Page 67 of A Man for Mia

"I was worried the first night, not sure what had happened to you."

Face snapping up, Mia instantly apologized. "I’m sorry I didn’t call. I totally forgot—"

Piper shook her head and lifted a hand. "Don’t worry about it. Drew let me know where you were."

"He did?" Mia snapped her mouth shut, instantly jealous. As irrational as she knew it was, she still pictured her roommate pursuing Drew. If she dated married men, she wouldn’t have any qualms about going after someone who was now considered unavailable. But then she straightened, telling herself how silly such a worry was. Piper was her best friend on earth; her best friend wouldn’t mess with her man.

Still, why hadn’t he told her he’d spoken to her roommate?

"The first night you didn’t come home, I found his business card in your room and tried calling, hoping it was his personal number too."

"Oh," Mia said, realization dawning. "Was that you? I remember the phone ringing downstairs on his business line."

"That was me," Piper nodded and raised her hand to claim culpability. "I left a message and he called me back the next morning to tell me you were fine and not to ever call him again because his sister visited frequently."

Mia nodded, reassured. She should probably be irritated Drew had said such a thing to her best friend. But she kind of liked the idea that they weren’t too close. She couldn’t help but worry just a little about Piper trying to steal her man. Drew was too wonderful to lose.

"She does visit a lot," Mia assured Piper. "She showed up that morning and wasn’t very happy when she found me there." Yet another reason Drew probably hadn’t told her about his call to Piper. They’d been suitably distracted.

Piper gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. "Are you okay? What did she do?"

"She called Drew a traitor and stormed off. He’s been trying to get in touch with her ever since. But she refuses to talk to him." Shoulders slumping, she admitted, "I feel sorry for her. She’d been betrayed by her husband and now her brother is fraternizing with someone she considers an enemy."

When she glanced toward Piper, she froze, realizing Amanda’s problems started because of Piper. What a way to make her friend more guilty. She opened her mouth, mind whirling to cover her faux pas. "I mean—"

"No, it’s okay," Piper assured her. "I feel bad for her too. J made her out to be the wicked witch of the west, but now that I realize how much he lied to me, she probably wasn’t as bad as I imagined." She snorted sourly. "He ended up being the jerk and still … he’s the one who dumped me."

Blinking rapidly, she glanced away, trying to hide her misery.

"I’m sorry," Mia said, feeling lame because, well, she wasn’t actually that sorry her friend was no longer seeing a married man.

"It’s fine," her friend said. "Actually … well, Gary called. We’re going out this weekend."

Mia’s eyebrows shot up. "Gary. The Gary I was supposed to go out with?"

Piper nodded, and Mia sat down.

She felt like she’d landed in a strange soap opera. There were definitely some odd triangles going on, er, actually this would be more like a hexagon since Drew, his sister, her husband, Piper, Gary and Mia were all involved. What a weird outcome.

•

"Still nothing?"

Drew hung up the phone, shaking his head. "It’s been five days and she still won’t talk to me. I’ve gone over there twice, both time when the kids were around, and she’ll just walk into a different room whenever I enter one."

Mia sat on the arm of his couch and wrapped both her arms around him. "Are you okay?"

He touched her hand and closed his eyes. "Yeah." He was better than okay. Every time she was near he was fantastic.

Wanting to prove it, he turned and lifted his face to kiss her. She bent down to press her mouth to his. Afterward, he sighed and closed his eyes, holding her close, grateful she was in his life to help him deal with his troubles.

As if reading his mind, Mia placed her hand on his hair. "She’ll call."

He murmured his agreement, hoping she was right, and feeling closer to her than ever because she was intuitive enough to realize how much Amanda’s cold shoulder bothered him. Her understanding assured him he was still doing the right thing.

He tilted his head her way and kissed her again. "Thank you."

Chapter Seventeen

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