Page 151 of A Country Practice Christmas
‘Major, get down.’
The dog backed off immediately, recognising the bark in Emmett’s tone.
‘Outside.’
Major scurried off with his tail between his legs, pulling the barely held together strings of Emmett’s heart.
‘Why are you being such a grump? He was fine.’ Piper climbed to her feet and crossed her arms across her chest. ‘Are you really that upset about your house?’
‘That was the last kit in the IGA. Now I’m going to have to drive to Truden to see if they’ve got any and I’ve got under an hour to get there.’
‘Emmett,’ she said, more softly. ‘Are we going to talk about what happened before Major came barrelling through us?’
His face heated and he turned for the front door.No, he wanted to scream. He couldn’t cross a line like that. It didn’t matter how much he wanted to, Piper was too vulnerable. She meant too much to him. ‘I got icing off your nose. Not much else to talk about.’
A bewildered look appeared on her face briefly before it flashed to hurt then defiance. ‘No, I guess there’s not.’
He snatched up his keys from the bowl and headed out the door. As he stepped off the porch towards his ute, he noticed Harry in his front yard, push mower at the ready.
‘Trouble in paradise?’ Harry called over the hip-height fence.
Emmett scowled and shook his head as he threw himself into the driver’s seat. Yep, he was a number one bastard.
Chapter 10
‘Great work, ladies and gentlemen,’ Gloria called as Robbie played the final chord at the piano. ‘A wonderful run-through of the songs we’ve learned so far. Let’s take a five-minute break and we’ll start on the remaining two.’
Piper sank into her seat, closing her folder and setting it in her lap before reaching for her drink bottle. She didn’t know why Gloria insisted they stand while they ran through the fifty million songs they’d already learned and spent every practice perfecting. Fifty million may be an exaggeration but her leg muscles were protesting very loudly. She’d already spent too much time on her feet today.
‘You’re quiet tonight,’ Maddie said as Piper took a long drink.
‘Quiet? I’m singing louder than you.’
‘Not what I meant. You look preoccupied.’
For a new friend, Maddie was annoyingly perceptive. But she was a friend, a good one. And after everything Piper had been through lately, she wanted to share with her. ‘If I tell you what happened earlier, you have to promise to keep it to yourself and not even tell Emmett that you know.’
Excitement widened her eyes. ‘About time you two did the deed! The sexual chemistry between you is off the Richter scale. He searches for you with puppy dog eyes every time he comes through the ED doors and then lights up like a New Year’s Eve fireworks display when you’re there.’
‘He does not,’ Piper argued, ignoring her own fireworks going off in her chest at just the idea. ‘Because otherwise he would’ve kissed me this morning when he wiped the icing off my face.’
Maddie’s jaw dropped. ‘Tell me everything and start from the beginning.’
Piper glowed with satisfaction at her ability to shock her friend. It hadn’t happened yet in their friendship.
‘We were just talking. He was decorating his gingerbread house—’
‘Is that code for something? Decorating his gingerbread house? Sounds kinda dirty.’
Piper laughed. ‘No, he was literally decorating his gingerbread house for the bonanza contest.’
‘I’m a little disappointed.’ Maddie folded her arms and leaned back in the chair.
‘Anyway,’ Piper continued. ‘I sat next to him to watch while I drank my coffee and we were talking, laughing, then it got a bit serious before we went back to laughing—’
‘Serious how? Seriously sexy?’
Piper rolled her eyes. ‘Serious as in talking about memories of his mum, who passed away.’
