Page 219 of Dangerous Encore
"Married."
He chuckles. "Glad younoticed."
"Happilymarried."
"Oh." He takes another sip. Gives me another once over. His gaze stops on my left hand. "It's been a while since I've seen Piper. Shit, I remember the first time I met her. She was a kid. Young. But she didn't take shit. She's thesamenow."
Inod.
"That's the kind of womanyouneed."
"She's fuckingperfect."
Miles looks back to Logan, now lost at the piano. "Logan is so full of shit. Thinks he needs to convince everyone he's a shallowasshole."
I shrug. Logan's pleasant enough as a tour mate, but that's as far as our relationship goes. And I like itthatway.
"Shit. Iforgot."
"Forgotwhat."
"You're almost as moody as Drew. Nooffense."
I can't exactlyargue.
"My girl's at rounds all day. You're welcome to stay and listen to us bullshit each other, but I figure you've got shittodo."
Like fixing this. "How do youdoit?"
He arches a brow. "It? First, I throw her on the bed. Then…" He winks. "I can spell it out, step-by-step, if you need arefresher."
"How do you ask her forforever?"
"Oh." His voice is knowing. Like Piper's. Thatohis packed with a novel's worth ofmeaning.
How does hedothat?
I arch abrow. "Oh?"
"What is it, exactly, that's eatingatyou?"
"Easyquestions,huh?"
"Yeah." He looks back to Logan, still lost in his world. "She's not gonna get it. Not unless you explain it to her. I have it easier. Or harder maybe. Meg's sister OD'd. She knows how precarious this shit is. But she never gets how itfeels."
"Helps that you have a dozen songsaboutit."
His laugh is hearty. "It's not too late for you to pick upapen."
"Over Mal'sdeadbody."
"Doesn't have to be a song. You love Piper,right?"
"Ofcourse."
"You want her to understand, explain it. And don't skip over the uglyparts."
"Yeah." I run my hand through my hair. "But how did you get okay with it? With asking her for a forever you mightnothave?"
