Paws off the Boss - Casey Griffin (best books under 200 pages .TXT) 📗

“Right.” She laughed dryly. “And move to where?”

He snorted. “I run a little company called Caldwell and Son Investments. I’m not sure if you’ve heard about us. We own a property or two.”

“You think I can afford one of your luxury properties that have some pretentious name like … Nottingham Lakeview Estates? Even though it’s not really an estate and it’s nowhere near a lake,” she babbled, flustered by the suggestion. “That comes with doormen, and elevators, and fancy swirly numbers on the doors, and probably not even a single cockroach?”

“I’m pretty sure the owner won’t mind if you stay for free.”

“Forget it.” She crossed her arms. “I’m not taking advantage of you.”

He scowled. “You won’t be taking advantage of me.”

“I’ll be freeloading off your company dime.”

“What does it matter?”

Aiden ran his hands through his hair again. It had only just settled down since the last time he’d tousled it. Piper wondered whether it would get stuck upright if he did it enough times.

Aiden threw his hands up in the air, voice loud enough to carry throughout the house. “I’m trying to help you. Why won’t you let me?”

“I’m fine,” she said, emphasis on “fine.”

Aiden laughed, a little wildly. “You’re not fine. Stop saying you’re fine. A single word has never irritated me so much in all my life.”

“I don’t need your help,” she snapped. “And I don’t need your money. I can take care of myself.”

“Clearly.” He waved a hand to encompass everything that had happened that night. Or maybe that week. Or maybe even in her life.

Piper thrust her fists onto her hips and winced slightly as she hit her bruise. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“I didn’t mean …” He rubbed a hand over his face, collecting himself and his thoughts. “It’s just that everyone seems to need me for something. For money or contacts or leverage, but you—”

“Me, what? The CEO doesn’t have enough people under his thumb; he needs me under it too?”

“Under my thumb?” he repeated incredulously. “Where is this coming from?”

“Do you have some unmet desire to feel needed by everyone?”

“No!” he blurted. “Not by everyone. I just want to feel needed by you. Because …” The anger faded from his face, and his tone softened, the fight fleeing his body. “Because I need you.”

And just like that, Piper was bucked from her high horse. A second before, she’d had a response ready for almost anything he could’ve said, but she hadn’t been ready for that.

“But the one person who I want to help the most,” he said, “doesn’t want my help. Not even when she’s about to become homeless, not even for the rescue center that she loves so much. Don’t think I didn’t notice you never cashed my check. And I practically threw a job at you, and I still had to convince you to take it.”

It was true. She couldn’t deny it. “I told you,” she muttered, “I don’t like handouts.”

“The money means nothing to me. It’s nothing for me to give it to you. It’s not a big deal.”

“Well, it’s a big deal to me.”

“Why?” Aiden’s voice was still thick with frustration, but he stared at her like he really wanted to know, to understand.

“Because I worked hard to get where I am. It may not be great, it may not be glamorous, but when you consider how far I’ve come, it is. I did this.” She spread her hands, wishing she could display all her hard work and accomplishments before him. “On my own. And I didn’t need anyone to do it.”

“Dammit, Piper.” He banged his fist against the wall, the sound echoing around the grand foyer. “I feel like a jerk standing by and watching your life fall apart when I can do something about it.”

“My life isn’t falling apart. This is my life.” She laughed without humor. “And it has been for the last eight years. It’s called being a starving student. My life fell apart in high school, and I’ve gotten by just fine on my own up until now. And I’ll continue to get by. Life doesn’t change because I’m dating Mr. Big Shot CEO.”

“Shouldn’t it?” he asked, seeming to find the crux of his argument. “Shouldn’t it get better? When you find someone and decide that you want to be with them, isn’t it because they make your life better, not harder? I know you make my life better.” He reached out to her.

She pulled away before he could touch her. “Right. I make life real easy. You know, between the eviction, the unemployment, the stolen and damaged cars, the hit-and-runs, and arson—”

“And the laughs,” he interrupted, “and how easy it is to talk to you, and how, when I’m with you, I can be myself. I never feel pressured to be Mr. Big Shot CEO. I’m not a paparazzi target or the top news of the society pages. I’m just Aiden. Cargo shorts, plaid-wearing, dog owner Aiden.”

A chuckle rose to her throat, but she was too angry for it to reach her lips. “Don’t forget the Hawaiian shirt.”

Closing the distance between them, Aiden reached out and held her face in both hands. “You may not think you make my life better, but you do. You make me better. I haven’t felt like I could be myself since my father died and I had to step into his big shoes. I’ve needed you in my life for longer than I ever knew. I’ve needed someone who, when we’re together, makes the weight of the world feel like a feather.”

Piper stared back, trying to imagine it. If she could allow herself to lean on someone else a little, to share the weight she’d been carrying for so long, what would that feather feel like?

When she couldn’t find an argument, he took her hand and drew her into the sitting room. They sat down on the leather club sofa, and he turned to face her.

“Would you want to see Addison or Zoe thrown out on the street with nowhere to live?”

She rolled her eyes, but more at herself; she was beginning to see his point. Why did he have to make so much sense? And why was it so hard to admit it out loud? “No. I’d do everything I could for them.”

“Well, it just so happens that I can do more than most. Are you going to hold that against me?” he asked. “You only have a week left until you graduate, until your exam. Are you going to throw it all away because you’re living in a cardboard box? Because you’re too proud to accept my help?”

“I suppose not.”

Aiden grinned. “Besides, if you want me to spend nights at your place, I find drain water disagrees with my complexion. And don’t get me started on park benches. They throw out my lower back.”

She smiled despite herself. “I was thinking of something more like a spot under a staircase. You know, nice and dry. Or maybe an underpass.”

“Sounds lovely. We could put up some newspaper curtains, plant some flowers in the drainpipe.”

“Whoa. Hold on a minute.” She held up her hands. “You’re already moving in? We’re moving a little fast, aren’t we?”

He took her hands in his, kissing her knuckles before leveling her with a firm look. “You’re strong, independent, resilient, and really, really persistent. I know you will be just fine on your own. But I don’t want you to be ‘just fine.’” He squeezed her hands. “I want you to be amazing.”

“But you said it yourself. Nothing in life worth having comes easy.” Even she could hear the lack of conviction in her voice. Her argument had lost its punch.

“So would an easy life with me not be worth having?” he asked seriously.

Piper bit her lip, wanting to scream, “Yes! It would be worth everything.” If only it weren’t for her stubborn pride. Not to mention those uncertainties and questions that were still rolling around inside her head, waiting to be answered.

So instead, she looked him square in the eye and said, “I just don’t want to be your charity case.”

“I don’t want you to be my charity case, either,” he said. “I want you to be my girlfriend.”

It was suddenly hard to breathe, like the air had thickened around them. Piper’s eyes stung. She blinked to keep them from tearing up. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice caught like she was drowning in all the words that bubbled up inside her, fighting to be the first ones out, such as “Eeek” and “Are you sure?” or “Hell, yes!”

But the first words to find their way out were, “I don’t want a boyfriend.”

Aiden’s imploring grip around her hands slackened, and he leaned against the tufted backrest.

She smiled, reaching for him. “I want a partner.”

He leaned forward again, like he wasn’t sure he’d heard right. “A partner?”

“Fifty-fifty.” She pointed at him. “Those are my terms. Take ’em or leave ’em.”

A grin spread across his face, his dimple finally making an appearance. “Those sound like reasonable terms. I’ll have my lawyer draw up the contract.”

“Should we shake on it?” She held out a hand.

“No.” He reached over and pulled her toward him. “No more handshakes.” And he sealed the deal with a kiss.

Eventually, Aiden pulled away, but Piper grabbed him by the tie. “Oh, no. We’re not finished here.”

“We’re not? I thought we came to a pretty good resolution.”

“That’s