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“I will make sure that happens.”
“Guys like that need a lesson in respect. Celebrity or not, no one should touch you without your permission.”
“I got it.”
Sawyer still felt a bit fired up. “I’m going to make sure our son knows how to treat a lady with respect. You can count on that.”
Piper put a hand on his chest. “Relax.”
He would have been able to if she weren’t touching him. His heart raced under her hand. His skin burned. He wanted to hold Piper against him so he could feel warm all over. Considering the lecture he had just given her, though, he thought better of it.
“I still care. A lot.”
“I see that.” She dropped her hand. “We both have to figure out how to navigate these new waters.”
He’d definitely felt lost at sea the last couple weeks. He was desperate to navigate the storm that was raging inside him. How was he supposed to find his way home when it was becoming clear that she was always going to be his true north?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“DEEP DISH OR thin crust?” Lana asked.
“It’s our second day in Chicago, we have to get deep dish,” Piper said, rubbing her belly. The baby would thank her later.
“Do you want me to cancel the interviews we have set up in Minneapolis or should we send a list of acceptable questions and hope they play nice?” her dad asked from the other side of the bus.
“I think I’m going to have to face the music. If I keep avoiding it, the hungrier they’re going to get for something salacious.”
“Honestly, I can’t believe how hard the media is being on you,” Heath said. “This is why I wanted him to be the one to call it off when I had control over this nightmare. Apparently you’re the runaway bride, and I read somewhere today that you called it off because of your diva-like tendencies. You thought getting married on a farm was beneath you. I’m ready to start suing for slander.”
“Your album is still selling on pace to break records,” Lana chimed in. “The shows are all sold-out through the end of the first leg. When the baby comes this summer, everyone’s attention will be on him. I don’t think we need to worry too much. This could be nothing but a little bump in the road.”
As much as Piper appreciated the optimism, she wasn’t sure how to feel about Lana referring to her greatest heartbreak as a small bump in the road. She was still in love with Sawyer. He was still on tour with her. He was still the father of her baby. She would be feeling this hurt day in and day out for a long time to come.
It didn’t surprise her that the album was selling at a record pace. It had Sawyer’s fingerprints all over it. He had brought something out in her she hadn’t known existed. Everything they had done to protect and build her brand had backfired, but the music still shone. In the end, she’d lost the one thing she hadn’t realized she wanted more than her career.
“They said they can deliver enough pizzas for the whole crew by noon today, but they want to know if you’ll sign a menu for them to auction off at their next fund-raiser event?”
“Done,” Piper said. An autograph was by far the easiest request to honor.
“How are you feeling about the show tonight?” her dad asked.
“Fine.” It had been a bit strange not to sing with Sawyer. She wasn’t sure the song went over very well without her there in person.
“What about the meet and greet? Maybe having Sawyer in the room was a bad idea.”
“It’s going to take some time to figure out our new boundaries.”
“I know yesterday must have been tough for him, but he can’t go around assaulting fans. He needs to leave that to the guys we pay to do that.”
“He doesn’t take kindly to men who disrespect women.”
“Or one woman in particular, at least,” Lana said.
Piper was tired of people acting like there was hope. “I think you missed the part of our wedding day where he basically told me he’s not that into me.”
“I think you don’t notice the way he watches you when you do those meet and greets,” Lana said. “He’s completely enamored. And yesterday he looked like it pained him to be so infatuated.”
