Page 43 of Perfect (mis)Match

I’d feared the kiss on the plane was a fluke, a one-time event that would never happen again. But now, the way Piper was watchingme, with her lips parted ever so slightly, I could tell she wanted it as badly as I did.

I reached out and ran my hand down her back, drawing her closer to me. Piper’s breathing went shallow, like she was nervous, eager, ready. Her eyes tracked across my face. I could only stare at her perfect, waiting mouth.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a breathy whisper.

“What do youthinkI’m doing?”

I leaned even closer to her, relishing the sweet tension in the air the moment before our lips connected.

We were just centimeters apart when Piper’s phone rang, so piercing she jumped away from me in shock.

“Oh mygod,” she exhaled, clutching her heart. She staggered a few steps and answered the call. “Hello, this is Piper.”

My heart was about to leap out of my chest, and I silently cursed whoever had interrupted our moment.

“Oh, hi, Jean. I didn’t recognize the number. House phone, okay, that’s why. What’s going on?”

I watched her nodding as Jean spoke.

“Okay, that makes sense.” She paused. “No, no it’s a perfect idea. Uh-huh, we can definitely make that happen. Yup. See you then!”

She hung up and turned back to me.

“Jean wants to do a formal dinner, since it’s a ‘momentous occasion.’” Piper made air quotes with her fingers. “I think it’s safe to say this is a done deal.”

I was obviously thrilled about signing the contract with the Sullivans—but in this moment, I was way more interested in the other deal I wanted to close.

“I brought two dresses with me.” Piper stared off into space. “One is a glorified sundress and the other is more cocktail, which is probably more appropriate, right? What do you think?”

I hid my frustration about our lost moment. Honestly, I didn’t care which dress she wore—sundress, cocktail, it didn’t matter. The thought that kept nagging at me was that I’d prefer her out of a dress altogether. The image flickered through my mind before I could stop it: her standing in front of me, all soft skin and curves, no layers between us. I swallowed hard, trying to keep my expression neutral.

“Why don’t we go take a look?” I suggested. “You can do a fashion show for me.”

“Excellent idea,” Piper replied. “I want to make sure I look perfect for the celebration to come.”

Shealwayslooked amazing, but I got the sense that that feedback wouldn’t be helpful.

Piper still seemed unsteady on her feet from the moment we’d just shared, but neither one of us moved closer to try to rekindle it. We walked back to the bungalow in silence.

“More champagne, seeing as we have something to celebrate?” Jean suggested.

It was the moment I’d been waiting for, yet all I could focus on was my beautiful partner in crime. Piper looked stunning in a red cocktail dress with her hair piled on top of her head, and the way she kept smiling at me throughout the night made it hard for me to focus on the conversation.

As always, she’d charmed her way through the meal, picking up slack when I was at a loss for words.

“Indeed, we do have something to celebrate,” Joe said. “Look how far we’ve come since the first time we met.”

Piper giggled softly at the reminder of my monstrous behavior at Paul and Chloe’s engagement party.

The server refilled our flutes, and I took the opportunity to raise mine. “I’d like to say a few words before we move on.”

“That would be lovely,” Jean murmured.

I glanced around the table as everyone lifted their glasses.

“You might have noticed I can be rather single-minded when I have a goal in front of me,” I began.

Piper snorted out a laugh then slapped her hand over her mouth. I cut my eyes at her with a mock scowl then resumed.

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