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“Both… and tomato,” I called after her as she had already turned away and was heading back to the kitchen as soon as my first word was out. Staring after her, I marveled at the energy she still had after a night of broken sleep and a few hours in the saddle.
The first person I noticed as I entered the kitchen was Harper, head down engrossed in her phone. “Anything interesting?” I asked because I was done being ignored in my own home, and I wanted her to look me in the eye. I felt buzzed from being in the same room as her again, which was a different feeling for me. I studied how beautiful she looked as she replied.
“Yeah, I have date number two tomorrow. Luke’s mom is keeping his daughter this weekend and he’s taking me to see Ed Sheeran.” From her body language I knew she was going for a casual disclosure, like she was only dropping it into conversation, but the challenge in her eyes when they met mine told a completely different story. The arrangement was supposed to have an impact on me.
It reminded me of JoAnn’s comment about sometimes games being necessary, and I nodded. “Good, I hope you have a great time,” I replied, managing to sound authentic, knowing full well she’d be pissed at my nonchalant reply after the conversation we’d had via Skype.
My father used to say sometimes you need to keep women guessing, and he used to tell Dorian and me it was this tactic that had helped him snare my mom’s interest and keep it. There was an almost overwhelming attraction between me and Harper, but I wasn’t going to beg her to rethink her date.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Watching Harper stroll around the house getting ready for her date almost killed me, and when she came downstairs rocking a casual but chic outfit of my favorite tight black jeans and her off-the-shoulder figure-hugging sweater, I almost growled in frustration.
Dorian had buddies down from Maine and I’d invited them over to my place for a game of poker to keep my mind from dwelling on Harper being out. As I set up the card table, I tried hard to hide my irritation at the way both Dorian and his friends checked Harper out, but I could hardly blame them. Knowing she had chosen what she wore for another man annoyed the fuck out of me.
God alone knew how I managed to play it cool, but I reasoned with myself I wasn’t emotionally ready for a knockdown, drag out fight with Harper about dating someone else. Who was I to object, when I had only recently convinced myself there could be more between us?
From how Harper behaved cordially toward me when others were present and ignored me in private, I knew there were fences to mend between us, but the way she soaked up the attention from the others I could see she wanted to make me jealous.
This had given me hope. If she hadn’t cared, she wouldn’t have gone to all the effort of trying to get a rise out of me. She was good, but not good enough to fool a guy who’d been around thousands of women who had tried every trick in the book to make me interested.
Knowing all this wasn’t enough to push past the worry of what Harper already had going with her new guy. How can I have expectations of her when I don’t know if I could give her everything she needs from me?
Lust and raw physical attraction, friendship and trust, we already had, but did all of that equate to love? If anyone had ever told me in the past, I’d have been so indecisive about being with a woman I’d have laughed, but the future wasn’t only about me, it was Layla’s future too.
Despite Harper igniting feelings in me I thought died with Grace, I still couldn’t help wondering if staying friends would be better than any potential broken romance for the sake of Layla.
“All set, Harp?” Stuart asked from the doorway as Harper fixed a clasp on her earring and picked up the purse she’d left on the chair.
“Yeah, thanks, Stuart.” Turning to address Dorian and his friends, she flashed a beaming smile. “Nice to meet you, boys, see you tomorrow, Dor.” Glancing toward me, she bit her lip and flashed me a smaller smile. “Nice to have you home again, Cole. I’ll try not to make noise when I get back. Can you please make sure Paul doesn’t turn on the alarm? I’ll set it when I get in.”
“You can relay that message to Stuart to text Paul yourself, I won’t see him this evening, we’re going to be busy here,” I shot back curtly, picking up the deck of cards and shuffling them. For a second Harper looked unsure of herself and then turned around and left. Fuck, I hate games.
During the poker game I spent half of my time trying to keep my shirt on my back due to a lack of concentration and the other half checking the clock. Dorian pissed me off when he shared that Harper had sent him two short video clips of Ed Sheeran singing “Perfect.” I took those videos she sent him personally, even though I knew she’d sent them, knowing he’d share them with me. If I’d wanted to impress her, I could have flown her to the UK to meet Ed.
Eventually, at almost 2:00 a.m., I was three grand down because my mind had been on the wrong game all night. Dorian was all in as well and we called it a night.
Seeing the guys out of the house, I glanced down the drive in an absentminded gesture then wondered why Harper wasn’t home. With a wry smirk, I scoffed, closed the door and headed up to bed.
I had barely stripped out of my clothes when I heard the gate buzzer signal Harper’s return. For a second my body tensed, and it was only when my jaw relaxed, I realized how keyed up I’d been because she’d stayed out so late.
When I heard her coming upstairs, I almost opened my bedroom door, but decided that would be a bad idea. Changing my mind, I pulled on some sweats and sat heavily on my bed and turned on my TV. I expected her to go into her room and was surprised when she gently knocked on my door.
Eager to see what she had to say, I wandered over and opened it. Harper stood in my doorway looking very drunk and more than slightly gorgeous. “I just want you to know I had a brilliant time, and Ed Sheeran is a much better singer than you,” she said, her words slightly slurry.
“Yeah, and a good deal less drunk than you, I bet. What kind of guy have you got in tow that lets you get into this drunken state?”
“Fuck you, Cole,” she barked, swiping her hand half-heartedly in my direction. “It’s called fun.” When her hand missed me, she lost her balance and fell forward into my room. Catching her by her waist, I dragged her inebriated body up and onto my bed.
With her flopping like a rag doll, I repositioned her, sitting her on the end of the bed at my side, and I held her up by putting my arm around her back, my hand on her upper arm. I’d never seen Harper get wasted before and I even wondered for a second if her date had spiked her drink.
Brushing her long silky hair away from her face, I caught her chin in my free hand and tipped it up to get a better look at her face. Squinting with one eye open to focus, she raised her hand and traced my jawline affectionately with one finger.
“Anyone ever tell you what a beautiful man you are?”
“Baby, I don’t think you’re in any kind of position to throw pickup lines at me.”
“But it did get you to call me Baby,” she responded with slurry speech, and she smiled like she’d won a small battle.
