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see yer face.
    My smile grows big as the ocean,
    Sets my heart into motion.
    It takes me to a higher place.
    So you’ve got me down kneelin’,
    Beggin’ that you’re feelin’
    What I know is true in my soul.
    So if we’re meant to be together,
    Like cowgirls and leather,
    You’ll give a call to Nicole.”
    By the time Piper finished, the blood had drained from Aiden’s face and he was no longer trying to hide a smile—although everyone around him certainly was. He didn’t appear impressed with receiving the love note, any more than Piper liked giving it.
    His clean-shaven jaw clenched. She had a fleeting moment of pity for poor Nicole, who would probably never hear from him again. But then, it was Nicole’s fault Piper was there embarrassing herself. So really, she didn’t feel too bad.
    “That was very entertaining. Thank you…,” Aiden trailed off, glancing at her left boob where a gold star badge held a false name, “Amber.”
    Old Spice snorted next to him. “‘Entertaining’ is not the word I would use. This”—he waved a derisive hand at Piper—“is not appropriate for the workplace.”
    Piper’s own lip curled in response to Old Spice’s sneer.
    “No. You’re right,” Aiden said. “I’ll have a talk with the admin assistant. This is an animal-free environment, after all. It’s not appropriate to have horses in the building.”
    The tension in the room evaporated, and everyone relaxed in their ergonomic seats, laughing.
    Piper was used to the laughing. People got a kick out of this sort of thing. But this time, it felt different. This time, it felt like it was at her expense. Like she had any choice. This was her job, after all. Not everyone could work for a Fortune 500 company.
    She wondered if they would still laugh at her if they knew why she was doing this, that it wasn’t her lifelong dream to be a slutty singing-telegram girl. She wanted to be a veterinarian. And she was working damned hard for it too.
    But it didn’t matter what they thought. She knew why she was doing this, and nothing else mattered. Who were these people to her, anyway? Who was this Aiden Caldwell? You know, besides an Armani ad come to life.
    Nobody. That was who.
    Shoving the balloons and box of chocolates at him, she swiped her phone off the table, wheeled her horse around, and galloped out of the room. She could hear Aiden call her fake name, but she kept her eyes forward and her head up until she was in the elevator.
    When she saw him round the corner, she punched the button for the ground floor and tapped the close doors button repeatedly until his face disappeared. It wasn’t until the elevator was descending and she stared at her pathetic reflection that she noticed the company logo stenciled on the mirrored doors for the first time.
    It said: Caldwell and Son Investments .
    Piper buried her face against the stuffed horse head and groaned. Aiden must have been the and Son . And she practically just gave him an over-the-pants hand job.
    So much for not being a prostitute.
    And he didn’t even tip.

 
    2
    The Fur Flies
    Piper half-ran, half-limped all the way back to her taxi where Colin greeted her. Letting him comfort her with kisses, she leaned back in the seat to find her breath. And her dignity.
    She rubbed her throbbing knee and stared out of the windshield where sporadic raindrops began to spatter. That was one of the worst singing-telegram experiences yet. Maybe not as bad as the time some frat boy mistook her for a stripper, but this time left her feeling more humiliated than usual. And that was really saying something.
    The cab’s back door opened and a customer slid in, rocking the vehicle.
    Piper cradled Colin close to hide him from sight. “I’m not in service right now,” she said over her shoulder. “Sorry.”
    “You’re a taxi driver too?”
    She glanced in the rearview mirror to find a pair of dark, minty green eyes smiling in the reflection.
    “You’re a woman of many