"Caden?"
"Do you want to get married?"
Her mouth falls open.
I grip the wheel tighter. "Not to me, Jesus. I can see where that came out wrong. I mean at some point in your future, a long way from now, to someone else. Is that what you want?"
I lean forward as we pull up in front of the bakery and catch her eye. My heart explodes when she sucks in her bottom lip. "I think so," she says finally. "But I can't imagine that, you know? Not now."
"Can I be honest with you?"
She nods. "I gave you a whole lot of my truth, so I hope you'll be just as direct."
"You're a nice person."
"Oh." Her fingers stumble and then stop their ministrations to Gus's neck. I ignore his evil glare and keep going in an explosion of facts. "And beautiful, in a drop-dead gorgeous kind of way that I'm a hell of attracted to. Piper?"
"Caden?" she says in barely a whisper, watching me watch her.
"I don't do relationships. I don't know how, not with what I do for a living. I'm not saying you want one with me, or ever will or would have-this is me trying to explain why I wigged out earlier in a very bad but honest way, because you deserve that and a lot more. Piper?"
Her smile brings some reassurance that I'm not fucking this up as badly as I think I am. "Yes, Caden?"
"You're pregnant."
She laughs, and my chest nearly explodes. "Very pregnant, yes."
"And if circumstances were different, and you didn't have my best friend's baby growing inside you, I would totally fuck you."
The sun tips past the horizon when a blush spreads over her cheeks. She glows. Something tugs not only at my dick, but at my heart, too.
I blow out a breath to finish this up and move on to the next woman who's about to kill me. I glance at Cara in the doorway of the shop. Her crossed arms and tapping foot are signs I'll be dead in five minutes. I hope to fuck my sister does not have a knife readily available. Next time, call ahead, Lawless. Call ahead.
I ignore my very angry sibling and turn my full attention to Piper. "I know without a doubt you would need more from me than I know how to give. So me fucking you is not a possibility. Not because you're pregnant, because Jesus, fuck, you are the sexiest pregnant woman I have ever seen. And I do feel weird saying this, I do, but I'm giving you my honesty right now, and I feel like I have to say it out loud."
She nods like she gets it. "Caden?"
"Yes, Piper?"
"You make good coffee."
I expel a breath. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. And you have some adorable tendencies, like biting your lip and pulling your hair. Your tattoos and smile are killer attributes. You've got a cute dog, too." He whines and rolls around on his back as if in appreciation for the compliment. Lucky bastard. "But Caden?"
"Piper?"
"I don't want to fuck you."
Damn. "Okay."
"I'd like to enjoy your company and get to know you, not just as Justin's friend, but as mine. I'd like to have this baby and learn how to be a mother, and balance working with raising a family. And that's not to say I don't appreciate you enjoying my ginormous pregnant body. I feel good in a way I haven't in a long time, so thank you."
She takes my hand from the wheel, linking our fingers, and damn if I don't shiver. "Thank you for coming to Lilyfalls to see me. Thank you for helping me laugh again. But please don't try to fuck me. I don't think I could handle that right now."
"Friends?" I ask.
"The best we can be."
"Piper?" I love her smile. It stuns me, and it's huge while she waits for me to continue. "As your friend, do I get to know where those piercings are?"
Surprise hits her face, and then she laughs. "Not until you reach best friend forever status, and then I'll tell you."
"Can we play show and tell? That's so much better."
She shakes her head, dark eyes sparkling in the early morning light.
"I'll take that as a maybe. Now will you save me from my sister?"
She glances at Cara. "I'll do what I can, but you have to know she's got a wicked temper."
"Yeah." I blow out another breath. "All the women in my life do. But my sister is the worst. She beat the shit out of me every day until I was sixteen."
"Why'd she stop?"
"She didn't. I just learned to outrun her." Gus climbs up Piper's chest to lick her cheek. "Come on, buddy. Stop mauling the pretty girl." I lift him off her and tip her chin my way. "We good?"