Page 7 of Hot Blooded

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s really hard to explain since I don’t remember any of it. I’m just going off of what we’ve seen.”

“We?” She pounces on that one word like it’s a devil’s food cupcake. She loves her sweets. “Who the hell is we?”

“Well, from what we’ve seen…it looks like we might be married.” I cringe again when she shrieks.

“No fucking way! Have you lost your mind? I told you to stay the hell away from all those creepy little chapels! They suck you in and next thing you know you’re hitched to some perfect stranger.”

“He’s actually not a stranger.”

“Is it the guy?”

“The one at the roulette table last night? Yes. It is.”

“Who the hell is he and how do you know him?”

“Tom Gardner. He works in Wildwood and I’ve known him for awhile now. He’s my dad’s best friend.”

“Whoohoo!” She whistles. “I see why you want to keep this a secret. Your dad is going to flip his lid!”

“You think I don’t know that?” I huff. “We’re trying to find out if the papers were filed or not and if we need to get an annulment or not.”

“Why don’t you just go to the chapel and ask?”

“We did. It apparently burned to the ground early this morning.”

“Holy shit!” She breathes. “You two are cursed, I swear! So what do you need from me?”

“I’m gonna need to stay here for awhile longer. The guy’s brother is here and he’s trying to get ahold of his brother because the guy went on vacation to someplace where they lock up your cellphone. So we have to wait and see if he can get ahold of him.”

“Wow! So you’re not leaving with us today?”

“No. I’m not,” I murmur, my fingers pleating the sheets on the bed, my mind picturing Tom rolling over, his gorgeous eyes locked on me, dark and sexy.

“Well, I suppose I understand. But I’m curious about why you headed right for that guy when you saw him. You had this look in your eyes that didn’t say “Hey, dad’s best friend. Nice seeing you!””

“Ugh!” I roll my eyes. “I wish you weren’t so observant. Fine. I’ve had a crush on Tom for years.”

She gasps, delighted. “Oh my gosh! Does he know?”

“You think I told him that?” I shriek.

“No,” she huffs. “And I suppose since he’s a guy and older than you, he didn’t notice and just thinks of you as a little girl? Men!” I can picture the smirk on her face. She’s like the girl version of Tom. She just likes to have a good time and doesn’t want to fall in love.

“Yeah. Pretty much.” I don’t bother telling her about the electricity that seems to be building between us, like some rogue storm flaring up and out of control. Waiting as the sky darkens and the lightning flashes around us is making me edgy as hell. “But it’s probably for the best because my Dad would kill him and then lock me up for the next fifty years or so.”

“Yeah. Dad’s are really awesome like that. Caring and all that shit.” I wince when I hear the hurt in her voice.

“I’m sorry, Harper. I know that…”.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she says quickly, cutting me off. “It doesn’t matter. Just be happy that your Dad does care even if he’s a pain in the ass about it.”

“I am. Really I am. I just don’t know what to do with all of these feelings. Tom is my dream man. And I’m married to him but I can’t be because it would hurt my Dad. But giving him up will hurt me. Ugh!” I growl, running my hand through my hair and tugging on it. “Either way there is no winner in this scenario.”

“How does Tom feel about all of this?”

And that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? How does he feel about all of this? Because I used to be able to read his feelings and thoughts really well. He used to smile at me all the time and just be happy. But that was a long time ago and things are different now. I’m different. I’m not a little kid anymore and neither he nor my Dad seem to have recognized that.

“I don’t know. All I know is that he wants the whole marriage thing cleared up really quickly and he doesn’t want my Dad to know a damn thing about it. Neither do I.”