Page 63 of Worth the Risk

I rub my cheek into his hand. “It’s silly. I’m an adult woman, and I’m not ashamed of anything. I just stay away from public stuff; it’s why I never model my lingerie and have someone else handle the marketing stuff. Piper Ginger isn’t really me, you know? But Piper Dapper? Well, she didn’t enjoy the last round of people’s opinions or critique. They made me feel like I was a horrible person.”

“Baby, you are not. Anything but. You put others before yourself, and so what, you put yourself first this time. You’re allowed to and thank goodness you did.”

I shrug. “I keep telling myself that. And I know you do your best to keep a low profile, and I said I didn’t care who you are, but I know that you are, well… popular. It will be hard to keep a low profile. Besides, geez, have you seen Smith’s wife? If that’s the standard I need to follow, then I’m not sure my photos of avocado toast and coffee will suffice.” There is a little humor in my tone because I don’t want to drag this morning down.

He rolls his eyes. “First off, you don’t need to be her. Instead, you are a beautiful woman who has a successful business and knows the meaning of making people happy. All I can say is that I will promise to do my best to protect you.”

“I believe you.”

“One step, okay? Just come to a practice.”

I swallow because a sexy smile wants to form on my mouth. “Imaybe intrigued to see you in action.”

“I bet you are. Now, want to power-walk it back to the house, hop in the car, and grab some brunch in town?”

My head perks up. “You mean coffee and cinnamon rolls? I could never say no. I heard a rumor the other day at the general store that they changed the recipe for the cinnamon filling and the knitting club decided to write a letter demanding the old recipe comes back.”

“Eavesdropping next to the butcher’s counter again?” He flashes me a humorous look.

I scoff a sound. “You know it.”

We begin to walk back, but I’m quick to grab his wrist. “Hey… I love you.”

His suave grin appears. “Love you too. Now let’s go get caffeinated.”

I yank his arm again. “Maybe we can take a photo of our coffees next to one another to make it official and send it to your publicist for kicks. You’re right, I’m ready to go all in.”

An almost vulnerable look appears in his eyes as the corner of his mouth curves up. “I don’t know what I love more. The fact that you love me or the fact that you make every conversation enjoyable.”

“You get both, Coach Arrows.”

He growls and tugs me along. “Fuck me, when you say my name like that I’m a goner.”

* * *

It’s a thirty-minute walk back,and as we emerge from the tree line, we stop still at the end of the driveway.

My heart nearly skips a beat because April is leaning against her car with her arms crossed.

“Fucking knew it,” she grits out, and she doesn’t seem impressed.

I glance to my side at Hudson who has an awkward wry smile on.

“April,” I say. I had planned on telling her when I was back in the city, but I guess she beat me to it.

“Morning, April, how did you get in?” Hudson asks completely in a normal tone and scratches the back of his neck.

“Your asshole neighbor, the baseball player, sped out of the gate nearly running into me, not even caring, so I drove right in while the gate was open,” she explains, with her eyes never leaving me as she has an intense stare.

“Right.” Hudson accentuates the T.

There is silence for a beat until April begins to shake her head.

“Funny thing. My mom was showing me a photo of a shelf that Drew made for my uncle, then I noticed the unique statue on it. A lobster. I thought, ‘wow, that seems oddly like the one I gave Piper.’ Then I remembered that Piper is seeing an older guy.” April holds a finger up into the air. “Lucky guess.”

I step forward. “I tried telling you last time, but it didn’t seem like the right moment.”

“It’s no big deal,” Hudson says. “Now you know, and we can all go for brunch.” Hudson is still far too relaxed. “Great.” He claps his hands together.

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