“Kelly, it’s me,” Piper said with a laugh, coming out from behind the counter.
Kelly did a double take, searching Piper’s face as she came closer. “Piper? Oh my God, I never would have recognized you. My goodness. What living in the big city does to someone.”
Piper laughed. “It’s not because I live in the big city. I used to talk about this stuff all the time, remember?”
Kelly smiled, a dimple winking in her cheek as she nodded. “I guess you did, but I never thought you were serious. Regardless, you look great.” Kelly closed the distance between them and pulled Piper into a hug, and when she pulled back, her smile faded as she searched Piper’s eyes. “We never should have gone so long without talking. We swore we wouldn’t let distance get between us, and then we did just that. And I’m so sorry about your grandmother. She was an amazing lady, and I was so upset that I couldn’t get back home for the funeral. I was in Chicago at the time, helping my mom after her surgery.”
“It’s okay. Mrs. D told me where you were. Don’t apologize. You needed to be with your mom. How is she now?”
“Out running around, dancing till dawn. Doing all the things she couldn’t before she got her knee replaced,” Kelly said with a laugh.
“That’s great. I’m so glad she’s doing so well. We should hang out while I’m here. I’ve missed you. I don’t want to lose touch again when I go back home, either.”
“While you’re here? You’re not staying?” Kelly asked, disappointment in her eyes.
Suppressing a sigh, Piper shook her head. “I have a life back in Seattle, Kelly. I can’t just pack up everything and move here.”
“Didn’t your grandmother say you worked from home?” Kelly asked with a puzzled frown. “Ohhh, I bet you’re seeing someone now. I get it. I suppose I should find a new job,” she said with a distant look.
“That’s right, you’ve been working here for a while, haven’t you?” she asked, beginning to feel guilty. “I’m so sorry, Kel. I should have said something to you so you weren’t waiting around on me.”
“Don’t worry about it. My house is paid for, and I have plenty in savings. I don’t actually need to work. I only did because I enjoyed it here.” She chewed on her lip for a moment before brightening. “Hey, maybe I could just buy this place from you! I always loved it here. I’ve gotten pretty good at baking, although no one is as good as your grandma was. And she never would let anyone else have her special recipes,” Kelly said with a laugh. “But I’m good. This could work.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll let you know when I have more of an idea on things,” Piper forced out with a strained smile.
“Hey, want to come to Cocky Pete’s tonight? Just hang out and catch up? It’s been too long.”
“Yeah, sure, I’d like that.”
“Seven sound okay? Great. I’ll meet you there. I’ve got to get going, so I’ll see you tonight!”
Piper watched as Kelly walked out of the store, wondering at her reluctance over selling the bakery to Kelly. Her old friend was a thousand times better than some stranger who would change things, or even turn the building into something else.
Frowning, she got back to her walk-through. She shouldn’t care what happened to the store once she sold it. She wanted nothing to do with Eagle Creek, and she was determined to spend as little time here as possible. So why this hesitancy to discuss selling it, even to her childhood best friend?
Feeling unsettled, Piper finished checking the store out before driving back home. She opened the door to let Snickers out, and followed him, inhaling the warm summer air as she made her way to the gazebo. Taking a seat on the stairs, she put her elbows on her knees and planted her chin in her hand.
Maybe it was just because to her, the bakery would always be Mansfield’s. Always be her grandmother’s. The thought of it being anyone else’s felt all wrong, but she’d have to get over it. Selling was the only option.
“I thought I might find you back here. Hey, Piper. Long time, no see.”
Piper jumped at hearing someone else’s voice, and felt her body go hot then cold. She knew, before she ever glanced up, who it belonged to. She hadn’t heard it in eight years, and the smoky baritone had deepened even more since then, and it sent shivers chasing up and down her spine.
For just a moment, longing rushed through her, so potent it would have brought her to her knees if she was standing. And it pissed her the fuck off, to no end. This man had broken her heart. Ripped it from her chest and crushed it beneath his boot, slicing her soul to shreds. She would not feel longing for him now.
Steeling herself, her eyes found his boots, and she trailed them up his body, intentionally keeping her expression blank. Good Lord in Heaven, he was huge. His thighs were straining his faded jeans, and she forced herself to not linger over the bulge in his jeans. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt that was clinging to his muscular chest, and the sleeves hugged his massive biceps.
Swallowing hard, she ignored the rush of desire coursing through her veins, and forced her eyes up higher. Past a square jaw dusted with dark stubble, past well defined, full lips, the lower one fuller than the top. Past a strong nose and sharp cheekbones, straight up into eyes that were shadowed by his ballcap, but that she knew were a beautiful forest green. She couldn’t see them well, but she could feel the intensity in them like a torch to her skin. When he turned his head for a moment, she saw he had sideburns, only slightly thicker than the stubble on his jaw, and what she could see of his black hair beneath his hat was cut short.
Shooting to a standing position, she crossed her arms over her chest, pissed off that he’d caught her so off guard. But she didn’t know he was back in Eagle Creek too, and she hadn’t expected to run into him while she was here. Returning his eyes to her, he started sliding them down her body, doing his own inspection, and her core tightened even as she got more pissed off.
He didn’t get to walk back into her life eight years after leaving her devastated. Didn’t get to look at her like he was doing now, the heat in his eyes almost a tangible caress against her skin. Didn’t get to make her feel things for him again, even if it was only physical.
And it is. It’s only physical. The only emotion I feel for him is anger, she told herself.
“What the fuck are you doing here, St. James? Get the hell off my property, now. You’re not welcome here.”
Jax raised an eyebrow at Piper’s words, but he wasn’t surprised. This first meeting was going about as well as he thought it would. He took a moment to marshal his thoughts, because seeing her again had packed even more of a wallop than he anticipated. His throat was too tight for speech, and his eagle was inside him, keeled over in a swoon, acting more like a damned fainting woman than a fierce bird of prey. He wouldn’t be any help at all.