Page 46

PIPER

I rolled over in bed and groaned as my head pounded. I was so hungover, and no amount of greasy food would make this better. A cup was shoved under my nose and the delicious smell of coffee filtered through my senses.

“Mmm.” I sat up, wiping the sleep from my eyes as Patrick smirked at me as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Morning.”

“Good morning, beautiful,” he grinned, leaning over to press a kiss to my lips. “I figured you could use this.”

I wrapped my hand around the warmth of the mug and sighed dreamily. “This is perfect.”

“Mom’s downstairs cooking up a storm. God forbid a female guest of mine isn’t feeling good,” he huffed.

“Well, that’s what I’m here for, right? To convince her that I’m the one for you and she has nothing to worry about?”

“Yeah, but could you be a little less convincing?” he muttered. “You’re doing too good of a job.”

I snorted at that. “I told you I was a pro with parents.”

“How many parents have you done this to?”

I shrugged, but in reality, I’d never tricked a parent. I just happened to like hanging out with them. When you didn’t have parents growing up—well, when they were unreliable like my parents—you tended to gravitate toward them just to see what the big deal was.

“I don’t trick parents. I just like talking to them.”

“Why?” I nearly laughed at the incredulity on his face.

“Because they’re interesting. They have all these stories from a different time.”

“You mean, I walked two miles to school in the snow uphill both ways .”

“Hey, it could have happened,” I chuckled. “Maybe the kids back then had to take different routes home and that’s how it was uphill both ways.”

“Right. I totally buy that.”

It didn’t matter if he did or didn’t. I found the older generations fascinating, and I generally gravitated toward them out of the sheer desire to soak up all the stories they had.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?”

“I’m not really sure,” he frowned. “I suppose we’ll have to stick around the house most of the time. There’s not a whole lot to do here like there is in New York.”

“True. Maybe you should have brought her to me. Then I could have taken her around the city while you lounged in my apartment and watched your cow porn.”

He pinched my nipple in retaliation, kissing me when I yelped in protest. “I don’t watch cow porn, and if I did, it would only be to amuse you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, but I’m not sure I ever want to see that.”

“Don’t knock it till you try it.”

“And have you tried it?” I asked as the air thickened around us. His lips were just a breath from mine, and I found myself willing to throw the coffee to the ground and make a mess to clean up if only he would slide between my legs and remind me of how good last night was.

“For about ten seconds. I didn’t know what I was watching. I swear.”

The fierceness in his voice was comical. “I believe you. You don’t have to protest quite so hard.”

“I believe I do. I can’t have you believing that I would ever rent a movie like that.”

“What did you think you were getting?”

Red dots stained his cheeks as he rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Okay, confession time. In a moment of weakness, I signed up for a…subscription package. New DVDs delivered every week,” he said as if he was advertising it.

“And you can’t just rent it or watch it online like a normal person?”

“Like I said, it was a moment of weakness. And when I filled out the form, it asked if I had any kinks.” He shrugged, shaking his head.

“Why not, right? I had no idea what was actually out there. I didn’t even know some of this shit was an actual turn-on to people.

So, I checked the box that said Send me anything! ”

I slapped a hand over my mouth to keep from bursting out with laughter. “I have to know who this subscription is through.”

“I’m not letting you watch cow porn.”

“I don’t think you can stop me. And now that I know about it, I need to see it all!”

“You do not!”

“Yes, I do. In fact, I think this should be one of those things that when I go home, we should both subscribe, and then we can watch it together.”

“Christ,” he muttered. “I’m never going to live this down. For the rest of my life, I’ll be known as the Cow Porn King.”

“It does have a nice ring to it.”

He smirked at me as his fingers brushed over my left hand. “Speaking of rings, how long are you going to wear this thing?”

I hadn’t had the nerve to take it off yet.

Not because I still wanted James, but because I wanted what the ring represented.

Marriage, family, the American dream. It had all been washed away in the span of a few hours.

But I didn’t want to tell Patrick that. He didn’t need to be inside my head right now.

“It’s pretty—the nicest piece of jewelry I’ve ever owned. I would be silly to want to remove it.”

“He broke your heart.”

“Maybe,” I said, flinging the covers off. I stood and walked over to my bag, pulling out clothes for the day.

“Piper—”

“Trust me. I’m not fawning over him, wishing he would take me back.”

“Then remove the ring.”

I didn’t want to, but I was here to convince his mother I was in love with her son, so I slipped the ring from my finger and tucked it into my bag. “Happy?”

He actually looked angry now, which I didn’t understand, but I wasn’t going to try to either.

I had a job to do, and I had to keep it straight in my head that Patrick only wanted me for my ability to sway his mom.

And sex. Yes, the sex was amazing, and I was thrilled to have it, but this would all be over in a week’s time.

“I’m going to take a shower.”

“Don’t take too long. Mom is eager to fill your stomach with food. God forbid she leave me alone and just go home.”

I smiled at him, though I really wanted to punch him in the face.

He had no idea how freaking lucky he was, and that just pissed me off.

I shut the door behind me and quickly showered, letting the warm water work its magic.

By the time I finished, I felt marginally better, but I still needed something in my stomach to fight the acid burning in my gut.

“She’s just lovely,” his mom beamed as I eavesdropped from the top of the stairs.

“Yeah, Mom. She’s fucking perfect.”

“Language,” she hissed. “Did you have a fight with her?”

“No, why?”

“Because you were so happy to see her last night, and now you’re acting like a petulant child.”

I bit back at laugh, finding it hilarious that she still called him on his bullshit.

“I just didn’t sleep well last night.”

Silence greeted me for all of a minute before his mother spoke again. “Don’t think I don’t have ears, Patti. I know exactly why you didn’t sleep last night.”

“Mom—”

“I was young once, too. A healthy…sexual appetite is normal. Just don’t lead this girl on.”

He groaned in disgust. “Seriously?”

“I’m just saying…I’m not deaf. Don’t think you can hide this from me.”

That was about all I could stomach to listen to, and I was actually starting to feel bad that his mom was talking to him about this. So, I made sure to skip down the stairs so they would hear me coming, putting a bright smile on my face.

“Morning!”

I strolled over to Patrick and placed a kiss on his cheek, then walked over to his mother and did the same. She beamed at me, cupping my cheek.

“You’re so sweet, dear. Why don’t you grab some plates, Patti, and set the table.”

“Oh, I’ve got it. You just stay there,” I told Patrick. “You should really stay off that leg and let it heal.”

As expected, his mother gave a nod of approval and finished up breakfast as I set the plates on the counter. There wasn’t an actual table to sit at, only stools. I didn’t have a problem with that, but I could tell by the look on his mom’s face that she didn’t approve.

As soon as the food was dished out, I dug in, moaning as the flavors burst open on my tongue. “Oh my gosh, Debra. This is delicious!”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Seriously, I have never tasted such delicious eggs. I had no idea breakfast could be so good.”

“Oh,” she waved me off, smiling bashfully. “Really, it’s just breakfast.”

“That’s easy for you to say. I have never been able to make eggs in my life.”

“Really?”

I shook my head, shoving more in my mouth. “No one ever taught me. The one time I tried, I burned the eggs.” I was so consumed with eating that I didn’t realize they were both staring at me. “What?”

Debra eyed me with compassion and Patrick…I didn’t want to know what the look on his face meant. It looked similar to pity, and I most definitely did not want that.

“Well, I can teach you.”

“Really?” That was just the most amazing thing I’d ever heard. “Because I’m not one of those people who can just follow instructions. I do better when someone shows me.”

“Then we’ll start our lessons tomorrow,” she beamed.

“How about tonight? I’ve never been able to make dinner either.”

“I’ll find us a recipe and we can go shopping!”

I couldn’t hide the smile on my face if I tried. Maybe this was all for Patrick, but I was getting something out of this, too. Something I had desperately wanted from the time I realized my mother would never be more than the leech she was.

“Wait, what about me?” Patrick asked as his mother busied herself with the dishes.

I quickly finished up, not wanting her to do all the cleanup since she’d made breakfast. “Here, let me take care of that.”

“Oh, don’t be silly,” she waved me off.

“No, really. You cooked. Let me clean.”

“Hey,” Patrick called out, frowning at us. “What about me?”

I ignored him and started running the water in the sink. I gathered all the dishes, cleaning them off before dropping them gently in the water. I reached for a pan, wondering how I was going to get the burns off the pan from the sausage.

“Oh, I have a trick to get that pan really clean,” Debra smiled. “Would you like to know?”

“Secrets of the universe? Absolutely!”

“Hey! Not to interrupt this cleaning session, but your son—your…me—is over here completely alone.”

Debra and I both turned at the same time, eyeing him curiously.

“Did you need us to babysit you?” I asked.

His mouth opened comically, then snapped shut.

“You should be resting,” I continued. “Why don’t you go sit down in your chair and I’ll bring you some coffee. You can watch a movie or something.”

He scowled at me as if he was offended by the idea, but this was why I was here. What more did he want?

“She’s right, dear. You should take it easy and let that leg heal.”

Then I turned back to the dishes and started cleaning them while his mother grabbed a towel and dried while we talked. She told me about how she met her husband and the hilarious things she had to do to get his attention. All the while, I listened intently, soaking up every second of the story.

By the time the kitchen was clean, we had a plan for dinner and were ready to walk out the door. There was just one problem. Patrick was trying to follow us.

“What are you doing?” I whispered as he hobbled over to us.

“I’m coming with.”

“Why?”

“Because…” He glanced between the two of us with a frown. “Don’t you need me?”

Smiling, I kissed him on the lips. “For what? I’ve got this. I told you, parents love me.”

“A little too much,” he grumbled.

“Aw, is someone feeling left out?” I cooed.

“It’s just…” He glanced at his mom again, and then back at me. “She likes you a little too much.”

I burst out laughing, ruffling his hair. “That’s what you wanted, Patrick. You said she was driving you crazy. So, let me handle this, and you can go to work or whatever it is you want to do. I’ll spend time with your mother and keep her from driving you insane.”

“You’re sure?”

He was so cute. He seemed so unsure that I would enjoy this time, but he had no idea what it meant to me to be able to spend a day with a mother-figure. And I wasn’t about to tell him and give him the wrong idea.

“I’m positive. Go. Have fun. I’ll see you tonight.”

I snagged the keys to his truck and bounded down the steps, smiling at his mother. This would all be over in a week, so I’d soak up every second of it until it ended.