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She didn't move. "That's it? Just drop that and then walk away?"
"Yes."
Piper stared up at him, and he tensed, ready for her to protest, to hug him, to cry for him. The minute she did, he was pulling the plug on their deal. He didn't want to get personal. He didn't want to feel anything. That was the whole point of this arrangement.
But to his surprise, Piper stood up. "All right, then. As you wish. Let's go lie to your mom. After we satisfy her, though, we have to go see my client."
And just like that, Declan felt back in balance. Piper had given him the space he needed. He'd faced the worst, bringing up his past, and he'd survived it. "Tonight?"
"Tonight. And you better be convincing as the greatest fiancé that any woman has ever had.Ever.Hot. Wealthy. Sexy. And head over heels for me, in a sexy way, not a stalkerish way. Got it?"
"Adorable, not creepy." He couldn’t believe Piper had let him simply move on from that bombshell he'd dropped, but he was incredibly grateful. "Got it."
"Great." Piper slanted a glance as she walked past him toward the door, and he felt the weight of emotion in her eyes. Even though she'd given him space, she was looking at him differently.
As everyone always did. "I'm not broken," he said as she reached the door.
"No, I can see that," she said. "Cactuses aren't broken. They're just cactuses."
"I'm not a fucking cactus."
"You are, and that's okay." Piper adjusted the strap on her right sandal, drawing his attention to her pink toenails, which were really freaking cute. "Just so you know, if you ever want to talk about your past, I'll listen. And I won't even make you date anyone."
And just like that, the rest of his tension vanished. "You can't make me date anyone. We're engaged. That would just be weird."
"Not my style, at least." She watched him as she said it.
"Not mine either," he assured her. "I'd never cheat, even in a fake relationship."
"Okay." Visible relief flashed across Piper's face, but she didn't give him time to ask any questions about her visceral response to the cheating question. "Is your mom going to ask us about our favorite sexual positions? Because if she does, I feel like I might have to bow out of the conversation."
Declan burst out laughing. "If she asks us about sex, I'm the one who's going to take off running."
"So she might ask us that?"
"It's my mom. Anything is possible."
"Wow. Okay. I'll just start asking her whether she thinks that I should put up with your grumpiness or try to change you. That'll distract her before she can get to the sex questions."
"I'm not grumpy."
Piper raised her brows.
"Am I?"
"Are you?"
He frowned. He was used to having his family call him on his moods, but he'd discounted them as overprotective. But Piper calling him on it gave it more validity. More truth. Maybe. "No. I'm not grumpy."
"All right then. I'm so glad we cleared that up. See you downstairs, poochikins." She blew him a kiss, then darted out the door and raced down the stairs.
Declan stood there for a moment as he heard Piper call a greeting to his mom.
He'd been prepared for Piper to get touchy-feely when he'd told her about Diana, and he'd steeled himself to be hard. To feel nothing. But she'd sassed him right out of his melancholy and guilt with stunning ease.
He laughed suddenly, a snort of laughter that felt awkwardand uncomfortable. He'd picked the right fiancée to keep him from dwelling on the fact that she was the first woman he'd kissed in a very long time, the first woman he'dwantedto kiss, the first woman who knew how to get under his skin in all the right ways.
Okay, yeah, hehadnoticed all those things were happening with Piper, but they weren't suffocating him, because Piper was…well…Piper.
