Then deleted it.
Instead, she inhaled. Long. Steady. Then:
Piper: Sure.
It wasn't a declaration. It wasn't a promise.
But it was open.
And that, maybe, was more terrifying than any curse.
Still. She pressed send. Smiled.
And let hope sneak in just a little. Unexpected glitter in a handshake. That's all this was.
Because maybe, just maybe, she didn't have to run.
Not this time.
CHAPTER 16
40 DAYS UNTIL ANNA & DRAKE'S WEDDING
ZACH
Piper's defenses sprang up the second things got real. He didn't want to push her, but he wanted her to trust that he could be a safe place to land.
Then he'd had the brilliant idea to invite her to the family dinner. Two birds, one stone, or however that went. They'd hang out, and she'd get time to talk with Anna without Tess.
Tess, who had doubled down and let him know she had a meeting with the higher-ups at the Stallions and would have news for him sometime today or tonight. Honestly, the news could be that they landed the deal… or that she got them free beer tickets for the next game.
He had no idea. But he'd mentioned it to Noah and that was a mistake. Noah had been on his case all afternoon for an update.
Noah: Update?
Zach: Nope. Heading to dinner with the fam.
Noah: Thought tonight was dinner w/ Piper?
Zach: She's coming too.
Zach: She needs to talk to Anna without Tess breathing down her neck.
Noah: Uh-huh. Totally just about Anna.
But as Zach straightened his collar in the mirror for the fourth time, his mind wasn't on contracts or brand expansion or the hundred other things that could go wrong.
No, it was all Piper.
The sound she made when he went down on her. How she slept so soundly curled against him. How she tried to run away that morning. With Piper, peeling back each layer only revealed another contradiction—a deeper truth wrapped in more hesitation.
The entire dinner date could end in emotional carnage. Or food poisoning.
Babushka's special borscht had been known to hospitalize weaker souls. Tonight wasn't a test to see if the family liked her, but it was a test to see if she liked the family.
He sniffed his shirt. One last swipe of deodorant, just to be sure.
It was a simple plan—introduce Piper to the Dvornakovs, extract Anna for some wedding talk, and maybe convince Piper that they could be more than what they already were.
