West

I’m on my way back from the gym when I see Tilly’s Range Rover weaving through the parking lot of the hotel. There’s no need for her to be here unless she’s fucking a tourist. Not that I’d put it past her, but she just closed on her parents’ business today, so something tells me the reason she’s here has nothing to do with her pussy.

I take a left into the lot, slowing as I get closer, and then I roll down my window. She pulls up next to me, and as the glass moves down, revealing her face, I say, “Looking for me?”

Lots of makeup cover her cheeks, and dark glasses hide her eyes. Weeks later, and she’s still wearing a mask. If I didn’t know her so well, I would think her smile meant she was actually happy, but I don’t think my ex is capable of that emotion.

“Don’t flatter yourself, West. I’m not here to see you.” Her voice is so sharp that it bites me.

“Then, why are you at my hotel?”

“The manager is a client. I came here to drop something off for him. And this isn’t your hotel. It’s his. Not everything revolves around you.”

I want to believe her, but I don’t.

The manager has access to all the water sports he can ever possibly want right down on the beach behind the hotel. Tilly is competition, not an ally. But she’d never admit to why she was really here. It isn’t her style. She wants the fight, but I don’t care enough to give it to her.

I pull forward a few inches and look over my shoulder to say, “Lloyd texted me this morning and said you closed on the business. Congrats.”

She moves her glasses to the top of her head. I don’t know what she’s scheming, but something is brewing in those eyes. “Are you looking for a thank-you? Because you’re not going to get one from me. I swallowed enough of your cum to earn me that business.”

I could dig so fucking low and say so many hateful things to her. But that isn’t me.

“Congrats again on the business, Tilly. I’m sure you’ll make it even more of a success.” I give her the same smile she’s giving me and inch up again.

“Tell Piper I said hello. I hear things have been pretty rough for the princess lately. All kinds of troubles. It’s a good thing she’s found someone like you who can swoop in and give her everything she needs.”

My ex doesn’t just kick people when they’re down. She prays they will stay at their lowest permanently, and then she’ll point out every reason they should stay that way.

It’s such a cunty quality.

“Good-bye, Tilly.” I roll up my window and continue driving toward the end of the lot.

After I park, I take the elevator to the top floor. I have some things I need to talk to Piper about, and I find her outside on the balcony of our suite.

While I was at the gym, Jesse called and said he secured some interviews in Boston. I’ll be flying out in a few days and be gone a week. My moving up north is a conversation Piper and I have been avoiding, but it’s time to discuss the possibilities because, suddenly, they’ve become more real.

I slide the balcony door closed. I see the glass of wine next to her. It isn’t even noon yet. I’ve never seen her drink this early.

“You okay?”

She doesn’t look at me. She just keeps staring at the ocean. Her profile shows a flushed cheek and an eye that’s puffy and red. She’s on one of the lounge chairs with her arms wrapped around her bent knees, her body rocking like she’s riding out the waves.

I sit in front of her and reach for her. When she doesn’t fold into my chest, I grab her ass and pull her closer to me. “What did she say to you?”

She shakes her head, refusing to look at me.

“Piper, I just ran into her downstairs, and she fed me a lie about coming here to see the hotel manager. Don’t protect her. Tell me what she said to you.”

Her eyes fill with tears, and when the wind hits her face, it blows the drips down her cheeks. “I didn’t know,” she whispers.

“What didn’t you know?”

She doesn’t answer, so I cup her face and hold it, squeezing until our eyes finally connect. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

The tears stream down even harder, falling under my fingers. She doesn’t even attempt to answer; she just cowers in the chair, keeping her body as far from me as she can.

Fucking Tilly. I should have known she wasn’t going to go away easily. I’m sure the reason she chose to come here today is because the business deal closed, and that was the one thing I was able to take away from her. She obviously hadn’t believed me. But once she was sure it was hers, she came to have her final say. And she didn’t waste a goddamn minute.

“Piper, say something. You’re starting to really worry me.”

She glances away and tugs my hands off her face. They fall in her lap, and she gazes at them. “Tilly and I have an ex in common. I guess the night I hooked up with him, he was dating her. It happened way back when I was in college.”

“That’s what this is about? An ex from years and years ago?”

“He was the first guy who cheated on her…with me.”

I wrap my hands around her legs and dip my head, so our faces are only inches apart. “You know that’s bullshit, don’t you? I’m the one at fault. Not you. You owe her nothing.” My words don’t stop her from crying. It almost feels like she’s shaking even harder. “Baby, what else is bothering you?”

“She saw us on the site—Cannon and me, I mean—and she made the connection. She chose us to get back at me for sleeping with her boyfriend. And then she uncovered the truth about Cannon, which she called an added bonus.”

Tilly’s desire to swing never surprised me. But going to this extreme to get back at Piper, who unknowingly did something all the way back in college? That’s conniving and just fucked up.

That still doesn’t explain why Piper’s reacting this way.

Unless she thinks that I’m behind it, too.

“Piper, I had nothing to do with her plan. I—”

Her hand touches mine. “It never even crossed my mind, West.”

Then, what the hell is this about?

I’m sure it stung when Tilly threw in that added bonus. Shit, I’m positive it stung since Piper saw Cannon getting it up the ass. She was devastated, and you don’t just quickly recover from that. Not when you loved the person. But something tells me this isn’t about Cannon.

I reach for her face again but settle for her neck, and I wait until she looks at me. “Why are you so hung up on this? Nothing she said should be making you this upset.”

“She’s never going to stop, West.” She sounds haunted and breathless.

“Who? Tilly?”

She nods.

“Piper, you need to listen to me.”

She’s hesitant, but finally, she lets me pull her into my lap. I lock my arms around her and hold my lips against her cheek.

“Nothing she does or says can change what we have. We’ve already overcome her. Tilly gets bored easily. Within a week, she’ll be on to someone else, and she won’t give us another thought, I promise.”

It takes her several seconds to reply, “Okay,” and the one word isn’t convincing at all.

Maybe time will prove to her that I’m right.

Or maybe I need to take things a step further and bring her into my world.

“I have some interviews lined up in Boston. I leave in a few days, and I want you to come with me.”

Her eyes widen. “You’re leaving?”

“Just for a week.”

She breaks our stare and glances toward the water, her body turning even more rigid. “I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”

“I’m going to get you a ticket. You don’t have to use it, but it’ll be there if you decide you want to come.”

She buries her hands in her sleeves and tucks herself into a ball. “I thought we had more time.”

Her voice is so soft and filled with pain.

It fucking kills me.

“This isn’t just a work trip, Piper. This is me taking you to my home.”

She doesn’t answer, doesn’t give me any type of response at all. She just peers out at the water, her fingers eventually linking with mine.

I know there’s more that she hasn’t told me. It’s the only explanation for her to react this way. I guarantee my ex dug as hard as she could. Piper’s strong, but she’s sensitive. And Tilly is like a goddamn dog; she sniffs out weakness, and that’s where she attacks.

If Tilly doesn’t stop, I’ll step in. But, until I know what this is really all about, all I can do is wipe Piper’s tears.