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CHAPTER TWO

Piper

Wintervale, Montana. My new home, at least for now.

I still don’t know how long I’ll be staying here, but I know I want to be here to see the new baby.

Or maybe I’ll stay here forever. Emiko was telling me about the general store and how they have a bookstore in it.

I plan on going in and asking if I can sell my books there.

Maybe even have a little section for them. Never hurts to ask.

“Your town is really cute. It’s bigger than I thought it would be,” I say to Emiko.

“Do you mind if we stop at the store first? I want you to meet Rhett. And the twins are still in summer school. You know, since you’re going to have a table in the book store…maybe you should do a signing.”

“Why would I mind you stopping to see your fiancé? And what the hell are you talking about?” I laugh.

“You can just sit there and people will come to see you. Wintervale should know that we have a famous author living here now.”

“‘Famous.’” I snort.

“Fine. It’s settled. I’m gonna talk to Felicity, she’s really good at social media and getting the word out about things. By next week? You’ll have your own signing.”

Emiko smiles as she parks the car. I look up and see the sign for the Wintervale General Store.

We get out and I follow her inside. I look around as we make a beeline for the pharmacy.

I see a handsome man hop over the counter and grab Emiko.

I can’t help but smile as I watch them. They’re adorable.

“Piper! This is my Rhett. Rhett, this is my Piper.”

I shake Rhett’s hand.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. Emiko’s told me all about you.”

“Thank you for letting me crash with all of you. I promise I won’t stay too long.”

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.” Rhett smiles.

“I appreciate that. I’m going to look around the store.”

“Don’t get lost.” Emiko teases.

I stick my tongue out and turn to walk around.

As I’m walking around, I find the bookstore part of the store.

Emiko was telling me that Rhett had asked his brother if he could make me a table and display.

I walk in and see a guy building a table.

He’s gorgeous. Like the guys I write about in my books.

He definitely works out and I can’t stop staring at him.

He finally sees me and smiles. I feel like my face is on fire and I’m pretty sure I’m giving him some sort of smile.

“Hi, can I help you find something?” he asks, his voice is smooth and deep.

“I—um. N-no, thank you. Are you Rhett’s brother?” I sound like an idiot.

And there’s that smile again. “I am. My name is Paxton.”

“I’m Piper, Emiko’s friend.”

“So you’re the one I’m making this for.” He nods to the table.

“Guilty. And it looks awesome, thank you so much.”

I never thought I actually believed in love at first sight. Even if I write about it. I believe in lust at first sight. But love? No way…until Paxton. It sounds ridiculous, even in my head. How do you love someone before you even know them? I don’t know. But I feel like I already do.

“I’m sorry,” I say when I realize I’ve been staring at him this whole time. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

I start to walk away and he grabs my hand.

“You’re welcome to stay and keep me company. You could let me know where you want your shelf. I made a stand that will sit on the table. Give me a second, I’ll go and get it.”

I nod as I hold onto his hand.

“You could come with me,” he leans towards me and whispers in my ear. Holy shit he’s sexy.

“Piper!” we hear Emiko calling to me.

I tear my eyes away from Paxton’s face. Emiko and Rhett are smiling as they walk up to us.

“I see you met my brother.” Rhett smiles.

I nod at them. “He was showing me the table he made.”

“That’s not all it looks like he’s showing you.” Emiko snickers.

Again, former best friend.

Paxton

When Rhett asked me to make the table and display, I was annoyed. After meeting Piper? I’ll build her anything she wants.

“Do you think we can use this table for a signing?” Emiko asks.

“Signing?” I ask.

“Yeah, I want Piper to have her own book signing here in Wintervale.”

“You’re crazy.” Piper laughs.

“Don’t listen to her. She needs more signings and I know Felicity will back me on this.”

“What am I backing you on?” Felicity asks as she walks over.

“I was saying I would love for Piper to have her own signing, here in the store,” Emiko says.

“I love that idea! I can start setting it up. We could do it this weekend. In fact we can do once a month if you want. I’M SO EXCITED!” Felicity giggles as she runs back to her register.

“You’re all nuts. No one’s going to come and see me.”

“Of course they will,” I say as I stare at her.

“Let’s get home and get your stuff ready.” Emiko smiles.

I can’t help watching her. She’s perfect and I want her to be mine. Actually, she’s already mine, she just doesn’t know it yet.

“What do you need for your signing? I can make you a bigger table. I only made this to hold the stand and a few books. But I can make you a regular table that you can sit at. Maybe with removable shelves to display your books. We can bring it out whenever you have signings.”

“You would do that?” she looks at me with wide eyes.

“I’ll make anything you want.”

Rhett clears his voice. “I don’t mean to interrupt you two. But I only have an hour to eat lunch. So are you guys coming back to the house with us or what?”

I squint at my younger brother.

“Are you hungry? I can take you to lunch if you want. Or if you want to see the house, we can do that too,” I say to Piper.

“Sure. Lunch sounds good. How long before you have to be back?”

“I have an hour too. I didn’t put my sign up yet, because I was still working. Give me a sec and I’ll get it.”

I run over to the lumber section that I take care of and write the time on my sign. I make sure to add an extra fifteen minutes to it—if I thought I could do more, I would. I turn and almost run over Piper.

“Oh god, I’m sorry.” I smile.

She laughs. “I just wanted to thank you. I didn’t expect such a big display for my books. And I love the table you made.”

“When we get back, I’ll show you the wood I have in stock. You can choose what you’d like to use for your stands and the new table.”

Before I lose the nerve, I lean down and kiss her on the cheek. I worry that she’ll pull away from me. But she doesn’t, she looks up at me and smiles.

“Wow,” she whispers a I take a step back and look at her.

“Definitely.” I smile.

That kiss…a simple kiss on the cheek and I know she’s the one for me. I just hope she feels the same way.