In Bed With His Rival - Katherine Garbera Page 0,2

Ava’s approval.

“You just reminded me it’s okay to have fun,” she said. “I am a little disappointed that I needed that, but I’m glad you did.”

Brian enjoyed the vodka but sipped it slowly. It seemed like forever, but in reality, it had only been a few months since he’d first noticed Piper Holloway. She had a cool, funky aura and of course she was so damned hot. He wanted her. She plagued his dreams and left him waking up with a hard-on, and if he was being honest, he’d thought he was way past those days.

He’d asked other women out and taken them home, but no one could satisfy that Piper-sized ache in his gut. He was pretty sure it was just lust and the more she turned him down, the more determined he was to have her.

Possibly he was wrong and the sizzle between them would fade out after they had a drink. His intuition said that would never happen and it rarely steered him wrong. But Piper had been pretty hard to reel in, no matter what he tried.

Was it pride?

He hoped it was something more than that, but as he stood next to her sipping vodka and finally having the conversation he wanted, he didn’t care.

They really didn’t have much in common—after all, she was a free-spirted artist and he was a high-powered family law attorney—but there was something to be said about opposites attracting...

His eyes slowly drifted over her again.

Piper had a creative vibe, from the way she wore her hair—this month colored dark brown—in an angled bob that was longer in the front than the back, to her Grecian-styled gown in a vibrant sapphire color with a plunging neckline that revealed the inner curves of her luscious breasts.

She was tall, at least five-seven, but she wore heels, giving herself another couple of inches and making it so they came eye to eye. He watched as she savored the tequila, closing her eyes when she took a sip. There was something wildly erotic about the way she drank it, and he knew he needed to play it cool, but he couldn’t help but think of throwing back shots with her alone in his place.

God, he could picture her standing next to him in nothing. Hell...just the thought made him rock hard. Earthy and sensual, a bona fide modern goddess, and even though his family and hers had grown apart, he couldn’t care less.

“I stopped by your gallery a few weeks ago but you weren’t there,” Brian said, realizing he needed to up his game around this woman. First, he’d sounded like a braggart talking about his law firm and now this clumsy conversational gambit.

“I was out of town,” she replied. “I didn’t know you were coming by.”

“Of course... I guess I should have called first.”

“That’s always a good idea,” she said.

“But you haven’t always been receptive to meeting me,” he reminded her. “I did ask you out for coffee at Zeke’s.”

She flushed and tipped her head to the side. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure of you. I don’t really like the influence Keith had over my sister after Trent’s death. I wasn’t sure you weren’t the same kind of man.”

That was a blow, but not unexpected. She was cautious and he guessed he didn’t blame her. While their families weren’t the Capulets and the Montagues, they also weren’t close as they’d once been, before Trent’s death. Brian’s friendship with Zeke had made him aware that Ava’s family wasn’t overly fond of his uncle. And in all honesty, he had thought it a little unseemly how quickly Keith had moved in on Ava after Trent’s death. But Ava had seemed to need someone to lean on.

“Fair enough. I’m not my uncle, but I can understand where you are coming from,” he said.

“Thanks,” she said dryly.

He groaned and realized he either needed more vodka or just to stop talking. The music changed to one of those group dances, the Electric Slide, and Piper looked over at him. “I love this song. Want to dance?”

“I can’t dance,” he confessed.

“Catch you later then,” she said, handing him her empty tequila glass and making her way out onto the dance floor. He stood there, watching her move. There was a smile on her face that lit up the entire room. She moved with lithe, graceful steps, holding the hand of her great-nephew, Daniel, and showing him the moves.

“Dude, why are you standing here instead of dancing with the woman you’ve