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Chapter Eight

Piper

Drawing a nervous breath into my lungs, I yank down the visor and check my reflection in the mirror before climbing out of my car. As I look up at the restaurant, I smooth my hands over the short little skirt Eden forced me to wear to my date and mentally prep myself for this. It’s not like I haven’t dated since leaving Wyatt but I still don’t have a ton of experience and when you add in the fact that I have no idea who I’m meeting, it makes it even more nerve-wracking.

I can’t believe I agreed to this.

After Eden agreed to not contact Wyatt, she sat next to me for nearly two hours flicking through endless guys on her dating app and forced me to choose three that I could see myself going on a date with. Then, she skipped off to the back of the studio and told me not to stress my pretty little head, that she would handle everything. I spent all morning peppering her with questions but all she would tell me is that my date would meet me at our favorite table at Mama Adele’s - a cute little comfort place that Eden and I absolutely love - and the mischievous little smirk on her face as she sent me off an hour ago only made my nerves worse.

Shaking my head, I push off the car and hold my head up high as I walk through the parking lot toward the front door. You know, it’s not even whatever guy is waiting for me on that other side of the door that I have a problem with. It’s that I’m almost thirty damn years old and I don’t want to date anymore. This isn’t what was supposed to happen with my life and even from the time I was a little girl, I always knew what I wanted and then… one night changed everything and I still haven’t recovered. Sighing, I reach up and run the tips of my fingers over the raised skin of the scar running down the side of my neck as a shiver works its way down my spine. I shake my head, pushing the unpleasant memories from my mind. That is the very last thing I need to be thinking about before I go on a date with a man I’ve never met before.

As I walk alongside the building, I turn my head and gaze in the big picture windows, trying to get a look at our table and my mystery guest. I stumble as my gaze lands on the man sitting there. I press a shaking hand to my chest as my heart starts racing and my stomach flips. Every thought in my head screeches to a halt and all I can see is him.

Oh, God.

She didn’t…

“No,” I hiss as he turns in my direction and hoping to everything that is holy that he won’t see me as I race back to my car as fast as I can in the four inch heels Eden insisted I wear.

I’m going to kill her.

Pulling my phone out of my purse, I slip behind the wheel and slam the door shut before dialing her number and putting it on speakerphone. My heart thunders out of control and I can’t keep my eyes off of the restaurant as the phone rings. Jesus Christ. What the hell was Eden thinking? My body is in chaos, conflicting emotions waging war in my chest and tears sting my eyes as I lean my head back against the headrest and suck in a stuttered breath.

“Yes?” she answers, her voice bright and cheery and I clench my fist. Oh, she’s been waiting for this damn call since I left the studio. I swear to God, I could strangle her with my bare hands right now.

“What have you done?!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Pip-Squeak.”

“The hell you don’t,” I growl, glancing up at the restaurant again. “What kind of game are you playing? What happened to the three other guys I picked?”

“You were never going to go out with any of them,” she scoffs like it was obvious and I should have known better. “You and Wyatt belong together but the two of you just needed a little push so… I pushed.”

“This isn’t a game, Eden,” I snap, pinching the bridge of my nose as I try to slow my heart rate. How could she think this was a good idea? She knows about everything that happened between Wyatt and me so I just can’t understand why she would think that her plan would work. She scoffs.

“I never said it was.”

“What the hell am I supposed to do?”

She sighs. “Go on the date, Piper. It’s not that hard to figure out.”

“I can’t go in there!” I screech, gesturing wildly to the restaurant. A few people walk by my car and flash me a look before looking away.

“Are you really going to stand your husband up?” she asks, her voice full of faux shock and I grit my teeth. This is insane. She has lost her ever-lovin’ mind if she thinks I’m going to go in there and have a date with Wyatt.

“What would I even say to him, Eden? The last time he saw me was before he was deployed and now I’m just supposed to show up and go ‘hey’ like the last ten years didn’t happen?”

As she scoffs again, I can almost picture her rolling her eyes at me. “Oh, I’m sure you guys will have lots to talk about and then, you know, ask him if he wants to have a baby with you.”

“What? No!”

“Oh my God, stop with the dramatics and trust me when I say that I have a good feeling about this.”

I shake my head. “You went too far this time, Eden.”

“No,” she murmurs. “I think I went just far enough and look, if this doesn’t work out, if the two of you don’t end up in wedded bliss again, I’ll never push you to go on another date.”

“Really?”