Chapter 15 #2
“Smart. Gabby does not do well with thunder theft.” Piper took a deep cleansing breath, swiping away her tears. “I’m so happy
for you, Meghan. I can’t wait until I see you in person and I can give you a big hug.”
When Emilio got home, he was waiting for the gate to open when a man ran up to his car and rapped on the window loudly. Emilio
nearly jumped out of his skin. “What the . . . ?” Emilio stared at the man, unwilling to roll down the window. “What do you
want?”
The man swung around a camera, which was hanging from his neck, and began taking pictures.
“Oh, great.” Emilio quickly hid his face. This had happened many times, but not in London. He cursed Victoria and the chaos
she’d managed to create. Thankfully, the gate opened ahead, and Emilio drove through and started to pull into the garage.
He thought he was in the clear, but he quickly saw through his rearview mirror that the man had walked past the gate and into
the courtyard in front of the house.
Emilio hopped out of his car. “I don’t know who you are but leave my property.”
The man kept snapping photos, and Emilio was certain they would make him look like absolute shit whenever they ran in what
was surely a tabloid. Unfortunately, he was so angry from this invasion of his privacy he couldn’t contain his emotions. “I’m
serious. Get the hell off my property or I’m calling the police.”
Piper and Gus came around from the side of the house. “Oh, my God. Dude.” Piper walked right up to the man. “You can’t be
here. Leave.” She punctuated her demand by pointing at the street.
Emilio couldn’t help but be amused by this fiery version of Piper. The same Piper who’d tried to yell, “Fuck you” at Victoria.
“You heard her.” Emilio pulled his phone out of his pocket to dial the police.
“I just want one picture of the two of you together and I’ll leave,” the man pled.
“I told you he’d never agree to it,” Piper said.
“Hold on. You two know each other?” Emilio asked.
“He followed Gus and me when we were on our walk.” She pulled Emilio aside and explained that one of the tabloids had offered
a decent sum for a photo of the two of them together. “His wife is pregnant. He’s trying to make some money.”
Now Emilio felt like an ass. He looked at the photographer. “Put your camera away for one minute.”
“Why?” the man asked.
“Because she and I are having a conversation and I don’t want you capturing it.”
The man sighed and lowered the camera. “One minute.”
“Dude. It’s his house,” Piper said to the man. “You’re in no position to make demands.”
Emilio pulled Piper closer. “What do you think? About the photo? Do we just give in?”
“I can’t make that decision. You have a lot more to lose by being photographed with me than the other way around.”
Her response gave Emilio pause. “What does that mean? Do you think I’m not proud to be photographed with you?” Now he could
see his response to Isabel after the Spanish Grand Prix might have come off poorly to Piper. He’d said it would be easier
to deny everything, but the truth was that they were involved. And Emilio was still searching for a way to ask if she wanted
to keep their relationship going after she returned to America. Events like this wouldn’t help make his case. Being with him
wasn’t easy. Sometimes it was a holy mess.
“Emilio, regardless of what has happened between us, we agreed at the start that this doesn’t mean anything. Are we just playing
a game if we let him photograph us together, knowing it isn’t going to last?”
It was statements like that that made him think pursuing a future with Piper was futile. The problem was it didn’t feel like
nothing to him. In fact, the minute he’d let her in and stopped trying to keep her at arm’s length, it started to feel like
far more than nothing. “Let’s just do it. It’ll be fun, he’ll leave and we can get on with our day.”
“What about what you said to Isabel?”
“I’ll text her and let her know.” He reached for her hand. “Come on.”
She extended her arm, and their gazes connected—would he ever get over his body’s immediate reaction to her? That little flip
his heart made?
Emilio had envisioned a moment when they would look into the camera, but he couldn’t bear to tear his sights from Piper. And
she couldn’t imagine that, either, apparently, because all they did was hold hands and look into each other’s eyes. Emilio
wasn’t even sure how long they stood like that, except the photographer was the one to cut things short.
“I have everything I need. Thank you both. This payday will really help my family.”
Emilio pulled out his wallet, removed a one-hundred-pound note and handed it to the man. “Here. Have a nice dinner with your
wife, too. Our treat.”
The man reared back his head, nothing short of shocked. “Thank you. Truly. Thank you.” He walked away with a spring in his
step.
Emilio shut the gate and turned to Piper. “That is not how I saw that ending.”
“Same. Very much the same.”
Emilio took her hand again. “Come on. Let’s get inside before any more photographers show up.”
They walked around to the back of the house and in the back door. “That was really sweet and generous of you,” Piper said.
“To give him extra money.”
“You bring that out in me. The Emilio of a few weeks ago would’ve called the police. No questions. No conversation. Just squash
the problem like a bug and move on.”
“There’s nothing wrong with doing that.”
“I know. I’m just saying you make me see the world differently.”
Piper shook her head. “I doubt that. You’re selling yourself short.”
He took both her hands in his. “No. You’re doing that to yourself. The woman who bakes homemade dog treats, all so she can
meet dogs, has taught me to look at the world through a different lens.”
Piper smiled. “That’s sweet. Thank you for saying that.”
“I mean it.”
She sucked in a breath, seeming like she was steeling herself for something. “I talked to my sister today. My younger sister.
Meghan. She’s pregnant. So that’s big news. She and her husband have been trying for a long time.”
“Oh, wow. That sounds exciting.”
“I can’t wait to give her a hug. It was so hard to hear the news over the phone. I couldn’t stop crying.”
Emilio hated how disappointed he was right now, but the end was barreling at him too fast, and it was moments like this that
told him he should simply let her go. Not make a case for them as a couple. “You’ll see her soon enough.”
“I know. The time has flown by.” She managed a smile and stepped closer to him. “I feel like you and I need to make the most
of the time we have left.”
His entire body warmed from head to toe, even when his heart was heavy. “What did you have in mind?”
“Let’s go upstairs and see how the night unfolds.”