Page 42 of Perfect (mis)Match

On the morning of the contract signing, Joe insisted we celebrate with one last round of golf, and that’s how the day began. As usual, Joe and Piper dominated the course, and I… I tried to keep my composure every time Piper’s fingers tightened around her club and she settled into her stance.

After lunch at the Sullivan’s golf club, we headed back to Sugarview and agreed to meet for dinner once the sun went down, which meant Piper and I had the rest of the afternoon to do as we pleased.

After that first night I’d spent with Piper’s ass pressed up against my crotch, I had a few X-rated thoughts about what we could do together with our alone time. That first night we’d shared the bed, Piper had fallen asleep quickly, but I’d wound up awake for an hour, breathing her in. Luckily, she was a sound sleeper, because at one point I gave in to temptation and ran my fingertips along her velvety shoulder. The other nights, though, I’d been sleeping outside in the hammock. Piper didn’t protest too hard, and it was probably for the best. The thought of being in bed with her again…

It was almost too much.

The car dropped us off at the main house, and we meandered down the path to our bungalow side by side, each caught up in our thoughts.

“C’mere,” Piper said as she veered off the path through a patch of trees.

As always, I had no idea what she was up to, but I wanted to find out.

She strode to the edge of the heliotrope field and turned to me. “Tell me what it is about this flower that makes it the one forEvermore. What’s so special about this little purple flower anyway?”

I smiled at her. “You really want to know?”

“Well, yeah,” she answered. “It’s the reason we’re here, after all. And there are so many other flowers you could’ve used that wouldn’t require all the hoops we had to jump through.”

I walked over to pluck a stem and held it up to my nose to inhale the magical scent.

“There’s nothing quite like the fragrance,” I said, closing my eyes to take it in again. “And this crop? We struck gold here. I liken it to the grapes grown in the champagne region of France. This soil does something different to the plant. The fragrance is more nuanced.”

Piper fidgeted. “Yes, okay, I agree, but you still haven’t answered my question. There are so many other flower options, whythisone specifically?”

I walked the stem over to Piper and held it out to her. “Take a whiff.”

She leaned closer, closed her eyes, and inhaled the aroma. I stole the moment to study her. She was lightly tanned and freckled from our hours on the golf course, wisps of hair escaping from the ponytail high on her head. I wanted to inhalehersun-warmed scent.

“I agree, it smells amazing. But so do lilacs and gardenias.”

“Like I told you at the farmers’ market, there’s a story behind every flower, and this one?” I held the stem up in the air like it was a glass of fine wine. “This one symbolizes devotion and faithfulness. My hope is that I can distill those very elements intoEvermore.”

“Aw,” Piper said softly, looking up at me with a little smile playing around the corners of her mouth. “That’s sort of the core of love.”

I couldn’t stop myself from snorting at the thought of it, and Piper’s shocked expression made me understand that I’d gone and ruined the tender moment unfolding between us.

“Sorry, I’m not laughing atyou, it’s just that in my experience, it’s the rare person who gets to enjoy those feelings. Take my father. Devoted and faithful?” I shook my head. “Four wives later, and I find it hard to believe it’s even a consideration for him.”

“Okay, but what about the Sullivans?” Piper argued, pointing over her shoulder toward the main house. “They’ve been together for forty years. Three kids, five grandchildren.There’syour devotion and faithfulness.”

I considered it. “I’m not denying that happens, I’m just being a realist about how rare real and lasting love really is. I havea family history that proves the Sullivans are the exception and not the rule.”

“So why does the heliotrope even matter then?” Piper huffed at me. “Why are you trying to capture the idea of faithfulness if you take such a negative view of love?”

I froze. I’d never stopped to think about the real reason behind my quest to capture and distill heliotrope. Sure, it was partly because I liked a challenge. Ineededa challenge. But it was also because there was something about the warm scent that made me feel…I couldn’t put it into words other than to say that the aroma made me feel embraced. Celine had suggested substitutions to the fragrance profile as we’d worked on the scent together, but nothing else resonated with me quite the way the heliotrope did.

No matter how many roadblocks came my way, it was heliotrope or nothing at all.

Piper plucked a stem and moved closer to me. “Is it because deep down, youdobelieve in love?” She inhaled the flowers and blinked up at me. “And you hope maybe someday, it’ll happen for you?” Her voice faded to a whisper.

My heart thundered in my chest as I took a step closer to her.

“Trust me, it won’t,” I said softly, staring into her eyes. “I’m far too cynical.”

“But itcould,” she replied as the corner of her mouth turned up. “If the right woman came along.”

Oh, that mouth. What it could do to me.

---