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"Are you even going to call Gary and tell him you can’t meet him?"
"I don’t know his number," Mia confessed.
Piper snorted. "This is driving me crazy, Mia. Sometimes I can’t handle watching you do this. You’ll get so close to improving, and I’ll feel so proud. Then a snap of the fingers later, you regress. I can’t take it anymore. I just wish you’d—" She broke off and sent Mia a guilty look. After a long sigh, she finished, "I’m sorry. I don’t mean to upset you. I just—"
"I understand," Mia murmured. She reached out and touched Piper’s arm. Her roommate appeared stunned by the move. She glanced at Mia’s hand, and her shoulders eased.
"It frustrates me too," Mia said.
"No, don’t get frustrated. Don’t listen to me," Piper said, placing her hand over Mia’s and pressing. "I should be commending you, not complaining. You’ve done so good lately. I’m really impressed."
"Yeah," Mia agreed softly. "I’m amazed too."
It had started because of Drew, though. Drew, who’d made her want to live again and then turned out to be an enemy.
As if growing uncomfortable with the deepening mood growing between them, Piper cleared her throat and stepped back. "Well, I’m headed off for the evening. I’ll see you later … maybe tomorrow."
Mia nodded. "Have fun."
"Oh, I will," Piper assured. Then she waved and started for the exit. "Tootles."
Shaking her head, Mia decided her friend was acting perfectly typical. They could be in the middle of a conversation and she’d change tracks in a heartbeat, shifting gears and leaving or changing the subject.
Mia grinned for a second. At least something was still normal. But as she thought about being normal again, Drew’s face wavered into her head. Smile dropping, she started for the phone and dialed a number she’d memorized from a certain business card.
"Harper Studio," that oh-so-familiar voice answered.
Her heart skipped a beat. Oh, great. He still affected her like no one else ever had. Gritting her teeth, she growled, "I just want you to know you’re wrong."
There was a pause and then, "Excuse me?" He sounded totally baffled.
"My roommate isn’t dating your brother-in-law. Okay?" At least he wasn’t dating her anymore, which was all that mattered to Mia.
She heard his breath catch. "Mia. What—you mean, you didn’t know the truth yourself until just now?"
She growled. He wasn’t supposed to assume that. He was supposed to be apologetic for causing such a stir … for believing the worst about her best friend … for upsetting her and trying to use her. He wasn’t supposed to be happy.
"Ohhh, never mind," she muttered, too frustrated to berate him.
Hanging up before he could give any kind of excuse, Mia jumped when the phone rang only seconds after disconnecting. When she saw the Harper Studio number blink across her caller ID, she ignored it. Five rings later, the answering machine picked up and after Piper told him to leave a message … he did.
"Mia, will you please pick up and talk to me?"
She gasped. He was actually going to leave a message? She picked up the phone and disconnected. While she erased his message, he called again. She turned off the ringer and then the answering machine.
She backed up, staring at the phone as if daring it to ring now. When it didn’t, she wondered if he’d try coming over.
Not wanting to stick around for that, she snagged her keys and purse off an end table and booked it out of there. Once she was in her car, she wasn’t sure where to go, so she decided to meet Gary anyway and let him know her change in plans. Not that there’d been a big change. She’d always carried reservations about going out with him. Moving on didn’t seem so easy or desirable when it was Gary she was supposed to meet.
That had to be the most depressing factor in her decision to dislike Drew. Even after he’d lied to her and then admitted he still wanted to expose her roommate, he continued to affect her more than all the others. Why that was remained a mystery.
Once she reached Club 808, she found a spot to park and gathered her purse close as she walked to meet Gary inside. She was still decked out in her nice clothes. A knee-length black skirt and flowery short-sleeved shirt. Conservative yet cute.
Once she reached the gated exterior where she could peek in and see the outside seating, she paused when she caught sight of Gary … with Piper.
Piper?
What the—
