Page 53 of The Reverse Cinderella

Piaget nodded as though she agreed with what Tiffany had said. The catering job had been superb in her opinion but to say otherwise would be to contradict her sister which just shouldn’t be done. It was easier this way. “What rooms did you put Max and I in? I should have asked sooner but with being late for dinner…”

“The Rosewood room,” Tiffany replied.

Piaget waited, but Tiffany didn’t add to her reply. “And?”

“And what? You’re both in the Rosewood room,” Tiffany nodded and gave a wave to a couple who were departing.

“Together? Since when are you in a liberal view?” Piaget reminded herself that no one had actually expected her to bring a date. However, she really did not want to share a room with Max right now.

Tiffany sighed and explained her reasoning like Piaget was a little slow. “You’ve been a married woman. It’s not like there is your virtue to protect. Even mother didn’t object. All the other rooms are full so unless he wants a sofa?”

“The Rosewood will be fine. Thank you, Tiffany,” Piaget said a little stiffly. She joined Max and Charles, hooking an arm through Max’s. “I am simply fatigued. You don’t mind, do you Charles?”

Charles, being polite, could not refuse her taking Max from him. Piaget steered both of them inside and promptly dropped his arm before heading up the stairs.

“Thank you for rescuing me.” Max said carefully.

“Charles is harmless,” Piaget replied sardonically.

“He may be harmless. but he certainly is tenacious.”

“Mother thinks it would be ‘a feather in his cap’ if he could get Ramesly pharma as a client,” Piaget turned right at the top of the staircase.

“I tried to tell him I was no longer with the company,” Max was cautious to keep his voice neutral. Piaget was talking to him and he didn’t want to ruin it. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“What did you do?” Piaget enquired. She supposed the wine could be to blame for her asking. She certainly wasn’t curious. At least, that’s what she told herself.

“I gave him Michael’s number.”

It took Piaget a moment to place the name. “Your oldest brother.”

Max smiled then abruptly sobered. “Yup. Maybe he’ll get mad enough to call me.”

Piaget felt a kinship with this Michael that she had never met. They were both mad at Max. They had that in common. She wondered if he was single. Maybe she would give him a call and they could both give Max the silent treatment together.

Only she wasn’t doing very good at the silent treatment since she was still talking to him.

“I should warn you, Tiffany put us together for accommodations,” Piaget said as she opened the door to the bedroom. “You can have the floor.”

“I’m good with the floor,” Max said easily. He was surprised that Piaget was going to allow him to sleep in the same room. He supposed it was all part of her saving face in front of her family. Well, as long as it kept him close to her, he wasn’t going to complain. He had this weekend to figure out a way to get her to forgive him and to win her back.

Piaget checked on her dresses for the rest of the weekend. She knew it was silly, but she needed to make sure they had been hung right so that they wouldn’t wrinkle. Little things like this were important. Tomorrow was just as much about how everyone else looked as the bride looked. The gift that she had gotten for Tricia and Jordan was still wrapped perfectly and sitting on the side dresser. It wasn’t much but hopefully the bride would like it. It was a canvas painting by the up and coming artist that Piaget knew was going to go places. Dix’s art was amazing and someday Piaget hoped this piece would be worth much more than what she had paid for it. It was an investment of sorts.

Max offered her the washroom first and Piaget grabbed her nightwear. It was nothing more than a dark tee with her cut off shorts. She hadn’t expected to share a room and so had opted for comfort. Washing away her makeup, she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

What was she going to do? She was in love with a man who didn’t always tell her the truth. She wondered if she could get her dad to do a background check on Max, to see if he was telling her everything. The problem was, as much as she loved him and as much as he might promise to tell her everything from now on, she wasn’t sure she could trust him.

Look where trust had gotten her with Gary.

The problem was her heart still ached for him. Even now, she just wanted to go in the bedroom and let him hug her, talk to her with his sexy voice, tell her it was all going to be alright.

Piaget groaned. She sure could pick men.

She left the washroom and let Max have his turn. While he was in there, she threw a pillow on the floor and followed it with the extra bed cover. He was the homeless one. She was sure he’d slept in worse circumstances. Piaget settled herself into bed and shut off the light. She wondered how she was going to get any sleep.

She listened as Max got settled on the floor.

“Thanks for the blanket and pillow,” he said. “I promise I am going to make this up to you.”