When she flicked open the screen door without so much as a pause, however, he was back to seeing red. “You didn’t lock the door?”
“It’s Discovery Island. We’re not a hotbed of urban crime.” Piper moved inside, tossing her keys onto the side table and dropping her messenger bag on the floor. Great. Any passing moron could rob her blind just by opening the door and reaching down.
Her place still looked pretty much the same. Slipcovered sofas flanked the stone fireplace, and stacks of books and oil paintings covered every available inch of wall space. Floor-to-ceiling windows gave way to a view of the ocean, and he walked over to them. The dock stretched out into the water, and she had a small slice of beach all to herself. Roses, blue morning glory and wisteria covered every inch of the front porch. If she hadn’t reinforced the roof, she’d need to soon.
“So.” Piper paused, and for the first time he spied a hint of uncertainty, quickly banished, on her face. He leaned against the wall and waited for her to make the next move in this game they were playing. This was going to be good.
“Where do you want me?” he asked agreeably.
The sun was setting now, lighting up the ocean with color, but the light inside Piper’s house was soft and golden. She picked up a sofa cushion and dropped it, sending motes of dust dancing in the sunshine. Her housekeeping skills hadn’t improved any over the years.
Piper cursed and he held back a grin. She wasn’t getting out of this one with a witty comeback. She’d started something she didn’t want to finish and, yeah, watching her squirm was fun. He’d tease a little bit more—because this was Piper—and then he’d call Daeg and head back to his own place. He might not have been in the cottage in years, but some things stayed the same. He headed for the hallway.
“Bedroom’s down here, right?”
“I need a beer,” she said behind him. “Or a margarita.”
The grin was unstoppable this time, but he had his back to her and she couldn’t see.
Finding her bedroom wasn’t hard to do. The cottage had only three bedrooms and, when he opened the doors, two of them were clearly unused. Plus, she’d chosen the room he’d have picked, the one where he could see the ocean from the bed. Piper had left her mark in here, too. The bed had enough height to reenact the Princess and the Pea. Plus, the surface was buried beneath a mountain of useless little throw pillows. Huh. Not what he would have imagined. He cleared a spot and lay down on the bed, legs stretched in front of him and crossed.
The sound of a blender echoed down the hallway. Apparently, Piper had meant one thing tonight. It was margarita time.
“You want me naked?” he hollered.
She ignored him, so he removed his boots and set them on the floor where he could grab them if he had to make a quick retreat. He also texted Daeg and asked him to bring his truck out here. The SEALs had taught him it was always wise to establish an escape route early on.
Daeg was on it, too. Sure thing. Do I need to alert the cops now?
Right. Cal texted back: Ha ha.
Then, because Piper was taking her own sweet time getting back to him, he sent a couple of texts about the rescue dive program he’d put together.
“Make yourself at home, why don’t you?”
Piper slouched in the doorway. She’d made one margarita. Apparently, he didn’t merit a drink. Just sex. He patted the bed beside him.
“You coming over here?”
She glared, but she also looked tempted. He hadn’t expected that. She took an angry swallow of her drink, and he had no idea what was running through her head. It must have been good, though, because her cheeks turned pink.
“You owe me a night.” She took another drink.
“If you want.” To his surprise, he meant it. What had started out as a joke and a dare was...something more?
She came over to the bed and he fought the urge to reach up and pull her down into his arms. She hadn’t turned and run down the hallway, which was something, but he didn’t know how far she really wanted this to go. So he took the margarita glass from her and took a drink. And shuddered. Piper didn’t make margaritas any better than she compromised. The drink was sickly sweet, the tequila a distant afterthought. At least he’d be fine to drive.
She snatched the glass back from him, eyeing the drink level. Which was too bad. She should have brought enough to share.
“I should put tonight to good use.” The smile lighting up her face was pure mischief. “How do you feel about bondage?”
Bondage wasn’t something he’d ever been interested in experiencing firsthand. “If you tie me up, I’ll tie you up.”