Page 35 of Doctor Grump

“Oh no, my days of hanging around unmarried women are long over,” Monty said. “Ever since I met my sweet Kayla, who demanded that I bring her a watermelon ice cream at 3 a.m. yesterday night.”

“Pregnancy will do that.”

“Yes,” he said. “But tell me, who’s the lucky woman? I mean, I’ve asked, and I haven’t seen you around town with anyone else. And lord knows you don’t have time to date, so it has to be someone you’re around often, and I haven’t seen you around anyone else except, of course, your pretty new nan—” Suddenly, his eyes widened. I met his gaze head-on, not changing my expression, but the man made a living by reading something out of nothing, so instantly, he knew what was up.

“No,” he said instantly with a frown. “Absolutely not. I do not approve.”

“Approve of what?”

“You can’t be fucking Piper.”

“Who said I was?” I retorted, quirking an eyebrow.

“I’m serious, man,” he said in a firm tone. “There are a lot of people who would kill you if that girl got hurt, not the least of them being Santiago.”

“I don’t care what the good mayor wants to do to me. She’s not his property, and he’s already married.”

“Not like that, man.” Monty rolled his eyes. “They’ve been friends forever, and he’s very protective of her. We all kind of are. Piper’s a real sweetheart, and I would hate to see her heartbroken, tangling with you.”

“And who says that’s what’s happening?” I said, finally annoyed with the accusations. “You’ve pretty much stated your position without having any idea if that is what’s going on or not.”

“Well then.” He leaned forward with a challenging gaze. “Look me in the eyes and tell me the two of you aren’t fucking.”

I looked him in the eyes but didn’t say it. Instead, I said, “It’s none of your business.”

“Jesus. Santiago is definitely going to have my head for this.”

“I’m not going to hurt her,” I said, feeling frustrated. “And contrary to popular belief, she’s not a fragile little flower. She can make her own decisions. Besides, it was a one-time thing. Guarantee, it won’t happen again.” Even though I didn’t owe him any explanations, Monty had become something like a friend to me, and despite everything, he was right about Piper. She was someone who was very pure and good and didn’t deserve any of my bullshit. Which was precisely why I told myself I would stay away from her.

“I won’t hurt her,” I said determinedly to him. Because I would never touch her again.

15

PIPER

“I’m running out of time,” I muttered as I glanced at the text message blinking on my phone.

“Out of time for what?” My cousin, Bella, asked, placing her cappuccino down. She was my favorite cousin on my father’s side, and she was usually busy with her small business. But she had invited me for coffee today to catch up. Bella was the only one who somewhat understood my pain of losing Judith. She had her own special relationship with our grandmother and was one of the few people who visited her often.

Although we hadn’t spoken much before, Bella and I became close in the last year after meeting at Judith’s. She was also one of the only people from the main branch who hadn’t snubbed my parents because of the circumstances of my father’s birth.

It was one of the reasons I trusted her with the information about my mother’s engagement plans for me.

“For this.” I passed my phone to Bella, showing her the picture my mother had sent me of the count, who was lounging beside a pool and holding up a glass of darkly colored liquid. I knew it had to be some kind of fancy wine, but for some reason, my mind threw out “blood” as an alternative for what was in the cup.

Bella cocked her head curiously. “Who’s that?”

“The count.”

Her eyes widened, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Hold on. That’s your supposed fiancé? The guy that your parents are trying to set you up with?”

“Uh-huh.” I couldn’t keep the misery out of my voice, and Bella gave me a sympathetic look. “I thought I could avoid it. It’s been more than a month already since I moved out and started working for Ian, and I gave them nearly my entire salary last month for the debt. I thought doing that and repeatedly standing the man up on whatever dates my mom set us up on would be enough to get them off my back, but they’re standing firm. And I’m running out of time.”

“Can’t you just say no?” Bella asked.

I gave her a get-real look. “To my dad maybe, but you have never seen my mother when she wants something from me. Even if she has to sabotage every other relationship I ever have to get it, she will. And what she wants is a rich count who can make all our debts disappear.”

“That’s horrible. You know I’ve told you that I could help you with that,” Bella said as she took a sip of her drink. “I can loan you some money.”

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