Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

B y Saturday night, Piper was finally beginning to grasp the magnitude of her idiocy.

"Wait a sec," Tori leaned in, grinning. "You banned Declan from emotional intimacy, and told him empty sex was all that was allowed?"

Piper grimaced as she picked up her glass of wine. She'd wrangled an invite to a fundraiser that had potential clients. Declan had needed to work at the bar, so she'd brought her friends as her dates. "I did."

"And how is that working out for you?" Maddie was sitting on a couch, snuggling with her service dog, Violet.

"Great. It's exactly what I need. He bailed me out the other night at a client meeting. He was pure charm. It was perfect." She scanned the room, looking for her targets for the evening, but she was having trouble summoning the fire that usually drove her.

It had been a long, desperate week, and she was four clients short of the four she needed by Sunday night. The two she'd come to see hadn't arrived yet, and it was getting late.

Tori raised her brows. "Sweetie, we've known each other since we were all broke and living in a loft together. I know when you're tossing out a bunch of lies. "

"I agree," Maddie said. "Talk to us, babe."

"It's just work?—"

"Liar." Keira shook her head. "We've seen you work-glum for the last year, and this is different."

Piper looked around at her friends. "The truth?" She sighed. "Telling Declan I wanted only empty sex hasn't worked out that great for me."

Maddie burst out laughing. "No shit. Really?"

"That's so weird," Keira said. "Most women really thrive when they ask a hot, charming guy who likes them to put those emotions away and just have meaningless hammertime instead."

Tori was openly laughing. "Babe, you need love so much that you got engaged to Clark. Why would you think that you could have naked time with Declan and not care about him?"

Piper couldn't help but grin. "It seemed like a good idea. I was starting to like him and?—"

"What?" Keira hurled a napkin at her. "Shut up! You're falling for him?"

"I knew it!" Maddie clapped her hands. "I opened the floodgates for love when I got engaged to Lucas. Yay!"

Only Tori didn't laugh. "That makes sense, then," she said. "You don't want to get trapped like you did with Clark, but if you like Declan and then he likes you back and starts being a decent guy, then what defenses do you have?"

"Exactly!" Piper sighed. "He's not nearly as grumpy and irritating as I was expecting him to be. He's really messing with my plans."

"Men will do that," Keira agreed.

"Sometimes, it's all right," Maddie said. "I wasn't ready for Lucas, but it turned out great."

Piper looked at Maddie desperately. "That's what scares me. I thought you were going to be single forever, and Lucas came in and he changed everything for you. I don't want that, and Declan…" She paused. "He makes me want it. "

Understanding filled their faces. "Terrifying, huh?" Maddie said.

"It's not just that." Piper bounced her foot restlessly. "I've made such stupid mistakes in the past when it comes to men, and I don't trust myself. I have to focus on my career, and not get trapped again."

There was silence for a moment, then Tori frowned. "Mistakes, plural? Who else besides Clark?"

Maddie looked away, not letting on that she knew about Piper's past, but suddenly, Piper was so tired of hiding. Declan hadn't judged her, and he had every reason to.

These three women were her heart. Why had she spent so long hiding from them? "I was engaged twice before. I bolted both times."

"What?" Tori's eyes widened. "When?"

"Back home." She took a breath. "And I grew up in a family of drug dealers. Gamblers. My dad's in prison. My brothers were in and out. I have scars from being shot."

Maddie smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up.

Piper took a breath, and she felt like a thousand pounds of weight had fallen from her shoulders.

"Shot?" Keira said. "Like, with a gun?"

"Yes." Piper shrugged. "Twice."

"Damn, girl," Keira said. "You're a freaking survivor. To make it all the way from that world to this one? I'm so impressed."

A warmth settled in Piper's chest. "Thanks. It's been a long road, made easier by you guys, of course."

Tori frowned. "Why didn't you ever tell us this before?"

"Because that past would ruin my career. I had to leave it behind."

Keira nodded. "I get that. There are things in all our pasts that we don't want to ever look at again." She reached over and squeezed Piper's hand. "You done good, girl."

Sudden tears filled Piper's eyes. She'd spent so long hiding, and Declan had unlocked her secrets. "Don't tell anyone," she said. "You guys still love me, but it would kill my career."

The three women exchanged glances, but it was Tori who spoke. "Anyone who thinks less of you because of where you came from and what you have overcome doesn't deserve you."

Piper started laughing. "That's basically what Declan said."

"The man's right," Keira said. "Keep him around. He's good for you."

"I can't keep him," Piper said. "He's just temporary."

Maddie was rubbing Violet's ears. "Do you really want him to be temporary? I fought against Lucas for so long, but the truth was that I wanted him. Us. I wanted to trust him."

Piper rubbed her finger where her engagement ring from Clark had sat, where Declan's ring now twinkled. "The truth is that I don't trust myself. I don't trust my instincts. I've been wrong so many times, and I had no idea until I was about to marry them."

"So, plan the wedding, then," Maddie teased. "If you bolt, you know he's wrong. If you don't, then maybe magic sparkled into your life."

Piper tensed at the thought of getting married. "I can't. I can't?—"

"Hey," Tori put her arm around Piper's shoulders. "It's okay, sweetie. No one is making you marry him." Her eyes were full of understanding, but the sympathy felt disempowering.

Piper didn't want sympathy. She wanted to be strong, capable, and badass. She wanted to feel confident, not steeped in fears and stress. She needed to find her own power, and not link it to Declan or any other man. "I just need to get some clients," she said. "Then I'll be able to focus."

Tori drummed her fingers on the table. "Look," she said. "Why would you try to get all these clients for a woman who might fire you anyway? Why don't you get them for yourself and open your own business?"

God, she wanted to. "My name is tainted right now. I have to leverage someone else's name right now." How had she gotten to this point? She'd worked so hard for so long to be independent, and yet, after all this time, she was still dependent on someone else for her job, her dreams, and her money.

Wow.

That was depressing.

She lifted her chin. "I'm not giving up." She stood up. "I'm going to go mingle. I've never given up before, and I'm not now."

"Damn straight," Tori said, bouncing to her feet. "I'll help. There must be brides out there that we don't know about. We can find them."

"We sure can." Maddie hopped up, and Violet did the same.

"I'm in!" Keira picked up her purse. "The Loft Squad is in business. Let's go."

Piper grinned as her friends took off across the party, all of them headed in different directions. She was so lucky?—

"Hello."

She turned sharply at the sound of a man's voice, and she saw Dick standing directly behind her.