Paws off the Boss - Casey Griffin (best books under 200 pages .TXT) 📗
- Author: Casey Griffin
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Book online «Paws off the Boss - Casey Griffin (best books under 200 pages .TXT) 📗». Author Casey Griffin
She hated to end the afternoon with Aiden so abruptly. However, she felt relief as he clipped Sophie’s leash back on and followed Piper to the edge of the clearing.
“So,” she hedged. “Any hints of weird behavior yet? You know, besides accusing you of sexual harassment?”
“No red flags that I can see,” he teased. “Yet.”
“Tell that to my parole officer.”
His head snapped to her in surprise.
She grinned and threw her hands up in the air. “Just kidding.”
Aiden laughed. “You know, I think it’s generous of you to spend your spare time working with homeless dogs.”
“It’s no big deal.” Her cheeks warmed again, and she turned away to hide it. “I love these guys, so it doesn’t feel like work.”
“I wish I had more time to do the same. There’s the whole ‘time is money’ factor, I guess.”
Yet another thing he has in common with my brother, Piper thought.
She remembered her mother having to sell off farm equipment to pay the hospital bills and how quickly it all fell apart, especially after her father died. Even as her mother cried herself to sleep, she had to make plans for the funeral, for selling the farm, for uprooting their lives. And where was Ethan? Sitting in on some large corporate merger in Seattle. He caught a late flight the night before the funeral and left almost immediately after. Because “time is money.”
Aiden sighed. “But there are some things money can’t buy. You know what I mean?”
He looked at her, like really looked at her, as though he wanted to know how she felt. And not just for part of the interview. It caught her off guard. For a moment, she wondered what a rich man like Aiden couldn’t buy with all his money.
She considered the question with the same seriousness with which he asked. It was easy to say money didn’t matter when you never had to worry about it.
“It’s true,” she said. “Money can’t make you happy. But it sure can make you miserable when you don’t have any.”
“Are you miserable?”
She thought about her friends, Colin, and all the other things that made her happy, and she realized none of those things cost her a penny. “No. Finances are just stressful sometimes.”
He clicked his tongue and stopped walking. “While money can’t make you happy, it can buy new shoes.” He scraped off his wingtips on the concrete path.
Piper pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh at the mess. “I should have warned you when I suggested we meet at the park. People are supposed to pick up after their dogs, but some don’t. I like to call them dog park poopetrators.”
“I should have dressed more casually, but I didn’t think the dog park had a dress code.”
“Oh, yes. The uniform is strictly enforced.” She nodded gravely. “Khakis and short-sleeved plaid shirts. Wrinkled, not pressed. And I wouldn’t recommend flip-flops.”
“I’ll remember that for next time.”
As they walked, a middle-aged man approached to hand Aiden a flyer. Piper ducked her head and fell behind. She didn’t think she recognized him, but she couldn’t be sure. When she fell into step next to Aiden again, she saw the glimmer was back in his eyes.
“So, is that your dog park uniform?” He eyed her tank top and jean shorts, maybe a little appreciatively. “I was expecting something more country-style.”
“Very funny. I don’t just do cowgirl, you know. I also have a cop uniform, a cheerleading outfit, and construction clothing.”
“Wow, a couple more costumes and you could be a one-woman Village People.”
“I don’t do covers. Original material only, under the Piper Summers trademark. And those are just the popular outfits. I’ve got plenty more.”
“You know, I wouldn’t mind seeing them sometime,” he said.
“I bet you wouldn’t.” She couldn’t keep the suggestive waggle from her eyebrows. “I charge by the song.”
A few minutes earlier, she’d been livid with him because she thought he had the wrong idea. Now that she knew that wasn’t the case, the wrong idea felt a little right. She was glad they’d made it back to Flirtville, population: two.
Her insides quivered like she’d swallowed butterflies. She hadn’t experienced them since graduate school, so she knew they weren’t merely any butterflies. They were rare ones, like morpho butterflies.
She wasn’t imagining the chemistry between them. It was as obvious to her as a Western chorus frog singing for his mate or a male peacock shaking his tail feathers for a hen. She just wasn’t sure that’s what she wanted. Well, okay, she wanted it all right. However, she also wanted chocolate for breakfast, but that didn’t mean it was good for you. Mmmmm, chocolate.
“Slut!” someone screamed.
Piper jumped and spun toward the voice, as did Aiden, as did the whole park. The protesters’ chanting broke off. A girl from within their ranks stepped forward. And her accusing finger pointed straight at Piper.
“Whore!”
“Tramp!” the protester yelled.
Piper froze. All eyes in the park followed the angry protester’s pointing finger. The twenty-something girl was dressed in a green bohemian maxi dress, her wild, curly hair snaking from her head like a furious Mother Nature incarnate. And Piper was her target.
But it wasn’t Mother Nature. Just an old nuisance of Piper’s. The one person she’d dreaded running into.
“Oh, good,” she muttered under her breath. “Laura.”
“Liar!” Laura screamed again.
Not exactly the glowing recommendation one hoped for during an interview.
Piper tugged Aiden’s sleeve. “Let’s go.”
Colin stood his ground, ready to defend his lady’s honor. Hoping to avoid a confrontation, Piper pulled on his leash and headed back to the parking lot. But who was she kidding? There was always a confrontation.
For the last few years, Laura’s hobby had been to harass Piper whenever possible—“stalk” was more like it. And every time Laura confronted her in public, Piper tried to extract herself from the situation with her head high and her mouth clamped shut. But no matter how many times she tried to take the high road, she always got sucked in.
Aiden hurried to keep up with Piper. “Do you know that girl?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but a hand gripped her arm, fingernails digging into her flesh. Laura had caught up to them. Piper spun around to face her enemy.
“Hey,” Laura spat. “I’m talking to you.”
Piper took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, knowing it would piss off Laura more. But Piper also knew that her calm wouldn’t last long. Be cool, she told herself. Be cool.
“Laura. So good to see you. It’s been too long.”
“How dare you show your face here?” she growled.
Piper’s mouth formed a tight smile. “At a dog park? With my dog? Yeah, I’m pure evil.”
“Are you stalking me?” Laura eyed her up like she was Satan’s spawn and Colin her hellhound—which, admittedly, he was at times.
Piper laughed incredulously. “I’m stalking you?”
“How many times do I have to tell you?” she asked. “You’ve already won. Why won’t you just leave me alone?”
She loomed close enough that Piper could read her “I heart my dog” earrings, but she spoke loud enough for the entire park to hear. Everyone had stopped playing with their pets or reading their books to listen.
Laura spun dramatically toward her captive audience. “You already lied and got me kicked out of the veterinary program. Are you trying to kick me out of my favorite park too?”
Piper’s cool turned to lukewarm. Her fists clenched at her sides. “That is not what happened, and you know it.” Besides, this was her favorite park, and Laura knew that too.
“Are you denying that you got me expelled?”
“Your own actions got you expelled!” Okay, hot, boiling hot, now.
Colin and Sophie growled at Laura in support. We got your back.
Laura laid a hand on her chest. “Me? What did I do? Worked hard, did the best I could? I guess you just couldn’t suppress your jealousy. You couldn’t stand that I was at the head of the class and you couldn’t even pass a pop quiz.”
Piper rubbed her temples. She could have passed that pop quiz, but she’d forgotten to set her alarm that morning and missed it altogether, thanks to a late shift driving taxi. She snorted. “Head of the class? You couldn’t have identified a flea if it bit you in the butt. You were only doing as well as you were because you were copying off your friends.”
“That’s the story you fed our professor, and you managed to convince him. I wonder how you did that?” Laura’s eyes narrowed. “Well, I suppose lying is your specialty. Only, for our professor, you were lying on your back.”
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