Page 34 of Manhattan Bossholes

“Love you too, sweetheart,” she cooed.

I sighed as I hung up and turned my focus on Piper. “You look like you’re about to burst. What’s happening?”

She punched the air triumphantly. “I did it!”

There was only one thing it could be. My pulse kicked up. “Please tell me you’re not kidding.”

“I would never kid about something so important.”

“So…we’re going to Hawaii? You actually got them to agree to it?”

“Yup! They’re one hundred percent in.”

I had to hold back from letting out a whoop, because that would most certainly summon Linda in to check on me, and I wanted to savor the moment with the woman who made it happen.

The incorrigible, incredible, fender-destroying spitfire currently having a solo dance party on the other side of my desk. Piper kept surprising me, in so many ways.

“Let’s get those tickets booked,” she said as she circled her fist in the air.

I chuckled. “Tickets? Please. Piper, we’ll be taking my private plane.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she jogged a little closer to me. “Oh my gosh, seriously? This just keeps getting better and better.”

I caught the faintest hint of her citrus perfume. Damn it, I needed to upgrade her.

I forced myself not to think about the scent of Evermore on the nape of her neck. “I’m impressed you made it happen. Congrats.”

“I told you I would,” she fired back, wagging her finger at me. “I’m a woman of my word, and now I get to hang out in paradise as part of my payment!”

“I hate to burst your bubble, but we will be working on this trip. There are contracts to be signed,” I cautioned.

“Yeah, um.” Piper cleared her throat. “Jean said we’ll sign on our last day there.”

“Last day?” Doubt kicked up inside of me. “Well, that’s odd. Why wouldn’t we just set up a meeting, tour the fields, and get everything signed right away?”

Her grin slipped. “Um, well, in order to make this happen, I had to lean into the couple aspect of our relationship pretty hard. Jean is very invested in us now. She loves the idea that we have a working partnership.” Piper hesitated. “And once I realized she liked that about us, I really played it up. Talked about how romantic you are, and how you love to surprise me. I even made up a convincing lie about why you were such a jackass at Paul’s party.”

I frowned. “What did you tell her?”

“I said you’d planned a romantic surprise yoga retreat in India, and you’d just been notified that it was canceled.”

“Piper,” I sighed. “Why did you have to embellish?”

“Because it was how I hooked her! She’s a romantic at heart. She’s so excited to host us now. She’s insisting we spend the whole trip with them instead of at a resort. She even sent photos of the little bungalow we’ll be staying in.” Piper snorted. “It is not little, at least not by my standards.”

Shit. We’d be rooming together? I wasn’t expecting that development. How was I going to resist her twenty-four hours a day?

“So we have to pretend to be a couple for the whole time we’re there?” I asked. “We can’t just book two rooms in a hotel and meet with them for a quick tour?”

“Nope.” She bit her lip. “If you want that contract signed, we need to deliver on what they’re expecting. You have to pretend to be utterly, head-over-heels crazy in love with me.”

Pretend to be in love with Piper? I’d climbed mountains and explored the bottom of the ocean, so why did it feel like this latest challenge was going to get the best of me?

Not because I didn’t think I could pull it off. No, it was going to be easy faking affection for a woman as incredible as Piper. The hard part would be remembering that it was all for show.

“And what about you?” I demanded, not wanting to consider how much loved-up playacting the façade was going to force us into.

Piper held her hand over her heart and batted her eyelashes at me. “Oh, that won’t be an act. I simply adore you, Mr. Forde.”