I definitely want to buy something; why don’t we go over there now?”

Piper had barely registered what Bronte was saying, so fixated was she on what was happening with Mal and Cora. She’d watched as their heads had bent close together, and it had looked like Mal was whispering something in Cora’s ear. Or was he kissing her neck? She couldn’t see properly. Silently, she telegraphed a message to Josh, mentally telling him to interrupt or something, anything to stop what was happening. As Therese and Becki walked up to the pair, Piper hadn’t expected her guardian angels to come in that shape or form. Mal kissed Cora’s cheek and then disappeared into the crowd with them, leaving Cora alone with Josh.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

Bronte rolled her eyes. “I said I want to buy something, so can we go and take a look at your booth now?”

The coast was clear. “Sure, of course.”

The two of them went over to relieve Josh of his duties. While Bronte browsed the jewelry, Piper grabbed Josh’s arm and pulled him to one side, out of her friend’s earshot.

“Well?” she hissed. “Are they getting back together?”

Josh laughed, and Piper punched him on the arm.

“I think that’s highly unlikely,” he said. “Mal’s only got eyes for one woman right now. And much as it pains me to tell you, dear sister, that woman is you. He just told Cora that he’s falling in love with you.”

The bottom dropped out of Piper’s stomach. She and Mal hadn’t been together for all that long and hadn’t discussed the future—for instance, what might happen if he went back out on tour or if Alena came back. Everything had been focused on that day, the gig, and nothing more.

“Oh, and he also wants her to feature your stuff on her blog.” Josh waved at Seb and Milla who were heading over to the stage. “Can I go now?”

Piper waved him away, her thoughts focused on what Josh had just told her. She honestly thought she might throw up. If Cora did do her—or was it Mal?—a favor, the interest she could have in her range would be immense. Cora had hundreds of thousands of followers. What could that do for Piper’s reputation? All of a sudden, her vision swam and before she could do anything about it, she fell to the floor.

When she opened her eyes, what felt like hours later, two concerned faces stared down at her: Bronte and Therese.

“You fainted,” said Therese, gently stroking the side of her head. “Did you even eat this morning?”

“No, I didn’t.” With Therese and Boyd turning up unannounced at the house, she had simply gone about getting herself sorted for the day, and food had been the last thing on her mind. Caught up in the added excitement of people she didn’t know actually buying her products, there hadn’t been time to get a snack and she hadn’t eaten since dinner the previous evening. She tried to get up, but still felt woozy, and the two women helped her to her feet.

“Come on,” commanded Therese. “Let’s get you backstage and we can find something for you there.”

“I’ll stay and look after the booth, if you like?” volunteered Bronte.

“Thank you, that would be great,” replied Piper.

Supported by Therese—who really was turning out to be her guardian angel—the two of them made their way across the park. As they did so, Mal’s voice carried across the air.

“I want to dedicate this song to the person that came up with the idea for this concert, showing that I’m able to give something back to the Fortune’s Bay community. And that someone is very special to me…this is The Best Of The Crazy.”

Once again, Piper’s legs almost buckled beneath her as Mal’s voice carried across the park. It was the song he’d written about her, the one he’d shown her the night they first kissed. She had no idea it was even ready to be played in public, but as she listened, she heard the sentiment. A tear threatened to escape, and she hurriedly brushed it away, not wanting to break down in front of the others. Therese took her to the wings and found her a chair. As she sat down, Therese pressed a pastry and a cup of juice into her hands. Piper crammed the food into her mouth and watched, spellbound, as Mal continued to play. Mal turned to the side she was on, caught sight of her, and his face broke into a massive grin. He waved and faced the audience again. Piper was glad he hadn’t asked her to join him. Going out in front of hundreds of people would not help her grumbling stomach.

It was the first time that she had seen him play live and the set flew by in super-quick time. He was incredible, able to engage with the audience—laugh and joke with them. The man on stage now seemed miles away from the one who turned up at his house only a couple of weeks ago, grumpy and unfriendly. He finally finished a short encore and headed toward her.

“Where have you been? Did you manage to see the set?” he asked, swooping down to give her a kiss.

Piper nodded, unable to say anything. She finished her drink and stood up. “You were great,” she said. “I should get back to the booth.”

Mal’s brows knotted together. “Why? Don’t you want to celebrate the success of your idea?”

“The jewelry is my idea. And I think it’s going to be a success.” Piper waited, giving Mal the chance to say something about his suggestion to Cora. When he didn’t speak, she turned and started to walk away from him.

As she reached the bottom of the steps leading down from the stage, Mal caught up with her. “Wait, where are you going?”

“I should get back to see what’s selling.”

“No, you don’t. Therese just told me what happened; you need a rest.” Without giving Piper a chance to respond, he scooped her into his arms. He carried her through the crowd to the amusement park next door, despite her protestations. He came to a halt at the entrance to the Ferris wheel. The guy taking tickets waved them through for free.

Mal set her down in front of the passenger car. “Have you seen the views from the top of here?”

Piper shook her head. It had been years since she’d been near the Ferris wheel, bringing back memories of high-school senior parties and sneaking out late. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go on it now.

“Come on, I’ve got a queue here. Are you going or not?” asked the attendant.

Defeated, Piper sat down and Mal snuggled in next to her. The attendant banged the bar down in front of them, ensuring their safety. The car began to move, and Piper clutched the bar.

“Is now the right time to tell you I’m not great with heights?” she admitted. There had been the time she and Bronte had ridden the Ferris wheel after drinking too much beer and she’d hurled as soon as the car had hit the top. And when Billy Jones dumped her in senior year when she’d thought he was going to ask her to be exclusive. Nothing good had ever come of going on the Ferris wheel.

Mal’s hand covered hers. “You could have mentioned it a bit sooner.”

“Like some of the things you should have.” Piper couldn’t help the words slipping out.

“What do you mean?”

“Cora.”

Mal fell silent. The wheel continued to turn until their car was right at the top. It came to a stop and hung there, not moving. Piper’s stomach churned and she gripped the bar even tighter.

“You could have told me you asked her here today,” said Piper. “I had to find out from Therese.”

“So you know I asked her if she would promote your jewelry range. I think it would be great if she did; you’d have lots of great publicity.”

“Yeah, from your ex.” Piper withdrew her hand from Mal’s and clutched on to the side of the car instead. “How is that going to look?” She couldn’t help feeling negative about it.

“Piper, you can take help from her; you don’t have to do everything yourself.”

“I know that. But I can’t help thinking that people would think I’ve had an unfair advantage in getting started.”

“You should just go with it. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Mal was making sense. But there was still a niggling thought that kept coming back into Piper’s head. The thing Josh had told her. “When you were talking to Cora at the booth when Josh was there, he said you said…” She didn’t want to finish the sentence for herself—she needed to hear the words from Mal.

“What did he say I said?”

“He said you…that you might be…that you’re…”

Mal gently shifted his body toward her. He took her face in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes. “He heard me tell Cora that you are the woman I could very easily fall in love with. It’s true, Piper. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed every moment of it so far. I’d be keen for it to continue.”

“Even if Alena comes back to work?”

“When Alena comes back to work, I still want you to stay. With me.” He emphasized the word ‘when’.

Piper beamed, feeling lightheaded again. “I think I could live with that.” She couldn’t quite believe that Mal Colten was falling in love with her.

“Although my original condition still stands…” he added.

“What’s that?”

“You still have to cook that yummy pasta dish every once in a while.”

Piper screwed up her nose. “I think that’s a pretty fair deal.”

She leaned closer to Mal and met his lips. As they kissed, she thought she heard fireworks going off, although she didn’t remember organizing them.