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"I won’t hurt her," he murmured.
"Good." Smiling regally, Piper patted his shoulder. "Now that that’s taken care of, you owe me twenty bucks."
For a second he could only gawk at her. Twenty bucks? That was a discount? He usually got it done for twelve at the barber shop across town.
But he didn’t argue. He wanted to get away from this woman, because every second in her presence only made him feel nastier.
He dug into his wallet and found two tens. As he silently handed them over, he noticed the rock sparkling from the index finger on her right hand. Caught, staring at it, he swallowed.
"Nice ring." He glanced up, remembering how good Jeff was at giving jewelry. Mandy usually received some kind of trinket every birthday and anniversary.
Piper lifted her fingers to touch the ring in a loving caress, and he gained enough confidence to ask, "From someone special?"
Proudly, she answered, "Yes."
Nauseated, he was unable to stop himself as he asked, "From J?"
Her eyes opened wide, and her face drained of color. "Mia told you about him?"
His insides went still. He was so close now. If only he played his cards right; he might get what he wanted. "I saw your roses."
Her shoulders relaxed. "Worried they were for Mia, were you?"
"Something like that," he confessed. More worried who they’d been from actually.
"Yeah, my Sugar Daddy sent those a few weeks ago. Just because."
Drew’s eyebrows rose as if he were interested, though, he really just felt ill. "A sugar daddy, huh? So, he’s older?"
Flaunting a feminine smile that hid centuries of secrets, she admitted, "A little."
Is he married, he ached to ask. Are you seeing a married man? Are you seeing my sister’s husband?
He couldn’t do it though. He was right there, on the brink, and he choked.
Mia’s face flickered though his head and he could see her confused, hurt eyes as she realized he’d cornered her friend and grilled her.
Gritting his teeth, he nodded to Piper. "Have a good day."
He saw her perplexed expression, no doubt wondering why he decided to leave in the middle of a conversation. But he couldn’t talk to her anymore. Couldn’t even look at her. Spinning away, he hurried for the exit.
It wasn’t until he reached his truck and slid into the driver’s seat that he realized … Mia might be pleased with his decision. But Amanda certainly wouldn’t be.
He closed his eyes and hissed a curse, wishing there was an easy answer.
•
Drew waited three days to call Mia. Though he’d gone for the whole proper, patient thing, patience really didn’t work so well for him. He’d almost called about a dozen different times, half of those occasions on the night they’d gone to the pizza parlor. The need had only grown worse after talking to her roommate.
He didn’t much care for Piper Holliday. He might like the new look she gave him, but he felt more certain than ever that she was involved with Jeff.
Deciding not to tell Amanda about his haircut experience since he hadn’t learned anything concrete, he stayed away from the Wright house, half afraid his sister would ask another impossible favor of him. He wasn’t equipped for this PI stuff. In fact, he was tempted to look one up and hire the guy to find out what was going on.
Mia’s number was in the phone book under her roommate’s name. He still wasn’t sure about her last name. Maybe he’d find out pretty soon.
It rang three times and Piper answered. "Hello?"
He winced. So not the person he wanted to hear. "Is Mia there?"
