Page 31 of Manhattan Bossholes

I didn’t know her well, but I could tell that she was trying to make light of something that carried more weight than she was willing to admit. Whoever that guy was, he had the power to turn her normally cheerful expression cloudy.

Asshole. I shouldn’t have let him walk away so easily.

I forced myself to unravel from Piper so I could look directly at her. “Hold up. Do I need to track him down and give him a talking to?”

She blinked at me, then burst out laughing, the tension from a moment ago melting away. “Okay, tough guy. Take it down a notch.”

I didn’t laugh. “I’m serious, if he made you uncomfortable, I can step in.”

She shook her head, loosening a tendril that I had to force myself not to smooth back from her cheek. “No, I’m fine, I swear. He’s just a pushy ex.”

Pushy ex? My stomach tightened at the thought. A dozen questions surfaced in my mind, each louder than the last. How serious had they been? Why had it ended? And when? The last one hit harder than I expected. Was he still lingering in her life? In her heart?

I wanted to demand answers. But then, a flicker of doubt—did I even have the right to ask?

Screw it. If she didn’t want to tell me, she was more than capable of letting me know I’d overstepped.

“What’s the story with him?” I prodded, as gently as I could.

Her mouth tugged down. “It’s a little embarrassing. I, uh…I made assumptions about our relationship. I thought we were something real, but it was all in my head. He didn’t feel the same way about me, and it took me way too long to figure that out. Now I don’t trust myself, you know? Like, how could I be so wrong about the whole thing? I was really falling for him, and he considered me nothing more than a booty call.”

I suddenly hated the hipster even more. How could anyone not understand how special Piper was?

She stared at the ground as we made our way through the stalls, and I had to hold back from pulling her close to me again.

“His loss.”

The words slipped out. I almost regretted them, until she looked up at me with a grateful expression.

“Thanks for saying that.”

“Well, it’s the truth,” I added softly.

She smiled for a second but a resurgence of tension flooded her expression far too soon for my liking.

“I hate admitting it, but that asshole really rattled me. I thought I’d never have to see him again, but all of a sudden he’s texting me. Of course I haven’t responded, but then he showed up here…” she shrugged. “It just feels off. Like he’s stalking me.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll definitely step in. I want you to feel safe.”

Piper squinted up at me. “Speaking of stalking…what are you doing here?”

I laughed. Yeah, she’d caught me. “I guess it does look bad, huh? The truth is, you made the whole ‘fresh breakfast’ thing sound so good I couldn’t help myself. And you were right.” I held up my coffee cup. “This is my warm-up, and now I need to find those croissants.”

The sadness in her face was finally replaced by a gorgeous smile. I loved that I was the reason for the shift.

“Now you’re talking!” Piper said excitedly. “This way.”

I followed behind her as she navigated through the increasingly crowded market. I stopped when a familiar sight came into view.

“Piper,” I called. “Come here.”

She joined me in front of the flower stall, which was packed with buckets of flowers in every color. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scent. “Amazing!”

“Agreed.” I decided to quiz her. “Can you tell which scent is the strongest?”

“Um…”

She closed her eyes again, and I took advantage of the moment to drink her in. Her white tank top was clingy in all the right ways, and her jean shorts were short enough to show off toned thighs that made my mind wander down paths I usually forced myself to avoid.