AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I grimaced, not looking forward to the task at hand, and motioned for him to follow me down the hall.
“Lawson?” Piper’s voice rang out, interrupting my train of thought.
“Is that her?” he whispered.
I dropped my voice to match his. “What are we, school girls and our crush just walked in?” I pushed out of my chair and rolled my neck.
We’d been going over surveillance tapes for the last two hours without a break and even though I’d hoped to be finished by the time Piper got home from the hospital, I was thankful for the interruption.
“In here, Pippie,” I called back.
Pieters chuckled. “Pippie, huh? She got long red braids now? I do love a redhead.”
I shot him a look that was enough to shut him up just as Piper trudged into the doorway of my office. She was dressed in her hospital scrubs and her stethoscope was still hanging around her neck. Despite looking like she’d just run a marathon for the last twelve hours, she was still gorgeous. “Lawson, I know we were supposed to go out tonight, but I’m beat.” She paused when Pieters stepped into her line of sight. “Oh, hello,” she said, painting a smile on her face. Turning her attention back to me, she apologized. “I didn’t know you had company. Sorry to interrupt.”
I opened my mouth to assure her that she wasn’t bothering us when he beat me to it.
Sticking his hand out, he took a couple steps toward her and plastered a shit-eating grin on his face. “Mark. Nice to meet you, Piper.” He glanced over his shoulder at me and winked. “Reed here told me you were pretty, but I don’t think he realizes how stunning you really are.”
I glowered at him as she took his large hand in her petite one and blushed. Her gaze flickered to where I was standing briefly, a humorous twinkle in her eyes, and then back to the man in front of her. “Nice to meet you, Mark. Reed didn’t tell me he worked with actual people. I thought it was just him and these monitors.”
Mark held her hand for a beat longer than I thought was necessary, but I didn’t have the chance to tell him to let her go before she dropped his hand and stepped back. She turned her attention to me. “Don’t let me keep y’all.”
I shook my head and gave him a light shove. “We’re done for the day. Pieters here was just leaving.”
He looked back at me, his brows knitted. “We’ve only gotten through half of the—”
I cut him off before he said too much. “It’s a good stopping point. Besides, don’t you have a date tonight?”
I clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a pointed look. He finally got the hint and smirked. “Yeah, sure. Date.”
He turned back to where Piper continued to lean against the wall, her confused attention going back and forth between us. “So nice to finally meet you, Piper. Hope to see more of you.” He turned back to me one last time and the cocky motherfucker winked at me before giving Piper a chin lift and excusing himself.
Piper crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorjamb. “Who the heck was that?”
I shook my head. “An asshole.”
“Oh, I don’t know. He seemed nice enough.” She grinned, toying with her name badge. “You think he’ll be coming by more often?”
“No fucking way,” I growled. I could feel the heat creeping up my neck at the thought of the two of them spending any more time together. There wasn’t a chance in hell I was bringing him back into my house, not with the way he’d been eyeballing her.
“You jealous?” she asked, her voice teasing me.
My eyes widened. How could she read me so well? “What? Of him? Not even a little bit.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded, not convinced in the least. “Well, he was good looking. And knew how to give a compliment.” She shrugged.
Pieters may have been good at schmoozing women he didn’t know, but I did know Piper, and I could guarantee I was better. “Ah, yeah. He’s good at flattery.” I smiled, crossing the distance between us. Grasping her face gently, I pulled her close to me and kissed her forehead. “But I’m
better.” Her eyes fluttered shut and I took the opportunity to kiss each of her eyelids.
Her lips parted, a sigh escaping as she opened her eyes and gazed at me. “Oh, you are? Prove it.”
I stroked a thumb over her cheek and gently tilted her head back so I could look into her eyes. “I remember the very first time I saw you. You weren’t even a year old, and you were screaming—you did that a lot, you know?”
She giggled. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
I shook my head. “And even though your face was red, and you were making my ears bleed, I remember thinking that you were the cutest baby I’d ever seen.”
