Page 55 of Wicked Dares
I don’t even bother to park in my garage. I roll the car to a stop next to the Miata and rush into the house. There, I find Piper Andrews in the living room, standing by the long windows, gazing out at the sea.
You can’t quite see much from this side of the house, but it’s a good enough view to get lost in.
She turns to face me. I know from the moment I look at her pretty face, tight with nerves and uncertainty, that she’s going to say yes.
The butterfly is going to choose me again.
Chapter Twelve
PIPER
Seize the moment.
I guess I’m trying to do that again. But this time, I’m doing something that may change my life.
Or ruin it. That possibility exists too. I just can’t afford to think that way right now.
I step away from the window and try to look composed, like I have my head together. Levi’s staring at me, his face hopeful. But he must know I could only be here—at his home—if I already decided I was going to accept his offer.
“Hey, there.” He moves closer and stops by the coffee table.
The low lights from the lamps cast warm shadows across the room, softening the sharp edges of all the expensive furniture.
“Hi. I didn’t mean to come to your house again. I don’t think I’m going to be at Vale Global on Monday, though, so this was perhaps the best way I’d get to see you.”
His brows knit together. “What happened?”
A tight pull grips my chest, like the words are stuck somewhere between wanting to spill and refusing to come out.
“Helen.” Enough said. The woman is a nasty piece of work. Perhaps I should feel embarrassed admitting I got pushed out so quickly by someone like her. Instead, all I feel is tired.
After I got back from my meeting with Levi yesterday, Helen decided she wasn’t going to talk to meat all. Instead, she bombarded me with a ton of work, telling everyone else to give me all the tasks they couldn’t manage.
Of course, the entire team took that as an invitation to dump everything on me. I ended up leaving work late, well into the night. I don’t get paid overtime as a temp, so the extra labor was for nothing.
“I realize that maybe I should do better if I’m given the chance,” I say with a slight lift of my shoulders. “This offer of yours might be that chance.”
Levi straightens. “Come. Follow me. You look like you could use a drink.”
I nod. He’s not wrong. I could do with something stronger than the lemon water I’ve been consuming to calm my nerves.
He leads the way, and I follow, my thoughts still churning.
There’s something strangely comforting about following him through this house. I’ve thought about his offer nonstop, eventually deciding this was a no-brainer, even if my dignity makes me question things.
Aunt Bess would call these sorts of deals the kind you make with the devil—where it looks good on the outside, but you don’t walk away unscathed.
Still, no one ever moved up in life without taking some kind of risk. Even the most privileged people take risks.
This might be mine.
We head to the kitchen. Levi grabs a bottle of wine from the fridge, two glasses from the cupboard, and pours us each a drink. The scent of the sweet wine mixes with the fresh pine scent lingering in the air.
“It’s the wine from the restaurant that you liked. The first one,” he points out, tapping the bottle.
I smile at that. “Thank you.”
“You alright?” He looks me over.
