“We are to-die-for cute!” Fallon gushed.
“We sure are.” Audrey laughed.
“I love it. Can you send it to me?” Piper asked.
“Sure!”
Piper waited until her phone dinged with the picture and was about to walk away when she noticed that Shea and Elli were making their way toward them. Turning to see if Erik saw them coming, she noticed that Jakob and Harper had arrived at the party, too.
Jeez, could she get a break?
Erik glanced over at her and took her hand in his, bringing her to him. He leaned down, his lips along her jawbone, his beard tickling her cheek as he whispered, “You want me to go get you a drink?”
She shook her head and said, “Elli is coming over here.”
She felt his face move and when she looked up at him, he was looking toward where Elli had stopped to talk to someone else. It was so weird not seeing Elli pregnant anymore. Piper had always thought Elli had a gorgeous figure pregnant or not. Even after four kids, she was still stunning in a long black dress that sparkled in the light. Her hair curled across her shoulders and she looked like a million bucks. Beside her was her handsome husband.
When Piper glanced back up at Erik, he was looking down at her and asked, “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I can go get it.”
Erik shook his head. “Don’t leave me with all these people.”
She laughed as he gave her a small smile. “They are your friends.”
“Yeah, but it’s weird, they are looking at me like I’m an alien.”
Piper let out a snort as she shook her head. “It’s all in your head.”
“No, really, I feel weird.”
Piper rolled her eyes. “And I help you not feel weird?”
Erik paused and shrugged his shoulders. “I feel normal when you are around.”
Piper raised an eyebrow and said, “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not, but for your sake, I’m gonna take it as one.”
Erik’s eyes darkened, causing all kinds of butterflies to flutter in her belly as he whispered, “If you want a compliment, I’ll give you one. You are looking really hot tonight.”
Well, that stunned her, and with wide eyes she whispered, “Thank you.”
When Piper felt an arm go around her middle, it broke the intense gaze they were sharing, and Piper looked over to see Elli smiling at her.
“Well I must say, y’all are mighty cute together.”
Piper smiled up at Erik as he glanced down at her, causing her heart to skip a beat. He looked as if he was going to kiss her. A big lusty kiss on the lips, maybe a little tongue, and when he leaned down toward her, Piper’s eyes drifted shut just as his lips pressed against the spot between her nose and cheek.
“Aw! You two are so stinkin’ cute!” Audrey gushed.
Disappointment filled her as she opened her eyes to find that Erik’s lips still lingered by her nose. She wanted to feel his lips on hers. She wanted to be completely taken by him. But she needed to remember, this was strictly to protect his career. He was acting.
Blinking, she remembered that she had to act, too, so she muttered, “He is kinda cute, isn’t he?”
Erik’s face broke out in a grin.
“I was going to say the same thing about you.”
Everyone laughed, genuinely happy for them.
Only she knew Erik’s laugh was nothing but a lie.
* * *
Something was wrong.
Erik didn’t understand why he cared so much when something was wrong with Piper, but he did. He knew something had changed when they were surrounded by all their friends and family. It was after he kissed her nose, and then something happened. She went weird after that. When he touched her, it seemed like she wanted to pull away. When he would kiss her cheek or temple, he swore she would tense up. He knew it had nothing to do with the car thing. He had apologized and had every intention of correcting that problem, so what the hell did he do wrong?
This was all really beginning to confuse him. Right now he had no clue where his life was going to lead, and it was all because of Piper. Standing only a few feet away from him, she was talking to Audrey about childbirth classes or something, and for some freaking reason, his eyes could not leave the little space between her armpit and rib cage. The dress she wore gave him a perfect view of the delectable little spot, and he loved how there was a bright red blossom on the branch that ran under her breast. He knew that the branch went that far because he had followed his tongue along that part of her tattoo. Why did he care about that spot? Why did he want to run his tongue along that branch again? Was it all sexual? Lust? Or what? He didn’t understand it at all, because sometimes it wasn’t about the sex.