Page 86 of Definitely (Maybe) Dating
Piper had finally allowed herself to love someone, a soul-deep love that wouldn’t ever fully disappear. Just like her heart would never fully heal, because this kind of love was the kind that broke people. And while Piper had survived a lot of things in her lifetime, nothing would ever compare to this.
He may not have broken her—she was too strong for that—but Josh had asked her to open up and let him in. And she had.
Now she was paying the price.
24
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The showcase had finally arrived,and Piper couldn’t be prouder of her students. There were over thirty entries, all of them stunning and photographed by the fabulous Clive Kessler, and the girls looked beautiful in their dresses.
The showing wasn’t at Belle Mont like she’d hoped but at a downtown brewery that donated the use of their terrace for the evening. The owner was an old friend of Clive’s who graciously offered his rooftop terrace free of charge as long as he could sell wine and beer at the event.
“Where is everyone?” Jillian asked, scanning the room.
“Once Clive arrives, more people will show.”
That was the hope anyway. While there were a lot of people milling about, most of them were family or friends of the students—not potential buyers. Margo had dug in and the board had refused to allow Urban Soul to be a part of the evening. Which was okay, Piper told herself. The girls were more comfortable this way, and Piper didn’t have to worry about dealing with Satan’s Keeper all night.
Nor did she have to see Josh. It had been four days since she’d walked out of that cell. And even though he’d left messages and texted, it had been four days since they’d last spoken, and her heart still ached as if she were reliving the whole ordeal over and over again.
She’d never been stupid enough to believe he would choose her over his family, but she was stupid enough to believe him when he made a promise. When he had agreed that intention was more important than actions. Now she had not only let down Skye and Rebecca, but she’d let down herself.
“I swear, I invited everyone off Sammy’s football and school roster,” Jillian said. “And trust me, those moms can’t pass up a kid-free night with the promise of alcohol. Once bedtime is done, they’ll show, and then these photos will sell like flapjacks at the Tiny Tyke Annual Pancake Breakfast.”
Piper hadn’t been that ambitious, but she’d hoped that there would be more sales than passes. “This is how shows go. People look, they drink, they look again, then they to go a bar and drink while they talk about the art as if they should’ve bought it.”
“Then we need more alcohol,” Jillian said.
“And maybe some of the diners from downstairs,” Piper joked.
“On it.”
Piper watched her friend, who had withdrawn her donation for the auction in solidarity, disappear down the stairwell. Making sure everything was being handled, Piper silently escaped to the back of the terrace, where she could have a private moment to collect herself. Yes, when Clive showed, he’d bring with him a few of his most devoted fans. But she didn’t want Clive to walk into a gallery showing where not a single piece had moved, especially after having to deliver the embarrassing blow that the event was no longer at Belle Mont but above a brewery. Which was catty-corner to Josh’s apartment building.
From the terrace, she could see the darkened windows of his loft—remember the way he’d held her after they’d made love. And it had been love. At least on her part. Her heart still felt as if it were shattered, shredding what was left of her ability to trust. She’d never be open to someone like that again. In the end, the price of that kind of vulnerability was way too much.
And it didn’t just cost Piper her heart. The ripples of her mistake went far and wide. Skye’s home was in danger, the girls who lived there were vulnerable, and her students were facing a huge disappointment if this evening didn’t turn the corner.
Then there was Rebecca, who had gotten off with a hundred hours of community service repainting over graffiti at inner-city schools but had also been dealt a terrifying hand. Scared straight didn’t even cut it, and while Josh was right and she needed to learn from her mistakes, the learning curve had been steeper than necessary.
This event and the possibility of raising the funds had all sounded so easy around a cup of dandelion tea. She had made so many promises to so many people, and she wouldn’t be able to keep a one.
Something in her stomach clinched, making her wonder if, not for the first time, that was how Josh had felt. Stuck between his mom, his career and his promises to her . . . promises he’d made about them. Not that there was a ‘them’ anymore. She’d seen to that, pushing past him and walking away without so much as a goodbye or a chance to fully explain himself.
Her without-even-a-second-glance exit had been from her tough-girl arsenal, a leftover from her childhood, and she knew exactly how cutting it could feel. So why did she do it?
She’d expected him to take her as-is, but at the first sign of Josh being Josh, an ADA with a fiercely loyal family who lived within the walls of the system, she’d called it quits. She could claim it was because she was protecting Rebecca, but in reality, Piper had been afraid of the possibilities and the possible disappointment.
Questioning Rebecca’s intentions, even though the teen was guilty as charged, reminded Piper of what it was like to be that terrified, a rebel of a teen who pushed everyone away. It made her wonder what Josh would have thought of her then. What his family thought of her now. She’d let her fear and stubborn pride get the best of her. But he’d played his part in the whole fiasco.
Piper dropped her head to stare at her knee-high leather boots and felt the first sniffle threaten. “Why do you always have to ruin everything?” she whispered and,great, just great, she was about to cry at her own party.
“From where I stand, everything looks pretty damn perfect,” a sexy, low voice said.
Piper closed her eyes and felt a single tear slip out.
A rough finger wiped it away and when she looked up there he was. Josh. Standing in front of her dressed in a tux, complete with a handkerchief and bow tie—the whole works. Looking sexy and safe—and like everything she’d ever dreamed of.
