“Um, no.” I grabbed his hand before he could leave. “Can we—talk?”
“That never ends well in books.” He closed the door again. “Go ahead.”
Well, that was impulsive. What an idiot I was.
“Last night. I know I’d had one too many drinks, but—”
“Piper, if you tell me that you only said what you said because you had one too many drinks, I swear that I’ll get out of his car and go and get a recipe from the label of a Walmart pack of cupcakes.”
I met his eyes, mine widening. “No, that’s not what I was going to say.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“I was going to tell you that I meant it,” I said softly. “But for now, as far as anyone else is concerned, can we just… not say anything? And between us, just…”
“Let things fall where they may?”
“I’m still not interested in going out and dating,” I said with a smile. “But I do like you. And I like spending time with you, and I don’t want that to change.”
Maverick’s lips tugged to one side. “That is one roundabout way of saying you’re open to the idea of seeing where things go with me.”
“Yeah, kinda.”
His shoulders shook with silent laughter. “I get it. I like you, too, Piper. A lot. But I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to. If you really don’t want to date, I understand that. It’s only been like two weeks since our blind date.”
“But we’ve spent a lot of time together and we’re going to spend a lot more,” I said after a moment, staring at the back of the bakery. “I don’t like not being honest with people. I always think that I’d rather people just told me the truth about how they feel, and I try to live that way myself.”
“Treat others how you want to be treated?”
“Exactly that. You were honest with me when you told me I was your type, and I understood what you were telling me. I owed you honesty, too.”
Maverick reached over and took my hand. “On the subject of honesty, you should know basically all of that last night got rid of my writer’s block.”
“You wrote the whole night into your book, didn’t you?”
“You’re the one who said you wanted to be in a book.”
I looked at our clasped hands then over at him. “Well, whatever works.”
He laughed, gently squeezing my fingers. “I do appreciate your honesty. I would much rather know the truth. I also know you’re less likely to punch me if I get too close in the kitchen.”
“Depends what I’m doing.” I fought a smile. “I should really get back inside and help out.”
“What are you doing tonight?” Mav asked as we both got out of the car.
“Passing out on the pantry floor. Why?”
“How would you feel about me cooking you dinner again?”
“There’s nothing in my apartment.”
“I’ll bring it all.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What do you want?”
“Shit.” He laughed and we stopped outside the back door, scaring a bird off. “Remember when I said I was looking for another place to live?”
“Yeah. Your neighbors are assholes.”
“Right. Well, a couple of realtors have sent some stuff my way, but the problem is I have no idea where any of them are and need some help.”
I sighed. “You know Google Maps is a thing.”
“I know, but I can’t look at Google’s ass when it loads the dishwasher.”
“I knew you were staring at me.”
“It’s not my fault. You have a great ass.”
“Thank you. It was brought to you by bread and cookies.”
“My compliments to the bread and cookies.” He grinned. “So are we good for tonight?”
“I’m not turning down food. I’m no idiot.” I shrugged. “Come over about six? Six-thirty?”
“Are you sure you’ll be done here by then?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m closing at five then taking a nana nap.”
“A nana nap.”
“It’s what my family calls it.” I shrugged again. “Oh, I do have to call my grandma when I’m done, so make it six-thirty.”
He smiled slowly. “Okay. I’ll see you then.”
“Okay.”
Mav leaned forward and kissed my cheek, then stepped back and disappeared with a wave.
My cheek tingled where his lips had been, and I pressed my fingertips against the same spot.
Oh, boy.
I was in trouble.
CHAPTER TWELVE – PIPER
RULE TWELVE: THE TRUTH IS ALWAYS THE BEST OPTION. ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE A THIRD NIPPLE.
“Hey, Grandma. What’s up?” I cradled the phone between my ear and shoulder as I tightened the towel around me. As soon as we’d shut the bakery and I’d sent Felicity home with a cash bonus for her hard work and a box full of leftover baked goods, I’d come right upstairs and showered before I sat on the sofa and didn’t get back up again.
“The blasted rooster has gone!”
I almost dropped my phone. She’d screamed down the line, scaring the crap out of me. “Don’t shout,” I replied. “You almost deafened me.”