Seeing is Believing Read Free Page B

“Oh, I’ll get it,” she said, her voice a sweet, husky whisper.
    Damn, he knew that look, felt that vibe, could practically smell the attraction that had sprung up between them. Good thing the twins were upstairs sleeping or he’d be severely tempted to taste Piper Tucker from tip to toe.
    This was not a woman he could fool around with.
    It was a mantra he was going to have to repeat all week long. Along with the friendly little reminder to himself that Shelby would tear his head off, and Danny Tucker would rip something even more important off him, if they found out he was fooling around with Piper. And Amanda? Hell, she might be the worst of all. She wouldn’t tear something off Brady. She’d string him up by his nuts, spray him with honey, and let the bees at him.
    Piper was extra special to them, because Danny hadn’t known she existed until she was eight years old and her worthless stepfather had dumped her in Danny’s driveway.
    Not a woman he should be messing around with. Repeat ten times twice daily and maybe it would sink in.
    Yet he still found himself moving in just a little too close to her when he handed over the shirt. “That’s sweet of you. I left my travel bag in the trunk.”
    “No problem. I . . .” Piper looked over his shoulder.
    “What?” Brady half turned, expecting to see one of the kids standing in the doorway. Good thing he hadn’t given in to his very inappropriate urge to kiss her.
    “Nothing.” Piper darted her eyes back to him. Then behind him again. Her cheeks flushed. Her head tilted, sending her wavy light brown hair cascading over her forehead and right eye.
    “What are you looking at?” She obviously saw something back there. “A mouse?”
    “No. Nothing.” Step one, step two, she shifted around to his side and stood stiffly, tugging her tank top down again.
    Then Brady knew what it was. What he’d forgotten about Piper Tucker from all those years ago, the summer he had been fifteen and she’d arrived in town.
    “You still see ghosts, don’t you?”

Chapter Two

    PIPER STARED AT BRADY IN ASTONISHMENT. “I . . . I . . . don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”
    Only she wasn’t all that great of a liar. She couldn’t even look him in the eye as she spoke.
    But she wasn’t about to admit that a ghost of a man with blond hair was standing right behind Brady, smiling and nodding his head up and down.
    “Come on, Piper. I remember. You used to ask me to draw pictures for you. Pictures of the ghosts you saw.”
    Dang. She couldn’t believe it. Why would he remember something like that? And why were they having this conversation while he wasn’t wearing a shirt? She had almost whimpered when he’d exposed his chest to her. Brady had filled out a bit in the last twelve years. In all the right places.
    “I was just a kid. I had an active imagination.” Her parents had forgotten about her imaginary friends and ghost sightings. Or at least they never mentioned them to her anymore. It wasn’t something Piper ever wanted to discuss with anyone, least of all Brady Stritmeyer, a lifelong crush she clearly hadn’t quite gotten over.
    “Bullshit,” he said.
    She was surprised that he hadn’t just dropped it. And that he was swearing at her. Raising an eyebrow at him, Piper clutched his damp shirt, glad she had it to mask her clammy and trembling hands. If there was one thing she was good at, it was changing the focus of a conversation from her to someone else. So she said, “I do remember the one time I had you sketch my mom in Victorian clothes. She was so upset that her hair was pinned back like that, even in a drawing, but she made an effort to fake that she liked it. How is Chicago, by the way? My mom said you work at a marketing company. That sounds interesting.”
    It hadn’t seemed like a good fit to Piper, but then she had reminded herself she knew nothing about him except the impressions of an eight-year-old girl of a teenage boy.