Page 83 of Spicy Sapphic Christmas

“I do.” Piper lifted Jo’s hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles. “And Bea? What’s her hesitation?”

“She’s used to being in charge, and she doesn’t like being told what to do, and that seems to be all Bunny wants to do.”

“Hmm, Bunny’s clawing at control because she’s losing it so swiftly.” Piper ran her fingers through her hair. “Bunny’s problem is that she doesn’t believe love can’t be messy.”

“Well, she’s certainly making a mess of things.”

“Yeah, she is.” Piper laughed lightly. She liked this side of Jo, the side that was carefree and easy, the side that didn’t worry about what other people thought, how they were judging her. “But I do have an idea, if you think that Bea might be interested in more.”

“Like relationship more?”

“Yes. If you think Bea might be in love.”

Jo’s lower lip quivered. She didn’t make eye contact, and she played with the pretzels in the bag before popping another one between her lips. “I don’t want to mess with my sister’s life.”

“Don’t you think she needs a push? Something to get her to see Bunny—who she really is?”

“I’ve got to say that after this week, I’m not sure I want to know the real Bunny.”

“This week wasn’t her. Remember the woman who saved you from Mandy? That’s Bunny. She’s fiercely loyal and protective. She was so pissed off that she scathed Siena for it and hired more security to be at the building to watch out for Mandy there and at the concert.”

“She did what?” Jo’s eyes widened.

“Bunny doesn’t fuck around with the people she cares for when it comes to safety. She doesn’t let abusers have their moment.”

“Abusers…” Jo trailed off, the word sounding bitter on her tongue. “She thinks Mandy is abusing me?”

“Harassing at the very least. Do you really not see it?” Piper hated that the conversation was taking this turn. But she did want to make her point clear. Bunny wasn’t a bad person, despite what her behavior had been the last few weeks.

“I guess I can.”

“We’ll work on that.” Piper dropped a kiss into Jo’s hair. “Bunny wants you to be safe.”

“She doesn’t care about me.”

“She does, otherwise she wouldn’t be this mad about everything.” Piper wouldn’t be able to convince Jo otherwise, and that wasn’t really her point either. Except to get Jo to help her with this insane idea, she’d have to convince Jo to at least somewhat like Bunny. “And she wouldn’t be making such a mess of things. She cares about your career and your success, otherwise she wouldn’t even be attempting to give advice.”

“That’s advice?” Jo’s eyes widened.

Piper shrugged slightly. “She thinks it is.”

Jo scrunched her face up. “I don’t know about that.”

“Bunny is brilliant when it comes to business, but sometimes, even I can say this, she doesn’t take enough risks.”

“And what risk is she trying not to take?” Jo moved her hand up and down Piper’s thigh in a gentle caress.

“Oh, there’s several of them. And I’m going to give her a piece of my mind about it real soon. She needs to be taken down a couple more notches.”

“I’m not sure I want to be there when you do that.” Jo giggled nervously before shaking her head. “Is that all part of your idea you wanted to talk to me about?”

“I’m not sure it’s a great idea anymore…” Piper dragged out. She rested back into the couch a little more, curling her long legs under her. “In fact, it’s probably a really bad idea.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought we could fake an engagement. Have Siena do a little fake PR for it, and really show Bunny that there isn’t all that much to be afraid of. Force her to take that risk because she’ll be doing it kicking and screaming either way.”

“And Bea,” Jo whispered.

---