by Susan Meier
Her dad said, “Can you stay for lunch?”
Harper’s stomach growled. “I haven’t even had breakfast. If you wanted to feed me now, I’d be overjoyed.”
Amelia rose and handed the baby to Harper’s dad. “Let me talk to the maid. I’ll bet she can have something ready in a half an hour.”
“Wait.” Harper rummaged through her diaper bag and pulled out the two just-in-case bottles she’d brought for the baby. “Can you put these in the refrigerator?”
“Absolutely.”
When her mom was gone, Harper glanced at her dad. Crystal sat on his lap, patting his face. “She likes you.”
“She should. I adore her.”
Harper smiled, though her chest tightened. Her parents were a tad crazy, but a baby mitigated that. Or maybe Crystal brought out their softer side. Whatever the reason, this visit was going well, taking Harper’s mind off Seth and into neutral territory.
“So, how’s business?”
“Ridiculous,” her dad said, with a sigh. “I can’t keep up. I’ll be hiring two new vice presidents in the next six months and the staff to go with them.”
She almost asked if any one of those people he was hiring would need an assistant, but she stopped herself. Her parents’ good, benevolent mood would die a needless death if she mentioned how desperately she needed a job.
Her mother sauntered into the room. “I’m back.” She immediately took Crystal from her husband. “Brunch in thirty minutes.”
“Thanks, Mom.” It felt good to say that, good to mean it.
They chatted about Crystal until the maid came into the room and announced brunch was served. Harper was surprised to find her parents had a high chair with the proper padding and straps to balance a now four-month-old baby.
She ate eggs and toast, bacon and potatoes and topped it off with cheese blintzes and coffee.
“I’m stuffed.”
“I’m glad to see you eat.” Her dad reached across the table and patted her hand. “You’re so damned skinny.”
Amelia brushed away his concern. “She’s fashionably thin.”
“I liked her better with a little meat on her bones.”
Her mother sighed. “Seriously, Pete. You’re so behind the times.” She turned to Harper. “What does Seth think?”
The reminder of Seth stole all the air from Harper’s lungs.
What did he think? That he’d like to sleep with her. Without a commitment. No strings attached. No tomorrow.
She said the only thing that came to mind. “We haven’t gotten that far in our relationship.”
Her mom gasped. “You haven’t slept together?”
“Amelia!”
She glanced at her husband. “What? It’s a perfectly normal question in today’s world. Especially since Harper doesn’t want to let him get away.”
“Away from what, Mom?” And they were back to their old relationship. The one that made Harper crazy. “Should I get a rope and lasso him? Or maybe drag him to the justice of the peace and force him to put a ring on my finger when he doesn’t want to?”
“I’m just saying...”
“Things aren’t like what they were when you were young. Marriage isn’t the first thing people consider when they date someone.” The lie stuck on her tongue. Not because it was a lie but because nothing about what she had with Seth, what she felt for Seth, was normal. They weren’t dating. But they were living together. When they’d begun living together, they hadn’t been interested in each other romantically. Now...
Now...
She thought he was fun and smart and extremely generous.
But he only wanted to sleep with her.
She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and arranged for a car to pick her up.
Her mother’s eyes dimmed with concern. “Honey, don’t leave because I said something you don’t like. I agree our generations are different about how we see life and especially relationships. I didn’t mean to upset you or criticize what you have with Seth. Sit down. Have some more coffee.”
“I’m fine. I need to get Crystal to bed anyway.” And maybe face Seth. Tell him she was not made for what he wanted.
“It’s just that you seemed to have had a totally different relationship with Clark. I recognize you were younger. But he pulled you away from us. Seth seems to be making you comfortable being around us.”
Anger burst through her. “First of all, Clark did not pull me away from you.” But he also didn’t encourage her to visit. In fact, most times she’d planned to see her parents, he’d made bigger, better plans.
She sucked in a breath. Shook her head to clear it because she didn’t want to think about that. Not now. Not today. Maybe not ever.
“Second, it wasn’t Seth’s idea for me to visit you today.” But he had told her to give her mom a break, not be so hard on her. And he’d created the charade that they were dating to help Harper get through the situation that Clark had left them in.
Her mother rose from the table and began unbuckling Crystal’s high-chair restraints. “You know what? We had a lovely visit today. And I don’t want to ruin that by an offhand remark that rubbed you the wrong way. I love that you’re dating Seth. I won’t lie. But I love that you visited more.”
“I liked the visit, too.” She had. And she wasn’t even angry with her mom. She was angry with herself because comparing Seth and Clark had her head spinning. Clark had been a great guy.
But he’d kept her from her parents and he’d left her broke.
All because he liked keeping up appearances, too.
* * *
Not wanting to sit around the house and mope, looking like a loser, Seth drove to Jake and Avery’s house in Pennsylvania and dropped in on them unexpectedly. When he arrived at the huge house surrounded by trees, he could see the happy couple sitting on Adirondack chairs in the backyard near the pool. He drove his car up their long lane and walked across the lawn to greet them.
“Hey.”
Jake set the paper he was reading on a convenient table and rose. “Hey! What brings you out here?”
Seth bent and kissed Avery’s cheek. “I don’t know.”
“Where’s Harper?”
“She left for the day. Visiting her parents.”
And it was killing him. He’d never wanted a woman he couldn’t have before. At least none that he remembered—
He frowned. Maybe he just had a really good PR system in his brain that made him believe he was irresistible?
Or maybe those other women hadn’t had babies that kept him from being able to kiss them?
Because he couldn’t explain any of that to his happily married brother without telling him he wasn’t really dating Harper, he said the first valid excuse that came to mind. “But I wanted to talk to Avery. I’m getting a new condo and I thought I’d get some insights.”
Avery perked up. “Where are you looking?”
“Everywhere. I can’t decide between a really lavish condo or a house in Connecticut.”
Jake laughed. “A house in Connecticut?”
“I’m thirty-one. I live in a condo that I bought when I was twenty-six, just becoming successful. I want something...” He gestured broadly. “Something that says...”
Unable to figure out what to say, he left the sentence hang.
Avery motioned for him to take a seat. Jake headed toward the big deck. “I’ll get some lemonade.”
As soon as the sliding glass doors closed behind Jake, Avery turned to Seth. “Okay, now that he’s gone, tell me what’s really going on with Harper. Did you have a fight?”
“No. Sort of. A little one.” And that was all he was saying. Honesty was one thing, but he would not tell his sister-in-law he wanted to sleep with Harper, not get into something permanent. That would spoil the charade, too.
�
�I really do need help figuring out what I want in a new place to live.”
Avery inclined her head. “Tell me why you want to move.”
“I want a home that’s more me. Something that not the home of a guy just beginning to make it.”
“And you’ll need more of a home for a family?”
“No.” His brain almost scrambled trying to keep up with what was real and what was a charade. He decided he might as well do with Avery what he’d done with his mom. Disabuse her of any happily-ever-after notions.
“Look, don’t get too invested in me and Harper. You know my relationships don’t last. I just want a nice home. A good place to have parties.”
Though Avery’s eyes filled with curiosity, she took the cue and didn’t question him. “And you said lavish?”
He laughed. “You know what I’d like? A den. My condo is open floorplan so the TV’s right there in the sitting room, which bumps up against the dining area. Everybody can see everything. I’d like a den.”
“So that you could have a formal living room?”
“Yes. And a bigger master bedroom.”
“Okay. How about the kitchen?”
“The kitchen could be nonexistent if it was only me. But I’ll need a kitchen for a caterer.”
“Okay. Big kitchen.”
They discussed a few more details of what Seth wanted. Jake arrived with the lemonade and took his seat.
“So how far did we get in the discussion of Seth and Harper?”
Seth groaned.
Avery gave her husband a significant look. “You know it’s against family rules to be pushy about relationships. And speaking of that, you shouldn’t have said anything about Pierre last night at dinner.”
“He’s a tool.”
“And Sabrina loves him.”
“I don’t think she does,” Jake said. “I think he pushed his way into her life and she just got accustomed to him.”
Avery frowned. “Hmm. Now that you mention it, he was different in the beginning. Pushy might actually be the word for it.”
“Pushy is exactly the word for it,” Seth said.
The subject of Pierre died, and they drank their lemonade and talked about things Seth should look for in a new home. Twenty minutes later the baby monitor beside Avery squawked with the sounds of their one-year-old daughter, Abby, waking from her nap.
“I better go get her.”
Avery raced into the house and Jake sat back on his seat. “So, what’s really going on with Harper?”
Seth cut his brother a look. He had the same feeling he’d gotten the last time Jake had asked him about Harper, and it seemed wrong to be less than honest with him. He might not be able to discuss the ruse, but that wasn’t his only problem with Harper. “I told her last night I wanted to sleep with her.”
Jake winced. “You’re not sleeping together?”
“In the beginning we were reluctant because Clark and I had been friends. But now, things are different. She’s different. I think we should have an affair.”
“And she wants to get married?”
“I’m not sure. But she knows I don’t.” He almost cursed. He hated talking about this kind of stuff. Even with Jake. “It’s not like people don’t have affairs. You had your share of them.”
“True.”
“And it’s not like I didn’t give fair warning, so she has time to think about it. We both have time to make sure it’s the right thing. After all, she was Clark’s wife.” A wave of guilt hit him. The remorse about Clark that he’d felt before.
He groaned. “I’m paying back my debt to Clark by wanting to sleep with his wife.”
“She’s not his wife anymore,” Jake said gently. “Seth, Clark is gone. And this might turn into something.”
“It won’t.” He ran his hand down his face. He was tempting Clark’s widow with an affair. Not marriage. Not even a relationship. Just an affair. Guilt rose in another warm wave. “You know how I am. I’m not the guy who’s going to settle down like you did.”
“How do you know?”
“A million things. Mostly Mom and Dad’s sham of a marriage.” He shook his head. “It all seems like a trap to me. A prison. I’ll never shake that. I can tell the minute a woman begins thinking about something permanent with me, and I run. Eventually I’d run from Harper, too.”
“Then I think you need to send your real estate agent the list of things you want in a house and tell him to get a move on. You liked Clark too much to hurt Harper.”
“Exactly.”
Avery walked out holding Abby and the little girl nestled her face into her mom’s neck when she saw Seth.
As Jake pulled the baby from Avery’s arms, he leaned in for a quick kiss with Avery.
Seth watched in amazement. The trick to kissing a woman with a child seemed to be taking control of the baby.
“What’s this?” Jake tickled Abby’s tummy. “Are you shy with Uncle Seth?”
She buried herself even deeper into Jake’s shoulder.
Seth shook off his thoughts about kissing a woman with a baby because he didn’t need them now that he had his thoughts about Harper straightened out. He looked at his niece with new affection since Crystal had taught him how to be around a child.
“I can’t believe how big she is.”
“One year,” Avery said proudly. She sidled up beside Jake, slid her arm around his waist.
Seth saw that too. Even a one-year-old didn’t get in the way of her and Jake being affectionate.
“We’re thinking about having another baby.”
“Or six,” Jake said casually.
Seth almost choked. His stiff and stoic brother wasn’t merely casually affectionate with the woman he’d married. Now, he was thinking about having six kids? “You kind of hinted that in Paris.”
Jake, a guy who had lived and breathed the McCallan legacy, finally had a life. A real life. And was happy. Though the temptation to tease him rose up in Seth, he couldn’t tease about that. Not today.
Abby pulled away from her dad and looked at Seth. With her dark hair, round face and happy green eyes, she was the perfect combination of her parents.
“Hey, Abby.”
She frowned.
“Come on. You can’t be afraid of me. I’m Uncle Seth. I’m the one who will buy you the best birthday presents.”
Abby’s brow wrinkled.
Seth laughed. “I’m willing to wait until you’re five for you to like me.”
He reached out and kissed Avery’s cheek, chucked Abby’s chin and said, “Okay, I’m off. I’ll see you tomorrow, bro.”
Jake said, “Unless you’re meeting with your real estate agent.”
“Right.”
The three-hour drive home gave Seth plenty of time to call Bill and talk in detail about what he wanted in his new condo. Always eager to please, Bill told him he would dig a little deeper and, satisfied, Seth disconnected the call.
He stopped at a nearby restaurant and picked up Chinese for supper.
Obviously glad for the food, Harper said, “Great,” as he arrived with the bags.
But there was an elephant in the room between them. She hadn’t answered his proposition. And despite his conversation with his brother, Seth still wanted her to say yes.
They sat at the table. Both dished out their food.
“Where’s Crystal?”
“Sleeping.”
“I went to see my niece today.” Instead, he’d noticed at least two ways men and women could touch and kiss around a child.
Surprised, she glanced up at him. “You did?”
“Actually, I was talking with Avery about what I’d want in a condo and Abby woke from her nap.”
Harper didn’t say anything, and Seth realized his mistake. Harper was supposed to be helping
him find a new home. “It isn’t that I don’t trust your judgment. It was more that I had no idea myself what I wanted. She helped drag some things out of me.”
She ran her chopsticks through her food, playing with it more than eating it. Seth almost groaned.
Would he ever get anything right with this woman?
“What kind of things did she drag out of you?”
“A den, for one. A separate room for the TV and the sitting area. A bigger kitchen. A master that’s more like a suite.”
The hurt in her voice lessened. “That’s all good.”
“I called Bill. He’s on the hunt for a few new places and he’ll be calling you tomorrow.”
She brightened a bit. “Good. I also have that interview tomorrow.”
That’s right. Max really had seemed interested. “And you have to call John Gardner about the condo for his company.”
“I thought I’d call him first, maybe set a time for the afternoon with his people while I’m still dressed for the interview.”
Seth laughed. “Good thinking.”
And just like that, they were friends again. Seth would have breathed a sigh of relief except something about them easily being able to forgive and forget settled into his gut. A feeling he’d never felt before. Not relief. Not exactly contentment. Something rich and right and totally foreign.
He’d had girlfriends. He had tons of friends. He had a brother and sister he was now close to. But this was different. This was special.
He told himself that was ridiculous, then watched a playoff game with her to prove to himself they could still be friends.
When it was time for bed, as they walked down the hall to their respective rooms, he remembered kissing her the night before, but tonight he didn’t stop. He reminded himself that Clark had been his friend and if he really wanted to thank him for helping him get on his feet, he wouldn’t hurt Harper.
No matter how flipping much he wanted to kiss her.
And now he knew how—take control of the baby.
He raced to his room. He would not hurt her, not kiss her and certainly not proposition her again.
