Playing with Piper (Menage MfM Romance Novel) (Playing for Love Book 3) by Tara Crescent Page A

enough. Owen, you want help finding it?”
    “I’ll manage,” I say, keeping my voice casual. I head to the back. I have only minutes to search the place. Trying to be quiet, I do a quick scan of the room, opening drawers and cupboards, checking out the pantry, bending down to search the shelves underneath the counters.
    Nothing seems out of place. Even Wyatt would approve of how clean the kitchen is. The dishes have been done. The skillets have been cleaned and neatly stacked for the next day’s work. The garbage has been emptied. Piper’s sous-chef Josef must have seen to this.
    Shaking my head, I return to the front with the bottle and three glasses. Piper shoots me a curious look. “Couldn’t resist checking out the kitchen?” she asks me. “Did I pass the Owen Lamb inspection?”
    I have to chuckle; she doesn’t miss much. I’m very rapidly reaching the conclusion that she’s clean. Opening the bottle, I pour three generous shots. We each grab one and lift our glasses. “A toast,” I say, “to our new partnership. To new beginnings.”
    We clink glasses and I take a sip. “This is good stuff.” I say, looking at the label. Piper Jackson is full of surprises. “You’re a vodka drinker?”
    “No,” she replies. “My roommate Bailey gave it to me at the start of the year. By that time, I’d realized I’d made a mistake. I needed consolation.”
    “This bottle was unopened.”
    Her lips twitch. “I work around knives and fire,” she points out. “Vodka seems stupid.” She returns to the earlier conversation. “You said something was a problem?” she asks Wyatt.
    “You’re allowed to take on partners,” he answers, “but you’ll have to stay the majority owner.” He sips at the vodka. “That’s not a problem. Owen and I almost never take a majority stake in a restaurant. But,” he frowns, “ Aladdin’s Lamp is valued at two hundred thousand dollars.”
    “I know,” Piper says, looking confused. She sits up as understanding dawns. “Crap. They won’t let you invest more than a hundred grand.”
    Ah. Wyatt’s right. This is a problem. Aladdin’s Lamp could be very successful, but for that to happen, it’s going to take quite an infusion of capital. A hundred grand isn’t enough, not in a city where routine renovations cost half a million dollars.
    Wyatt nods. “Exactly. We’re going to have to get creative.”
    “We can’t cook the books.” Piper looks unhappy as she speaks. “Aunt Vera’s son Colton was pretty angry I was left the restaurant. He’s waiting for me to mess up. The trustees can demand to see my accounts anytime, and I have to comply.” Her lips twist into a grimace. “It’s in the fine print on page sixty-five.”
    Wyatt opens to the indicated page and reads the relevant section. “What a pain in the ass,” he mutters. “I’m not suggesting we cheat the system,” he clarifies. “Any ideas, Owen?”
    Is it the shared act of drinking together that makes us allies? Is it my search in her kitchen, which has revealed nothing out of place? Is it Piper’s willingness to be open and honest about her business? Is it the muted fear in her eyes that we’re going to back out, a fear I want to soothe away? Is it the raw talent I tasted when I ate the macaroni and cheese?
    I don’t know. What I do know is that I want to help. When we agreed to our deal at the start, I didn’t give a shit about Piper Jackson. I was here because of Mendez’s suspicions.
    Not anymore. I’m invested now. Piper deserves to be successful, and I’m going to help her. We’re going to fill this place every night. Whatever it takes.  
    I look around the place. “Getting this place fixed up won’t be cheap,” I warn. “The tables can be salvaged, but that’s about it. The equipment in the back needs to be replaced as well. We can do a lot of the work ourselves to keep the cost down, and we can buy stuff in auction lots, but even with that, we’re still looking at sixty