Page List

Font Size:

Silence stretched between them as he continued to place the chocolates on the roof. Hopefully they wouldn’t weigh it down too much. He couldn’t take another redo.

‘Remember those Anzac biscuits your mum used to make?’ Piper said as he added the last Smartie. ‘They were so crunchy on the outside and blissfully soft in the middle. The best type. And every batch she made was perfect. She would give them to me for the picnics I used to host in the paddock between our houses for my dolls when you and Carter wouldn’t let me play in the fort you made. She’d always stay for at least one cup of tea.’

Emmett swallowed hard. ‘I didn’t know that. I remember the biscuits—they were my favourite—but I didn’t know she had tea parties with you in the paddock.’

‘They were my favourite too.’

He wanted to hug her. Should he? Was this one of those moments Stef would recommend wrapping Piper up in a hug as the best way to comfort her? He really wanted to hug her.

She smiled up at him and the chance for affection passed.

Instead, he picked up the piping bag and went to squeeze out a line for a window on the side, but nothing came out. Moving it away from the house, he twisted the top, adding more pressure to the icing inside until it shot out, clearing the blockage.

‘Hey!’

His gaze snapped up to the giant splatter of icing across the middle of Piper’s face—both cheeks. Laughter rumbled up from the bottom of his chest and burst from his mouth.

‘I’m glad you find it funny.’

The indignation in her voice only made him laugh harder.

She rose from the chair to swipe a couple of tissues from the box near the microwave, looking as though she was fighting to keep a straight face. She scrubbed at her cheeks at first, smearing the sugary filling more than she was removing it, keeping Emmett laughing.

After a handful of tissues, she’d gotten most of it off. ‘Gone?’ she asked, turning her face left and right.

‘Almost.’ He wiped the moisture from his eyes. ‘There’s some on your nose still.’

‘Where? Here?’ She dabbed at the wrong side. ‘Did I get it?’

‘No.’ He pushed up from the chair. ‘Let me.’

Emmett reached out with his finger to swipe the mixture from her nose but she followed it with her eyes, sending her cross-eyed. She flinched her head back before shaking it, effectively pulling out of his reach.

‘Hold still.’ Before he knew what he was doing, he was cradling either side of her face with his hands, using his thumb to rub the icing off.

Her deep, dark eyes stared up at him, her sweet breath with hints of the coffee she’d just drunk mixed with his. She was so close. He should let her go. He needed to let her go but her face was so delicate in his hands, her skin so soft. Her eyelids fluttered a couple of times and his knees became weak. He swallowed hard as she tilted her chin up, bringing her lips closer to his. They looked like they’d be soft too. What would they feel like against his? Would he be able to taste her coffee? If he kissed her, would she kiss him back? The way her eyes shone as he inched closer made it seem like she would. Should he ask her first? Damn, she was so beautiful.

Emmett barely registered the flap of the doggy door or the tapping of four feet against the wood floor before a furry body barged between them, forcing him to drop his hold and stumble back a few steps. He grabbed the chair before he could fall. Piper braced herself against the wall. Major’s feet scrambled for purchase on the polished tabletop as he snapped at the gingerbread house, sending it and him careening across the wood grain. They toppled down the other side between the table and the bench in a whirl of sugar and canine.

‘Chocolate!’ Piper yelled. ‘The Smarties.’

Emmett froze. Dogs can’t eat chocolate; it makes them sick. ‘Major!’ Tempted to throw himself across the table too, Emmett raced around the dining set to find the German Shepherd tangled in chairs that had fallen on their side in the chaos. What was supposed to have been his gingerbread house lay out of reach in a million pieces.

‘Fuck!’

Major thrashed around in his furniture trap before letting out a long whine.

‘Oh, Major!’ Piper crouched by Emmett’s four-legged friend, stroking his fur in a comforting way.

‘Stupid dog,’ Emmett cursed, scooping up handfuls of gingerbread crumbs, broken Smarties and smooshed icing to dump in the sink.

‘Emmett! He didn’t do it on purpose,’ Piper scolded. ‘He’s gotten himself trapped, the poor thing.’

‘Not on purpose? What else would you call barrelling between us at breakneck speed to get to the house? He knows he’s not allowed on the table.’ Checking he hadn’t missed any pieces of chocolate, Emmett crouched by the dog and pushed his paw gently through the timber rods at the back of the chair before guiding his head out from where it was pinned between the legs of two different chairs. With a yap, Major pushed to his feet to cover Piper in slobbery licks, his tail wagging like a metronome set on the highest setting.

‘Major!’ Piper’s laugh tinkled as she fell on her bottom, giving the dog more access to show her his affection.

Emmett rolled his eyes as his mood soured further. How pathetic was it to be grumpy at a dog for getting closer to Piper than he could? He wanted to be the one covering her in kisses. Fuck! He wasn’t supposed to be having thoughts like this about his best friend’s sister. What was wrong with him?