Tall, Dark & Reckless

by Heather MacAllister

  That had prompted a huge fight, their first in…forever.

  Dancie got all huffy, which was even worse because it made Piper feel guilty, and then irritated with herself for feeling guilty, and then hyperaware of being overheard, which led to second-guessing herself.

  The thing was, after running the Living Fab site, Dancie felt she was qualified to give advice. And she was—up to a point. But the clients who sought Piper’s help were past that point.

  So Piper apologized for overreacting, and Dancie promised to keep quiet. Unfortunately, Dancie’s idea of quiet didn’t match Piper’s.

  At least she was able to get out of the office today. Sometimes she needed to see how clients acted on a date, so Piper either set clients up with each other for just that purpose, or observed them on an actual date without their knowledge.

  Today, Piper got to play date spy. She loved playing date spy and looked forward to it with an immature glee that probably had a profound psychological meaning she didn’t care to explore.

  Dancie had once run a piece about spy equipment women could buy online, which had given Piper the idea. She’d bought a purse with a built-in video camera that worked really well and various listening devices that didn’t—at least the ones in Piper’s price range didn’t. That meant she needed to get close enough to the couple to eavesdrop, yet stay far enough away that they didn’t see her, otherwise they’d adjust their behavior, which defeated the whole purpose of observing them.

  Thus, Piper had acquired a couple of wigs. Okay, maybe more than a couple. It wasn’t as though she had a closet full of disguises. Maybe a jacket. A scarf. Sunglasses. Baggy sweatshirt. Hardly anything.

  Today, she wore a UT hoodie and a wig with long, straight brown hair. If she took a book and leaned forward to read it, the hair would hide most of her face and she’d look just like any of the thousands of Austin coeds.

  “I’ve never seen you in one of your disguises,” Dancie said when Piper emerged from her consultation room.

  “I wouldn’t call it a disguise. It’s just a wig.”

  “You ought to see her in the ugly gray one,” Anna said.

  “Is it uglier than that purse?” Dancie made a face.

  Piper held it out. “So it’s a little large and boxy.”

  “And plastic,” Dancie said. “Why do you have a gray wig?”

  “It depends on where I need to blend in.” Piper edged toward the door.

  “She wears it with a baggy sweater,” Anna added.

  Anna had a little Dancie hero-worship thing going on. Piper gave her one of those remember-who-pays-your-salary looks.

  “Sounds like a disguise to me.” Dancie grinned. “Oh, you are enjoying this way too much. I think you missed your calling.”

  “And what would that calling be?” Piper asked.

  “Private investigator, of course.”

  Piper considered it. “Too depressing. Nobody hires a private investigator to find out something good.”

  Dancie perked up. “You know…interviewing private investigators would be a great article for Living Fab. I should—” She broke off when she remembered she no longer ran the site. “Old habits. Not my problem.” She waggled her fingers. “Have fun!”

  Piper tried to read her expression for a teensy sign of regret. Nothing. As she left, all she heard was Dancie telling Anna she could take lunch first.

  Well, there goes that plan, Piper thought. By now, she’d hoped that Dancie would have regretted her decision to quit OMG, in which case Piper would have groveled to Travis—even BT—to take Dancie back. But, honestly, she seemed happier than Piper had seen her for months, while Piper was…

  Piper was not going to think negative thoughts. It was a beautiful fall day with bright sun, low humidity and a negligible pollen count. She was going to have lunch at Friezen Burger, which served the most insane French fries with hamburger sliders on the side.

  Friezen Burger was set up like a diner in a long building with booths marching next to the windows on one side, and bar stools along a counter on the other. Perfect for dating surveillance. Piper sat at the bar where she could position her purse so the camera pointed at the booth behind her.

  Toni, the day manager, slid a menu in front of her. “Is another couple finding the road to love too bumpy?”

  “I may have to change my disguise,” Piper said.

  “Then how would I recognize you?” Toni asked.

  Piper thought a moment. “You might not. I don’t know if I’ve eaten here as me.”

  “I don’t know, either. That’s kinda my point.”

  They both laughed, and then Toni asked, “You want me to seat the couple in one of those three booths behind you, right?”

  “You got it. They should be here in fifteen to twenty minutes.” After Piper briefly described the couple, Medina and Vanny, for Toni, she opened the tri-fold menu. It was laminated and slightly slick from the grease-laden air. “I’ll need a minute.”

  “Gotcha. I’ll be back.” Toni moved off to take another order and Piper happily studied the menu.

  The drill at Friezen Burger was to first select the type of potato, Idaho being recommended, and then the cut. It could be sliced or planked or shoestringed or steak fries or fast-food fries or crinkled. Until eating here, Piper had never noticed all the different possibilities. After choosing the cut for the potato, it was on to the type of oil she wanted it fried in. She usually chose peanut oil, but had heard good things about chili oil. However, the chili might be too spicy for the size order she intended to eat. Ever since Dancie started sharing her office, Piper craved yummy carbs, salt and hot fat.

  For flavor and crispiness, a girl couldn’t go wrong with good ole beef tallow—which was where Piper was in the selection process when her phone vibrated.

  She looked at the screen. Travis? She didn’t even know Dancie’s brother had her cell number. “Piper Scott,” she answered, looking around quickly to make sure her couple hadn’t arrived yet.

  “Hey, Piper. How’s it going?”

  “Fine. How can I help you, Travis?”

  “So you like to cut through the chitchat and get right down to business. I like that.”

  “I’m working, Travis.”

  “Yeah, about that.”

  Great. He was going to cancel her “Dating to Mating” column. She’d half expected it after Dancie had quit OMG.

  “I called your office because I was trying to find Dancie and I found her.”

  “Yes.” Friezen Burger was filling up, even though it was early for lunch. Piper pressed the phone to her ear to hear better.

  “She really quit.”

  “Yes, Travis.” Piper glanced impatiently at the clock above the cash register.

  “I thought she was blowing off steam, but she doesn’t want to come back.” He sounded surprised.

  Piper didn’t have time to be diplomatic. “She wanted to be an equal partner and it’s clear that you and your dad aren’t willing to make her one. So she’s moved on.”

  “Well, good luck to her, then.”

  Piper’s jaw dropped. She would have sworn that Travis was going to ask her to convince Dancie to return.

  “Actually, I was calling about something else. Mark Banning. I need a favor.”

  Well, that got her attention. And she’d done so well not thinking about him. No, she hadn’t. The best she’d been able to do was yank her thoughts away when they started wandering in his direction.

  “Mark’s agreed to come back to OMG and he’s even willing to work with someone. But my dad is being a pain in the ass and has rejected everybody Mark has proposed. You said you could find him somebody my dad would approve of, right?”

  Incredibly, her heart picked up speed even while her brain countered with memories of Mark’s condescension that day in his office. This time, her brain won. “I could if I wanted to. I don’t.”

  “Yeah, Mark said you’d say that.”

  Was that why Mark hadn’t bothered to call
her, himself? Conversely, Piper now wanted to prove him wrong, which would mean she’d end up doing what both Travis and Mark wanted. They’d outmaneuvered her and hadn’t even been trying.

  Toni appeared in front of her. “Decide on those fries, yet?”

  Piper shook her head and Toni tapped her watch. “Travis, I’ve got an appointment in a few minutes. I’m not interested—”

  “What would it take? Name it.”

  Piper started to say that there was nothing that could induce her to work with that jerk, Mark Banning, when she thought of Dancie and the crowded reception area and the fact that Dancie had clearly given Travis Piper’s cell number, not that Piper had ever told her, “By the way, Dancie, don’t give out my cell number.” But Dancie did know Piper was observing clients. Plus, she was countering Piper’s advice, and distracting Anna, and was noisy and it was jeopardizing their friendship and… “Dancie gets the use of her old office.”

  “She doesn’t want to come back to OMG,” Travis said.

  “Not as an employee—just the use of the space.”

  There was silence. “That’s it? That’s your price?”

  “In addition to my regular fee,” Piper told him.

  “I knew there was a catch.”

  “Excuse me—it’s how I make my living.”

  He muffled the phone as he spoke to someone. “Right.”

  “‘Right’ as in you agree to let Dancie use her old office?” Piper asked him. Honestly, she’d even waive her fee, if she had to.

  “If you come through with somebody for Mark, I’ll help her move back, myself,” Travis said.

  “I’ll find someone, but it’ll be up to you to convince Mark to work with her.” And good luck with that.

  “Her?”

  “Your dad wanted a female.”

  “Whatever. I want to get moving on this.”

  Of course he did. “Please call my office and make an appointment,” Piper said evenly, trying and failing to ignore how inconsiderate Travis was being.

  Toni caught her eye and Piper saw the couple had arrived a few minutes early. “I have to go, Travis. My clients are here.” She ended the call without waiting to hear if he had anything else to say.

  So. As she’d predicted, BT hadn’t gone for the college intern idea and now Mark was ready to acknowledge that she might just know what she was talking about.

  Mark Banning. Part of her went all fluttery at the thought of seeing him again. She didn’t like that part, fascinating though it was. Her body was going rogue and there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Except ignore it. Which was hard to do. But she would succeed in ignoring it, something her mother never had managed. How did her mother get into her thoughts, anyway? Mark Banning had nothing to do with her mother. Thank goodness.

  Toni managed to seat the couple in the booth directly behind Piper, so that was working out. She could park her camera purse right beside her and get decent video while watching their reflection in the bar mirror. Right now, she could eavesdrop on their conversation, but that would end when the bulk of the lunch crowd arrived.

  Piper checked the video feed on her phone to make sure the couple was in the frame, and then opened a notebook to record her first impressions. Their clothes looked fine, the initial seating went okay; he helped her off with her jacket, they both acknowledged their server—Toni—and chatted briefly while looking at the menu. Body language was a little stiff, but this was a blind date, so she couldn’t fault them.

  So far, so good. Piper also returned to the menu. She’d decided to hang the cholesterol and go for the beef tallow when someone—a male someone—sat on the bar stool next to her.

  Something in her responded to this male someone even though she was occupied with the wonderfulness of the fries menu and monitoring the couple behind her.

  “A wig. Kinky.” His voice dropped. “I like it.”

  Mark.

  Of course.

  Everything in her went on full alert. “What are you doing here?” Piper asked, ignoring the fact that he’d recognized her. Dancie strikes again, she suspected.

  Mark sat sideways, legs splayed near her thigh, boxing her in, and propped an elbow on the counter. Nothing reserved about that body language, no siree.

  “Aren’t you wondering how I knew it was you?” He caught a lock of wig hair and skimmed it over his finger.

  “No.” Piper didn’t look up from the menu. Clearly, he was launching a charm assault.

  “I recognized your body.”

  “Encased in the baggy sweatshirt?”

  He leaned in close to murmur, “I’ve got a mind for details and you’ve got a body worth remembering.”

  His breath tickled her neck, which caused a chain-reaction tickle all the way down her spine. Piper slapped the menu on the counter. “Seriously? You need a favor and you’re going with those lines?”

  “They’re some of my best.” He gave her a cheeky grin that invited her to grin back. Most women probably did and then as easily as that, he was forgiven for whatever he’d done that needed forgiving.

  Like insulting her profession.

  Even Piper felt her smile muscles twitch, but he wasn’t getting off so easily with her. She ignored him as she swiveled her head around so she could catch Toni’s eye.

  “Here. Let me.” Mark straightened and stared in the waitress’s direction. And that was all. He just sat up straight and looked Toni’s way. And darned if within seconds Toni glanced up from the order she was taking, saw Mark and headed right for him like a homing pigeon. Along the bar, other customers tried to attract her attention just as Piper had, but she had eyes only for Mark.

  “What can I get for you?” she breathed as soon as she arrived.

  He gave her a classic seducer’s smile and drew Piper’s menu slowly toward him. “What do you suggest?”

  “Ma’am?” called someone fruitlessly.

  Toni leaned against the counter, generous cleavage now visible above her black, scoop-necked top. “Anything your heart desires.”

  “He desires French fries,” Piper said. “Because that and sliders are all you serve here.”

  Without looking away from Toni, Mark matched her body language and leaned in. “I’m interested in what’s off the menu.”

  Toni pursed her lips. “I don’t go off-menu until later.”

  Unbelievable. They were carrying on right in front of her. Toni was cute-guy hardened and Mark wasn’t serious, so why did Piper have a problem with it?

  Mark closed the menu. “Until then, surprise me.”

  “You got it.” Toni gave him a pretty good seducer smile of her own and glided off to place the order, actually swaying her hips in her expensive and extremely flattering jeans. Mark watched her, which Toni would know because of all the mirrors. She’d know it even without the mirrors.

  Her departure launched a chorus of protests including one from Piper. Except Piper’s protest was for another reason.

  “You are something else,” she said to Mark. “Does it always work?”

  Mark’s gaze lingered on Toni before drifting to her. “What?”

  “The charm attack. A couple of smiles, some cheesy flirting and people fall all over themselves to give you what you want?”

  “Pretty much.” Mark leaned away with a smile Piper wished didn’t look quite as self-satisfied as it did.

  She also wished she wasn’t wearing a cheap wig and baggy clothes, but it was probably best that she was. Cheesy lines and all, her heart was thudding and her skin prickling. And she didn’t even like him! She’d have no defenses at all against a bona fide seduction. “Toni didn’t take my order.”

  “We can share,” Mark offered, accompanied by a twin of the seducer’s smile he’d given Toni.

  “Oh, keep your smiles to yourself,” Piper grumbled. “And we are definitely sharing.”

  “I’m willing to share a lot more than fries,” Mark responded.

  “And the lines just keep coming.” Shaking her head,
Piper turned away. In doing so, she saw the couple reflected in the mirrored wall behind the bar, the same couple she was supposed to be observing. Mark had distracted her. She made a frustrated sound.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Keep it that way. I’m working.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re eating lunch.”

  “I multitask!” Exasperated, her voice rose. She saw the woman behind her glance over. Piper turned her head and let her hair hang forward. “Or I plan to,” she said in a quieter voice. “But thanks to you and Travis, I haven’t had a chance to order.”

  “You don’t need to order.” He pushed the menu away. “We’re sharing, remember?”

  “I’m very hungry.”

  He leaned in, his lids heavy. “I like a woman with appetites.”

  Piper rolled her eyes.

  * * *

  MARK SAW THE EYEROLL. Definitely no dazzle today. He should back up and apologize, but then he’d have to explain that he’d been a jerk on purpose. Then she’d ask why. And there was no way he could tell her he’d done it to get the awestruck look out of her eyes without coming off like a conceited jerk. Since she already thought he was a jerk, it was best to skip the apology and flatter her into helping him.

  So far, she’d been immune to his flattery and had retreated behind the impersonal stare he disliked.

  He studied her profile. No, he hadn’t fooled her, not that he’d sincerely tried. If he was honest, he would have been disappointed if he’d been able to flatter her into helping him after the insulting way he’d rejected her earlier offer.

  He’d fooled her then, hadn’t he? Mark didn’t remember exactly what he’d said, only that he’d kept talking until all the sparkle had left her eyes and her jaw had gone rigid with the effort to remain crisply professional. He’d done it for himself as much as for her, he knew. OMG’s Dating Doc had been in his thoughts more than she should have been. He’d looked up her past columns online and heard her voice as he read them. No man bashing. He liked that. She gave a lot of no-nonsense, practical advice with a healthy mix of tough love for the whiners. Lots of reality checks. And she repeatedly cautioned against going into a relationship thinking the other person would change. Smart woman.