"And don’t you forget it.”
“I won’t.”
“So, Piper Francesca Andrews, what is going on with you girl? How am I only now finding out about this guy? I go camping for two weeks, lose signal in God's country, and I come home to find out my little niece is dating a billionaire. All that from a newspaper on my doorstep.”
“I didn’t mean for that to happen. I was going to call you when you got back.”
“Well, I’m here now. Spill the tea.”
I sigh and sit on the edge of the bed. The mattress sinks under my weight, luring me back to the comfort of the bed.
As much as I would like to crawl back under the covers and escape in sleep, I can’t.
For one, I have to figure out what I’m doing, because realistically, I can’t stay here.
Right now, though, I have to give my aunt some much-needed answers.
The problem is, I don’t want to lie to her.
The tabloids have done enough embellishing and filling in the gaps of our story. She should hear some elements of the truth from me.
“I’ve only known him for a little while,” I begin.
“It must have been a good amount of time from the look of these pictures.” The flicker of pages reaches me through the phone. “He’s handsome. Piper. You did well.”
“Thank you.”
“Where on earth did you two meet?”
“Through Alexis.” That’s not technically a lie. “We went to his club.”
“His club?” Her excitement is almost tangible. “Not only is the man a Vale, he owns a club, too? That sounds juicy to me.”
Juicy.
I’m definitely not telling her just how juicy Levi’s club really is. Or anything about my experiences there.
As grown as I am, Aunt Bess would lose her mind if she knew I’d had a one-night stand.
She’s a devout Baptist. The only time she misses church is when she’s on vacation, and even then, she still makes time for Bible study.
“He’s a real entrepreneur.”
“I can tell. And you sound truly smitten with him.”
Do I? I’m pretty sure that’s thewhat-am-I-going-to-dotone coming through.
But… honestly, she’s not wrong. And that’s the other problem I have.
How am I not supposed to be smitten with a man who opened the door for me to accomplish my dreams and moved me into his home when he saw I was clearly in trouble?
“It’s new,” I tell her. “It’s— We’re figuring it out.”
“Mm.” She smacks her lips. “Okay, darlin’. I’m just happy we’re having this conversation. I prayed you’d find somebody good. Somebody who could make you believe again.”
Her words grip me, and for a moment, I hold on to them. Maybe she’s right. Even if it’s in a roundabout way.
“God forgive me, but that nasty Reece can go rot in hell,” she bites out. “I hate even mentioning his name. Thank God he’s behind bars, where he belongs.”
