In Too Deep

Chapter Three (Scene 3)

West was woken by the now-familiar sound of thumps and snarled four letter words as Ben crutch-hopped up his stairs.

Three fast raps on his door and a “Get your lazy ass out of bed,” had West rolling onto his back with a pillow jammed over his head, questioning why he hadn’t killed Ben when he moved downstairs a couple of months ago. It’d been a long time since they’d shared a house. Now he knew why.

He lifted a pillow corner and squinted at the blurry hands on his watch. Six a.m. Jesus. Normally he was up at the butt-crack of dawn, but how many hours sleep had he got last night? Two? Three at the most. Torturous hours spent listening to the hum of the dryer and imagining Piper naked under his old shirt, then kicking himself for allowing his mind to roam down that dead end street again.

Yeah, he was a guy and all, and therefore his dick often controlled the direction of his thoughts. What he should’ve been doing was figuring out who he could unload his unwanted houseguest onto. But with only four hundred locals living full time on the island, and a lot of those locals running B&Bs or renting their investment properties in the high tourist season, no one had a spare room.

“Coffee’s ready. Move or I’ll drink it all,” came Ben’s muffled yell from the kitchen.

West groaned, slid out of bed and walked to the French doors, which opened out onto the deck. Filaments of sunlight speared through the native bush surrounding his house and spilled like oiled silk over the flat surface of the bay below. Sunrise on another day in paradise. He tugged on some clothes and left his room, spotting the tousle-haired woman at the end of the hallway.

Piper. The metaphorical swarm of mosquitoes in his paradise.

She’d raided the dryer, dressed in her own clothes of cargo pants and a loose plaid shirt that skimmed over a breast-hugging tank top. And he tried, really tried, to ignore those breasts. It was far too early and he was far past his juvenile years of ogling a woman’s rack at any opportunity. He nodded curtly and strolled into the living room.

Besides, he’d been there, done that. Done her.

Ben turned from the kitchen counter, his free hand clenched around the handles of two coffee mugs. With a graceless balletic spin on his good foot he placed them on the dining table. “Coffee’s up—” His smile slipped as his glance slid from West to something a short distance behind. Ben straightened to his full height. “What’s she doing here?”

Ben’s suspicions as to where exactly Piper spent the night were etched on his wrinkled brow and stick-up-the-ass stiffness. West faked a yawn and slumped into a dining chair, his mind kicking into action. Did Ben honestly think he’d make a move on his sister on her first night back on the island? Because the idea of Ben figuring out he had a sexual history with Piper made him shudder.

Unwritten guy rule: You didn’t screw your best mate’s sister soon after her eighteenth birthday and then dump her like yesterday’s leftovers.

West took a sip of his coffee, keeping his gaze on the steaming mug. “Sod off, Ben. Go bitch to your mother if you’ve a problem with Piper staying in my office—it was her idea.”

Ben relaxed as he retrieved his crutches from their position against the kitchen counter and swung himself over to a chair. He picked up his cup and blew on it. “Touchy this morning, aren’t you?”

“Now, now, boys.” Piper swept into the kitchen heading straight for the coffee pot. “Let’s get some caffeine in us before we have to face the Inquisitioner, aka Mum.”

“What?” Ben said.

Piper scanned the row of cabinets above the counter and randomly opened one after another until she spotted the mugs. “You’d scurried away by the time Mum ordered us up to her place this morning.” She snagged a cup and filled it.

Ben groaned. “All of us?”

“Yep.”

“A family reunion at seven o’clock in the morning. Just great.” Ben swirled the contents of his coffee cup as if the grounds might reveal a plausible excuse his mother would buy.

West flexed his fingers and bit back a groan. Sounded like a fun meal. Not.

Bad enough having his house invaded by Harlands, screw being trapped with four of them in a room at the same time. Not even Glenna’s legendary cooked breakfast could tempt him. “Think I’ll give it a miss. Family dramas are not my scene.”

Piper leaned against the counter and slowly crossed one ankle over the other. Her steady, flat scrutiny made him wonder if this was the woman that apprehended criminals saw.

Cool. Centered. In control.

She snatched up the phone handset beside her and slid it across the table. It bumped against his coffee cup with a soft rattle. “Mum included you in that order disguised as an invitation. It’s your call.” Her voice was deceptively calm but beneath her even tone, flashes of temper sharpened the words. “You can ring to explain why you’re not coming because I’m not making excuses for you.”

Bugger. He could never say no to Glenna Harland. For that matter, he could never say no to Piper.

“Call it a miracle, but for once I agree with Piper.”

West dragged his gaze from her and refocused on Ben.

“Since you’re now part of the Save-Poor-Ben team, you should be there.” Ben shoved his cup away and stood. “Just keep you head down, eat your breakfast, and agree with everything Mum says.”

A dry chuckle escaped West. “You can tell you’ve been raised in a household of women. Jeez.”

“Well, you and your bro hung around us long enough to know what it’s like when you’re outnumbered. You smile and wave to keep the women happy and then do whatever you need to do.”

Piper threw up her hands. “Uh, hello? Female person right here.”

Ben tucked the crutches under his arms. “Though in Piper’s case you may want to cover your nuts if she catches you. I’ll wait downstairs.”

The clock ticked off monotonous seconds after Ben left the room.

“So. Are you coming…or not?” Piper crossed her arms, cleavage appearing at the motion.

Awareness clawed through his empty belly at the peaked outline of two nipples pressing against her top in the cool morning air. Coming or not. There would be no coming with Piper any time in his future. His dick twitched once in rebellion and he resisted the urge to adjust himself.

West shook his head and drained the remains of his coffee with a grimace. “I’ll go. Give me twenty minutes to shower and shave.”

“Better make it thirty—what, with you needing to fix your hair and all.” A dimple winked in her cheek as she sashayed past.

West scraped a hand over his chin to mask the curl of his lips. That was the Piper he remembered. He blew out his cheeks in a harsh puff of air. Problem was, he remembered too much.

So it’d better be a cold shower.