His expression was inscrutable. Though, if she looked really hard—and she did—she thought that she could maybe, just maybe, discern the slightest twinkle of amusement in those iron-gray eyes.

  That amusement evaporated when his mother cleared her throat and pinned her son with that capital L Look before shifting her attention to Piper. The once-over that the woman gave her was quick—Piper doubted that Ace, being a man, even noticed it.

  But she sure did. And though she rarely cared what other people thought of her, for some reason the cool granite stare of this woman had her feeling…less than.

  “Alexander, you didn’t tell me that you were dating anyone.” His mother’s smile was tight.

  Beside her, Ace choked on a sip of his cola. Piper looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes, waiting for him to make the next move. She fully expected him to deny it—that was the truth, after all, and there was no reason to continue the charade.

  It was her turn to be stunned when he instead tightened the arm around her.

  “It’s…new.” He smiled, and if he hadn’t had his arm around her, she might have just fallen over. “Mom, this is Piper Dawson. Piper, this is my mother, Rosemary Lennox.”

  Rosemary smiled tightly, though, to her credit, she probably thought she had concealed most of the strain. Piper’s momentary triumph wilted under the scrutiny. “Alexander has never mentioned you.”

  Wow.

  The elder Lennox didn’t have to say much to convey her disapproval. Piper stiffened beneath the watchful eyes that told her in no uncertain terms that she didn’t approve. A quick once-over of her own made it easy to see why.

  Ace’s mother was wearing a suit that just screamed expensive. Massive diamond studs twinkled at her ears, matched by the thick tennis bracelet around her wrist. Her hair was an artful mix of tawny tones that were too perfect to have come from anything but a high-end salon.

  Her skin was soft and pampered, her nails, sleek and groomed. Piper couldn’t see her purse or her shoes, but she just bet they were expensive, too, and they probably even matched.

  Ace clearly came from money. She…well, she did not. If she were actually dating him—which was a ridiculous notion, of course—she would never have fit in with his world.

  Rosemary cleared her throat, and Piper realized that she expected a response of some kind. She had no idea why Ace was continuing this deception, but he’d just helped her out of a situation that could have been bad.

  I’ll play along.

  “Well. Like Ace just said, it’s…ahh. It’s very new.” Yeah. Like five minutes ago.

  She dared a glance at her brand-new would-be boyfriend. His dark slate eyes glinted, and an unexpected shiver skated over Piper’s skin. She didn’t understand why he’d agreed to this at all. It went against everything she thought she knew about him.

  Tearing her gaze away from Ace, she again glanced at Rosemary, who still looked as though she’d smelled something unpleasant and was doing her best to pretend she hadn’t.

  Well, in for a penny.

  She kissed him.

  Chapter Two

  In the weeks since Piper Dawson had started working at the hospital, Ace had often questioned whether or not she was crazy. Her blue-streaked hair, tendency to put her foot in her mouth, and firm belief that the world should be full of sunshine, puppies, and rainbows only served as evidence that she was maybe a few cards short of a deck.

  Right now? He was certain of it. And to his absolute shock, with her lips pressed to his, he really didn’t give a damn.

  Holy. Shit.

  The second that Piper’s lips pressed against his own, Ace stiffened with surprise—what on earth was this unpredictable woman doing? But after that first shocked moment, he found himself consumed by a low burn, the flames licking along his skin. Deepening the kiss, he barely held back a growl when those petal soft lips parted slightly beneath his.

  Who’d have dreamed that he’d find her touch so electric? Not him. He hadn’t been consumed like this since…well, since he’d lost Sasha. No one had even come close.

  He hadn’t wanted them to. He did his absolute best to push people away—all people, not just women. It had been a deliberate decision after his wife’s death, a defense mechanism.

  If he refused to let anyone in, then he would never again experience the soul-crushing loss that had pulled him under like a tidal wave when Sasha died. He’d spent the last three years building up walls that no one could breach for that very reason.

  Pulling back with a breathy sigh, Piper blinked up at him. Her summer sky eyes were wide and unfocused. She raised a trembling hand to tuck a lock of cerulean-streaked hair behind her ear, and he knew that he wasn’t the only one who’d been affected by that kiss.

  This woman had been chipping away at his walls with her big mouth, her strange taste in clothing, and her offerings of bottles of cola. That was why he’d made the snap decision to help her here.

  And now, with one press of her lips, she’d gone from chipping to whacking with a sledgehammer.

  “Alexander?” His mother’s tone was sharp, making Ace wince. Not ideal, his mom sitting right across the table when all he wanted was to dive back into the warm woman beside him.

  “Yes?” Pulling his gaze away from Piper was next to impossible.

  “Is there something you’d like to tell me?” His mother drummed her fingers on the tabletop, her pale pink nails clicking against the hard surface. “I was under the impression that you were single. You remember Brittany Grace? Her parents own the vacation house next door to us? I invited her to dinner tonight.”

  Ace opened his mouth, then closed it again. He was rarely at a loss for words, but with Piper’s surprisingly sweet taste still on his lips, he wasn’t sure how to answer that question.

  “Ace, I can’t believe you haven’t told your mother about me.” Those big blue eyes of Piper’s searched his face cautiously as she spoke—she was waiting for him to push her away, as he always did.

  I should. I should say that this is all a mistake.

  Instead he nodded slightly, giving her his approval to go ahead—to play the game. The slight curve of her lips, the hint of a challenge on her face had need circling impatiently inside of him. He was suddenly and shockingly aroused no matter how hard he tried to douse the flame.

  Then she shifted in her seat, her thigh brushing against his. The slow drag of her warmth against his own caught his attention.

  She leaned in closer to him, and a sweet, sweet scent drifted to his nose.

  Fuck. She smelled like strawberries. Ripe, juicy strawberries, and they made him hungry as hell.

  “You’re right.” In for a penny, he thought as he caught Piper’s chin in his hands. Her eyes widened as his fingers brushed over her soft skin, and the alpha beast inside of him let out a triumphant roar. “I should have mentioned you. I just wanted it to be a surprise.”

  Turning back to his mother, who was watching this little vignette with pinched lips, he smiled, the arm around Piper pulling her more closely against him in the process. She made a soft sound, and the sweet submission in it had his cock thickening.

  “I’m sorry, Mother. Brittany is welcome to join us, as a friend.” He felt Piper shake beside him and was pretty sure she was struggling to hold back a laugh. The shared joke stoked that flame inside of him.

  What is happening to me?

  “But I won’t be seeing her as a date. Like I was starting to say, this is Piper. She’s one of the residents at the hospital. And she’s also my girlfriend.”

  His mother looked at Piper, then back at Ace. Few people would pick up on the nearly imperceptible disapproval that tightened her features as she looked Piper over, but Ace was quite familiar with the expression.

  It wasn’t anything he should get worked up about—his mother disapproved of just about everything. But for some reason, seeing her look at Piper like she was beneath them?

  It pissed him off.

  “I see.” His mother nodded once before again reaching for her phone. “Well, then. I suppose I’ll have to call Brittany and tell her that I was…misinformed.”

  There was no mistaking the tone in his mother’s voice. She was not impressed. A tendril of resentment snapped inside him like a whip.

  While he loved her, his mother had always been a snob. That wasn’t anything new. But how dare she look down on Piper. Yes, she was a little…well, different…but she was also compassionate, talented, and beautiful.

  The need to defend her surprised him, but something about what had just happened made him feel like they were in this together—her request for assistance had loosened something tightly wound inside of him. He nodded sharply at his mother. “Do that.”

  Rosemary sucked in a breath. She wasn’t happy. Ever since Sasha had died, his mother had been quite insistent that getting back into the dating world would help him heal. He understood it came from a good place, but the problem was that he didn’t want to date. He didn’t expect to ever fall in love again, so what was the point? He had no intention of ever letting anyone in again.

  Sex was one thing, but the kind of women his mother threw at him? They expected roses and champagne and diamond rings. Romance. And he just wasn’t capable of that anymore. He didn’t want to be.

  He’d complained, but he’d still gone on those dates, just to appease the woman who, though difficult, had raised him. The wall he’d erected around his heart was strong enough that he didn’t have to worry about falling for any of these women. Something inside of him had been frozen since Sasha had been gone.

  Yep, frozen solid—that is, until a certain woman whose golden curls were streaked with sapphire had pressed her lips to his own.

  His mother slid out from the booth, even though she hadn’t yet ordered anything. Reaching for her purse, she smoothed her palms over her impeccable mint-green skirt.

  “I’ll change the reservation for dinner tonight, then.” She nodded at Ace, and he couldn’t help but admire how smoothly she’d transitioned from her surprise. That was his mother, though—cool under pressure.

  Then she turned her attention to Piper, and he was the one getting the surprise. “You’ll join us for dinner, of course.”

  Piper straightened so quickly that she cracked her head against the back of the booth. Ace surprised himself with the desire to laugh.

  “Oh, that’s not necessary.” She smiled widely—how had Ace missed what a bright, wonderful smile she had?—then looked at Ace with a flicker of panic in her eyes. “You’ll want to catch up with your son. I don’t want to interrupt.”

  “Nonsense.” Rosemary smiled coolly, and a definite flicker of amusement in him as Piper’s eyes went wide. “I want to get to know the woman my son is…involved with.”

  “Right.” Piper swallowed thickly, casting Ace a sidelong glance as she slowly eased herself out of the booth. He wondered if she even knew she was moving, or if panic was making her fight or flight instincts kick in. She clearly hadn’t signed up for this. “I…I guess I’ll be there, then. Where is there?”

  “Don’t worry.” Ace slid out of the booth himself to give his mother a hug, and he couldn’t hold back the small smile as he did. Piper’s jaw dropped at his expression, and amusement again surged. He still didn’t know how she’d finally managed to worm her way past his defenses, but he was entertained. “I’ll pick you up after my shift and we’ll go together.”

  “Right.” Piper sank her teeth into her lower lip so hard that Ace worried she might draw blood. She seemed at a complete loss. “Sounds great.”

  “Excellent.” Rosemary turned to leave, then looked back at Piper over her shoulder.

  Her eyes, dark gray like Ace’s, took another leisurely perusal over his so-called girlfriend, and the hint of contempt that shadowed her face had Ace’s teeth gritting, grinding away the lightness that Piper’s discomfiture had brought.

  “The restaurant is semiformal, dear.” She smiled tightly. “Just so you know.”

  How dare she.

  Maybe it was because Piper had come to him needing help—maybe that had birthed this strange desire to protect her. Wherever it had come from, when Rosemary reached to Ace for a final air kiss, all he registered was the insult. He glared at his mother until she sighed and, spinning on her heel, left.

  Slowly, he slid back into the booth, this time across the table from Piper. Reaching for his cola, only to discover it was empty, he cupped his hands around the glass and studied her solemnly.

  “So. That was interesting.” Piper’s voice was pitched high with nerves. She opened her mouth to continue, and he held up a finger, pausing her as Gemma, one of the waitresses, stopped by the table to see if they wanted anything. Piper still had over half of her massive drink left. Ace would have liked nothing more than two fingers of good scotch on the rocks, but since he was heading back to the hospital, he had to stick with Coke.

  Drink ordered, he settled back in his seat and returned his attention to the woman sitting across from him. Curiosity was evident in every line of her body, and her open examination once again made his cock stand up and pay attention.

  What the hell?

  He didn’t let people in. Ever, and especially not women. No, since Sasha, he’d only given his time to ones who let him call the shots—meaning the ones who accepted that sex was all he had to give.

  But then she licked her tongue over her lower lip and heat sizzled through him again, and he forgot all about what he usually liked.

  “Care to explain what that was all about?” he asked.

  Gemma brought his Coke and he took a deep sip, hoping the caffeine and sugar would jolt him out of this strange attraction he was feeling toward one of the most annoying women he’d ever met.

  The drink wet his throat, but failed to cool him off when Piper placed her palms flat on the table and leaned forward. He couldn’t help but take an unobtrusive—he hoped—glance at the curves of her breasts.

  “Um.” Piper drummed her fingers against the base of her gigantic glass nervously. “So. That was Dr. Alvarado. He’s in the cardiac ward.”

  “I’m aware of who he is.” The man had once dated Piper, but he wanted to know why she’d been so desperate to avoid an interaction with him.

  “He…ah… He didn’t take it well when I broke up with him.” She grimaced, and Ace’s gut tightened. “He likes to…well, he likes to make me uncomfortable.”

  “Explain.” He’d never much cared for the man. From what he’d seen of Estevan—and he’d seen plenty, since the other doctor had mown through at least half of the female population of the hospital—the other man delighted in telling women what they wanted to hear, making them fall for him, then casting them aside and moving on.

  Sometimes the moving on happened before the casting aside, actually. The thought that he’d done that to Piper was intolerable.

  “Down, boy.” Her words were full of irritation, and for once she didn’t worry about how he was going to react. “I can handle him.”

  “Is that why you were all over me?” Now that she’d broken through the ice, he found it easier to talk to her, though his people skills were probably a bit rusty. “You were handling him?”

  “So what if I was?” Her face flushed a shade of pink that made his fingers suddenly twitch with the need to touch her. “It worked, didn’t it?”

  That was…strange.

  “You’re welcome.” He allowed a small smile to curve his lips. She narrowed her eyes.

  “You didn’t have to go along with it, you know.” Arching an eyebrow, she took a sip of her drink. “The fact that you bought into it at all was a neon sign screaming that you needed help, too.”

  “And you thought the solution was sliding into my booth and kissing me?” He took another sip of his drink as defense against his suddenly dry throat. It must have just been because she’d caught him by surprise. No way had the kiss been that good.

  “Well, it’s not like I had a long time to plan things out.” Piper rolled her eyes at him, no longer seeming to care that he was her supervisor—they were outside of work, after all. It was different. He wondered if she had been trying to squash things about herself at the hospital because of him, specifically.

  Guilt was a vine, creeping through him and taking hold. Mercilessly, he ripped it out by the root.

  She wasn’t trying to act in a certain way for him now. And for some reason, instead of annoying him, he found it intriguing.

  “Thank you for that,” he said. Leaning across the table, he caught her hand in his own, surprising himself. She tugged. He held tight.

  And the small, seemingly innocent press of skin on skin sent those sparks arcing through him again.

  “Why would you do this? Why do you care?” He pinned her with a stare. “To be blunt, you don’t even like me.”

  “I don’t…not like you.” An emotion he couldn’t quite put a finger on flickered through her eyes. “You’re just hard to get to know.”

  He couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter, and surprise flickered on her face.

  Yeah, he was hard to get to know. He made a point of it. Because of that, it was rare that anyone went to war for him. That a fairylike creature with blue hair and tattoos had been aware that he wasn’t just being a nice guy—that he’d needed something, too?

  It was something worth thinking about.

  “You know, you should ease up a bit.” Her words light, she took advantage of his distraction to tug her hand away from his. “I got you out of what was looking like a super awkward date. You, Miss Brittany Grace, and your mother.”

  Yes, that would have been awkward as hell. He remembered Brittany—vaguely—and snooty blondes who looked down on intellectual, awkward teen boys weren’t his type.

  But now he was in an even more awkward situation—a dinner with his mother and his fake girlfriend. But, crazy as it sounded, this just might be the solution to one of the most irritating aspects in his life.

  “I am thanking you.” He spoke slowly, smirking when Piper jolted, clearly shocked by his words. “I never would have thought of it. And I still think it’s crazy. But it just might work.”

 

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