Playing with Piper (Menage MfM Romance Novel) (Playing for Love Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

stop.
    Confucius
Owen:
    “ I can’t believe how late she was.” Wyatt still sounds pissed when he storms into my office Monday.
    “She showed up eventually,” I argue from behind my desk, though I’m more than a little irritated with Piper myself. “She was late, that’s all.”
    “That’s all?” Wyatt’s voice rises in outrage. “That’s all? She showed up at eight to a seven o’clock meeting.”
    I cock my head to one side, and watch Wyatt pacing restlessly in front of me. “She’s getting under your skin, isn’t she?” I’ve seen Wyatt around Piper. He can hide it from other people, but I know him too well. He’s fighting his attraction to her. Half of his grouchiness is just an acute case of blue balls.
    “Fuck off.”
    My lips twitch. “Are you free tomorrow night? Saturday was a bust, but Piper really needs some help. I thought we could start with the menu.”
    He comes to a dead halt in front of me. “Had we not agreed to invest, I’d be tempted to walk away, Owen,” he says bluntly. “There are a thousand restaurants in the city that we could work with. Instead, we’ve managed to pick a rich Southern princess who thinks this is a game. I don’t like wasting my time.”
    “Why do you think she’s rich?”
    “Her handbag is Prada and it costs three thousand dollars. I should know - I bought one for Maisie last year.”
    “Really?”
    He nods. “How does a chef whose restaurant is empty more often than it’s full have enough money to buy a Prada bag? And if she has money, why doesn’t she use it to fix the restaurant? Three thousand dollars would go a long way in that place.”
    “If she spends it on the restaurant, she attracts attention.” Mendez might be on the right track with his suspicions, after all. I wonder what Piper Jackson is mixed up in.
    Wyatt sighs. “I shouldn’t have told you that. You’re determined to investigate this, aren’t you?”
    “I am.”
    “Fine. Let’s meet Piper tomorrow night. Might as well get it over with.”
    “That’s the spirit,” I say dryly. “Talking about Maisie, did you see her blog post today?” I turn my screen toward him. “She’s managed to talk Yelp and the Hell’s Kitchen business association into sponsoring a reality TV-style contest for local restaurants.”
    Maisie Hayes, Wyatt’s ex-girlfriend, runs a very popular food blog in New York. I haven’t seen her in a while, but I read her blog regularly, as does everyone in the industry. She’s entertaining and very insightful.
    “What?” Wyatt looks surprised, and he’s silent as he reads the announcement. “Good for her,” he says when he’s done. “She’s wanted to expand into television for a while. She must have been working on this for months.”
    I nod. Say what you want about Maisie, but she doesn’t shy away from work. “Incidentally, did Celia tell you that Carl wants to meet? The restaurant next to him just shut its doors. He’s going to pitch an expansion to us.”
    Wyatt glances at his phone. “Yes, it’s on my calendar at two tomorrow.”
    I frown. “I thought she was going to book it for today. Carl said the competition for this lease is going to be fierce.”
    Wyatt looks uncomfortable. “She probably tried, but I’m busy this afternoon. I’m meeting Stone Bradley in an hour.”
    His admission surprises me. Last week, Wyatt’s plan had been to bury his head in the sand and pretend his father didn’t exist. “To try to find your dad?”
    He nods reluctantly. “I decided to get Bradley involved over the weekend. I don’t like feeling out of control. I don’t know where my father is or what he wants. It’s time to fix that.”
    I snort. Wyatt likes being in control? Talk about stating the obvious. “You don’t know anything about Piper either,” I quip, rising to my feet. “How come that’s not bothering you?”
    A stupefied expression crosses his face. I laugh and leave him to it. I’m prepared to bet that we’ll have a dossier