“Then no, I am not. I don’t do well with rejection.”
She gave him the same sad eyes again and said, “Neither do I. Let’s just drop that subject, okay?”
Well, that sure did backfire.
“Okay,” he said with a long breath as he followed her up the stairs.
Piper opened the door to a light beige–colored room that held all the necessities of life—bed, kitchen, couch, TV, and a bathroom.
“I didn’t know Reese lived up here.”
Piper looked back at him and smiled as she crossed the room for what looked like a huge closet.
“Yup, that’s why she bought the building, because it had living quarters upstairs. She loves this place. I do, too. It suits her.”
“It’s nice.”
“So you’ve never been up here?”
Erik turned to look at her back, his eyes dropping down to her sweet little perky ass. Man, what he would give to get his hands on her again.
“Nope, why would I?”
He watched as she shrugged her shoulder, pulling out different dresses from Reese’s closet.
“No reason.”
Erik didn’t like that answer, and soon he was making his way across the room to her side and said, “No, there is a reason. What is it?”
She wouldn’t look at him as she asked, “Do you like this dress?”
He looked down at the burgundy dress and made a face.
“No, it’s hideous, all of them are. They aren’t you; go buy something new.”
She looked away again as she muttered, “No, I don’t have the money to go blow on a brand-new dress.”
“How do you not have the money when you are married to me?”
“I’m not spending your money,” she said, offended.
“It’s part of the deal. I need you to look smokin’ beside me, so buy a new dress in Vegas. Go take a shower so we can get to the airport, but first answer me.”
“Whoa, Mr. Titov, you aren’t going to tell me what to do. I’m not spending your money.”
“Fine, I’ll buy you something,” he said, his anger getting the best of him. “I don’t know what the big deal is. If you are going to help my image, then these dresses are not going to cut it. We are walking the red carpet of the NHL awards, with news reporters and bloggers all over the place. We both have to look like a million bucks, so please, just let me buy you a new dress.”
She paused, looking down at the dress in her hand before looking back up at him.
“I’ll pay you back when I get my second advance from Emmaline.”
Erik shook his head, his eyes glued to hers as he said, “No, I want to buy you the dress, okay? And we need to discuss the living expenses, too. I’ll start helping out.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she muttered, putting the dress back in the closet.
“I want to.”
“Okay,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Fine.”
“Now, why did you ask if I have ever been up here before?”
She looked up at him with an annoyed look. “I told you, no reason.”
“And I know there is a reason, so come on, what is it?”
She looked away, chewing at her lip as he waited.
Finally she looked at him and asked, “Did you sleep with Reese?”
This time he was the one not hesitating as he said, “Hell no.”
A smile pulled at her lips as she looked away. “Okay.”
“That’s it? Okay?”
She nodded. “Okay, I believe you.”
“Good, because your sister was never the one I wanted.”
Piper smiled over at him as she made her way to the bathroom, those delectable shorts and itty-bitty bra screaming his name.
“I thought you didn’t want any female.”
With that she closed the bathroom door behind her.
He wanted to laugh. She was such a sassy little thing, and man, did she drive him crazy. He wanted to chalk up his need for her to the fact that he was horny as hell, but it wasn’t just that. It was more.
Chapter 11
Piper walked behind Erik as they got off the plane. The commercial flight was only a couple of hours but seemed to take forever, probably because she was sitting next to him as he was radiating sex hormones. It just pissed her off that she still had the hots for him. Ugh. As they walked through the airport she checked her email to see if anything was abuzz, made a few comments to friends on Facebook, and then heard a ruckus. What was up? Dropping her phone into her Juicy Couture satchel she looked up to see flashing lights as people called out Erik’s name. Piper glanced up at him, surprised as he took her hand in his, squeezing tightly before leading her through the paparazzi and journalists over to a group of fans who wore the famous purple Nashville Assassins jerseys.