2

      PIPER’S DECLARATION was met with immediate choking on Josh’s part. It wasn’t often she had the satisfaction of catching him so off guard. Quite the contrary, he normally delighted in shocking her.

      He recovered quickly, his grin suggestive. “Why didn’t you say so back at your place? Forget the pizza, we—”

      She laughed. “That’s not what I was talking about.”

      Having decided that balancing the irritation of dating with her more important career wasn’t worth the time and effort, Piper was pretty much living a life of celibacy. Josh’s full knowledge of that was probably why he felt safe enough to flirt with her in the first place. No way would he ever actually go out with her. From what she’d observed, he liked to keep women at a certain distance, and he and Piper had passed that point already.

      Though she admired plenty of things about Josh, his love life tended toward the…well, shallow seemed unkind, but the truth was some of his relationships made mud puddles look deep by comparison. Interestingly few of his dates complained, so Piper supposed it was none of her business. Josh didn’t lecture her on her non-dating habits, and she didn’t lecture him on the fact that he had the staying power of a—Actually, from the way ex-lovers swooned when they saw him, Piper suspected he had very impressive staying power.

      She gulped down some water. “You know I’m going out of town for a few days, right?”

      “Yeah. A family reunion.” He smiled. “See? I listen.”

      “Well, I need a guy to go with me.” She exhaled a gusty sigh that ruffled her bangs. “I sort of let my mother think I was dating someone, and she’s expecting me to bring him home.”

      His expression turned blank, his mind obviously blown at trying to imagine Piper with a man in her life. “But you aren’t seeing anyone.”

      “Thank you, Columbo. Nothing gets by you, does it?”

      “Hey, watch the sarcasm,” he said as the waiter returned. “You’ll give me indigestion.”

      “Ready to order?” the waiter asked.

      Piper and Josh exchanged guilty glances. Her “need a man” statement had distracted both of them from even opening their menus. As the waiter stood by, they debated what kind of pizza to get.

      “We can split it,” Josh proposed. “Get half of the pizza made one way and something different on the other half.”

      “No deal, Weber. Last time we did that, you tried the Jamaican chicken pizza, didn’t like it and ate all of my half. Besides, I might just get pasta.”

      “Pasta?” Josh echoed. “Come on, this is the best pizzeria in Houston. You’re going to come here and not get pizza? That makes as much sense as…you having a love life.”

      The impatient waiter clearing his throat stopped her from snapping a comeback.

      “Perhaps I return in a few minutes?” the man offered.

      Glancing from his menu to Piper, Josh said, “I know how much you like the Sicilian specialty. Want to just get that?”

      Piper nodded, and the waiter shuffled off, appeased.

      Josh immediately returned to the subject of her faux love life. “I don’t get it. What made you lie to your mom? You never lie. Having witnessed you turn away persistent men at Touchdown, I would even say that you’re sometimes painfully honest.”

      Lowering her gaze to the red-and-white checkered tablecloth, she mumbled, “I didn’t set out to lie, exactly. I just exaggerated.”

      “Piper, when was the last time you had a date?”

      “Okay, fine, I lied. I had to get off the phone! She called to remind me that I’m the unmarried shame of the family, and I cracked. I told her I had to run because I was meeting someone for dinner.”

      “And based on a supposed dinner date, she’s now booking a church and auditioning caterers.”

      “For a guy who’s never met my mother, you have a very clear understanding of her.”

      “You paint a vivid picture.”

      Piper bit her lower lip. “I have a real problem here.”

      “Nah, this isn’t serious. A problem was Michelle. I can’t believe she honestly expected me to remember her cat’s birthday. And stalking me for two weeks like that after the breakup—”

      “Maybe if you took the time to get to know some of these women before you went out with them, you’d pick up on little things like personality disorders.” Piper hadn’t meant to sound so snippy, but it annoyed her sometimes to watch Josh waste himself on a string of superficial relationships. Didn’t he realize he had more to offer than that?

      “Piper, people go out in order to get to know each other, and I’m not sure I want dating advice from a girl who hasn’t been on one since the Nixon administration.”

      “Ha-ha. As if my family encouraged me to date as an infant.” Though they probably would have if they’d known then how difficult it would be to marry her off.

      “What I was saying,” he continued, “is that I don’t see why this is a serious problem. Let your mom think whatever she wants. Tell them he couldn’t make it this weekend. Or that you broke up with the guy. Problem solved.”

      If only it were that easy. “I would, but Mom said it would really benefit Nana to see me with—” she groaned inwardly, “—‘a good man.”’

      His gaze locked with hers. “How is your grandmother?”

      “Hanging in there, but…apparently not doing so well.” She swallowed. “Last time we spoke, I argued with her. She was giving me more well-meaning advice on how to live my life, and I told her I was an adult and didn’t need or want her interference. I shouldn’t have said that.”

      Josh reached his hand across the table, and it hovered over hers. At the last minute he grabbed the bread basket as though that had been his intention all along.

      She wasn’t surprised that he shied away. Typical Josh. Weird that he dated and kissed and she-didn’t-want-to-know-what-else with so many women, yet simple touches made him uncomfortable. Piper had grown up in a hug-oriented family herself, but she tried to respect the personal perimeter he maintained.

      Though she had no trouble telling Josh about the familial reasons for needing a stand-in date, Piper didn’t mention Charlie. Josh knew that she’d once dated Rebecca’s current mayor, but Piper had downplayed the seriousness of the relationship. She was embarrassed that she, a modern independent woman, had been slowly altering everything from her work schedule to the way she wore her hair. It wasn’t something she liked to think about, let alone discuss.

      “So.” Josh cleared his throat. “You’re really going to take some guy home with you?”

      “If I can find one,” she said as the waiter approached. He set their pizza on the table, and Josh distributed the first cheesy slices. They ate in silence, mulling over her situation. At least, she was mulling. For all she knew, Josh was checking out a cute waitress.

      To some, asking Josh to accompany her might seem an obvious answer. He’d certainly been willing to do her favors in the past—from free labor on her