There were only two customers browsing, so Haley led the way to the far corner that was reserved for Piper’s garments. She had only been in Hope a year before Piper walked into her shop and they hit it off almost immediately. Her friendship had come at a time when Haley had sorely needed that bond with another person. Her own past had enabled

her to recognize right off another woman who was as determined as she had been to start over, to leave a painful past behind. “What do you mean you don’t have much time? I haven’t seen or spoken to you in three days and since I know you’d never take off without letting me know, I’ve been plagued by horrible scenarios of what might have happened. You owe me lunch at least. Oh,” she breathed when she picked up a light blue teddy with matching thong, “I love this.”

“It’s yours,” Piper offered even though she knew Haley wouldn’t take it.

“It’d be wasted on me and you know it.”

“Hey, I’ve offered to share Cole with you.” Piper had no emotional attachment to Cole, her part-time lover, and she knew he would be more than willing to end Haley’s long drought from sex, but she also knew it wasn’t going to happen. Suddenly, she was besieged by a memory of being sandwiched between two hard bodies, harsh breathing filling her ears, hands and mouths leaving no part of her untouched.

“Piper, you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry.” Those erotic images that had been so dreamlike this morning when she first awoke were becoming clearer instead of vaguer and Piper was beginning to wonder what exactly did happen when Brody and Ian had arrived at her cabin yesterday. A quick glance up and down Main Street from the front window showed no sign of Brody or Ian yet, but Piper didn’t think they’d waste time tracking her down once they discovered she had slipped out.

“If you don’t want that, why don’t we put it on the mannequin? It’s subtle enough to display in the window. Some of these others should probably be more discreetly displayed. Like this one.” With a cheeky grin she held up a white lace bra with cutouts for the nipples, a small red bow placed to sit right above a rosy tip, drawing ones attention. The matching crotchless panties had a similar bow set to rest right above an exposed pussy.

“Those are positively decadent.”

“They’ll make some guy happy.” While they worked together, Piper quickly told Haley what she knew, which wasn’t much.

“So, this Brody is the same guy you spent one really hot night with five years ago and out of the blue he shows up because the sheriff and I thought you were in trouble? The man must be obsessed.” Haley folded the bikini panties and thongs in neon silk and arranged them on a shelf as she tried to suppress the memories of her obsessed husband and how easily he had duped her.

Piper finished hanging the last silk nightie before turning to her friend. She knew about Haley’s crazed ex, how he had tormented her until she had finally decided anything was better than living in constant fear, how, even though the bastard was currently serving year six of a fifteen year attempted murder sentence, it was still a constant battle to keep fear from ruling her life.

“He’s obsessed with his job, not with me,” Piper retorted. No matter how much she had daydreamed about having a man like Brody want her when she was an overweight, dumb as nails young woman and despite her apparent lust for the man who had betrayed Charles, and in turn, her, she would never believe she meant anything more to him than a means to an end, that end being finishing the job he and Ian had set out to do five years ago. From the closed, implacable look on Brody’s face when she had denied any possibility that Charles might have survived his injuries from that assassination attempt, she knew he’d never believe that until he had proof or possibly until he and Ian succeeded in bringing this other man, Pasquino, to justice. “But he doesn’t mean me any harm, Haley, I’m sure of that.” At least not physically, Piper thought morosely. Emotionally might be another matter. She had been crushed when she had fled Atlantic City, not only because of Charles’s loss but because of the painful revelation of Brody’s efforts to hurt the one person in the world who meant anything to her after she had humiliated herself by practically forcing him into having sex with her.

“Good, because I have to admit, I’m glad you’ve got someone so capable and willing to look out for you until you find out what happened. I’m sure you’ll rest easier knowing they’re there also.”

“Yeah, I will, but not enough to totally give up my independence again to another man. Like you, I learned the hard way to stand on my own two feet, but I’m willing to accept a helping hand when needed. Right now, though, I think I’ll head back home before they show up to drag me there. That,” she muttered darkly, “wouldn’t be a pretty sight.”

“You still owe me lunch,” Haley told her as she followed her through racks of summer wear to the front of the shop. “Tomorrow?”

“See you then.”

Brody found a parking spot in front of the Post Office on what appeared to be Hope’s main street, aptly named ‘Main Street’, still fuming over the way Piper had so blatantly disregarded their order not to take off by herself. It had never dawned on him that she wouldn’t simply comply with his dictate. The woman he used to know would have meekly agreed and that would have been the end of it, but Piper had changed in more ways than just physically, something that he realized rather forcibly when he knocked on her workroom door and got no answer. His second surprise had come when he opened the door and saw she had crawled out the window and slipped right by them. He now realized he had made a mistake by telling her how things were going to be instead of asking, but that didn’t negate her impulsive foolishness which he was hoping hadn’t landed her in trouble again.

“Relax,” Ian said, “she’s smart enough to be careful. Those missing days had her shook. She’ll be careful.”

“She’s still going to learn to listen to us, whether she thinks she can handle this on her own or not.” Getting out, Brody looked up and down the quaint brick sidewalks, noted all the small shops with flower boxes on the window sills, tree shaded benches and the laid back atmosphere as well as attitude of the few people milling about.

“It’s fucking Mayberry,” Ian complained as he too looked up and down the street.

“I like it.”

“You would,” he replied, his lip curled in disdain.

Grinning, Brody pointed to the corner shop. “You check there, I’ll head down to the bar and question the bartender who took her home the other night. Hopefully one of us will run into her.”

“And when we do?”

“Then I plan to show her what happens when she’s so careless with her safety, especially after I specifically told her not to go anywhere alone.”

“She’s made a life for herself here, Brody, independent of Sandoval. She’s not going to turn the reins over to you without a fight,” Ian warned him.

“Then she’s going to have trouble sitting down the next few days until we find out what’s going on.” And damned if he wasn’t looking forward to meting out those consequences, Brody thought as he pictured her draped over his lap, her ass bare and wiggling. The easy part would be administering her punishment, the hard part would be controlling his reaction to the feel of her ass warming under his hand, to the sight of that soft white skin turning redder with each swat, especially if she took to that painful pleasure as lustfully as she had the last time. Still, it would be worth the frustration of putting aside his own lustful reaction to make sure she didn’t pull this stunt again.

“Can I watch?” Ian’s grin was knowing and contagious.

“Of course, but we’re not fucking her. It wouldn’t be right under the circumstances.”

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