I Flipping Love You (Shacking Up #3)(80)

Rian’s standing on a ladder in the middle of the room with a can of paint and a paintbrush, ear buds blocking out the world. It pisses me off that she’s here, and I’ve spent my entire morning and most of my afternoon worried about what the fuck I did wrong to warrant her disappearance and her silence.

I startle her when I appear in her peripheral vision. She fumbles the paint can and nearly tumbles off the ladder trying to keep it from tipping over on her. I take it before it falls and set it on the floor.

Rian yanks her ear buds out. “Pierce! What’re you doing here?”

“Looking for you. Wanna tell me why you disappeared this morning with no message, and explain why you’re avoiding my calls?” I gesture to the phone tucked between her breasts in her clingy tank.

“I couldn’t sleep and I had work to do.” She motions to the paint, eyes darting everywhere, but avoiding my face.

“Shovel or bulldozer?”

“What?”

“What would you prefer for your bullshit, a shovel or a bulldozer? Because I’m not buying it. What the fuck is going on, Rian? We had a great time last night. Better than great, and I wake up to an empty bed and no indication as to where you went or why. Do you have any idea how worried I was?” My anger is gathering steam instead of dissipating, maybe because she’s mirroring my pose, arms crossed over her chest defiantly, chin tipped up, but her eyes say something different—they tell me she is scared, and I have no clue why that would be.

“I needed some space.”

“Space from what?”

She motions between us, eyes darting around. “From this. From us.”

“I don’t get it. I thought we were finally getting somewhere and then you pull a disappearing act this morning? How’d you even get home?”

“I took the train. I needed to think.”

“Think about what exactly? I’m really fucking confused right now, so if you could explain this so it makes some kind of sense, that’d be great.”

“Why didn’t you mention that Amalie’s fiancé is part of the Mills empire?”

“You mean Lex?”

“Yes, Lex.”

I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. The kind that makes my gut feel like it’s trying to turn itself inside out. “Because it has nothing to do with us, and it’s irrelevant.”

“But it does.” She’s so cagey and I don’t get why.

“I don’t see how my sister’s fiancé’s family has any bearing on our relationship.”

“It does when they want to put up a new hotel in the Hamptons.” Her anger seems to match mine.

“They’re always talking about putting up another resort. It’s what they do. It still doesn’t explain why you pulled a runner this morning.”

“I found that magazine in your office this morning, Pierce. The one with the whole article about the Mills family and the Mission Mansion. You can’t tell me you don’t know anything about that.”

“Are you talking about the Moorehead Review? Because I generally don’t read or believe whatever bullshit is spewed in there.”

Her eyes narrow. “So you read the article.”

“Sure. I’m still not understanding where you’re going with this.”

“That magazine is weeks old.”

“I read it this morning. I told you, I don’t generally put much stock in the content.”

“But you were in Manhattan a few weeks ago when that magazine came out.”

“Is there an accusation in here somewhere? Because that’s how it’s starting to sound.”

“You keep buying all these properties on the beach. Are you holding onto them so you can sell to the Mills family?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

She plants her fist on her hip. “You knew how I felt about the mansion. I told you weeks ago, and now you’re trying to play it off like you had no idea any of this is going on.” She motions between us. “Why all of a sudden are you calling me your girlfriend? Why take me to Manhattan? To get me out of the Hamptons so your brother is free to hatch some scheme?” Her eyes are wild, hands flailing as she paces around the living room.

Incredulous isn’t a strong enough word for my current state. “How the hell do you make such a wild leap? I don’t get how you can believe I’d do something like that.”

Rian throws her hands up in the air. “It makes sense, doesn’t it? Get close, be a distraction so you can get what you want and get laid in the process.”

I scrub a hand over my face. None of this is making sense. “This is what you think of me? You know, maybe I could understand if all we were doing was fucking each other, but come on, Rian, what’s going on between us is a lot bigger than that.”

“You’re going back to Manhattan in a month. How is this supposed to be anything more than a summer fling? You can’t tell me I don’t have a reason to question this, Pierce. I mean, look at me and look at you.” She gestures between us, eyes darting around, her panic rising. “Your situation and mine aren’t exactly the same. You live in a penthouse and I live in a crappy duplex. You wear two-hundred-dollar pairs of jeans to mow the lawn, and your sunglasses are worth more than my car.”