Page 24 of His Virgin Angel

“It’s because she didn’t want you, Piper. When I spoke to her, trying to get her to see reason, she was happy for you to leave. She told me you were a burden to her, always driving men away.” He hated lying to her. It was better to lie to her than for her to find out the truth.

“Oh, yeah, I know, she told me all the time.” She let out a breath. “Wow, four years and it still hurts.”

He placed a hand on her back. “You don’t have to worry about her anymore.”

“I’m not worried. I’m hurt more than anything. Why do people have to have kids when they clearly can’t do a good job of looking after them?”

“I can’t answer that one for you, sweetie.”

He wrapped his arms around her, breathing in her lemony scent. Kissing the top of her head, he offered her comfort.

“I better get these finished.”

Reluctantly he released her and watched as she finished the enchiladas. She washed her hands before placing them in the oven.

He helped her wash the dishes and set the table. Beside the pile of college work, he saw a book that was really popular at the moment, and had even got a movie from it.

“This is far cry from your British classics,” he said, picking it up.

She looked at the book, and her cheeks went a delightful shade of red. “Crap, you shouldn’t see that.”

“Why are you reading that?”

“Everyone is reading it, and I was curious.” She took the book from him and disappeared into her bedroom, coming back out with nothing in her hands.

“What were you curious about?”

“Relationships, being with someone, dating, all that kind of stuff.” She tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “It’s probably stupid.”

“It’s not stupid. You’ve never been on a date.”

“Never been asked out. I’ve focused on everything else, and I don’t know—reading stuff like that, it makes me realize everything that I’m missing out on.”

He’d made sure no one asked her out, or even shown an inkling of desire.

She locked her hands together. “It’s probably a silly girl thing.”

“Don’t call it silly.”

“With how Mom was, I didn’t like to make friends, or even look for potential boyfriends. She always spoiled it, and I didn’t want to deal with the fallout. She was always bringing guys home.”

Piper turned on her heel and walked back into the kitchen.

“These guys, did they try anything?”

Piper pulled the enchiladas out of the oven. She blew a breath. “Er, not always. Some of the guys were nice. I was just a girl, a kid really. Some wanted … stuff. I really don’t feel comfortable talking about this.”

“Piper, you can tell me.”

She ran fingers through her hair. “I never did anything with them, even though some tried to use force. Mom was always close by, and she’d unleash hell on me if she thought I was stealing her boyfriend.”

He didn’t breathe easier at that. “You went through a lot.”

“Some have gone through worse.”

“So you want to date.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I’d like to date. To experience what it would be like to have a kiss. Maybe even hug. It’s stupid.”

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