7. Piper
7
PIPER
“ W eek two done, baby! Happy Friday!” Darcy hooted as I walked into our apartment at the end of the world’s most ridiculous day. “A toast to you for getting us that much closer to Strapped domination.”
She held out an overfull champagne glass as I dropped my bag and kicked off my heels.
“You don’t even know ,” I said as I grabbed the flute and downed it. “Delicious. Pour me another and keep ’em coming.”
“Oof, guessing you had a shitty day?” she asked as she refilled my glass.
“Just wait until you hear everything.” I widened my eyes at her and turned to go to my room to change. “Next-level bullshit.”
“Get your soft pants on and return to the couch. I want a full report.”
Darcy already had her hair pulled up and was in comfy pants since she worked from home on Fridays. I was touched she’d opted to spend the night home with me.
I stripped off my work clothing like I was shedding my armor after battle, then took a quick shower to rinse off the day. I joined Darcy on the couch in our tiny family room wearing fuzzy socks and sweats. I loved our little apartment even though we didn’t agree about the aesthetic. Darcy was all about bright and eccentric, and I preferred a more cottage-core, cozy vibe. Our bedrooms were complete opposites, but we managed to compromise in our shared spaces. My plants were everywhere, and Darcy kept the color contained to neon throw pillows.
“Do I smell cookies?” I asked. The smell of food made me realize I’d been so busy I’d forgotten to eat lunch.
“You sure do. And there’s pizza on the way. We’re partying tonight, my friend.”
I leaned over and gave her a quick hug. “You’re the absolute best. Do you know that?”
“Of course I do. Now please spill everything !”
“You first,” I said as I grabbed a pre-dinner cookie from the coffee table in front of me. “What’s new in your world?”
Darcy rolled her eyes at me. “Do you really want to hear about spreadsheets and status meetings? Let’s focus on the glamorous world of fine fragrances. Any samples for me?”
“Yeah, I grabbed a handful of stuff; it’s in my bag. I think that might be the only perk of working there. As much free Summit product as I can carry.”
She sputtered at me. “Uh, what about the salary? That’s everything! Now all we need is to connect with Mercedes, and we’re golden.”
I should’ve felt excited about what had happened with Vincent a few hours prior, but I felt strangely conflicted about what we’d agreed to. Yeah, I’d agreed to do the fake relationship thing with the Sullivans, but that was strictly for business. It was like being in a play—no big deal. But putting on an act for Vincent’s father…that was on a whole different level. It seemed almost intimate, and I wasn’t sure how the idea of being intimate with Vincent made me feel.
“What?” Darcy demanded. “You look upset—what’s going on in your head?”
“I have some news,” I replied. “It’s really great news, but it’s also sort of shitty.”
She widened her eyes at me and circled her hands in the air excitedly. “And? Spill it.”
“We’re going to get a direct introduction to Mercedes.”
She leapt off the couch and danced in a circle. “Yes! We are so golden! She’s going to love us.”
“Hold on, hold on,” I said, fully aware I was about to kill her buzz. “It’s a devil’s bargain. I agreed to fake date my boss to get him to make the introduction.”
She froze wearing a confused expression.
“Wait…what? I thought you already were, for that flower thing?”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “That’s part one, but it turns out he needs a semi-full-time fake girlfriend. I guess his dad is getting into some dangerous hobbies, and Vincent is worried he’s going to get hurt. He seems to think that if he proves he’s in a committed relationship, his dad might stop chasing thrills and hang closer to home. He’s paying me for the flower thing, but for the dad thing, we get the Mercedes introduction.”
Darcy frowned as she tried to make sense of it. “ Okay ,” she stretched out the word. “The whole setup is weird, but it gets us to Mercedes, and that’s all that matters! This is it, baby!”
I hadn’t even allowed myself to feel excited about the scenario because I was still processing what I’d agreed to. Seeing Darcy so hyped up reminded me that it was a pretty good deal.
As long as I didn’t have to spend too much time with the bosshole.
Darcy flopped back on the couch beside me. “You’ve barely told me anything about this guy, other than how much you hate him. What does he look like? How hard are you going to have to fake it to look like you’re actually into him?”
I exhaled and felt my cheeks turning inexplicably warm. “It turns out Vincent Forde is like…jaw-droppingly hot. Picture a sexy vampire, but add about twenty pounds of muscle. He’s got this broody, intense, bad boy aura around him. He doesn’t just look at you, he looks through you. Like, into your soul, as if he’s about to consume it. Dark hair, light eyes, cheekbones for days…basically the total package, if you like scary-smolder.”
It was hard to put his good looks into words, because it wasn’t just his face and body. It was his whole aura. He was so attractive it was distracting.
Darcy scrolled through her phone, then held it out to me. “You mean this guy? You have to fake date this dude?”
I leaned closer and squinted. It was a Getty Images shot of Vincent from some fundraiser, and he was in his typical all black, but this time a tux. His hair was a little messy, like he’d just run his hand through it. And he was furrow-staring like he was ready to hate fuck whoever was looking at his photo.
My heart flip-flopped reflexively.
“Yeah,” I frowned at the image. “That’s him.”
“Um, can we make it a throuple deal? Because I am into it!” Darcy laughed as she studied the picture. “Why are you acting like you’ve been paired up with Quasimodo? You’re going to have a blast with this one.”
“No, you don’t know what he’s like,” I complained. “Demanding, and self-important, and bossy, and rude…he’s a total nightmare! And now I’m going to have to pretend to like him, and convince his father it’s real? How ?”
“Make it all about sex,” she snorted with a shrug as she scrolled through a few more images. “You clearly want to saddle up and ride this man into oblivion, Piper. It’s so obvious.”
My mouth dropped open. “Why would you think that?”
“How could I not? The way you described him, you were practically drooling. And hate and passion are just a few clicks apart. I bet it wouldn’t take much for you to shift from wanting to slap his face to wanting him to slap your ass. Hard.”
“Darcy Jean Moretti, you shut your mouth right now!” I squealed and kicked her in the thigh.
“You know it’s true,” she laughed and fell over on her side. “You’re talking a great game about how awful he is to cover up for the fact that you’re attracted to him. If you truly didn’t care, you’d just shrug it off. But you’re, like, addicted to this man. I’ve never seen you all fired up like this.”
I opened my mouth to fight back, then snapped it shut. There was no harm in admitting the truth to Darcy. She knew all my secrets.
“Okay, yeah, maybe I’m a little tiny bit attracted to him. But that’s only because I’m a little pent up. It’s been a while since I’ve even kissed a man. But that’s the only reason. His looks are all he has going for him, I promise you.” And maybe the fact that he cared about his dad. And Paul. And the grandma of that college friend of theirs, Nana Dee. He hadn’t straight-out said that she was why he loved Jamesport when he’d brought it up at the engagement dinner, but I’d heard Paul talk about going out to see her enough times to make the connection. Clearly, she was important to Vincent, too.
Not that any of this made Vincent a nice guy, of course. But maybe, just maybe , he wasn’t head-to-toe evil, even if I’d gotten into the habit of thinking of him that way.
“ And his business acumen that grew a multi-billion-dollar fragrance brand. And access to everything you could want in the world. No biggie.”
A text buzzed on my phone. “Speak of the literal devil,” I said as I scanned it. “Mr. Bossman himself.”
“Does he realize it’s Friday night?” Darcy asked plainly. “Boundaries, my dude.”
“He’s a total workaholic,” I sighed. “But he’s actually asking if I have any dietary restrictions for the upcoming dinner with his dad. Huh. That’s surprisingly considerate.”
“Tell him how much you love sausage, and that you can handle a full eight-inch link.”
I cracked up and kicked her again. “No, I’ve got one better,” I typed quickly, before I could overthink my response.
I eat everything but souls, so I guess I won’t be joining you for your next human sacrifice.
“You talk like that to your boss ?” Darcy shrieked, reading over my shoulder.
“Hey, if we take a step back and look at the big picture, I’m technically his boss. He needs me to take everything to the next level in a big way.”
I refocused on the bubbles on my screen as Vincent typed his response.
“What did he say?” Darcy asked, leaning closer to try to read the screen.
I bit back a laugh.
The council of evil is off for the summer, so there won’t be any additional soul consumption till fall.
“Oh, he’s a sassy one. I like it,” Darcy grinned at me.
It was a lighthearted side of Vincent I hadn’t expected. How far could I push him?
I typed my response quickly to keep up with the jabs and parries.
FYI, I also prefer to skip any meals that contain human babies, bats, blood, or dragon scales, which means we probably can’t eat at any of your favorite restaurants. Sorry.
Damn. I was hoping to take my dad to that trendy new organic baby restaurant. Back to the drawing board I guess.
I grinned at my phone, trying to come up with a way to top him. Who knew Vincent could be silly?
“You totally dig him,” Darcy teased. “It doesn’t matter what you say, I can tell. You’re grinning like a schoolgirl.”
“Not at all,” I insisted. “I’m trying to make sure he doesn’t get the last word. It’s a competition for texting dominance.”
“Texting dominance, or S&M dominance? Because I guarantee this little ‘competition’ is going to end up in the sheets. Fight me all you want, but I know what I’m seeing,” Darcy said.
“Knock it off.” I finally put my phone in my lap to glare at her fully. “I’m lightheaded from hunger and exhaustion, so let’s stop talking about my bosshole and worry about where that damn pizza is.”
And then, like a choir of angels, our door buzzer sounded off and relief came in the form of an extra-large pie with twice the cheese.