Page 37 of A Little Luck
PIPER
“Something’s different about you.” Britt stands beside me in the industrial kitchen behind the tasting room at Stone Cold distillery.
“What are you talking about? I’m just like I always am.” I frown like I’m so confused.
How could I be different? It’s not like your brother-in-law fucked my brains out all night.
The thought almost makes me goofy-grin, so I quickly take out my laptop and set it on the metal table in front of us. Then I open all the spreadsheets I’ve used to prepare for Cass’s wedding.
Spreadsheets are very good for killing joy.
When I opened my eyes this morning, the first thing I saw was Adam’s gorgeous face beside me in the bed. My heart jumped to my throat, and happiness squeezed my chest.
He wasn’t crowding me. He simply had his palm flat against my waist, almost like he was making sure I was still there as he slept.
I lingered a moment to study his perfect profile in the morning light. His features were relaxed, from his closed eyes, down his straight nose, to his sexy square jaw with the faintest scruff on his cheeks—a scruff that was thrillingly delicious against my inner thighs.
A hum buzzed in my insides at the memory of so many orgasms. My fingers curled with wanting to thread through his dark hair, messy against his neck.
Last night, all my fantasies came true. Almost ten years of longing and desire and emotions and…love.
I wanted to kiss his full lips. I wanted to wake him and make love one more time… But as fast as the thrill surged through me, the fear crept right up behind it. I have to tell him the truth now, and it terrifies me.
So I carefully slipped away without waking him. I got dressed as quickly as I could, called Britt, and asked her to meet me here for breakfast, coffee, ginger tea, whatever she wanted, and to go over all the wedding plans.
“You kind of have this relaxed aura going on.” She waves her fingers in a swirly motion around my face, and I force a laugh.
“I think you’re the one with the aura. That baby is finally cooperating, and you can see clearly now.”
“Shew, tell me about it.” She leans back, resting a hand on her growing midsection. “Lord knows this baby tried to kill me. Speaking of, would you fix me a ginger tea?”
“Of course!” I’m on my way to the coffee maker, noticing a distinct ache between my legs every time I move. It’s amazing.
A smile curls my lips, and her voice cuts through the echoey, metal space.
“See, that’s what I’m talking about.” Her eagle eyes are on me again. “Your cheeks are all pink. What’s going on?”
Turning my back, I chew my lip, racking my brains as I pour my coffee and drop her ginger tea bag into a mug of boiling water.
“Oh, I know!” Clearing the surprise from my tone, I turn to her, tilting my head side to side. “I’m trying out this new vitamin C serum. Is it making my complexion more radiant?”
She squints at me, taking the cup of tea and settling onto her chair. “I guess.”
I direct us back to the wedding planning. “So I’ve got the caterer lined up and the florist… The staff here knows how to set up all the tables and the chairs. Cass provided a guest list, as did Alex. I think it’s the same one Aiden used…”
She scans everything I’ve done, nodding and sipping her tea. “I don’t know what you were worried about. Everything looks great to me.” She smiles in her trademark, sunny way. “It’s exactly what I would’ve done.”
“The scary part is going to be the twenty-four hours before—making sure everything gets here and gets set up like it’s supposed to and nothing is broken.”
“Nothing will be broken. These guys do weddings all the time. They know what they’re doing. It’s only us who do it once, or in this case, twice a year.”
“Yeah, but you know how my luck goes.”
Her nose wrinkles. “I think you’re being too glass-half-empty about your luck. Owen was right. It was lucky nobody was sitting on the toilet when it came crashing through the ceiling yesterday.”
“That’s a pretty low bar for luck.” I quickly type a reply to the email from the florist verifying the delivery date for the flowers. “I still need to find a plumber… and I guess a contractor to do the repairs. We still have nowhere to live until the water’s back on.”
“Ryan is fine with us—”