Realistically, Jaeger wasn't the type of guy she should have been thinking about, the type of guy she needed in her life. He was a rolling stone, someone who openly and consistently said he wasn't interested in settling down, or in relationships, or in being a husband or father. He did not want to be tied down.
Just like her own father.
Piper pushed the tips of her fingers into her temples to release the tension building behind her eyes. She had to stop thinking about Jaeger. He was someone who'd dropped back into her life last week and was going to drop out again when Ballantyne and Company bought her stones.
Maybe her intense reaction to him was a sign she should start dating again. Maybe if she'd had a relationship with someone else, had dated someone other than herself since Milan, she wouldn't be feeling so, jeez, horny. Crazy. Frustrated.
And if she started dating again, maybe, one day, she might meet a guy who would love both her and Ty, who'd be an amazing husband, a superb lover, her best friend and a man who'd be prepared to be Ty's dad, too.
Yeah, and a purple unicorn wearing sparkly red shoes and a tiara just flew past the window of her taxi.
Piper heard her phone ringing and pulled it out of her purse, frowning when she didn't recognize the number.
"Ms. Mills, it's Simms."
The lawyer handling her father's estate. Piper felt the pain behind her left eye increase and pushed her fingers into her temple, hoping to push the ache away.
"I'm sorry to call you so late, but I thought it important you know that I can't delay putting the Park Slope house up for auction. It will have to be sold as soon as possible, just like your father's other properties."
It took Piper a moment for his words to make sense, and when they did, a cold hand squeezed her heart. No! She needed more time to raise the cash.
"What's changed?" Piper asked, grimacing at the wobble in her voice.
"We've discovered your father owes more to creditors than we thought, and we're auctioning off the properties as soon as possible."
God! "When?"
"I don't have a definite date but...soon," Simms replied, sounding sympathetic. "I'm sorry. I really wanted to give you some time."
"Could I make an offer on the property before it goes to auction?" Piper asked.
"We'll entertain an offer, but it will have to be for the full market value. Or else you'd have to bid at the auction and take your chances."
Piper exhaled. "How much do they want?"
"It's in a good area, on a good street. It's a very desirable property. Three point two million but I'm sure you could beat them down."
"And my deadline?"
"Yesterday."
Piper couldn't believe this was happening. With acid churning in her stomach, she told Simms she'd get back to him and disconnected.
Taking a deep breath, she dialed Jaeger's number. When he answered, she said, "I need to see you. Now."
* * *
Jaeger opened his door to a white-faced Piper. Tension tightened her amazing eyes, and her wide mouth was a slash in her face. She looked on the verge of snapping.
She needed a large glass of wine or some fantastic sex. He could provide both, at the same time if necessary. He was talented that way.
Jaeger gestured her inside and took her coat, which he hung on a steel-and-wood coat stand by the door. She wore a tight black turtleneck tucked into a gray-and-black tartan skirt and long leather boots. Her penny-colored curls were pulled off her face into a tight knot, and she wore black-rimmed glasses. She looked like a hot professor. Jaeger mentally stripped her of the skirt and sweater, loosened her hair and left her in those glasses and boots. He instantly went from interested to aching.
Like he always did when she stepped into the room. Or looked at him. Or breathed.
Jaeger walked away from her and headed to the fridge, hoping the cavernous empty space would distract him from thoughts of leading Piper straight to his bedroom.
"Would you like some wine?"
"No, but thanks. What I do need is three million for the sapphires. Preferably by yesterday."
What? Jaeger straightened and turned, lust temporarily pushed aside. His brain clicked into gear and he frowned. "I thought I had another week before I had to make an offer."
"That was then. Today I need three million or I'm going to have to find another buyer," Piper stated, hugging herself and staring at the floor.
Most visitors to his apartment said something about the space or the kickass view. Piper, who instinctively appreciated beauty, didn't comment. She was so taut she didn't even notice her surroundings. And that told him exactly how upset she was.
Jaeger slammed the fridge door shut, turned to another cupboard and pulled down a crystal tumbler. He found a bottle of Scotch and poured a healthy two fingers. She looked cold and upset, and whiskey would help for both.
"Take a seat." Jaeger led her to the streamlined sofa next to the window and gestured for her to sit down. Piper sat and crossed her legs. Jaeger tried not to notice how her skirt rode up, revealing four inches of a very sexy, silky thigh. He handed her the whiskey and sighed when she just held it between her palms.
"It'll help only if you drink it," he murmured.
Piper took an obligatory sip, took another and placed her elbow on her knee, her hand on her forehead. Jaeger waited for her explanation. When she eventually lifted her eyes to his, she looked shattered. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be difficult or to go back on my word, but I need to sell those sapphires. Quickly."
Yeah, okay. But why?
She asked, "Are the stones, right now, worth three million?"
Jaeger sat down next to her and lifted his thigh onto the blocky cushion. "Piper, we suspect the gems are from Kashmir, probably mined in the late 1800s. If this was a back room in Bombay, I'd offer you three million right now and trust my gut. Here in New York, I don't need to take the risk. Tomorrow a gemologist will test the stones, and in a few days we will have a detailed report, including color, clarity and carats. After I receive the report, I will have a better idea of what to offer. They might be worth three, four times what you're asking. I like making a good deal, but I don't want you to be cheated out of the true value because you are in a hurry."
Piper stared at the toes of her leather boots. "But I need the money...now."
"Surely a week or two won't matter?"
"You'd be surprised." Piper placed her whiskey on the glass-and-wood coffee table and stood up, crossing her arms over her chest. "I need to sell them, Jaeger. If you as the Ballantyne representative won't buy them from me, then maybe Moreau's will."
Of course they would. If Piper walked into Moreau's tomorrow and asked for three million, James Moreau probably wouldn't hesitate. And Ballantyne would lose the find of the century.
He supposed he could offer Piper three million for the stones right now and be done with it. Three million and Piper could walk out the door, and he'd never have to see her again...
He wasn't ready to do that, not yet.
Since his accident he'd been playing it safe, trying to take fewer risks, measuring the reward before charging into a situation. He'd been lucky to escape that accident with his memory mostly intact. He now thought before he acted, sometimes too much.
But Piper tempted him to step out of the safe zone and live a little. She made him feel like the man he'd been when he was younger-fearless and invincible. Interacting with Piper was akin to surfing a sixty-foot wave, incredibly exciting and ridiculously dangerous.
And, he noted with wry amusement, he hadn't even made love to her yet. He wasn't letting her walk away until that had happened.
He had many regrets, and he was damned if he would add never slept with Piper Mills to that list.
He would make love to Piper. Of that he was dead certain.
"Jaeger, I'm about to lose my house, the house I grew up in. It's going up for auction unless I make a substantial offer," Piper told him, her voice sounding infinitely weary. "That house is my home, Ty's home. The area has great schools and great amenities, and I don't want to live anywhere else! Besides, where will I find another place that can fit the four of us, that gives Ceri and Rainn their privacy, but where they are a minute away when I need them?" Piper's voice rose. "That house is a part of me. It's mine."
Jaeger frowned. "If it's yours, then why is it going up for auction?"
Piper stared out of the custom windows, still not seeing the view. "I've just found out it was owned by my father through a company, and it's now part of his estate. It has to be sold to repay some of his debts."