Page 24 of Capture The Moment

Chapter 7

After discussing various restaurant options, Harper and Finn decided to go to the same pub that she’d met Will at a couple of weeks ago. The pub was busy as usual, and they were seated at a cramped two-person booth at the back of the restaurant. Harper would have preferred a larger booth as Finn’s legs were so long they snaked around hers beneath the table.

“So, what are you having?” he asked, perusing the menu.

Now that they were there with the tantalizing smells of fried food and beer in the air, Harper realized how hungry she was.

“Fish and chips and a beer,” she said decidedly, closing her menu.

“Sounds good. Me too,” Finn said.

When the waitress arrived, Finn ordered for both of them. After the waitress had walked away, Harper said, “I could have ordered my own, you know.”

Crossing his thick arms over his chest, he said, “What’s with you lately?”

Uh-oh. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I think you do.”

“Enlighten me,” she said, borrowing his phrase from earlier.

“You’ve been exceptionally feisty. Argumentative even. Every time I try to help you with something, you balk at it. It’s almost like you don’t want me around.”

How do I handle this? But she was saved from having to reply when she caught a glimpse of two men heading toward their table. Two gorgeous men who looked an awful lot like…

“Finn? Is that really you?” Connor teased, slapping his brother hard on the back.

“Of course it’s me, you idiot. What are you two doing here?”

“Is that any way to talk to your favorite brother?”

“Hey, I thought I was the favorite brother,” Liam piped up from behind Connor.

Harper smiled, amused and intrigued by the dynamics between the three O’Brien brothers. She sat back, content to watch how it all played out.

“Hey, Harper,” Connor said. “Don’t tell me you agreed to go out with this guy!”

And just like that, her smile faded, and she stiffened. “I…we…”

“I was just helping the lady pick out a new car, and we were hungry,” Finn interjected.

“I was gonna say—she’s way too good for you!”

Liam clamped a hand on Connor’s shoulder and said, “Ok, dude. Let’s go and let them enjoy their meal.” And then, focusing in on Finn, he said, “We were just up at the bar when we saw you come in.”

“Well, why don’t you two go back to the bar before someone takes your seats?” Finn suggested, all traces of humor gone.

Ignoring him, Connor turned to Harper and said, “How’s your friend Julia?”

Harper tried to hide her surprise when she replied, “She’s good.”

“Tell her I said hello.”

“I will,” Harper said.

And with that, Liam forcibly turned Connor around and shoved him back toward the bar.

“That was interesting,” Harper said.