Page 28 of Finding Romance (Romances in the Building #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Kasen

I couldn’t bring myself to bring her back to Cornelia’s. Instead, I brought her to my bed where I had the best sleep I’ve had in days. Smelling her floral shampoo when I woke was like icing on the cake.

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” I whisper in her ear.

“Ten more minutes, Dad,” she grumbles and I tickle her side.

“Stop!” she says, laughing. She rolls to face me, her green and blue eyes staring up at me.

Her laughter dies as I stare down at her. “You’re beautiful, Piper. You know that?” I say.

She shoves my chest. “I’m just average. I mean other than my heterochromia.”

“Huh?” I ask.

“My weird eye thing,” she reiterates. So that’s what it’s called.

“No, you’re beautiful. And not just on the outside.” My finger lazily traces her breast but my eyes stay fixed on hers. “Don’t ever forget that, OK.”

“I won’t,” she whispers.

“Good. Now, I think you need some morning sex practice,” I say as I pull back the blanket.

The heaviness between us dissipates as I kiss my way down her neck, lavishing each of her breasts before landing between her legs.

I love the little moans she makes and the way her hands grip my hair as I taste her.

I’m going to miss every little thing about this.

“Kasen!” she cries out as I taste her release on my tongue.

“Too much,” she mumbles, trying to pull me away from her. But I keep going until she cries out again. Then I get up and haul her out of bed and into my shower, where she returns the favor and I introduce her to shower sex.

Once we’re clean, I walk her to Cornelia and Margie’s door. “I’ll see you tonight,” I say as I lean in and give her a quick kiss.

“Did I get an A in morning sex?” she teases.

“You got an A-plus and an A-plus for shower sex,” I reply.

She grins and I pat her butt and send her inside the apartment. I know for a fact that I’ll be thinking about her all day long.

* * *

It takes me a few hours, but I decide on a trendy restaurant and then the art museum that Piper mentioned as our third date. I rifle through my closet, feeling like a teenager going out with the girl I’ve pined over for months. I’m being ridiculous. In another day, she’ll be gone.

I curse as I remember it’s time for my therapy.

I promised Bray that I would give it three months.

We are almost through with month one and I’m not hating it.

It’s hard to accept my defects and accomplishments.

I have realized that I hate failing because then I’m not good enough.

Not being able to save my parents and my friend made me want to always be perfect, so I don’t ever want to fail that way again.

I always knew I was being ridiculous but talking through it has helped.

And because I’m so hard on myself, accepting praise is challenging.

I’m always operating in a mode of “I can do better.”

I toss my date clothes on the bed and log in for my appointment.

My therapist, Randy, is waiting.

“Hey, how are you doing this week?” he asks.

I shrug. “A little bummed but ready for my life to go back to normal, I guess,” I admit.

“Back to normal?” he asks.

“Yeah, remember I mentioned that I was helping out that woman I just met?” I state while running my finger over a photo of Piper on my phone.

“Right. But I thought that was just showing her the dating ropes,” he says. His dark eyes look at me through the screen and I hate that he’s already seeing all my fissures on our fourth appointment.

“It was…I mean, it is,” I correct, closing the photo app on my phone.

“That doesn’t sound done,” Randy says as he pushes his glasses up his nose.

I look out my window and watch a flock of birds fly into the park. It must be nice just to be able to pack up and fly away from your troubles.

“Kasen?”

My focus shifts back to Randy. “It has to be done.”

“Why?” he asks.

“Because you’ve heard my issues. And my work is crazy. This woman…she’s everything good and pure about the world. She deserves better. She deserves everything,” I ramble.

“Then, doesn’t she deserve you? If that’s what she wants,” he points out.

“She deserves better than me,” I argue, practically growling because Piper deserves the sun, moon, and stars.

Randy raises a dark eyebrow. “So who should she date?”

“No one,” I growl and immediately regret showing all my cards, even if I am paying this guy to help me sort out my feelings.

“I see,” he says in a knowing voice.

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I’d rather not talk about it. She leaves on Thursday morning,” I state.

“Fine. We can move on, but remember, you don’t get to pick who she wants to be with.

And if she wants to be with you and you turn her down, then she can be with anyone else,” he says and I hate that he’s speaking the truth.

I also hate how I feel. I don’t want her to leave.

I want her here in my bed, tucked safely against me every night.

I want to sit on the bench in the park and watch her paint.

But instead of saying that out loud, I circle back to my military trauma and we spend the rest of the call talking about one of the worst days of my life because right now, that seems less daunting than discussing my intensifying feelings for Piper.

* * *

“After you,” I say as I press the small of Piper’s back, guiding her inside the elevator. She’s wearing heels today and I don’t want her tripping on the stairs.

She steps inside and I follow her, pressing the down button. The elevator lurches down and then comes to a complete stop.

“Shit,” I mutter.

“Uh, is that normal?” Piper asks, her voice rising an octave.

I jam my finger against the down button but nothing happens. Sighing, I pull out my cell phone and call Troy.

“Hey,” Troy answers. “What’s up? Tank spring a leak again?”

“Nope. Elevator’s stuck,” I say, my jaw clenching because nothing makes me more uneasy than a situation I can’t control.

“Shit. OK, just you in there?” Troy asks and I can hear him moving around.

“Nope. Piper is here too,” I state as I look down at her. She looks panicked. I place my hand on her back and gently rub it while I turn my attention back to Troy’s voice. “I think we’re between the third and fourth floors.”

“Got it. I’ll call the emergency line for the elevator people. If we can’t get it moving, I’ll need to call the fire station to come over here,” he says as if he’s done this one hundred times, and maybe he has.

“OK, keep me posted, please,” I say as I hang up and look down at Piper.

Her chest is rising and falling quickly and I’m worried she’s going to have a full-blown panic attack.

“Hey,” I say and she looks up at me with those blue and green eyes. “Troy will have us out of here in a few minutes.

“Breathe, Piper,” I state as I see her chest failing to rise. She sucks in a deep breath and looks around us.

“Now what?” she asks. I grin and open the door to the little telephone in the elevator. Two years ago, Bray had to use it when Troy was visiting his brother.

I pull out a deck of cards that Bray put in the telephone compartment after he got stuck. He had decided we needed something to do the next time it stopped working. “We could play strip poker.”

She gives me a pointed look and I chuckle. “Fine, we can play…” I trail off as I try to think of something other than strip poker because the thought of Piper naked right now is the only thing my brain can process.

“How about go fish?” she suggests.

Now, I’m the one raising an eyebrow. She gives me a cute pout and I groan as I sit down and start shuffling cards.

She looks down at my lap and then up at me and I hold up my finger and motion to her to come sit in my lap. She gives me a small smile and sits down between my legs, leaning her head back on my chest.

“Don’t cheat, OK,” she says as she steals a glimpse of her cards.

I chuckle and press a kiss to the crown of her head. “I’ll do my best.”

She elbows me in the ribs.

I grunt. “Careful, illustrator,” I growl.

She giggles. “Do you have a two?” she asks.

I hold my cards above her head and she tries to look at them. I tickle her side and she shoves at my hand.

Finally, I give up and wrap my arm around her arms and breasts, caging her in place. She squirms.

“No fair,” she mutters.

Laughing some more, I say, “No, go fish.”

She attempts to reach the discard pile of cards but a knock on the elevator has her pausing.

“You guys OK in there?” Troy asks.

“We’re good. Just playing cards,” I say loudly as I hear him trying to pry open the elevator doors.

“Damn, I think we’re going to need that crank thing the fire station has. I’ll call over there and then put a work order in with the elevator tech,” he says. “Hold tight, I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Thanks,” I say, keeping my arm wrapped around Piper. She wiggles her ass against my groin and I feel the blood flowing toward my dick.

“Piper,” I growl in her ear. She wiggles again.

“What?” she asks, feigning innocence.

“You know what,” I murmur, while setting down my cards. Two can play at this game and I have the upper hand.

I take my free hand and slide it up her thigh, pushing her panties aside and running my fingers through her damp folds. She lets out a small whimper.

“You’re wet for me,” I whisper.

“Yes,” she answers as I push one finger inside her. “Kasen,” she manages.

“Shhh. We have time,” I assure her.

“But…” She trails off as I slide a second finger inside her. Part of me wants to splay her out on the floor and taste her, but I sort of like having her locked against me. I like feeling her willingly give up control to me as I pleasure her.

“That’s right, baby. Feel how good that is,” I say as I use my thumb to circle her clit.

Her breath hitches and she grips my thighs. I can feel her chest rising and falling against my arm that’s wrapped around it.

“You’re so close. Grind against my hand,” I demand. She pushes her pelvis against me and I feel her muscles begin to clench.

Her head tips back and her mouth falls open in a silent cry, her body trembling against me. Then she slumps back, breathing hard. I pull my fingers from her and suck them clean.

“That’ll have to do for now,” I declare as I loosen my grip on her. In the distance, I hear the sirens.

I straighten her panties and dress. I’m about to help her to stand when there’s a noise from the elevator roof. We both look up and then at each other.

“Troy?” I ask.

It’s silent and then we hear, “meow.”

“Licorice?” I ask.

“Gray and Roxy’s cat?” she questions as I help her to stand, while I start examining the small opening in the ceiling of the elevator that’s currently closed.

“Yep,” I explain as I reach up and then grab my pocket knife on my keyring to unscrew the panel. I begin to lift it down when suddenly a whole bunch of stuff falls down into the elevator.

“Look out,” I say as I step back and put an arm out to protect Piper.

Random artifacts rain down from the top of the panel I just removed.

I set it down and we look at the items on the floor.

There are cat toys, candy wrappers, screws, a half-eaten Twizzler, two gumballs, a bracelet made of beads, a pen, some tips from one of those cake piping things, four hair ties, a piece of newspaper, a cork from a wine bottle, and a few other items that are half-covered by things.

“No fucking way,” Piper whispers loudly as she leans over and picks up a necklace, and not just any necklace, Cornelia’s missing necklace.

“Meow!”

We both look up and see two green eyes staring down at us.

“Licorice!” I scold.

The cat begins to jump down and I quickly catch it. It grips on to me, and I yelp as it embeds its nails into my shoulder.

“Fuck!” I yelp.

Licorice uses me a springboard and jumps back up through the hole in the elevator ceiling.

“It’s OK, sweetie,” Piper coos. I glare at her as I try to inspect my shoulder.

“What about me?” I grumble.

“Oh, come here, I’m sure you’re going to be fine,” she says as she pulls on my shirt. “Can you just take your shirt off so I can examine it?” she asks, stuffing the necklace into a pocket on her dress.

I unbutton my shirt and peel it off.

“Oh, shit, he really got you,” she says.

“She,” I correct, grimacing as she touches the back of my shoulder.

“Hold on,” she says as she carefully pulls off her dress. My mouth falls open as I take in her sexy matching underwear. It’s white and lacey and barely hides her flesh.

She takes the skirt and spreads it apart, revealing two layers of material. She presses the inside layer against my shoulder and I hiss.

“Don’t be a baby,” she says.

“It stings,” I mutter through clenched teeth.

“Oh, shit, the necklace,” she curses and drops to her knees to pick it up just as the elevator doors open and four firemen and Troy look inside.

“Fuck,” I mutter.

Piper squeaks and presses her dress against her nearly naked body.

“Sorry,” a fireman says as they all look anywhere but at us.

Piper pulls her dress back over her head and stands. Her face is more red than a bottle of ketchup.

“I got a cut,” I explain. “She was using her dress to stop the bleeding.”

They all look back and I turn and point to my shoulder.

Troy looks up. “Is that Licorice? Did she scratch you or did the panel fall on you?”

“Meow!”

Sighing, I point to the cat and then the floor. “She’s apparently been keeping all her toys up there,” I explain as I pick up my shirt and put it back on.

“We found my aunt’s necklace,” Piper adds as she points to the necklace she’s now wearing.

“Oh, that’s great. Uh, if you can help lift her, we can get her out of here,” a fireman says as he motions to Piper. I don’t like the idea of him touching her, but we do need to leave. So I hoist her up and they pull her out. A minute later, they help me and tend to my cat scratches.

After Piper and I give them an awkward “thank you,” we head out on what is left of our date. When we reach the sidewalk, Piper looks up at me. “I think after that, I’m officially prepared for any type of future date. Also, I can never look Troy in the eyes again.”

I start laughing, and eventually, she joins me.

“Come on, illustrator, I think we can still make the museum portion of this date. We can grab food at Joe’s Tavern after.

” And as we walk to the museum, hand in hand, I’m overcome with sadness that this perfect woman will be leaving in less than twenty-four hours.