“Whatcha think?” she asked with a grin.

She was breathing hard, and it made him want to have sex with her, which did not help the raging hard-on in his pants.

“You don’t want to know,” he said with a laugh.

She laughed along as she said, “I do! Did I look like a whale? I know I messed up that fallout.”

“Whales are the last thing on my mind, Piper. You didn’t mess up anything; you outdanced your sister,” he said without looking at her.

When she didn’t say anything, he looked over at her to find her biting her lip as she looked at him.

“That’s really sweet.”

“No, it’s not. It’s the truth.”

Piper smiled and shook her head.

“I’m gonna go shower and raid Reese’s closet.”

“I’m right behind you.”

Piper eyed him suspiciously. “You aren’t taking a shower with me.”

Erik gave her a playful smile.

“But isn’t that what husbands and wives do?”

“We are not real, remember?” she said with a little bit of what he thought was sadness in her voice.

He hated when she got that look on her face. To lighten up the situation, he joked, “Maybe we could try doing the fun stuff of marriage, the sex.”

She paused on the stairs and turned to look at him. Her belly was inches from his face, and if he bent down just a little, her sweet, juicy pu**y would be inches from his mouth. But then she started talking, distracting him from the prize in those little black shorts.

“Are you proposing a sexual relationship with me, Mr. Titov?”

Erik gave her a lopsided grin.

“Depends, what would you say?”

She didn’t even hesitate.

“No way.”

“Then no, I am not. I don’t do well with rejection.”

She gave him the same sad eyes again and said, “Neither do I. Let’s just drop that subject, okay?”

Well, that sure did backfire.

“Okay,” he said with a long breath as he followed her up the stairs.

Piper opened the door to a light beige–colored room that held all the necessities of life—bed, kitchen, couch, TV, and a bathroom.

“I didn’t know Reese lived up here.”

Piper looked back at him and smiled as she crossed the room for what looked like a huge closet.

“Yup, that’s why she bought the building, because it had living quarters upstairs. She loves this place. I do, too. It suits her.”

“It’s nice.”

“So you’ve never been up here?”

Erik turned to look at her back, his eyes dropping down to her sweet little perky ass. Man, what he would give to get his hands on her again.

“Nope, why would I?”

He watched as she shrugged her shoulder, pulling out different dresses from Reese’s closet.

“No reason.”

Erik didn’t like that answer, and soon he was making his way across the room to her side and said, “No, there is a reason. What is it?”

She wouldn’t look at him as she asked, “Do you like this dress?”

He looked down at the burgundy dress and made a face.

“No, it’s hideous, all of them are. They aren’t you; go buy something new.”

She looked away again as she muttered, “No, I don’t have the money to go blow on a brand-new dress.”

“How do you not have the money when you are married to me?”

“I’m not spending your money,” she said, offended.

“It’s part of the deal. I need you to look smokin’ beside me, so buy a new dress in Vegas. Go take a shower so we can get to the airport, but first answer me.”

“Whoa, Mr. Titov, you aren’t going to tell me what to do. I’m not spending your money.”

“Fine, I’ll buy you something,” he said, his anger getting the best of him. “I don’t know what the big deal is. If you are going to help my image, then these dresses are not going to cut it. We are walking the red carpet of the NHL awards, with news reporters and bloggers all over the place. We both have to look like a million bucks, so please, just let me buy you a new dress.”

She paused, looking down at the dress in her hand before looking back up at him.

“I’ll pay you back when I get my second advance from Emmaline.”

Erik shook his head, his eyes glued to hers as he said, “No, I want to buy you the dress, okay? And we need to discuss the living expenses, too. I’ll start helping out.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she muttered, putting the dress back in the closet.

“I want to.”

“Okay,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Fine.”

“Now, why did you ask if I have ever been up here before?”

She looked up at him with an annoyed look. “I told you, no reason.”

“And I know there is a reason, so come on, what is it?”

She looked away, chewing at her lip as he waited.

Finally she looked at him and asked, “Did you sleep with Reese?”

This time he was the one not hesitating as he said, “Hell no.”

A smile pulled at her lips as she looked away. “Okay.”

“That’s it? Okay?”

She nodded. “Okay, I believe you.”

“Good, because your sister was never the one I wanted.”

Piper smiled over at him as she made her way to the bathroom, those delectable shorts and itty-bitty bra screaming his name.