Page 107 of Manhattan Bossholes

“We’re in a great place now,” she continued as she reached across the table to take my dad’s hand. “More settled. We know ourselves. That was part of the problem all those years ago. We weren’t open about what we wanted or what we needed from each other. Now, as old folks, it’s all clear. We were rash back then to end things without putting in the work to try to move forward together.”

“How long are you in town?” Piper asked.

“Long enough to spend a ton of time getting to know you,” she smiled back.

“It’s looking like we’re going to split our time going forward,” my dad added. “Your mother loves Florida, I love Manhattan, but we love each other more, so we’re going to make it work.”

She leaned closer to me. “That’s what you do when you find the one.”

I glanced at Piper, and she gave me a secret smile. Yeah, I’d definitely found her.

I sat back and glanced around the table at the people gathered there.

Three of the people I loved most in the world.

How was it possible that one man could be so lucky? Unsurprisingly, Piper was charming the hell out of my parents. I could already hear my mom and dad joining forces to convince me I needed to pop the question.

But they were both also well aware that I didn’t bow to pressure, even from them.

“Oh!” my mom exclaimed. “Piper, are you wearing Perpetual today?”

She blushed. “Of course I am.”

My mom reached out to her. “May I? I purposely haven’t smelled it because I wanted to meet the inspiration first.”

Piper held out her wrist, and my mother raised it to her nose, closed her eyes, and inhaled.

“It’s stunning,” she sighed. She opened her eyes and stared at me. “It’s very clear that this is a fragrance born of love.”

My face went hot at the intensity in my mom’s expression. “You’re right.”

“Hold onto that,” she counseled. “With all your might. You two have something special. Right now, it’s pure bliss and hot sex,” she said with a knowing smile. “But that will change. Life throws curveballs at us. Things get tough, especially when babies come into the picture.”

Piper choked on her drink.

“But real love endures,” my father continued, his eyes soft and trained on my mom. “We haven’t been the best role models in a lot of ways, we recognize that, but our hope is that you can look at our mistakes and avoid making them yourself.”

Cheating on Piper wasn’t even a consideration, so I didn’t have to worry about that part of my father’s legacy. But his willingness to walk away and start over, again and again? I used to worry I’d inherited that part of him, but now that I knew the full story, it was much less of a concern.

And then there was the woman in question.

There was no one in the world like her, and I was ready to prove that fact to her in the biggest way possible.

32

PIPER

Iwatched out the window of Vincent’s jet as a crew member loaded our bags.

“Thanks for coming with me,” I said as Vincent settled in his seat. “I’m bummed Darcy got sick.”

I was on my way to California for a meeting with an influencer who wanted to partner with Strapped for a capsule collection. Mercedes had set it all up thinking that Darcy and I could turn the trip into a West Coast inspo trip, but a bad cold had sent Darcy to bed for days, and she wasn’t willing to get on a plane with painful sinuses. Vincent had stepped up to come with me at the last second, as a cheerleader.

“Of course, I’m happy to be with you.” He leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “I’ve got plenty of stuff I can accomplish while you meet with…Bebop Jones, or whatever her name is.”

I laughed at him. “Melody Jackson. Do you live under a rock? She’s everywhere!”

“Does she have any perfume deals?” he asked. “Because if not, I don’t know her.”