by Susan Meier
He took two crystal glasses from beneath the bar, anyway. “Are you sure? I know you had some wine with dinner, but you don’t need to worry about waking up with Crystal. This might be your last chance for a long time.”
She tried to smile. He was making a joke, but to her everything happening was deadly serious. Clark hadn’t been her first, but there hadn’t been many guys before him. Did she really want the first guy she slept with after her husband to be somebody guaranteed to break her heart?
“Maybe I will have something. More wine?”
He dipped down to reach below the bar again. “Coming right up.”
She shrugged out of his jacket and laid it across the back of the sofa as he walked over with their drinks. He handed her the wine, then sat on the chair.
She frowned, feeling she’d gotten this situation all wrong. Oh, she still knew his whole family thought they were sleeping together. But he didn’t seem to have any plans to seduce her.
“So, it was a good night?”
She nodded and sat on the sofa a few inches from his jacket, which still smelled like him and the air in Paris at night. Her heart lurched. Yearning spilled through her.
She whispered, “It was a really good night.”
“I’m glad. I see how hard you work with Crystal. I know how hard your life is going to get.”
She nodded. He wasn’t making a move. He’d either gotten beyond whatever it was he’d felt at the cocktail party, or he was waiting for her. Waiting for her to say she’d gotten beyond Clark and was ready.
For one night.
Because she wasn’t sure he would give her more.
Hell, she wasn’t even sure he wanted her now.
Confusion overwhelmed her. She bounced from the sofa. “You know what? I’m more tired than I thought. I think I will take advantage of this night without the baby and sleep.”
She caught his gaze, looking for what, she wasn’t sure. A sign that he wanted her. A word that this wouldn’t just be a one-night thing for him.
He looked down at his drink. “Okay. Good night.”
She sucked in air to stop her shivering chest. “Good night.”
CHAPTER NINE
SETH DIDN’T KNOW why he’d been foolish enough to think things between him and Harper might be changing. He wasn’t even sure why he wanted it. He wasn’t the guy who believed in happily-ever-after...so what had he thought might happen that night?
Caught between frustration and confusion, he kept his distance for the rest of their trip and even after they returned home. Days were easy because he worked. Nights, he scheduled a few house showings with Bill Reynolds.
The following Saturday morning, he slept in and in the afternoon, he took the Ferrari to Montauk to see if there were any houses with For Sale signs that he could tell Bill about. But Saturday night, he had no choice but to shower and dress for the ball.
He waited until the last second to come out of his room, only to find Harper was nowhere around. He looked left and right and suddenly her bedroom door opened and she stepped out.
Wearing a pale pink strapless dress that caressed her top, slid down her waist and belled out in layers of tulle from her hips to the floor, she knocked him for a loop.
She touched the diamond teardrop earrings that looked oddly familiar to Seth. “Your mother let me borrow these.”
“Oh.” When had she seen his mother?
“If you don’t like them, I can give them back.”
“No. They look great. Beautiful.” She looked beautiful. Elegant yet somehow elfin. Like a fairy you’d see in the mists of Ireland. He almost said that. Almost told her that she probably wanted to visit Ireland because she’d belong there. But he held his tongue.
She walked over to him and smiled. “I really don’t want to go to this any more than you do.”
He held the gaze of her soft blue eyes for a few seconds, then blinked and looked away. “I actually enjoy this ball.”
“Oh, then it really is me.”
He busied himself finding his keys.
“I know we decided on no relationship. But I thought we were friends. We’re supposed to be helping each other.”
The slight tremble in her voice made him squeeze his eyes shut. All along his main goal had been not to hurt her, yet it seemed he had. Still, there was no way to avoid it. Just as he’d realized when he decided to sell her this condo, they had to untangle their lives, go their separate ways.
When he opened his eyes again, he grabbed his keys and slid them into his trouser pocket. “I’ve just been preoccupied.”
“Looking at houses?”
“That and with work.”
“Was I not doing a good job finding you somewhere to live? Because that’s part of our deal, Seth. I help you find a house and you sell me your condo interest-free.”
He turned from the kitchen island. “The truth is I realized this was going to be a bigger job than I’d thought. I don’t want to take you away from the baby.”
“That’s not the deal. I only agreed to no interest on my loan for this place because I’m helping you find somewhere else to live. If you change that, I can’t take the deal.”
* * *
Pride made Harper stand taller. She realized that a relationship wasn’t in the cards, but she wasn’t a loser. She was a grown woman with a child who was entering the workforce. She and Seth had made an agreement and if he dropped his end of it, then the deal was dead. No matter how much it disappointed her to lose this condo, which was perfect for her and Crystal, she would not take charity.
Seth shook his head. “I get it. I’m sorry. I won’t see another house or condo without you. I really didn’t know how much work this would be. Or that I wouldn’t like being locked out of the process.”
She breathed a silent sigh of relief, but she saw what was going on. “I won’t lock you out of the process.”
“It just seemed that you and Bill were so tight that I worried you’d knock out things that might have been right for me.”
Because she didn’t know him. He didn’t have to say it. The first few weeks they’d lived together they were close. Then they’d gotten a little too close and the past week they had been like two strangers living together. It was as if those first two days in Paris hadn’t happened.
“Then maybe we need to go back to you coming along on all the viewings. I can sort through the listings on Bill’s website, choose three or four and have you go with us when we see them.”
Seth turned away. “Okay.”
She got her wrap from her bedroom, so they could ride in the Ferrari with the top down, but it wasn’t as much fun as it had been the night of the cocktail party. That night, she’d felt so free. Tonight, disappointment rattled through her. Not that she wanted him to be falling for her. She’d sorted that out in Paris.
It was just that the woman in her was so lonely, so miserable. So empty.
The first weeks they’d lived together he’d put light back into her life. Now he barely spoke to her.
They’d made the right choice. She knew they had. But the decision not to take things further had taken away their friendship and left a huge void, a hole in her heart.
A week ago, she would have included losing Clark as creating part of that hole. Now, she knew the truth. She was losing the first friend she’d made after losing Clark.
They entered the hotel hosting the ball the same way they’d entered the art museum for the first cocktail party they’d attended. The valet happily took Seth’s car. A hotel employee cheerfully opened the doors for them. And Seth didn’t even have to mention his name to get entry to the ball. Everybody knew him.
And maybe that was part of why she’d liked him so much. He was easy to be around, easy to laugh with. And she’d been alone for an entire year. She’d been vulnerable. Even if she hadn’t realized it,
she’d longed for somebody in her life.
With a fierceness that stole her breath, she suddenly missed being close to someone. She missed knowing somebody loved her. Missed having a place. Missed being somebody’s love.
Seth’s mom scurried over. “Our table is in front of the room.”
Seth nodded. “We’ll be up in a minute. There are a few people I want to introduce Harper to.”
Maureen’s eyebrows rose.
Seth laughed. “There are a lot of businesspeople here. Potential for Harper to find a job.”
The jab burned through her. A reminder that she was nothing but a responsibility to him.
Because she was. Without a real relationship, she was nothing but a woman with a baby who desperately needed work. Not somebody he cared about. Not somebody he thought was beautiful. Or funny. Or nice to have around. A responsibility he was growing tired of.
They wove through the crowd with Seth saying hello to at least fifty percent of the people they passed. Then he stopped and introduced her to John Gardner, a banker.
Harper remembered walking down the hall with Bill Reynolds the first time they’d looked at condos, feeling like a businesswoman doing a job, and she channeled that confidence.
Standing a little taller, she extended her hand to shake John’s. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Harper’s reentering the workforce.”
John’s gaze flicked to hers. “Really. What kind of work are you looking for?”
“Assistant,” she answered before Seth could. She’d leaned on him far too long. She could do this now. She had to. She wanted to. “In college, I ran a small business where I did odd jobs for people with more money than time.”
Tall, gray-haired John snorted. “I get that. I have someone shop for the gifts I get my wife.” He glanced around nervously as if realizing his wife could be close enough to hear him. When he saw she wasn’t, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Can’t let her know that, though.”
Harper took the cue and assured him, “Confidentiality is the number one code of a good assistant.”
“You better believe that.” He glanced at his drink, then back at Harper. “And you think those skills will translate to an office?”
“Not in a traditional way,” Harper admitted. “But wouldn’t you rather have someone in your office who would find your last-minute gifts, as well as print the financials you have to review that afternoon?”
“I always had my assistant send my apology flowers.”
Her confidence building, Harper said, “I’m also helping Seth find a new home right now. I’m looking at condos suggested by the real estate agent and weeding out the ones that are definite nos.”
“That’s a little above and beyond an assistant’s job.”
“True, but you never know what you’re going to need from an assistant so it’s good to have one who is versatile.”
“So, what are you finding out there?”
“In the real estate market?”
John inclined his head.
“Are you considering moving?”
“My company is looking for an apartment for long-term visitors. It’s okay to put someone up in a hotel when they are in town for a meeting or two. But when you have board members who are in town with their families or auditors or potential investors who’ll be spending a week or ten days, it’s better to have a condo they can use.”
“I saw two a few weeks ago that Seth wasn’t interested in. I can give you the name of our real estate agent and he can take you to see them.”
“I’d rather have you stop by our office, talk with staff about what we’re looking for and weed out all but three choices for us.”
“Oh.”
He pulled a card from his pocket. “My assistant’s email is on there. Contact her Monday and we can arrange for you to come in for a meeting.”
Happiness bubbled up from her chest and she knew it spread all over her face. “Okay. Thank you.”
John ambled off and Seth said, “And that’s how you network.”
She slapped the little business card against his biceps. “Come on. It was a coincidence that he was looking for a condo.”
“You think?”
She laughed but stopped suddenly, the expression on his face bringing her up short. With his dark hair and dark eyes, his black tux gave him a sexy, mysterious look that sent her pulse scrambling. Plus, he was smiling at her. Warmly. The way he had the night she got the impression that he was attracted to her.
“Before you meet with him and his staff on Monday, we’ll have to figure out a realistic amount you should charge for this service.”
“What service? If they had someone who had time to meet with a real estate agent, they wouldn’t need me to narrow their choices down for them.”
“Exactly. The point is they don’t have someone on staff who can take the time to look at condos. Thus, they hire you.”
“So, I have a temp job?”
“No. You’re a consultant. You have one of those rare opportunities where you can charge fifty or sixty thousand dollars for a few days’ work.”
She gaped at him. “Fifty or sixty thousand dollars!”
He grinned. “I know.”
A tall red-haired man approached them.
Seth pivoted to face her. “This guy needs a full-time assistant. You’ll get the extra cash from the real estate gig, but Max could actually hire you.”
When the tall, red-haired man reached them, Seth took his hand and shook it. “Max Wilson. How have you been?”
“Great!” Max said, pumping Seth’s hand.
Seth pointed to Harper. “This is my friend, Harper Hargraves.”
“Hargraves? Related to Clark?”
Once again, she barely felt a twinge of sadness. She’d always miss Clark. Always have love for him in her heart. But she needed a job. This man needed an assistant. She couldn’t blow this chance.
“Yes. He was my husband.”
“I am so sorry for your loss. Hard to believe it’s been a year.”
“Yes. A year. That’s why I’m out and about again. Even looking for a job.”
Max asked, “What kind of work are you interested in?”
“I think I’m qualified to be an assistant.”
His face brightened. “I’m losing my long-time assistant.” He shook his head. “Feels funny to even think about hiring someone to replace her.”
“I understand.” She smiled at him. “I’m new at looking for a job. At university, I ran a virtual-assistant business. I bought flowers, walked dogs, bought gifts, sent reminders. I have a child now, so I want to shift those skills into a job that’s more structured, so I can be home for dinner.”
“That makes sense.”
“But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy the challenge of being someone’s assistant. I had gotten to the point with some of my clients that I could anticipate what they needed. I kept logs of their friends’ birthdays, anniversaries, that kind of thing, and kept them on track.”
“Sounds a lot like what my assistant does.” He took out his phone, scrolled to his schedule. “If you’re interested, I have an opening at ten o’clock on Monday morning. Which means you’d need to come in at nine to talk with Human Resources first.”
“I’m definitely interested.”
“Give me your number. In case the timing doesn’t work for HR.”
She rattled off the number for her cell phone and he put it in his phone. “If you don’t hear from her you’re good for Monday at nine.”
She nodded, and Max walked away to talk to a couple across the room.
Harper pivoted to face Seth. “That was great.”
Seth beamed at her. “It was because you were great. Now you’ve conquered your I-need-a-job nervousness, you are amazing.”
He said it casually, but after the words were out of his mouth, his face changed. He blanked all emotion from it, almost as if he regretted calling her amazing.
Sadness echoed through her again. Not about Clark. About Seth. Knowing there would never ever be anything between them. After he found a house and she found a job, they might not even remain friends.
The thought brought her up short, stalled her breath. If her interview worked out and Bill Reynolds came through with a house for Seth, this might be their last “date” together.
Cocktail hour ended with everyone taking seats for the dinner. They sat with Avery and Jake, Maureen and Sabrina and Pierre, who made dinner uncomfortable by complaining that nothing was up to his standards.
At the end of the meal, when he left to talk to a friend, Jake shook his head at Sabrina. “You need to dump that guy.”
Seth said, “At the very least, send him back to France and forget his cell number.”
Maureen said nothing, but her very silence confirmed she believed what everyone else did.
Luckily, dancing began. The band played a popular song and Jake rose to dance with Avery. Maureen gave Seth a significant look.
He glanced at Harper with a smile that was totally forced. “Would you like to dance?”
Harper almost refused. But Maureen sent her the kind of look that brooked no argument and Harper knew it would be near fatal to go against the McCallan matriarch.
“I’d love to.”
By the time they got to the dance floor the song had ended. A slower song began. Seth hesitated but slid one hand around her waist as he joined their hands.
The terrible sensation of dancing with someone who didn’t want to be with her slithered through Harper at the same time she realized she was touching him. All those times her fingers had itched for it, she finally had her hand on his shoulder and her other hand held by his.
Her high heels brought them to eye level, but she didn’t dare look at him while her hand was on the soft silk of his tux, making her blood shimmer through her. She tried not to notice his hand at her waist or that the distance between them seemed to shrink with every step, as if they were being drawn together by an unseen force.
