miles away, so that’s probably not a bad thing for you. You clearly utilize a gym where I… no.”

Maverick’s whole body shook.

“Stop laughing,” I muttered. “That’s a no… No… Oh, this is a good one. I think this is near where Saylor and Dylan looked at a house.”

“They didn’t buy it?”

“Outbid.”

“Ah.”

“She was furious and didn’t speak to anyone for three days. I think she threatened to live in a shack on a swamp right after until Dylan found the house they’re buying and she cheered up because it was even bigger and cheaper.”

“Your friends are a lot of work, aren’t they?”

“Why do you think we have such a large group? We share the load.” I laughed and sat up. “Okay, that’s about it. Options three, five, and nine are your best ones. They’re all with the same realtor so you should be able to see them all in the same day.”

“I’ll give them a call tomorrow. Thanks.” He took his arm back and shut down the laptop.

“Hey,” I said, turning. “You do know they’re all long leases, right? Not just a few months.”

Slowly, he faced me. “I know. I only asked for long leases.”

“Oh.”

“You were right what you said at the bar last night. I’ve never been in a small town like this, but the more I’m here, the more I really like it.” He laughed quietly. “And the people aren’t bad, too.”

“Except my brother.”

“He’ll come around.”

“Not as long as he thinks we’re dating. Although, to be honest, I could bring Brad Pitt home and he’d still be pissed.”

“He’s a brother. It’s his job.” He smiled. “If you change your mind about dating, you’re gonna have to convince him, though.”

Laughing, I dipped my head a little.

“Thanks for this, Blondie. I’ll let you go to bed now.”

“Can I ask you something before you go?”

“You just did.”

“Funny,” I deadpanned, getting up and following him to the table where he put his laptop and charge cord away. “I meant to tell you earlier before we talked about the hiking trails. I spoke to my grandma earlier.”

“Oh, yeah, you said you were calling her. Did she get the rooster issue sorted?”

“She did. He’s being rehomed, and they made some agreement about the young ones.” I stared at his back. “She also said there’d been an anonymous donation so they can create a flower garden.”

“Oh? That’s nice. I bet she’s pleased.”

“Mm. She is. She’s already told me how I have to dig up her beloved dahlias from my parents’ yard so she can replant them.”

He picked up his bag and turned, freezing when he saw me staring. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“The only people who knew she wanted a flower garden was me, Josh, Kinsley, Holley, Saylor, and you.”

He didn’t say anything.

“And none of us have a ‘substantial amount’ lying around to build an old woman a gated flower garden to protect it from chickens.”

Maverick still didn’t say anything.

“Why did you do it? I know it was you.”

After a moment, he sighed, looking away. “My grandparents died when I was young, and my grandmother loved gardening. She didn’t get to do it when she moved into her care home. All she had was a tiny balcony you couldn’t swing a cactus on. I hated that she couldn’t do what she loved, and I guess I had a moment when I heard you say that about your grandma.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “And it wasn’t a substantial amount. It was five hundred dollars.”

“Maverick, that’s a lot of money.” I closed the distance between us and touched my hand to his arm. “And it’s going to make a huge difference to more than just my grandma.”

“I know.” He smiled. “I’ll let you go to bed. You’ve got another long day tomorrow.”

“I have,” I agreed, following him out to the stairs. “Will you stop by in the afternoon if you’re not busy? I think I figured out the recipe for the cupcake and I want you to try it.”

“You did? When the hell did you have time to do that?”

“Here and there.”

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked at me. “Piper.”

“All right, all right. I kept a little bowl of batter and sporadically seasoned it and wrote it down on a hot pink Post-It note that’s now on the fridge downstairs,” I admitted. “I just kind of added stuff as I made other things, but I think it turned out really well.”

“I don’t have to frost it again, do I?”

I grinned. “I am never letting you frost anything in my kitchen ever again.”

“Good plan.” His smile matched mine. “Am I allowed to kiss you, or is that too much like dating for you?”

“I don’t know. If you keep doing really nice stuff, it’s going to make it hard to not date you.”

“Noted. So I shouldn’t buy your grandmother flowers for the garden, then?”

I swatted at his chest, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me close. His lips covered mine before I could protest.

Like I had a protest.

I shuffled forward so my body was pressed right against his. I didn’t have a single drop of alcohol in me unlike last night, so a part of me wanted to see if I still got butterflies as his lips moved against mine.

Spoiler alert: I did. A lot.

I had all the right tingles in all the right places, too.

Maverick pulled back and smiled. “Goodnight, Piper. I put the leftover curry in your fridge.”

I fought back a laugh. “Thank you. That was kind.”

“I made more than normal. At least now I know you won’t starve.”

I dipped my head and laugh. “Shut up.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – PIPER

RULE THIRTEEN: IF SOMEONE CAN’T HANDLE YOU ON THE FIRST DAY OF YOUR PERIOD, THEY DON’T DESERVE TO DATE YOU.

Ever since I’d woken up, my day had gone to shit.

Within ten minutes of being in the bakery, my stomach had started cramping like nobody’s business, and two ibuprofen and a trip to the bathroom later, the reason why had shown up.

At least I wasn’t pregnant.

I had to look at the bright side, or I’d cry.

After that I’d burned two trays of cookies, dropped a bowl of bread dough, and spilled my coffee in a buttercream icing mix.

If you asked me, the universe was telling me to haul my ass back to bed.

Unfortunately for me and the universe, that wasn’t an option.

Felicity saved me when she came in at seven-thirty and sent me upstairs to sit down for half an hour. In that time I managed to squeeze in a quick shower and get changed where she promptly banned me from my own kitchen for the next few hours and said she had it.

I wasn’t sure me on my period and tourists was a good idea, but I really didn’t have much of a choice. I did need to get out of the kitchen for a little while.

Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.

I’d never needed a day off as much in my life.

Thankfully, the bakery wasn’t as busy as the day before. It was still packed, but not line-down-the-street kind of packed.

After lunch we reached a lull, and I took five minutes to swap with Felicity since she’d already eaten. I made a quick sandwich and, when I was done, sent her home. There was no dough to make for the following day since we were closing and there was more than enough here for the rest of the day, so there was no need for the two of us to be here.

I was also hoping I could close early. If this lull stayed, that was exactly what I was going to do. Then I was going to go to the grocery store, buy eight pints of ice cream, seventy bars of chocolate, two bottles of wine, and half the potato chip aisle.

Then I was going to eat it all.

Then I was going to moan next week when I’d put on eight pounds.

If I were on the internet, I’d hashtag that thought as girl problems.

Another small wave of customers came in, and I rang them up one by one. When they left, another lull ensued. Apparently, the craziness of the morning had been confined to before lunch.

It was no bother. I’d just pack up the remaining baked goods and take them to the retirement home. I did it every now and then when there was a few too many things left.

Slowly, I began packing things into boxes. There wasn’t a ton of stuff, and that white chocolate cheesecake was going upstairs into my fridge along with all the leftover cookies.

All right, maybe next week I’d be complaining about more than eight pounds.

Never mind the Freshman Fifteen. I was about to experience the Mother Nature Ninety.

“Quiet afternoon?”

I squealed and turned around, clasping my hand to my chest. “Jesus, Maverick! Announce yourself!”

He laughed as he approached the counter. “Sorry. I thought you might have heard the door. Quiet afternoon?”

“Busy morning, quiet afternoon,” I confirmed. “Do me a favor and lock the door, would you? Flip the open sign to closed and pull down that blind before someone gets ideas.”

“That kind of day?”

“Don’t,” I said, putting cupcakes into a box. “I haven’t even done your cupcake, I’m sorry. Everything has gone to shit ever since I woke up this morning.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. It happens. You’re exhausted. I know you’ll get it done.” He pulled the blind down. “Besides, the longer it takes you, the more excuses I have to hang around and make you like me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I slid various pie slices into a couple of boxes. “Any excuse.” I smiled over my shoulder. “So your trip was a waste. Sorry.”

“Nah, it’s not a waste. I managed to get some writing done at the bookstore and ended up buying three books.” Mav shrugged. “What are you doing now?”

“Boxing all this up. I’m going to take it to the retirement home for all the seniors.”

“Need a hand?”

I blinked at him. “You know they’re insane, right? Also, on Sundays, they have these art and craft classes that get pretty… wild.”

“Wild? They’re seniors. How wild can they get?”

I pouted. “Oh, you have no idea.”

He hesitated, then shrugged. “All right. My car is round the back and it’s bigger than yours. Let’s go.” He rounded the counter and started to help me put things in boxes.

“Not the white chocolate cheesecake!” I almost yelled. “That’s mine.”

Mav looked at it, then at me. “All three-quarters of it?”

“Yes. And don’t touch the cookies either. They’re also mine.”

He looked at the stack of cookies. “Why do you need all that food? Was this weekend really that tough?”

I closed the lid of a box with various leftover pasties and sealed it with a sticker, focusing a little too hard on smoothing it out. “Like I said, I’ve had a rough day.”

“Yeah, but that’s a lot of sugar for one day.”

“Oh, my God, will you let it go?” I looked up and gave him a pointed look. “If I want to eat almost a whole cheesecake by myself, I will, okay?”

Mav stared at me.

“Sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean to snap. You haven’t done anything.”

His lips twitched into a smile. “No, I’m glad you did. Now it makes sense.”

“What makes sense?”

“Piper, I’m a writer. I write in a woman’s point of view sometimes.” He paused. “I have a very colorful internet search history that potentially has me on a FBI watchlist somewhere.”

“I don’t get it.”

“You’re snappy, tired, and you want to eat three-quarters of a cheesecake to yourself.” He chuckled. “You’re either on your period or you’re pregnant, but I know we used protection that night.”

“Oh!” I stepped forward and slapped his arm. “I am not pregnant!”

“Phew, thank God. I’m just getting used to this town. I’m not sure I could deal with a tiny needy human.”

“Oh, shut up,” I muttered. “Go and put these boxes in your car before I beat you with my spatula.”

He grabbed a stack of boxes, thus ensuring I couldn’t hit him. “Sounds kinky.”

I picked up the next stack and narrowed my eyes at him. “Keep walking.”

***

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

Maverick looked at me from across the car. “How bad can it be?”

Famous last words.

Everyone knew you never said that. What a stupid question.

“All right, then.” I got out my side and walked around to the truck. We’d put most of the smaller boxes into bags, and between us, we managed to get everything out and to the door of the retirement home where I tried the door.

It was locked, so I rang the bell.

“Hello?” a crackly voice came through the intercom.

“Hi, it’s Piper. I’m here to see Grandma and I have goodies.”

“Doors open, Piper, come on in.”

“Thanks!”

The door buzzed, and with a very deft use of my elbow, I managed to push down the handle and open the door. I propped it open with my hip and held it so Maverick could pass. He was carrying his body weight in boxes.

He waited for me just inside and I led him to the reception where we could finally put the boxes down.

“Ooh.” Amanda pursed her lips. “What have you got? Did you close early?”

I nodded. “Long weekend, quiet afternoon. I sent Felicity home at lunch and decided to give myself a little break, too, so there’s a bit of everything.”

“But not cookies,” Maverick quipped.

I glared at him.

Amanda turned to him. “You are new.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.

“I’m too young to be called ma’am. Amanda is just fine.”

I grinned.

“Yes, Amanda,” he repeated, fighting a smile. “Maverick. Hi.”

“Pleased to meet you. Are you with Piper?”

“He’s my muscle for the day,” I said quickly. “Where do you want this stuff?”

Amanda waved her hand. “Just sign in, and I’ll call for someone to come and get it. They’ve been surprisingly well-behaved today, but their art lesson is painting so anything can happen.”

I fought back a smile. “Didn’t Rosie ask the teacher to pose nude for them last time?”

Maverick startled.

“Yeah,” Amanda said slowly, passing us the clipboard. “He didn’t want to come back.”

“Can’t say I blame him.” I signed in and handed it to Maverick. “Just put your name and time of arrival under mine.”

He did that and gave the board back to Amanda.

“Thank you. You can go on over. They’re all in the screened porch today, but I have no idea what you’ll find when you get there. Frankly, after last week’s pottery lesson and Betty’s penis bowl, I don’t think I want to know.”

Ah. The penis bowl. Betty was a fairly new resident who’d settled in just fine with the troublemakers, and in her first art lesson, she’d created a beautifully round bowl. Turned out she did pottery in her younger years, and everyone was suitably impressed.

Until she made tiny clay penises and attached them to her bowl.

I was still trying to decide if Mabel or Agatha had dared her to do it or if she’d just done it for fun.

“I’m sorry, what?” Maverick whispered to me. “She made a what?”

“I tried to warn you. You didn’t listen.” I shrugged, tucking my hands into my sweater pockets. “You really could stumble upon anything in this room, just a warning.”

“I don’t think I want to do this.”

“Too late. Think of it as… inspiration for your next book.”

“Inspiration? What’s inspiring about a bunch of seniors crafting genitalia?”

I shrugged again. “I don’t know, but it’s certainly a talking point.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he muttered to himself. “This place is huge.”

“Yep. It’s to house all the egos.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Have I been joking about anything so far?” I raised my eyebrows, and when he didn’t reply, I said, “Exactly.”

We turned the corner to the hall that led to the screened porch. It saved us having to go through the giant living area and get waylaid by someone who wasn’t in an art mood today.

About fifteen of the seniors were sitting in front of little easels on individual tables. They were the kind that folded away for camping or something like that, and by the looks of it, they were nearly done.

A very large bowl of fruit was on some kind of pedestal in the middle of the room. That was simple enough to paint, but I had no doubt someone would make it inappropriate.

I motioned for Maverick to hide quietly at the back of the room with me. Honestly, he should be thanking his lucky stars he wasn’t here witnessing those yoga sessions.

To their credit, they were getting pretty good at it. I still wished they wouldn’t wear the neon Lycra pants, though. Dylan had tried and failed to implement a dress code.

Ten minutes passed before Grandma held up her hand. “I’m done.”

At least we could count on her to have done a good job at the fruit bowl. There would be nothing inappropriate in hers.

I shuffled around to take a look. “Hey, Grandma,” I said softly, putting my hand on her shoulder. “Looks good.”

She startled a little. “Oh, Piper.” She laughed, reaching up and touching her wrinkled hand to my soft one. “I didn’t know you were coming today.”

“I brought treats.” I winked. “I closed the bakery early and thought I’d bring some over.”

“Oh, yum. A nice slice of cake is just what I need after this.”

“I finished!” Mabel sang, waving her paintbrush in the air. “Look at my fruit balls!”

Her fruit balls?

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Mabel proudly held up her canvas. She looked as though she’d made a good start, but somewhere along the line, the banana and lemons had been placed to great a giant yellow penis, and the apples all had…

No.

Were those… nipples?

“Are those nipples on your apples, dear?” Betty adjusted her cat-eye shaped glasses. “Gracious. Look at that banana schlong!”

I glanced over at Maverick. He was still leaning against the wall where I’d left him, and his eyes were as wide as saucers. He was totally rocking the deer in headlights look, and I had to stop myself from bursting out laughing at the expression on his face.

He… was finding out what life in White Peak was truly like.

Best he learned that before he signed a one-year rental lease on a house.

“Oh, Mabel, can’t you be civilized for once in your life?” Rosie asked, adjusting her own bright orange frames.

“You asked if we could sketch naked men,” Agatha pointed out, pointing her paintbrush at Rosie. “You’re not exactly better.”

Rosie sniffed. “Nude sketches are very tastefully done.”

“So is my banana penis!” Mabel exclaimed. “And you have to look extremely hard to see the nipples on the apples!”

“They’re obvious!” Amos, Sebastian’s grandfather, chortled. “Terrible nipples. Are they your own?”

“Oh, dear,” Grandma muttered. “Perhaps we should go.”

I looked at Maverick who was watching the scene with a mixture of amusement and straight up horror etched into his features. “Give it a minute. I want to see where this goes.”

“Oh, Piper.”

“The audacity!” Mabel huffed. “Just because you’ve never had a schlong like my banana one doesn’t mean you can criticize my nipples, Amos!”

Where was Leonard? Leonard was her boyfriend and was somewhat successful at keeping her under control.

“Leonard chose a bad time to take a nap,” Grandma mused.

I’ll say.

“I’m sure your nipples are lovely, Mabel,” a gentleman whose name I didn’t know said.

“Don’t be a pervert, Stanley. I’ll tell my Leonard what you’ve been saying!”

“And that’s enough,” one of the nurses said, walking into the room. “Honestly, can’t a girl use the bathroom without you all regressing to your teenage years?”

“If only our bladders did.” Randy chortled. He was Kinsley’s grandpa and one of my favorite people.

I’d long thought he and my grandmother had a soft spot for one another, but since Josh and Kinsley were getting married, I doubted it would come to anything more than a simple companionship.

Not that I wanted to think about any of these people doing anything other than be friends, you understand.

“Who are you?” Agatha asked, looking in Maverick’s direction. “I don’t know you. Introduce yourself, boy.”

“Oh, boy, here we go,” I breathed. “Agatha, this is my friend Maverick.”

She looked over at me. “When did you get here?”

“Just before you all started arguing about fruit genitalia,” I explained. “I needed some help bringing some stuff from the bakery and he offered to help.”

It wasn’t strictly a lie.

Rosie narrowed her eyes. “Is he your boyfriend?”

“He is not my boyfriend.”

“He looks like your boyfriend,” Mabel offered.

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” I replied.

Randy cleared his throat. “Did you say you’d brought stuff from the bakery?”

I nodded.

“Vicki, dear, shall we go and see what’s available? Perhaps Piper’s friend can help us out,” he said to Grandma.

“Yes, let’s do that.”

“I want her friend to help me!” Agatha shouted. “Does he have a nice bum? I liked it when Sebastian would visit. He has a great bum.”

Um.

Oh dear.

I forgot what happened if you brought a young, hot guy into this place.

“Nice bum or not,” Rosie said, wrinkling her face up. “What would he want with an old hag like you?”

“Better me than a washed-up old tart like you!”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – MAVERICK

RULE FOURTEEN: IF A WOMAN TRIES TO WARN YOU ABOUT SOMETHING, LISTEN. FOR GOD’S SAKE, LISTEN.

What in God’s name was happening here?

“A washed-up old tart?”

“So washed-up even a beach wouldn’t want you!”

Well, shit.

I should have listened to Piper when she said this place was insane.

“Agatha. Rosie. That’s enough.” The nurse walked into the middle of the room and motioned for them both to get up. It took them a minute given their advanced age, and I swear the nurse almost clipped Rosie around the back of the head when she tried to poke Agatha with her cane.

“I want the new boy with the nice bum!” Agatha yelled as she was shuffled out of the room.

I really didn’t know why I was still standing here. I was equal parts shocked, confused, and completely and utterly amused at the insanity of what was going on. I’d never met a group of seniors like this, and I’d put money on the fact I probably never would again.

“Hello, dear. I’m Betty.” A little old woman with a marble cane and bright red lipstick sidled up to me.

Well, sidle was a strong word.

She… pottered.

“Hello, Betty. It’s very nice to meet you,” I said politely.

“Do you have a nice bum? Can we see?”

“Oh dear,” I heard Piper’s grandma say. “Piper, I think you should go and save him.”

“Do I have to? This is fun.”

I shot her a glare.

“I’m coming,” she said, quickly moving away. “Betty! I see you’re causing trouble again.”

“Me? I don’t cause trouble. Trouble finds me.” She batted her eyelids at me. “What’s your name? Is it Trouble?”

Involuntarily, I took a step closer to Piper. “Help.”

She laughed, touching my arm. “Betty, why don’t you go to the living room? I brought treats from the bakery, and there was only one blueberry muffin left. I put your name on the box, but you know what Agatha’s like.”

“Ooh, Agatha!” The old woman shook her fist in the air and turned her attention to going to retrieve her sweet treat. “If she steals my muffin I’ll beat her with my cane!”

“Is it always like this?” I whispered to Piper when Betty had moved on.

“Pretty much,” she replied quietly. “I’ll tell you who’s who in a minute, but my grandma is—”

“Hello, dear.” Her grandma approached and held out a hand for me. “I’m Vicki, Piper’s grandmother. And you are?”

At least she hadn’t asked about my ass yet. “Maverick Donovan, ma’am. It’s lovely to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Absolutely none of it is true.” She beamed, and the smile was almost identical to Piper’s. “But everything I have to tell you about her absolutely is.”

“Grandma!”

The old man next to her chuckled and shook my head. “Randy. Good to know ya.”

“You, too, sir.”

“Got any of those chocolate fudge cakes, Piper?”

“There’s a slice with your name on it.” She smiled at him. “Just remember to take your teeth out this time.”

He chortled. “Last time I forgot and stuck my chompers together.”

“Randy, quick, before Rosie raids all the good stuff.” Vicki tugged at his arm, and together they shuffled off. “Come in soon, dear!” she called over her shoulder to Piper.

“We will!” Piper called back, waving after her. “Come on. Outside, quickly. Before Mabel gets over here.” She grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the porch, down the hallway, and through some large sliding double doors that opened when she hit a big button at the side.

We walked out into the pleasant afternoon air, heading toward a pond that had several ducks swimming in.

“I think I need therapy after that,” I said after a few minutes.

“That is the general consensus,” she replied, sitting on a bench. “I thought they might have been done with the class by the time we arrived. In hindsight, I should have dropped the bakery stuff and ran. There is a bright side, though?”

“There’s a bright side to seniors painting genitalia-inspired fruit?”

“You’re now officially welcomed to White Peak.” She grinned at me. “You survived.”

“Survived is one word.”

“You could use them next time you have writer’s block.”

“I’m not entirely sure how they fit into a book, to be honest.” I shook my head. “I can’t see any situation in which my characters would have grandparents who paint food pornography and hit on twenty-something young men.”

She shrugged. “They always ask all young guys if they have nice bums. It’s kind of what they do. Should have seen Agatha and Mabel after Sebastian came back to town. They almost stalked him.”

“Is that… normal?”

“No, not at all.”

I frowned. “So why don’t you tell them to stop?”

She looked at me. “Do you think anyone could stop them? They’ve reached the age that they genuinely don’t care. Agatha says she’s lived her life abiding by other peoples’ rules, and now she’s in her eighties, the only rules she’ll live by are the ones she makes herself. You try telling her that’s not how it works.”

I thought about it for a moment. “Actually, it makes perfect sense. I suspect that when I’m eighty I won’t really want to live by anyone else’s rules, either.”

“I know I won’t.” Piper laughed, tucking her dark blonde hair behind her ear. “I don’t really do that now, to be honest.”

I chuckled. “So who is everyone?”

“Randy is Kinsley’s grandpa, Amos is Seb’s, Agatha is Tori’s grandma, Mabel is Saylor’s, and Rosie is Holley and London’s.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Holley came from Rosie?”

“Not directly, but yeah.” She smirked. “We’ve all wondered how that happened for years.”

No kidding. From what I’d just seen, Holley couldn’t be any more different from her grandmother.

I looked around the expansive area. “Why can’t they fence in the ducks?”

“Hm?” Piper blinked at me. “Like the whole pond?”

“Their house is right there. Why not fence in the ducks? It looks like the chickens are fenced in to stop them going in the pond.”

She nodded. “The chickens are only allowed out everywhere when everyone is outside. One of the chicks drowned so that’s a new rule.”

“Right.” I shook my head. This place was wild, but it was funny, because it was the exact kind of place my own grandmother should have ended up living in. Not the boring concrete jungle she’d died in.

I leaned back on the bench and sighed. It was nice here—peaceful, despite the ruckus that was inevitably going on inside. The ducks periodically dipped their heads under the water, occasionally going so far as to stick their behinds right in the air with a little shake.

It’d been a long time since I’d just stopped and sat down. My mind was always working—on the next book, the next deadline, the next proposal. There was always an idea or something to write down, but sitting here, next to Piper, watching the ducks do their thing, I just felt…

Silence.

Like my mind could clear for the first time in months.

“You look like you’re thinking about something.”

I peered over at her. “Actually, I’m not. For the first time in a while. It’s so peaceful out here.”

She nodded. “If I can steal five minutes, I will. I love it here. Especially when nobody else is out here.”

“I can see why.” I reached over and took her hand, and she slipped her fingers between mine, smiling shyly at me. “Now, how long do you think it’ll take your brother to push me off a cliff tomorrow?”

***

I wasn’t looking forward to this hike.

I knew Josh didn’t like me. Given that my feelings for his sister were quite rapidly growing, I wanted him to like me. He had no reason not to except for the fact he thought there was something going on with me and Piper.

And there was, but it was just that.

Something.

Undefined.

Natural.

She didn’t want to put herself in a position where she was dating, and I wasn’t going to push her into anything she didn’t want to be pushed into. That also meant I didn’t have anything to tell anyone regarding the state of our relationship, because I didn’t know what it was either.

As far as she was concerned, we were friends who were seeing where things ended up, and I was absolutely okay with that.

In all honesty, I just liked spending time with her. She was carefree yet driven at the same time, and while I’m sure my checks with her name on was the only reason she’d agreed to let me hang out at the bakery, it wasn’t the reason she let me cook her dinner or texted me.

I knew she’d come round.

I hoped she’d come round.

I didn’t want to leave White Peak. Since our hike had been delayed until just before lunch, I’d viewed one of the houses this morning, one on Josh and Colton’s street, and I’d already applied for it. She’d been right when she said it was perfect, and it was being rented part-furnished.

Which was great.

I had no furniture.

I pulled up in the café parking lot at the bottom of the trail the guys had said we were going to start up. There was a clearing halfway up called Peak Place, and it was the place Seb and Colton had decided I needed to see if I was stuck for inspiration.

It sounded like the kind of place my characters could go for a date.

I got out of my car and looked around. There was nobody else here yet, but I tensed when I saw Josh drive in a few minutes later. I didn’t know what I could do for him to like me, so I pulled out my phone and pretended I didn’t see him.

Thankfully, it wasn’t longer before everyone else showed up in a stream of cars. The greetings were swift and warm—ignoring Josh—and we quickly made our way onto the path.

“How’s your house search?” Seb asked me, falling into step beside me.

“Pretty well. I applied for a place today, actually.”

“Awesome. Where abouts?”

“Right by Colton and Josh.”

Josh grunted.

Colton side-eyed him. “Ignore him. He’s got a stick up his ass.”

Josh didn’t say anything.

Dylan rolled his eyes. “Wedding planning is stressing him out.”

“The idea of his sister dating is stressing him out,” Colton corrected him.

“We’re not dating.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. “We really are just friends.”

Technically.

“Right, but you like each other. She doesn’t laugh the way she does when she’s with you.” Colton looked over at me. “And you clearly like her.”

I didn’t answer that. I had the feeling there was no right answer.

“There we go.”

“Well, my sister isn’t known for her taste in men,” Josh muttered.

He was trying to get a rise out of me, and it wasn’t going to happen.

“Don’t be a dick,” Seb warned him.

“I was just adding to the conversation.”

“No, you’re trying to make it awkward,” Colton retorted.

Oli glanced around. “It worked.”

Yep.

It was awkward. I was unwelcome, and I wasn’t going to stay any longer. Josh really didn’t want me here, so I was leaving.

From what I knew, we were only about halfway up to Peak Place. The trail until now had been easy to follow, and even though I had no phone signal, I knew I’d be able to get back down.

“Hey,” I said. “Thanks for the invite, but I think it’s best if I go.”

Seb stopped and threw out his hands. “For fuck’s sake, Josh.”

Colton shook his head. “Don’t. He’ll get over it.”

“No, it’s fine.” I held up my hands and looked at Josh who was still walking away from me. “Josh, I don’t know why you don’t like me. You’ve barely said two words to me. If you’re trying to make me stay away from Piper, it’s not going to work. We’re friends, and she’s helping with my book. That was her decision. I didn’t hold her up in the bakery at gunpoint and force her into doing this for me.”

He faltered for a moment, but he kept walking right after.

The others all looked at me with sympathy. “You don’t have to go,” Dylan said. “We can hike in two.”

“No, it’s best I do. But thanks, I appreciate it. I should be able to find this trail on my own now.”

“I come up here a couple times a week. I’ll get your number and text you.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll walk you down.” Colton turned to me. “Wait for me at Peak Place. I’ll catch up with you.”

He didn’t give me any chance to argue, just turned me around and gave me the slightest nudge to get me walking.

“You know I punched him in the face when I found out he was sleeping with Kinsley behind my back?”

“You what?”

“Yeah. We were at a stupid duck parade at the retirement home, and one of the seniors let it slip. Apparently, everyone knew but me. I saw red and almost broke his nose. Everyone wondered how I could do that to my best friend.” He cocked his head. “Wasn’t that hard.”

I could understand.

“He’s… really protective of Piper. Too protective. He wants her to date, but when it happens, it’s never good enough. I get it.” Colton shrugged and adjusted the straps of his backpack. “Same, you know? I didn’t think he was good enough for my sister, but I got over it. He will, too.”

“We’re not dating,” I said honestly. “We’re not strictly friends, either, but that’s down to her. I’m not going to push her into anything.”

“That’s the way to do it. She’s the most headstrong out of all the girls. Always has been. She wants everything to be on her terms, but if you can change her terms, you’ll get there.” He smiled at me.

“Thanks.”

“You ain’t gonna make Josh like you, though. But that was good back there. Always a pleasure to see someone being called on their shit, even if he is my best friend.”

“Nah, I just… I dunno. I don’t want to make it awkward for Piper.”

“Piper can handle her brother. Don’t worry about that.” He slapped me on the shoulder when we reached the bottom of the trail. “Just worry about you and her.”

“I think I have to worry about my deadline first.” I laughed. “Thanks for walking me back down. You didn’t have to.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t want to come in the first place. I only came because I knew Josh would be on his period.” He shrugged off his bag. “I’m going to Piper’s to see if she’s got any food.”

“She’s closed today.”

“Oh, fuck it. Think she’s got any leftovers?”

“Probably.”

“I can work with that.” He grinned and headed for his car. “Don’t let him get you down.”

I held my hand up with an assurance that I wouldn’t and went back to my car. I finally had a phone signal again, and I saw I had two texts from Piper.

PIPER: I did it!!! I got the recipe right!!!!! For the cupcake!!!!

PIPER: Come over and try it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The second text was topped off with a string of cupcake emojis.

ME: Will it save until tomorrow? Have work to do.

Her reply was quick.

PIPER: I’ll put it in the fridge. It’s not frosted yet. How was the hike? Are you done already?

ME: Yeah. It was good.

The lie tasted bitter as I hit send.

I hated lying to anyone, especially to her, but it was her brother.

What was I going to say?

Oh, no, it was shit because your brother was a fucking prick to me so I left early?

Nah.

I was going to leave it.

And hope he’d come around eventually.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – PIPER

RULE FIFTEEN: WHAT—AND WHO—YOU DO IS NOBODY ELSE’S BUSINESS.

I was going to kill him.

I was going to absolutely fucking kill him.

I didn’t care. I was so over it. I was so over the slyness and the bullshit that I was going to walk in there and wring his neck with my bare hands.

“Joshua!” I rammed my fist on his door. “Joshua!”

The door opened and Kinsley’s eyes widened when she saw me. “Piper?”

“Is my brother here?”

“It’s my house,” Josh said from somewhere behind her. “What?”

Kinsley darted to the side, letting me in.

“What is wrong with you?” I exploded, advancing on him with my finger directed right at his chest. “Has your brain short-circuited? Have your manners broken up with you?”

He stared at me. “Please, come in.”

“Don’t you fucking dare snark at me!” I jabbed my finger through the air. “What goes through your brain that you look at Maverick and think you need to be a fucking asshole, huh?”

Understanding dawned on his face, followed by a cool mask of indifference. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The hike. This morning. Where you were all supposed to be goddamn nice to him and help him settle into town with some friends because he knows nobody. You had to open your stupid mouth and upset him, didn’t you?”

“What did you say?” Kinsley sighed. “Josh, we talked about this.”

“I didn’t say anything,” he lied.

“Colton told me everything!” I yelled. “He came to the bakery after he walked him back to his car, after Mav had told me the hike went well, and told me how you treated him. That you didn’t even greet him, you grunted at him, and you told everyone how I apparently have a terrible taste in men!”

“Why did he tell you the hike went well?”

“Presumably to cover your dumb ass, you idiot!” I grabbed a half-full bottle of water from the coffee table and launched it at him. “What’s wrong with you? Do you even care that I spent all morning on my day off working on one of the recipes for him that’s now spoiling in my fridge? And instead of being in my kitchen getting stuff ready for tomorrow I’m here, yelling at you, because you are the most obtuse idiot known to man?”

“Piper, you need to—”

“Kinsley, do not tell me to calm down!” I held my finger up at her and took a deep breath.

“I don’t like him,” Josh said, folding his arms across his chest. “I’ve read shit about him, and I don’t like him.”

“I. Don’t. Care!” I held up my hands. “It doesn’t matter who you do and don’t like. What matters is who I like!”

“He’s not right for you, Piper, and I don’t want you to get your heart broken by some playboy author who’s using you to make a fortune.”

“He’s paying me!”

Josh hesitated. “What?”

“He’s paying me, you turnip!” I pressed my fingers against my temples. “Oh, my God. He asked me to create three recipes for his book in exchange for payment, and I said yes. When he asked if I could help him research how a bakery runs, I said yes. He’s paying me. He’s crediting me. This partnership will put me on the path to owning a second bakery by the time I’m thirty-five. Do you get that now?”

He had the sense not to say anything.

“And even if he weren’t, it’s none of your business. This isn’t sixteenth-century England. You don’t get to decide who is and isn’t right for me. That’s for me, a grown-ass woman, to decide.”

“She has a point, Josh,” Kinsley said softly after a moment. “He’s a really nice guy. If you got to know him, you’d—”

“I would not like him,” he said firmly. “I’ve read too much.”

“Oh, well it’s nice to know that tabloids from several months ago are more important than what your sister and fiancée are telling you,” she snapped. “Do you hear yourself, Joshua? No wonder Colton punched you in the face. I kind of want to right now.”

Dang.

“You don’t know him either,” Josh said.

Clearly he was going to die on this hill.

“I do.” I folded my arms across my chest. “In fact, I’ve known him longer than anyone in this town. I’ve spent more time with him than anyone in this town. And I’d wager I’m the only person in this town who’s seen him naked.”

That shut him up.

Kinsley’s eyes widened as she realized what I was saying.

“I met him before Holley set us up. I knew what I was getting myself into that night and I knew when he walked into the bakery and made the business proposal.”

Josh’s lips parted slightly.

“And I damn well knew when he’s been spending time with me just for the sake of it. Did you know he’s not only a damn good writer but he’s an amazing cook? He can’t bake for shit, but he can cook. He’s funny and sweet and thoughtful and he makes me laugh all the time.” I stopped to swallow the emotion that was balling in my throat. “And even if nothing works out, this could change my life. But you don’t care because you’re so wrapped up trying to protect me that you’ve forgotten I am capable of doing that myself.”

“Piper…” he trailed off.

“If I need your help, I will ask for it,” I said firmly. “If you have concerns, you come to me. You don’t act like a giant child and be rude and horrible to someone you don’t even know.”

I backed up toward the door.

“And if it weren’t for him, Grandma wouldn’t be getting a flower garden at the retirement home,” I added. “He was the one who cut that check. And he didn’t do it for any reason other than he is a damn good person.”

Kinsley sighed, dropping her head so she was looking at the floor.

I looked at her. “I’ve already made your samples. I’ll box them up for you with labels so you can collect them tomorrow and let me know which one you’d like.” I glanced at my brother. “Maverick will be with me until lunchtime, and I don’t want him to feel any more uncomfortable than he already does.”

On that, I turned around and stalked out of the house toward my car. My rage was subsiding, but the low burn of annoyance was still there, simmering beneath the surface as I unlocked my car.

“Piper.” Kinsley came running out of the house after me. “I didn’t know.”

“I know. And it’s not your fault. I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

She wrapped me in a warm hug. “It’s not your fault. For what it’s worth I was going to tell you to take a breath. He deserved all that.”

“I feel bad.” I looked down. “But it’s not okay.”

“It’s not okay. And I’m going to fix this, okay? I’ll make it right.”

“Thanks,” I said sadly, meeting her eyes. “But it’s not for you to fix. It’s for him to fix.”

***

Four-thirty a.m. came around far too quickly, as it always did. Maverick had already been waiting at the back door for me when I came down, but instead of making small talk this morning, I’d talked him through my process.

Every little mundane thing I did, I told him. I had no idea if he was writing it all down or not because I was just talking. I was in my own little bubble, working the doughs and making mixes and frosting cupcakes. I didn’t know who I was talking for—if it was for me or it was for him.

Maybe both of us.

It could be therapeutic to talk to yourself, after all.

I just… didn’t know.

We hadn’t spoken last night except for when he texted me photos of a couple of tools to ask me what they were. A part of me didn’t want him to know that I’d gone to my brother’s house and yelled at him like a madwoman.

If I admitted that, he’d know I had stronger feelings for him than I wanted to admit to.

Right now, it was easier to just pretend it wasn’t happening.

Almost cut off that section of our growing relationship, cut it right back down to the business side where it probably should have stayed.

Who was I kidding? We’d had a personal relationship before a business one. I should have known I’d catch feelings for Maverick. I should have known this would be a terrible idea.

My mind was going wild and it needed to be quiet.

We weren’t even dating. I’d laid down that law and he’d accepted it.

Why had he accepted it?

Was it possible that he was just that much of a nice guy? Did those guys exist? Surely there was something wrong with him. There had to be.

“What’s your worst habit?” I turned around and found him peering at me over the top of his laptop with a flicker of amusement in his eyes.

“My what?”

“Your worst habit,” I repeated, making the bread rolls and setting them on the baking tray. “You know. Nail biting. Nose picking. Never putting empty food packets in the trash. That kind of thing.”

“Um.” His brow furrowed as he thought. “I procrastinate a lot,” he said slowly. “That’s probably it. I always get stuff done on time, but it’s always at the last minute and usually at a great stress to myself.”

“Okay, what would other people class as your worst habit?”

“My editor would agree with my procrastination. It drives Karin wild.”

“In your real life?”

“That is my real life. She keeps messaging me asking for updates. I might give my next character a pet snake to wind her up. She hates snakes.”

I leaned forward on the counter. “That’s not what I’m asking, and you know it.”

“I answered your question. Procrastination is my worst habit. I don’t pick my nose or bite my nails or leave empty packets in the cupboard.” Mav paused. “You do the latter.”

I had a very strong urge to let him have a good view of my middle finger.

“Surely you do something that’s extremely annoying every day. Something that would annoy a close friend or a girlfriend or a family member.”

“Why? Are you preparing for that?” He grinned.

My cheeks flushed. “No, I—” I huffed. “Stop throwing me off.”

“Stop wearing yoga pants when I’m here on a morning. It throws me off.”

“I will not.” I put the bread rolls in the oven and walked over to where he was sitting, leaning against the counter with my hip. “This is my kitchen and I’ll do what I want.”

“Fine, but then you don’t get to complain when I can’t stop staring at you.”

“I didn’t say I was complaining. Now what’s your worst habit?”

He sighed. “I never put the caps back on juice. Or any bottle. I always forget.”

I blinked at him. “How—how is that even possible? How do you forget to do that?”

“I just do. It’s one of those things. I unscrew the cap, put it down, and put the bottle back where it needs to go. I once spilled an entire two-liter bottle of Pepsi over my mom’s floor because I went to put it back into the bottle rack and didn’t have the cap on it.”

“That makes literally no sense. What kind of a monster are you?”

“One who is always last minute and doesn’t cap bottles, apparently.”

“Eh.” I pushed off the counter. “At least now I know you aren’t perfect. That makes me feel better.”

A slow grin spread across his face, sending a tingle down my spine. “Are you saying you thought I was perfect?”

“In your dreams,” I scoffed, heading for the pantry. “That’s just not true.”

“You did. You totally thought I was perfect.”

“I did not say that!” My voice echoed off the walls of the pantry. I scanned the shelves for the cinnamon for some cinnamon rolls, but I was grabbed from behind by two large hands and squealed instead. “What are you doing?”

“What’s up with you?” Maverick spun me around and backed me up so I was trapped against the shelving.

“If all my flour falls off, I’m holding you personally responsible.” I stared up at him. “Unhand me, you hooligan.”

He laughed, dropping his head. “No. You said I was perfect.”

“I damn well did not.”

“You did.”

“No. I said you weren’t perfect.”

“So you thought I was perfect at one point.”

“That is a very large assumption,” I said, jutting my chin out. “One I prefer you didn’t palm off onto me, thank you very much. Maybe you’re the one assuming I’m perfect.”

“Hm, no. I’ve seen your empty fridge.”

“Rude.”

Maverick grinned. “So what’s wrong?”

“Are you trying to have a heart to heart in my pantry?”

“What’s wrong? You’ve been weird all morning. You’ve talked non-stop about what you’re doing to the point I gave up trying to keep up with you and read the sports news, and then you ask me out of nowhere what my worst habit is. That’s weird.”

“Actually, it’s perfectly reasonable. You’re here for research. I told you not to talk but I never said I wouldn’t.” I clicked my tongue. “And asking someone what their worst habit is isn’t weird.”

“You are a terrible liar.”

“Thank you. That’s my worst habit.”

“Blondie. What’s up?”

He wasn’t going to let this go, was he?

“I spoke to my brother last night.”

Maverick’s expression faltered just a little. “Okay.”

I wrapped my arms around myself and looked at our feet. My ankle-height Ugg boots were old and tattered next to his pristine white sneakers. “Colton told me everything yesterday. What happened on the hike. How you left.”

“Great.” Maverick stepped back. “And I lied to you.”

“I don’t care.” I followed him out from the pantry. “I know you did it so there wouldn’t be an issue between us, and don’t be mad at Colt. I didn’t tell him you’d said it was fine.”

“So that’s why you’ve been acting strange.” He turned and met my gaze. “I get it, Piper. He doesn’t like me. It makes your life difficult. I’ve always said to you that this goes at your pace while you figure out where you are, and if this is too tough for you—”

“No. Don’t go there.” I held up a finger and closed the distance between us, then pressed my finger against his soft lips. “I yelled at Josh. A lot. I told him it wasn’t appropriate for him to act that way. That he had no business talking to you like that when he didn’t even know you. I know after your book was optioned and you became like this crazy popular author you went a little wild, but so do a lot of people. You changed it, though, and the way you’ve acted with me ever since you admitted you have feelings for me?” I shrugged one shoulder. “I know that’s not who you are.”

He reached between us and lowered my finger from his lips, then cupped my cheek. “I can’t believe you yelled at your brother because of me.”

“He deserved it.”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Yes, he did,” I said firmly. “Until yesterday, all he knew was whatever world he’d built up inside his head. He didn’t know you, he didn’t know what kind of relationship we had, and he definitely didn’t know that we already knew each other quite well.”

He groaned, dropping his hand. “You told him about that one-night stand?”

“Not exactly. I implied it,” I said honestly. “But no matter who you are, Mav, he doesn’t have a right to speak to you like that.”

“Look.” He led me over to his stool and sat me down, cradling my face. “He’s looking out for you. That’s all. He’s your brother. That’s what brothers do. It’s awkward and uncomfortable but the last thing I want is to come between you and him.”

“You didn’t.” I covered his hands with mine. “He came between me and him.”

He sighed, dropping his head. He tried to take a step back and lower his hands, but I wouldn’t let him. I gripped onto his wrists and stood up, kicking the stool back.

“I’m starting to really like you. A whole lot,” I said quickly. “I’m not great at talking about how I feel. I show people I care through pie and cake and bread and all this.” I jerked my head to refer to the food that was cooling. “And I’m not great at relationships because of it. Josh isn’t that wrong. I haven’t had the best choice in guys in my life, but you…” I looked down. “You feel different.”

“Piper…”

“You don’t expect anything of me. You make me laugh, and you understand that I need time and things to be slow and steady.” I peered back up at him and met his eyes. “And I do really, really want to see where this goes.”

He stared into my eyes for a long moment.

“And it’s not just because I can’t cook and you can and I might be getting a little addicted to your food.”

He laughed, breaking our hold to pull me against his body. He wrapped me in his arms and held me tight, and I rested my cheek against his chest.

I really didn’t know where this would go, but I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted to find out.

And to think, it took me yelling at my brother to realize that for real.

“Is that it?” he murmured into my hair. “You’ve been weird all day because you yelled at your brother because you realized that you do actually like me?”

I nodded.

“Does that mean I can take you on a real date tonight?”

“As long as I can be in bed by nine.”

“I think I can make that happen.” He tilted my chin up and pressed his lips against mine in a sweet, slow kiss that just drummed in that this was the right thing to do.

He was the right person.

Maybe not forever, but he was for right now.

And I’d take that.

“Does that mean we’re dating?” I muttered.

“It does.”

“Damn.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN – PIPER

RULE SIXTEEN: DATES ARE WAY MORE FUN WITH YOUR EYES OPEN.

I shook my head emphatically as Maverick guided me off the rollercoaster. “I am never doing that again.”

“It’s a kid rollercoaster!” He laughed, steadying me. “How can you hate that?”

“It’s fast! I don’t like fast.” I pouted. “And bumpy.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, what now?”

“I never would have agreed to a date if I knew this was what you had in mind.”

“Let me guess, you were hoping I’d cook for you.”

“Little bit.”

He peered down at me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “That’s exactly what you had in mind.”

“Don’t judge me.” I sniffed. “I’m just not a funfair kind of person.”

Wasn’t that the truth?

I hated funfairs. I couldn’t believe there was one in White Peak right now—apparently, it’d come along for the half-marathon and had been so successful that the mayor gave them permission to pitch up in the park. The grass in this area would be wrecked for weeks, but as long as they paid taxes, who cared?

Not the mayor, that was for sure.

I hadn’t a clue it was here. Given that I lived three feet above where I worked, I had no need to come to this side of town. My friends, knowing I hated them, didn’t bother to tell me, either.

They knew I’d never come. And if I did, it’d be for the—you guessed it.

Food.

I did like funfair food.

“Okay, so what do you like to do?” Maverick asked, guiding me around a muddy puddle. “Eat the funfair food?”

“I feel judged.”

“No judging,” he said slowly. “Shall we go and find some food?”

“See, if you’d started with that, this date would be going so much better than trying to kill me with a rollercoaster.”

He laughed, and we went in search of the nearest food stall. It was a sweet treat one, but I was not in the mood for donuts or anything like that, so we continued on our search. We sidestepped a group of rambunctious teens and finally found a place with actual food.

Well, what constituted as normal food here.

We ordered fries to share, and I got a burger while Mav ordered a corndog. When our food was ready, we took it over to the nearest picnic table that was empty and sat down together.

“Do you know what’s weird?” I asked, dipping a fry in a little ketchup pot. “You sell a bajillion books and most people just don’t recognize you at all.”

He tilted his head to the side. “I guess, kind of. I don’t put my photo on my books, and I doubt most people here look at my website where it is. Even considering social media, they couldn’t pick me out of a lineup. Most people don’t recognize authors unless you’re a bonafide superstar or there’s something identifiable about you like a wild or bright hair color. But, if I told them my full name, there are a lot of people here would know who I was, probably. Women especially.”

“I just think it’s funny how you can be so famous yet so anonymous at the same time.” I chewed down a fry. “What a world.”

He watched me as I opened the cardboard container holding my burger and picked out the pickles then took a huge bite. “You really are just here for the food, aren’t you?”

“I’d prefer to be at home with no pants on watching you cook,” I said around my mouthful of burger.

“Can’t say I’m against that myself.”

I swallowed. “Lesson learned, then.”

“Hey, I didn’t know you wouldn’t be wearing pants. If you promise next time not to wear pants, I swear I’ll cook for you.”

“Done and done.” I grinned, grabbing a handful of fries and shoving them in my mouth.

He shook his head and laughed. “Okay, I have to ask. Do you really not come to funfairs at all? Except for the food, of course.”

I shook my head.

“How is that possible?”

“I just don’t like fast rides. Or any rides. I like my feet on the ground. I don’t even really like planes that much to be honest.”

“Funfairs are like a classic part of growing up, though. Surely you came when you were a kid?”

Oh, no. He was going to make me tell the story, wasn’t he?

I wiped my mouth and fingers. “Okay, look. When I was six, I almost fell off the teacups, and I’ve just never been able to do it. The fact you even got me on that rollercoaster is a miracle in itself.”

“She’s not lying.”

I froze at the sound of my brother’s voice. What was he doing here? And why was he talking to me?

I wasn’t talking to him.

I was still mad at him.

Maverick’s gaze flickered between us before finally settling on Josh. “I’m sorry?”

“She’s not lying,” Josh repeated from behind me. “Dad told her to keep her butt on the seat, but she didn’t listen and climbed on the chair before he could stop her. She got to her feet right as the guy who does the spinning spun us, and it was only because Grandma grabbed her legs that she didn’t go flying over the top.”

Mav raised his eyebrows. “That… Why does that make complete sense to me?”

“Hey,” I said to him. “Rude.”

“I can just see a tiny you doing that.” He shrugged, then met my eyes for a brief second. “Do you want to join us?”

Why would he say that?

“Hopefully not,” I muttered.

“Don’t be petty.”

“That was her nickname when she was about ten,” Josh said, sitting at the end of the table. “Petty Piper.”

“Okay. If we’re just going to sit here and bash me, I’m going to take all these fries and go and eat them by myself.” I pulled the tray over to me. “In fact, I’ll probably do that anyway because this—” I motioned to my brother. “—is not making me happy right now.”

Josh reached out to me. “Please?”

I looked at his outstretched hand and then up at him, raising an expectant eyebrow.

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking between us, then settling on Maverick. “I’m pretty protective of her, and—”

“Overprotective,” I corrected.

A hand covered my mouth from behind, and I frowned. “Oo at?” I asked into the palm.

“Be quiet a minute,” Kinsley said. “I know that’s hard for you but try.”

All right. Sheesh.

At least she removed her hand from my mouth so I could eat.

Josh shot me a look. “I judged you. Wrongly. Instead of speaking to Piper or actually getting to know you, I let my preconceived notions make the decision for me, and that was a mistake. I apologize.”

“Apology accepted,” Maverick replied straight away. “It’s fine.”

I frowned and went to open my mouth, but Kinsley glared at me, so I changed my mind.

Wow.

“It’s not fine.” Josh shook his head. “I realized after Piper left my place yesterday that you spoke up on the hike because you really do care about her. I didn’t like you, and you knew that, but you did it anyway, and I really respected you for that.”

“It is fine,” Maverick said, wiping his hands. “You fucked up and you’re owning it. I’m not going to be pissed because you realized you were wrong. I’m just not that kind of person.”

Ha.

I told him he was just a good person.

Ner-ner.

Petty Piper, indeed.

Josh turned to me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. I forget sometimes that you don’t need me to look after you anymore, and I should have come to you first.”

“You’re right. You should have.”

“Piper,” Kinsley groaned.

“No, Maverick might be a nice person, but I’m not. I’m not happy.” I folded my arms across my chest. “You can’t just show up and expect me to forgive you for treating someone I care about a lot like shit, Josh. You’re thirty, not thirteen, and you were extremely immature.”

“I was. You’re right. I can’t take it back, though. All I can do is apologize and hope that’s enough.”

It was enough, but I wanted to make him sweat.

“Not right now, no.”

Maverick laughed. “Petty Piper. I get it now.”

“You shut up,” I muttered, pouting. “Don’t make me change my mind about liking you, because I will.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Yes, I will.”

“I’ll just show up with food. That’s exactly the way to your heart.”

“How about that,” Josh said. “He does get you.”

“Oh.” I stuck my middle finger up at my brother. “Fine. I suppose I can forgive you. This time.”

Kinsley rolled her eyes. “There won’t be a next time. He’s learned his lesson.”

“We’ll see.”

Silence hit for a moment, then Maverick said to me, “I still can’t believe you stood up while the teacups were moving.”

“She was an idiot,” Josh agreed.

“Excuse me, I’m right here.”

“You wanted us to get along.”

“Not at my expense!”

“Doesn’t work like that,” Kinsley muttered, dipping her spoon into her snow cone and scooping out a little shaved ice. “Trust me.”

“This seems highly unfair,” I grumbled.

“It is.”

Maverick looked at Josh. “Do you hate funfairs or are you an actual adult?”

“Fucking love them,” he replied. “Kinsley hates them, too.”

“Rollercoaster?” Mav asked.

Josh looked at us then back at him. “Yeah, fuck it. Let’s go.”

I watched in disbelief as they both got up and headed toward the rollercoaster, talking as if they’d been friends for their entire lives.

Even Kins stopped dipping her spoon into the snow cone and watched them go. “I’ll never understand men,” she said when they’d disappeared into the throng of people.

What just happened?

I blinked after them. “Now what do we do?” I asked her.

“I don’t know. I thought he was just going to apologize, and we’d leave you to it. You’re clearly on a date.”

“How do you know that?”

“We’ve been stalking you for half an hour. He only came over because I finally shoved him and made him.” She scooped the last of the ice out of the cup. “He’s a big wimp.”

I wasn’t going to argue there. “Do you wanna go back to the bakery, eat half a cheesecake, and drink wine?”

“Hell yeah.”

***

“Try this!” I shoved a mini cheesecake toward Maverick. It’d been a week since the funfair, and I’d finally perfected the second dessert.

At least in my opinion I had.

I kind of had to ask for his since, you know. He was still paying me, even though we were dating.

Hey, a girl had to pay for her dreams somehow.

“What is it?” He pushed his laptop to the side looked at the ramekin I’d put in front of him.

“It’s a chocolate, cherry, and honeycomb cheesecake,” I replied. “I finally figured it out.”

“Since when did you put chocolate in it?”

“Since I wanted to.”

He snorted. “Fair enough. Got a fork?”

I passed a clean fork to him and stepped back, wringing my hands in front of my stomach. Unlike with the muffin where he’d watched the creation process of the final mixture, I’d taken Josh’s suggestion of honeycomb and somehow managed to create this.

The original iteration didn’t have chocolate, like Maverick had so helpfully pointed out just a second ago, but who didn’t want chocolate on their cheesecake?

He dipped the fork into the cheesecake and scooped out a small piece. The mixture on the base was the perfect amount of crumbly, and I drew in a deep breath as he brought the fork to his mouth and tasted it.

Oh, my God.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Holy shit,” he said, stabbing it with the fork again. “This might be the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.”

I gasped. “Really?”

“Really.” It was muffled, given the chunk of cheesecake in his mouth. “This is the best thing ever.”

I finally relaxed. I’d been working on it all morning while he’d been sitting at his favorite place in the kitchen writing. He couldn’t move into his new house for another two weeks, so he was still alternating between the bakery, the bookstore, and my apartment on an evening.

I would be glad to get him out of my kitchen, but kind of sad that he wouldn’t be spending all his evenings in my apartment. He even had his own little section of my dining table at this point. There was a pen and notebook and mug permanently there, and he’d even purchased another charger for his laptop because he kept leaving one at his crappy apartment.

Still, I missed having a quiet kitchen.

All right, so I’d also miss his food. While he’d been writing here we’d fallen into a comfortable routine. He no longer woke up at four-thirty to observe the goings on of the bakery, and over dinner, I’d answer his questions. When he was done cleaning the scenes up, he’d pass me his laptop to read them, and I’d edit where necessary.

Then, of course, Mav would go home, and we’d do the same thing the next day.

It was comfortable. Too comfortable. And it scared me a little because it wasn’t the kind of thing I did. I wasn’t the kind of person who fell hard and fast for someone. Everything was slow and steady for me.

I had to stop and ask myself if I was falling too hard. I wasn’t, though. Despite the amount of time we spent together, not a lot of it was actively dating or doing anything crazy like that. It was just a natural progression of a relationship from a friendship and attraction into something more.

The more we learned about each other, the more I realized our weird pairing made sense. He really was incapable of putting caps back on the milk or juice cartons, and I really was food obsessed.

So I put the caps back on and he always made sure there were leftovers in my fridge.

And I always made sure there was breakfast waiting for him in the bakery when he showed up every morning with questions that, by now, I was pretty sure he knew the answers to.

Maverick had even made me hike once.

In a week.

I was kind of impressed.

Thankfully, the funfair had eliminated any remaining tension between him and brother and, no surprise, they were actually getting along well. Admittedly, Josh wasn’t entirely happy about me dating, but as long as I didn’t kiss him in front of him, he would be fine with it.

Naturally, every time I saw him when I was with Mav, I made a point of kissing his cheek.

What else were little sisters for if not to annoy their brothers?

“So is that recipe two?” Mav asked, wiping some cheesecake from the side of his mouth.

“Do you like it?”

“Blondie, I could eat that for three meals a day for a week.”

“That’s recipe two, then.” Laughing, I pulled the sheet out of the box file and pinned it on the fridge with the cupcake recipe I’d created. “One more to go. You’ve got cupcake and cheesecake. What else would you like?”

The oven timer dinged, and I went over to pull the cookie sheet out. They smelled divine, and while I wasn’t usually one to use cranberries before Thanksgiving, they were just perfection with white chocolate, and I couldn’t resist.

It was the start of my ‘item of the day’ kind of thing.

“Cookies,” Mav said, getting up. “Definitely cookies. What are those? Can I have one?”

I slapped his hand away with the spatula. “They’ve just come out of the oven! And if you keep eating my cookies, two things will happen. One, I’ll have to kill you because they’re my cookies, and two, you’ll lose your heartthrob status among your fangirls.”

“That’s fine. Wait until they find out I’m dating a woman who can bake anything on the planet.” He stepped up behind me and wrapped his arms around my body, resting his chin on my shoulder. “There’s no way they could compare to you.”

I sighed. “And you think I’m dating you for your food.”

“It’s a fair trade.”

“True.”

He brushed his lips along my jaw. “I’m almost done with this book.”

“I can’t believe you were like ten thousand words in two weeks ago and now you’re almost done.”

“White Peak inspired me. What can I say?”

“Sure, it was the town.” I rolled my eyes as I slid the last cookie onto the cooling rack. “Do you need me to read anything before Felicity gets here?”

“Nope, not right now. I’ll have the first draft done tomorrow if you want to read it.”

I gasped, turning and pressing my hand to my chest. “You mean I get to read the great Maverick Donovan’s manuscript before anyone?”

“You’ve read most of it.” He brushed his lips over mine.

“Not start to finish.”

“Okay, then, yeah. You can read it.”

“Ooh. Can I tell Holley? Rub it in?”

He grinned against my cheek. “You’re going to anyway.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and drew him in for a kiss. “I know, but it’s nice if I pretend to ask you.”

Maverick kissed me deeply, pressing me back against the counter. I was becoming accustomed to this—feeling him against me, being wanted—and it was a little intoxicating.

The door opened and we pulled apart, only to see a disgruntled Felicity standing there. “Oh, get a fucking room.”

The door slammed shut after her, and we both burst into laughter, me burying my face in Mav’s t-shirt.

“Well,” he said after a moment. “I guess the cat is out of the bag for real now.” He let me go and reached behind me, snatching a cookie. “Ow, shit!” He threw the cookie into the air, and my jaw dropped as it landed on the floor by the door.

“Maverick!”

“It was hot!”

I glared at him. “That’s yours.”

“I’m not eating it.”

“You sure as hell are. I will ban you from my kitchen!”

He shuffled over and picked it up, quickly sliding it on the nearest countertop that was free of food. “Five second rule?”

“This isn’t Kindergarten.”

With another glance to the cookie, he picked it up, brushed it off, and took a big bite.

Luckily for him, they didn’t take long to cool.

“That’s good,” he said, holding it up. “Even with Eau de Parking Lot on it.”

“Oh, go finish your book,” I replied, turning around.

But I was smiling.

I was always smiling.

EPILOGUE – PIPER

RULE SEVENTEEN: ALWAYS EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.

LIKE THUNDERSTORMS. OR YOUR PERIOD.

One Year Later

A lot of things could happen in a year.

For example: in one year, I’d reached a settlement from an old boss, bought my bakery, moved home, and fallen in love.

Since that year, however, things had changed a lot.

A lot.

Thankfully, I was still very much in love. I amused myself greatly by insisting that me and Maverick were not dating since, you know. I didn’t date. It’d taken him a couple of weeks but he eventually saw the funny side, and he now responded saying we were getting married.

We were not getting married.

A lot of people were, but we were not them.

Ivy was pregnant with her and Kai’s second child and their first son. Holley and Seb were engaged and planning on getting married in the fall, and Saylor was warning Dylan that if he ever proposed to her, she was going to string him up by a bowtie on the clock in the town square.

The fact I was the only person who knew she was no longer taking contraceptives? Well.

London and Oli were talking about trying for a baby of their own, and her son was officially part of the White Peak soccer team. Don’t come for me, I don’t know their name, okay?

Tori had finally agreed to give it up and move in with Colton as long as he turned the spare bedroom into an office for her. One that had a lock. It seemed reasonable.

As for Kinsley and Josh… Well. I smiled as I watched my brother twirl his new bride around the dancefloor of Bronco’s. I’d laughed when they told me that was where their reception was going to be, but at the same time, where else? That bar held a piece of all our hearts, and it was just perfect.

My parents were even here.

I’d say that was the real miracle, but it was the fact the seniors were all here and hadn’t caused any trouble yet. Although we had been forced to tell Mabel she couldn’t bring a duck as her date.

The best part was that I knew the one thing that nobody else except my brother and new sister-in-law did: Kinsley was six weeks pregnant. Her champagne was non-alcoholic. I’d done a sneaky switch on their bottle this morning when I’d brought the cake.

And oh, what a cake it was. It was my proudest creation yet, and I got a little fission of excitement every time I looked at it. Because while life had changed for all my friends, it had for me, too.

Thanks to Maverick’s commissioning of my recipes, I was now somewhat of a little culinary-slash-literary sensation. I’d had to hire another baker at Queen of Tarts so I could attend all his book launches, and he’d networked me among his peers. I had no idea how many authors needed legitimate recipes for their books, especially mystery authors who wrote the most adorable, murderous stories. I was working on one recipe at any given time, and I was having the creative time of my life.

Not to mention that him crediting me had increased my business. I had people traveling out of town just to pick up cupcakes and cookies, and I had more occasion cake orders than I could handle along with the regular orders of the store.

And oh, I loved baking, but apparently, I also loved cake decorating.

I’d also just received the text I’d been waiting on.

“Nice switch this morning.” Maverick’s arms slipped around my body.

“I’m sorry?” I whispered back.

“The bottle. Should I practice being called Uncle Mav now or later?”

I nudged him with my elbow. “Shh. It’s a secret.”

“Good thing nobody else saw you.” He kissed my cheek. “She looks beautiful, huh?”

I smiled at Kinsley as she kissed my brother, and something truly warmed inside me. “She does. I never thought I’d see the day he’d actually marry her.”

He chuckled, having heard Colton’s speech about how long Josh had been in love with her. “Things have a funny way of working out, huh?”

I dipped my chin. They really, really did.

“Hey, what aren’t you telling me? Oh, you aren’t, too, are you?”

“No!” I laughed, turning into his hold. “Come with me a moment.” I took his hand and led him through the tables and outside into the parking lot. It was so cool out here, and I shivered as the air hit me.

Mav shrugged off his tuxedo jacket and draped it over my shoulders. He’d done the same thing the night of our first kiss, and I smiled at the memory.

“What is it?” he asked, rubbing my arms to warm me up.

“Um.” I looked up at him. “You know how I’ve been working on all the other bespoke recipes for authors?”

“Sure. You’ve been doing a couple a week, right?”

“Yeah. Um, well, I’ve saved all that money.”

He frowned. “Okay?”

“And I didn’t want to say anything incase it didn’t work out.” I shifted uncomfortably, tangling my fingers together in front of me. “Because, well, you know.”

“No.” His shoulders shook with a light laugh. “Not at all.”

“Oh, my God. Stop it. Okay, um.” I flattened my hands against my stomach. “Last week, I went to Mile Point.”

“The town nearby? Where Millie is from?”

My new baker. “Uh-huh. It’s a bit bigger than White Peak and, uh, the owner of the old railway café has been trying to get a buyer for it for a while, but it was pretty run down and needed some renovations.”

“Piper.”

“I used the money from your commissions and the other recipes and made an offer.” The words rolled off my tongue. “I lowballed her. Hard. Because of the work it needs to make it a functioning kitchen again.” I breathed out. “And I just found out an hour ago that she accepted it.”

Maverick stared at me.

“Eventually Millie will run it, and I’ll keep doing what I do here,” I said quickly. “But I need to be kind of in the middle of the towns while I go back and forth, so I’m going to ask Felicity if she wants to lease my apartment.”

He swallowed. “And you’ll move in with me.”

“I was going to ask Josh if I could—”

“There’s no point. I live thirty seconds down the street, Blondie.” He hesitated, then laughed. “Oh, my God. I’m so proud of you.” He wrapped me into a massive hug before I could respond. “I need to tell you something, too.”

“Okay?”

“When my lease ended, the owners asked me if I wanted first refusal on the house.”

I pulled back and looked at him. “Are you serious?”

He nodded. “I was going to wait until I’d closed to give you a key because I know you like living over the bakery and I didn’t want you to move if you didn’t have to, but if you’re going to commute for a little bit and you think Felicity will take your apartment…”

“She will. She wants to move out of her mom’s house.” I touched my fingers to my lips. “Does that—we’ll live together?”

“We practically do anyway, we’ll just share bills now.”

Laughing, I kissed him, holding him tightly. I couldn’t believe this conversation was happening.

“I love you,” I whispered into his neck, squeezing my eyes shut.

He smiled against my temple. “I love you, too, Blondie. But I think I’m going to need a bigger pantry.”

THE END

Thank you for reading THE INTROVERT’S GUIDE TO BLIND DATING! I hope you enjoyed Piper and Maverick’s story and the finale to the White Peak saga.

Next, my words are heading to my homeland of England where I immerse myself in the modern-day aristocratic world, filled with grumpy gardeners, magnificent manor houses, and dashing dukes.

LOVE LANGUAGE is releasing in October. Read on for the blurb.

LOVE LANGUAGE

An aristocrat and a gardener walk into a bar, and the barman says—never mind. They walked into a shed, and they’re kissing. Oops.

My father trying to set me up with every eligible bachelor in England? Check.

A crazy aunt with even crazier goats who keep eating the flowerbeds? Check.

Me secretly moonlighting as the internet’s newest agony aunt and fixing relationships one love language at a time? Check.

One grumpy, bearded gardener that I keep accidentally kissing?

Um, check…

Step into the upper-crust world of British aristocracy with Emma Hart’s romping new romcoms, starting with LOVE LANGUAGE, the tale of undercover agony aunt Lady Gabriella Hastings and Miles Kingsley, the handsome, brooding gardener of her family’s estate.

Please note that LOVE LANGUAGE is set in England with English characters and is written in British English.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emma Hart is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of over fifty novels and has been translated into several different languages.

She is a mother, wife, lover of wine, Pink Goddess, and valiant rescuer of wild baby hedgehogs.

Emma prides herself on her realistic, snarky smut, with comebacks that would make a PMS-ing teenage girl proud.

Yes, really. She’s that sarcastic.

You can find her online at: www.emmahart.org

BOOKS BY EMMA HART

Standalones:

Being Brooke

Catching Carly

Casanova

Mixed Up

Miss Fix-It

Miss Mechanic

The Upside to Being Single

The Hook-Up Experiment

The Dating Experiment

Four Day Fling

Best Served Cold

Tequila Tequila

Catastrophe Queen

The Roommate Agreement

The Accidental Girlfriend

Kiss Me Not

Kiss Me Tonight

Kiss Me Again

Frenemies

Number Neighbors

Hot Mess

The Bookworm’s Guide:

The Bookworm’s Guide to Dating

The Bookworm’s Guide to Faking It

The Bookworm’s Guide to Flirting

The Introvert’s Guide:

The Introvert’s Guide to Online Dating

The Introvert’s Guide to Speed Dating

The Introvert’s Guide to Blind Dating

The Girl Next Door:

The One-Night Stand Next Door

The Girl Next Door

The Vegas Nights series:

Sin

Lust

Stripped series:

Stripped Bare

Stripped Down

The Burke Brothers:

Dirty Secret

Dirty Past

Dirty Lies

Dirty Tricks

Dirty Little Rendezvous

The Holly Woods Files:

Twisted Bond

Tangled Bond

Tethered Bond

Tied Bond

Twirled Bond

Burning Bond

Twined Bond

Tricky Bond

By His Game series:

Blindsided

Sidelined

Intercepted

Call series:

Late Call

Final Call

His Call

Wild series:

Wild Attraction

Wild Temptation

Wild Addiction

Wild: The Complete Series

The Game series:

The Love Game

Playing for Keeps

The Right Moves

Worth the Risk

Memories series:

Never Forget

Always Remember