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

you see any hot construction men strutting around here this morning?” She waved an arm around them. “You’re not getting it. Think about it. Why would you fix up a building that you’ve been planning to tear down for weeks? Months, even.”

“Months?” Piper repeated.

Of course. This had been in the works long before she and Aiden had ever met. She recalled when she’d asked about his mysterious advanced deadline. You’ll find out soon enough. Those cryptic words, the look on his face. He was smug. He was pleased with himself.

If it really was true, if Aiden had been planning to tear down the center while romancing her all along, then he was laughing at her. She was a joke to him. And so was everything she cared about. A big joke.

She covered her face with her hands. She felt screwed over—in more ways than one.

“I’m going to kill him,” she said, although the lack of enthusiasm in her voice made it sound more like “I want to die.”

“Hey You!” Holly snapped her fingers. “Are you getting this? Premeditated. ‘Murder one’ kind of stuff. Zoom in.”

Piper sank to the ground, barely noticing the camera frantically filming shots from every angle. Zoe reached out and hissed something in Hey You’s ear that made his face go slack. He slowly lowered the camera.

“Why would Aiden do this?” Piper asked. “Why would he keep this from me?”

Holly snorted. “Probably so he didn’t have to see that look on your face. Not exactly a turn-on when he’s trying to get you into bed. Am I right?” She began making suggestive sex faces. “Did you get a little carnal action? Give in to your animal instincts? Maybe even a little ‘doggy-style’?” She giggled like they were on a girls’ night out—except for Hey You eyeing Zoe while he held his camera protectively in front of his crotch.

Addison cringed. “At least he didn’t get the satisfaction.” When Piper looked up guiltily, she gasped and covered her mouth. “Did he?”

Piper winced but didn’t answer. “Look. There has to be some other explanation for this.”

Holly attempted to fix her hair using a compact mirror. “Explanation or excuse? Ever wonder why a rich boy like him didn’t whip out the old checkbook to help the center after the first two incidents? Especially if he was trying to get in your pants?”

“He did.” She avoided Addison’s and Zoe’s stares. “But I wouldn’t accept it.”

“Accept it?” Holly scoffed. “He owns the building. If he wanted to make improvements, why wouldn’t he just do it?”

Piper had never thought much about it at the time because she’d been so determined to fix things on her own. But he owned the building, after all. Of course, it would have made sense for him to upgrade the center and make repairs if needed. And it wasn’t like he was a cheapskate or anything. Piper thought of the new upgrades to her car.

“Because he didn’t want to mix business with pleasure?” It didn’t even sound right to her own ears, but she didn’t know what was right anymore.

“Oh, it was business all right.” Holly winked. “And sounds like he got the pleasure part too.”

Piper banged her fist on the ground, ready to deny the reporter’s accusations. But even as she wanted to stick up for Aiden, negative thoughts crept into her brain, like how stupid she’d been. A rich, hot CEO interested in her? A telegram singer?

She thought back to his history, his life story as told by the tabloids, and developed even more doubts. It was too good to be true, and she’d even known it the day he’d offered her the job. She wished she’d applied at McDonald’s after all.

The last couple of weeks with him montaged through her mind, how he made her feel, his lips on hers, the way he held her when he thought she was in danger, and how he instinctually wanted to take care of her—as annoying as it was sometimes. She mentally slapped herself for even suspecting that he was guilty of anything. Her instincts told her this was all wrong. Aiden just couldn’t … He wouldn’t.

Jumping to her feet, Piper grabbed her backpack and headed for the gate. Colin trotted next to her all the way back to the parking lot like a faithful sidekick—well, she was probably more the sidekick. But this time, she was the one who was going to kick some bad guy butt. Or maybe that was the Supergirl costume talking.

“Wait!” Holly stumbled after her. “Where are you going?”

“To talk to Aiden,” she said. “It’s the only way to get some real answers.”

“Do you think that’s safe?” Zoe asked.

This brought her up short. She stopped walking and spun around. “Safe? Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well, what if it’s true?” Zoe gave a small cringe to apologize for being the devil’s—aka Holly’s—advocate. “What if Aiden is somehow involved in all this?”

Piper didn’t want to think about it. She’d entertained Holly’s conspiracy theories enough for one day. “I’m going.”

“Wait!” Addison cried, grabbing Zoe and locking the gate. “We’re coming too.”

Holly looked like she was about to have a fit from all the excitement. “Ooh, confrontation.”

Zoe held up a hand. “Not you, Jerry Springer.”

“We’ll take my car!” Addison unlocked her Mini Convertible with the remote.

The soft top was down, and Piper controlled the urge to slide over the hood and flip herself into the car. Instead, she opened the passenger door, threw her bag on the other seat, and scrambled into the back with Colin. She wanted to get away from Holly and her questions as soon as possible. Questions that made her uncomfortable. Yes, they sounded like conspiracy theories, but they were starting to make sense.

Piper gripped her knees, digging her nails into her bare skin as Addison and Zoe got in and buckled up. Not soon enough, the little four-seater pulled out of the parking space, kicking up gravel that ricocheted off the new sign. Piper’s short red cape sticking out of her jacket caught the wind and flowed out behind them as they flew off.

The last thing she heard Holly yell as she ran after the car was, “I get the exclusive, right?”

Addison’s blue eyes flicked to Piper’s reflection in the rearview mirror. She gave her a confident we’ll-get-you-to-the-ball-Cinderella look. “I’m sure this is all a giant misunderstanding.”

Piper held Colin close. “I hope so.”

Zoe remained silent, staring out the passenger window, but Piper could see her expression in the side mirror. It didn’t look like she agreed with Addison’s point of view, but she kept her mouth shut, now and then throwing worried glances at Piper.

Addison cranked the wheel, tires squealing. “He cares about you, Piper. Anyone can see that. He’s your Noah.”

“Her what?” Zoe asked. “Oh, I get it. As in Noah’s Ark, right? A reference to their two dachshunds?”

“As in Noah from The Notebook. You guys are soul mates, Piper.”

“I thought he was my Richard Gere.”

Addison took the next corner like they were in a high-speed chase. “No, he’s much more than that.”

He was. At least, Piper had thought he was. But Holly’s words chased her all the way to the Financial District. No matter how fast the Mini went, she couldn’t outrun them.

She didn’t want to believe it. Aiden was no attempted murderer or cold-blooded businessman. But facts were facts: He was trying to destroy her beloved center, to take away the home of her friends.

Over my dead body, she thought. She just hoped that wasn’t a real possibility.