Page 49 of Doctor Grump

It was ridiculous because we had spent the entire morning together, but it seemed like the more time I spent with her, the more I couldn’t get enough of her. And it was never enough.

Take it slow, my ass,I thought, remembering what I had told her at the start of this relationship.You’re falling for her.

And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

“It’s the mayor,” my secretary said, pulling me from my thoughts and back to an unpleasant reality.

“Tell him to get lost,” I grouched.

“Tell me your damn self, Graham.” Santiago slipped in behind my secretary, giving the woman an apologetic wink as he strode into the office and took a seat.

I sighed, irritation clawing at me. “What do you want? I’m not in the mood for bullshit.”

“I’m not here for bullshit. At least not if you don’t consider Piper to be bullshit."

I growled at the mention of her name. I didn’t like to hear him say it. “What do you want with Piper?”

A few days ago, Piper explained to me the nature of her relationship with Santiago and the fact that they had been best friends for a while and had even pretended to date at one point. She assured me that it had only been a pretense, and even though Santiago was married now, it still didn’t stop the ugly feeling of jealousy that arose every time he mentioned her.

Santiago seemed faintly amused by my reaction. “What? Don’t tell me you’re falling in love with her.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“It is, considering Piper is like a little sister to me. I came here to figure out if your relationship really is fake. I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“For the second and final time, I’m not trying to hurt her.”

“You may not be doing it on purpose, but Piper is very delicate. I know she seems like a ball of sunshine, but that girl has been through a lot of shit in her lifetime.”

“I know that already. I also know I’d rather claw my eye out than hurt her. Not that I need to explain it to you, but she means a lot more to me than you realize.” I hadn’t meant to say that much, but it simply slipped out of me as we talked.

Santiago’s eyes widened, and a shit-eating grin spread across his face. “Damn. Youarefalling in love with her.”

For once, I saw something resembling esteem in the man’s face, followed by a brief moment of indecision.

“Tell me about the discharge,” he finally said, then held his hand up placatingly. “Yes, I know it’s not my business, but come on, man, she’s my best friend. I can’t just let that shit slide if it’s true.” The statement was as close to a plea as I’ve ever seen from the mayor.

I considered it briefly, then figured it made sense to tell him. As much as I disliked the man, I could appreciate the fact that he was trying to look out for his friend, and the respect and care he showed Piper gave him a few points in my book.

“The charges are, in short, horseshit,” I said, explaining the whole situation to him. When I finished talking, he nodded, seemingly satisfied with the explanation.

“Makes sense now,” he said. “My PI suspected that there might be something more going on than he found. He’s been digging deeper, but the man who framed you had it buried well. Bastard.”

“Yes.” I shrugged. “Bastard with a whole bunch of money.”

“Ah, I get it now.” Santiago seemed to have an epiphany at that point, and he gave me a considering look. “You know, I was wondering why you didn’t like me, but now I get it.”

“There’s a whole list of reasons why I don’t like you, Mayor.”

"Yes, but the main reason is that you hate rich people. Because of what that asshole did to you.”

“I don’t—”

“Now, I’m not the psychologist here, but it feels kinda unhealthy for you to hold a grudge against the rest of us for what one rich weasel did to you.”

“I don’t hate rich people,” I reiterated, irritated at being psychoanalyzed. “What I hate is people with a lot of money who use their influence to corrupt our already fucked up system.”

“Yeah,” Santiago said. “I hate that too.”

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