by E A Price
Her throat felt dry, and she took a long sip of coke. It wasn’t like it was a real divorce because they weren’t really married. Though, what they did last night… Temp shook her head and tried to concentrate on her menu. Nope, she was not thinking about Harlan. Though, the fact that he had just walked in the door with a very pretty, very young woman might not help with that.
Temp sank slightly in her seat and raised her menu and tried to ignore the awful feeling in her stomach.
*
Harlan smiled tolerantly at his sister as he led her through the restaurant. Ariel gave him the impish grin that he knew all too well. It was the smile that usually said, ‘I’m telling mom and dad on you.’ Which she did, over and over when she was a kid. Like the time when he borrowed his dad’s Porsche – his old man’s pride and joy - and his date spilled a chocolate milkshake all over the seats. Harlan could easily have gotten it cleaned and returned before his dad noticed, but no, his goody-two-shoes-four-hooves sister tattled on him. She got away with it by being cute. She’d always been their dad’s favorite, not that either he or Branch begrudged her that. As infuriating as she could be, she was their baby sister, and theirs to protect, especially from males.
The waiter held out her seat for her and Harlan all but growled at him, and ushered him away. When Ariel was sitting, he started trying to lay the napkin across her lap and stopped on seeing Harlan’s expression. It was a look that told the waiter that was a good way to lose a hand. The waiter instead put it on the table and muttered something about getting them some water for the table.
“He was just helping me sit down,” chided Ariel once the waiter was gone.
“Humph. You didn’t see the way he was looking at you. He was probably trying to graze your boob as you sat down.”
Ariel rolled her eyes.
“Men do that kind of thing,” said Branch.
She gave him a curious look. “Are you saying you do that kind of thing?”
“Well…” Maybe, but not with strangers, only with women he was dating. Or his wife - yes he couldn’t deny he had taken every opportunity to brush against Tempest last night. Of course, that was before she took him home.
Harlan cleared his throat, and not just because he wanted to change the subject. If he spent too much time thinking about Tempest, he’d just get aroused and then teased by his merciless little sister.
“You know you really don’t have to escort me everywhere,” he said waspishly. His tone was more out of frustration with himself. He hadn’t been so obsessed with a female since Corinne. He could almost scent her sweet blossomy scent. Could almost feel her eyes on him, devouring him. Maybe he hadn’t even been this bad with Corinne.
Speaking of Corinne, she was the reason his family was trying their best to stick close to him. Maybe they thought he was itching to run off and sign over half their business to her. He couldn’t really blame them if they did think that.
Ariel smiled sweetly. “Can’t I just want to spend time with my big brother?”
“You never have in the past which is why I’m suspicious.”
“Well, you always tease me rotten and scare off any guys interested in me.”
“With good reason.”
He scowled at a timid looking young boy giving his sister an appreciative look. The boy quickly returned to his spaghetti – which actually looked quite appetizing. If he hadn’t just scared the boy rotten, he’d ask what it was.
“I know you’re here because you want to monitor me in case I do something crazy like give Corinne the keys to the empire.”
Ariel blinked huge eyes at him. “That’s not true.”
Harlan gave her a wry look. “Yeah, those enormous eyes may have always worked on dad, but they don’t work on me.”
Ariel raised an eyebrow.
“Most of the time,” he admitted. “You don’t need to worry; I’ve learned my lesson.”
His sister shook her head before she focused on something over his shoulder. “Never mind me, there’s a woman over there giving you the stink eye.”
Harlan glanced over his shoulder and let out a soft, happy growl. It was his wife. No wonder she felt so close – she was.
“You know her?” Ariel squinted as she tried to figure out who she was. “Isn’t that Aunt Candace with her?”
“Yes, it would appear so.”
He wondered idly whether Tempest was there because she knew he would be. He found the idea surprisingly… sexy. He had been with a few clingy women over the years, but the idea of Tempest being clingy was unexpectedly appealing. Having her follow him wouldn’t bother him at all.
Thirteen
Temp steamed behind her menu. He said he wasn’t dating anyone – said it right to her face and now here he was entertaining some young honey while she…
“Ladies.”
The silken voice sent electricity shooting through her body. She dropped her menu and gazed up at him in pleasured shock.
“Harlan, what a pleasure!” trilled Candace. “You remember Temp, don’t you? I recall seeing you together at the engagement party.”
“Of course I remember.” Harlan gave Temp a smoldering look.
Temp felt the fiery depths of embarrassment wash all over her. She mumbled a “Hi.”
He slipped a hand into his pocket and unconsciously seemed to strike a pose worthy of a male model. He certainly did stand out. In his crisp, figure-hugging suit, he looked like he’d just stepped away from a photo shoot. Everyone else in the restaurant was well dressed, but they seemed crumpled compared to him. Everyone paled in comparison to him. She was sure she wasn’t the only one who thought so. She cast a reproachful look towards the young blonde girl who was craning her neck in their direction.
“Are you two having fun?” he asked, oblivious to Temp’s crossness.
“Yes, thank you,” replied Candace, even though his attention seemed to be totally taken with Temp.
His lips twitched as Temp pouted at him. “I’m just out to lunch with my sister.”
Temp caught his gaze and something passed between them. He knew she thought he was there on a date. Knew she was jealous, and then relieved. Temp ducked her eyes. She needed to get a hold of herself.
Candace waved at the young woman who returned it enthusiastically.
“Perhaps the two of you would like to join us?” he suggested with an almost evil smile.
Candace looked at her. “Temp?”
“Umm, the restaurant is busy, so maybe they won’t want…”
Candace rose to her feet. “I’ll talk to the waiter about putting our tables together. I can be very persuasive.”
She’d have to be to get her dad into gear about this whole marriage thing. She marched off to either invade a country or get a double table – Temp wasn’t sure which. It was the kind of thing Temp would normally do. Temp could be downright pushy when it came to her work.
Harlan looked at her wryly when Candace was out of earshot. “You thought I was out on a date.”
“I didn’t say that,” she murmured. No, she didn’t have to say it.
“But you did.”
“Doesn’t matter if you were,” she said, trying not to look at all the attractive women in the restaurant giving him come hither looks. “It’s not like we’re together.” They were just married and apparently sleeping together. “You can date whoever you want.”
Harlan frowned and thought about that for a few moments. “Shouldn’t that be whomever?”
That earned him a double eye roll.
“I told you I’m not dating anyone, and I won’t while I’m married to you.”
“Oh.” She was thrilled to hear it and annoyed at herself for being thrilled.
“Now, let’s enjoy lunch shall we?”
*
“You really don’t have to drive me,” said Tempest.
“It’s my pleasure,” said Harlan. He’d managed to give Ariel the slip and was pleased to get some time alone with his wife.
Tempes
t fiddled with her belt. Perhaps she was worried he was expecting things to go the same way they did last night. He drove her home, she asked him up for coffee, and before they knew it, clothes were flying. Well, he had no intention of that happening again… unless she happened to suggest it. Because if she did, he wasn’t crazy enough to say no, but he wasn’t going to hint or anything…
He coughed. “Dry throat. Could really do with a cup of coffee.”
He really had no self-control.
“You better drop me at the center, we have coffee there, but I don’t recommend it – it’s like regurgitated sludge. One of our volunteers insists on making it because he believes his coffee making skills are legendary. Apparently, he once made coffee for Rita Hayworth, and she told him it was amazing. I don’t know if that’s true, but he’s a volunteer and sweet, so I don’t want to upset him.”
“Duly noted,” he said, somewhat disappointed.
“Your sister’s nice.”
“You just enjoyed her many embarrassing stories about me.”
“Yes, they were enjoyable,” agreed Tempest with a tinkle of laughter. “Particularly about you getting your tongue stuck to that ice sculpture – what were you thinking?”
“Aw, come on, that was a long time ago.”
“Ariel said it was two years ago.”
His phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and briefly glanced at the screen, narrowing his eyes as he saw the name. He was amazed she still had the same number after all these years – but then, so did he. He was amazed he still hadn’t learned how to delete her from his contacts.
“Want me to answer for you?” she offered.
“No, I’ll call them back later.” He tossed the phone on the dash so forcefully it almost shattered. “Have dinner with me?” he growled, and then dialed his tone back about seven notches and repeated the question.
“Dinner?” she repeated curiously.
“I have a meeting with the lawyer this afternoon, I can fill you in on what he says,” he said, explaining why he wanted to see her, though not telling her that really, he just wanted to see her for the sake of it.
“I can’t, at the center, we have a play rehearsal tonight – we’re putting on an Easter show, and we need all the practice we can get. The Easter Bunny is starting to develop stage fright.”
“Lunch tomorrow then?”
Tempest hemmed and hawed. “Do you think it’s a good idea for us to be spending so much time together?”
He pulled up in front of the center and noticed that quite a few people coming in and out of the building were slowing to stare at them. They probably recognized Temp and were wondering who she was with. He had half a mind to wrap his arm around her and shout that he was her husband.
“Perhaps we should meet in a parking garage wearing trench coats and hiding in the shadows,” he suggested slightly peevishly.
“Lunch tomorrow will be fine,” she said dryly. “Thank you for the ride, I will call you tomorrow.”
“You are very welcome,” he said cheerfully.
Tempest ducked out of the car, and Harlan didn’t bother to hide the fact that his eyes were riveted to her long legs. She saw him looking and scrunched her face in disapproval, but that only made his smile wider.
He waited, watching as she walked into the building, considering whether it would be creepy if he filmed her so he could watch the footage later… Yes, probably. Okay, definitely. It was definitely a creepy thing to do, and he needed to stop thinking like that.
When she disappeared out of sight, he picked up his phone. It had been Corinne calling him. She didn’t bother with a voicemail – she probably remembered that he never bothered to learn how to use voicemail. But when he didn’t answer, she sent him a text, telling him they needed to talk.
His attention was drawn back to the front door of the center. He was enjoying spending time with Tempest. He liked her. Liked being with her. Ordinarily, he’d be out the door by now – he didn’t like to get too attached to any female, lest he make the same mistake again, but every time he tried to pull away from her, he only drew her nearer. Besides, they did need to get together because of their impending divorce. He supposed he could communicate through the lawyer, but he didn’t want to be cold about it. Besides, he wanted to be around her – they were virtually related through his brother and her sister, and he hadn’t felt like this since… he stared at his phone and then deleted the message from Corinne.
Lord, he hoped he wasn’t making a mistake.
*
Temp bit her lip as she peeked out her window at Harlan’s car. What was he hanging about for? Maybe he couldn’t bring himself to tear himself away from her. She rolled her eyes at her own soppiness the moment she thought it and quickly moved away from the window, refusing to allow herself to look out of it again.
Her phone buzzed, and she snapped it up ridiculously quickly. Was she really hoping he was texting her from outside her building?
Oh. She deflated a little as she saw a returned message from Eric. It was nothing intense, just a ‘hey, how are you’ and asking if she wanted to grab a coffee and catch up in person. This was what she was hoping for. She wanted to meet and say ‘hey, can I have your sperm?’ Temp looked at the window. It was just really bad timing. She couldn’t be asking for a guy’s sperm while indulging in a strange, casual relationship with the reindeer shifter she happened to be married to!
Jeez, when had her life turned into a cheesy soap opera?
Temp ignored the message for the moment and instead tried to throw herself into some work.
Fourteen
Temp looked askance at Harlan as he sauntered towards her.
He gave her an easy smile. “Something wrong?”
“Still trying to figure out how I agreed to invite you to lunch.”
Candace invited her to lunch again. Her dad would be there, and both of them wanted her input on the upcoming wedding. Despite her misgivings, Temp wanted to support Candace, wanted to make it as easy as possible for her, given that the likelihood of her dad running out on her was quite high. She’d actually already seen more of Candace than any of her other stepmothers.
Temp didn’t mind going to lunch with them – particularly as Candace clearly liked the same restaurants she did – but it meant she couldn’t make lunch with Harlan. However, when she called, and she explained, somehow she ended up inviting him to lunch anyway. It was strange; she had no idea how it happened. Although, she wasn’t irritated to have him there, actually kind of relieved and pleased – not just because she liked his company, but because the more witnesses there, the less likely it was she would go for her dad’s throat if he started waxing lyrical on marriage. He had this awful habit of getting all smug and poetic about relationships whenever he was about to get married again.
Harlan’s smile widened. “I seem to recall you begging me to come with you.”
Temp snorted. “Like I would beg for anything.”
His smile nearly turned feral, and Temp flushed as she remembered what happened a couple of nights ago, and yeah, he had her begging…
She cleared her throat. “Anyway, shall we go in?”
Harlan took her elbow and gave her a look of concern. “Are you okay? You look like you’re about to face a firing squad. You look how I do whenever I have to tell my mother I can’t make Sunday lunch.”
“Really?”
“She’s a crier and an emotional blackmailer.” He rubbed his thumb over her arm. “So what’s wrong?”
Temp shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong really. My dad just does this a lot.”
“Take you out to lunch?”
“No,” Temp scoffed, “he rarely does that. He gets all excited over a woman, proposes, gets enthusiastic and smug about how this is the one and how they’re going to be together forever, and then either before the wedding or a month into the marriage, something goes wrong, and he either finds someone new or drives them away until they do. We do this all the time, a
nd I’m just a little tired of it.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Harlan slowly. His blue eyes almost burned into her, regarding her with a thoughtful expression.
Maybe she shouldn’t have said all that. Candace was a friend of his – maybe he would persuade her to end the engagement. If anything, he was a very persuasive guy. She didn’t want to be the one who ruined her dad’s relationship. He was quite capable of doing that on his own.
“I mean,” she stammered, “Candace… ah… You won’t…”
“Candace is a very level-headed woman – if she wishes to marry your dad, that’s entirely her decision, and even if I wanted to interfere, she wouldn’t listen to me. But I don’t like the idea that his actions hurt you though.”
“He doesn’t do it on purpose.”
“I cannot bear to see you hurt,” he said almost fiercely.
Her breath caught in her throat as she stared into those dazzling blue eyes, into the almost savage look on his handsome face.
“Ah…”
“There you are!” called Candace. “Harlan, this is an unexpected surprise.”
Temp virtually squeaked and tried to jump away from his grip, but he held onto her, keeping her close to him. If Candace thought there was anything odd about that, she certainly didn’t show it.
“I hope you don’t mind me joining you,” said Harlan, as calmly and easily as always. Clearly, his heart wasn’t pounding like a drum as hers was.
“Not at all,” trilled Candace, “our table is this way.”
Harlan started trying to lead her and Temp managed to twist away from him.
“I just need the bathroom; I’ll catch up.”
He gave her a long look – as if he was actually considering coming with her, which was surely mad! Then he nodded and told her he would see her in a few moments. It was odd the way he said it – she almost got the feeling that if she took too long, he would actually come looking for her. She was getting an unexpected possessive feeling from him – which was doing nothing to ease her fluttering.
