by Ann Carver
They were both sore from all the physical labor. Which Joe hated. He was an EMT and worked his ass off every night. But that work was different, and today he was using different muscles. When they got to Joe’s apartment, Harper started dinner while Joe hit the shower.
The hot water poured over his face as he exhaled his exhaustion out. His thoughts drifted back to Harper when he’d watched her upstairs. The way her ass jiggled and most likely her breasts too. He closed his eyes tightly. He didn’t want to think of her in that way. She was so damned happy knocking that wall down. Her smile. Her laughter.
Shit! With closed eyes, he lathered his hands with soap. Cursing himself and closing his eyes tighter, he put one hand on the wall then wrapped the other around his erection and stroked himself.
When he walked into the kitchen, Harper was already eating. He was embarrassed to even look at her after what he’d done in the shower. At least she didn’t know and he was never going to tell her. No way!
“Damn, Joey,” she muttered between bites. “Took long enough. Is there any hot water left for me?”
Joe groaned. “It’s Joe and yes, there’s enough hot water. What did you make?” he asked pointing at the plate.
She only moved her eyes up and looked at him as if he was an idiot. “Uh, steak and potatoes…Joey!”
This time he groaned to himself. She knew how to get right on his last nerve and shake the shit out of it. He wasn’t mad at her though. He was mad at himself for jerking off in the shower while thinking of her.
“Oh,” was all he said as he sat down in silence and ate.
Thankfully, Harper had been too busy eating to carry a conversation as well. Which was just fine with him. When she’d finished before him, she put her plate in the sink and took a shower. Joe finished his steak, which was perfect, and retired to the couch. He turned on the TV and rested his head on the back of the couch.
“Hey,” he heard Harper say.
He opened one eye to see her wrapped only in a towel. He shot straight up. “What are you doing, Harper? Where are your clothes?”
She gave him a look. “What’s your childhood trauma? I forgot to take my clothes. Besides, you’ve seen it all before. Remember?”
He coughed. Or choked. “That was almost a decade ago. Things…grow,” he said feeling like an ass.
She laughed at him. “Boobs are still boobs whether they’re big or small. And vaginas -”
“Stop!” he interrupted before she could go further. “Not talking about those. I draw the line. Nope. Not going there.”
Now she was laughing even harder at him. He didn’t like it one bit, but he was not going to talk about vaginas. Boobs were one thing, but not vaginas.
“Aw, poor Joey,” she said walking toward him swaying her hips. “Are you getting all flustered talking about boobs and vaginas?” She knelt in front of him and parted his legs, then moved into the space.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Damnit, Harper. I said no va…va…damnit, I said no!”
She leaned forward and he could see her cleavage. She wasn’t completely dry and the water drops looked like diamonds on her skin. He wanted to lick them off.
No! No, he did not want to do that. Harper was his friend. That’s it!
“Joey,” she said in a sweet-as-hell voice. “Want a peek?” she asked as she slowly began to unravel the knot that was holding the towel up.
He growled at her. Or maybe groaned, he wasn’t sure. “Harper, for the love of stars, you’re nuts.”
She stretched up and kissed him quickly on the cheek. “Yup,” she said in her normal voice as she stood. “And you love me for it.” She winked at him and went to her suitcase where she pulled clothes out and changed in the bathroom.
He must have had a temporary lapse…or a brain tumor. He wasn’t going to fall for Harper again. And to help him aid in that, he thought about the rumors of her sleeping with his brothers. That deflated the erection he had in point zero seconds.
Chapter Seven
Harper woke and realized three things. It was Saturday and she didn’t have to cook dinner that night. Second, Joe wasn’t in bed and lastly, the smell of bacon filled the air. She climbed out of bed and made her way to the kitchen where Joey was cooking, in his boxers only.
She sneaked up behind him and tugged on his boxers. “Don’t you know that girl’s fantasies are a guy cooking in the buff?” She giggled and reached for a piece of bacon that was on a plate.
“I’m not your fantasy,” he said flatly. “And, if you eat all the bacon now, you don’t get any when the waffles are done.”
He wasn’t her fantasy, but that hadn’t stopped her before. Actually, she’d never had a fantasy. She knew they’d never come true, so why bother? Her dreams were her subconscious, so they didn’t count either.
“Waffles? You made waffles?” she asked excitedly. “Do you have buttery syrup and powdered sugar to put on them?”
“Right there,” he said pointing toward the table.
She turned and saw the buttery syrup and powdered sugar on her side of the table. Her heart actually skipped a beat. Not many people had done special things for her. The fact that he remembered how she liked her waffles was amazing.
“I can’t believe you remembered,” she said softly.
He shrugged his shoulder. “We’ve been friends forever. I should know a thing or two about you,” he said as if it were no big deal.
It was a big deal. A huge deal. He’d let her come into his home and stay, helped at the block house, bought her powdered donuts…twice, and now this? She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from getting emotional. She hated that.
“Thanks, Joey,” she said giving him a hug from behind. She hugged him just a little longer than normal so she could hide her face from his. She didn’t want him to see her emotions.
Joe shrugged again and pulled the bacon out of the pan. “All set,” he said taking the bacon to the table where he sat down and began to eat.
Harper loaded her plate with a giant waffle and bacon. Then she proceeded to drown the waffle with the buttery syrup and sprinkled it with powdered sugar…like it was a blizzard with two feet of snow. She closed her eyes and groaned at the first dripping bite. It was a little piece of ecstasy.
“Do you need to be alone with your waffle?” Joe asked.
Without opening her eyes, she said, “Maybe,” and went back to eating.
She wasn’t sure if he talked to her anymore because it had been so long since she’d had waffles. She was in her own little world, enjoying every second of it. When she finally finished her last bite, she sank back in her chair and smiled. “That was better than sex,” she said.
Joe raised a brow at her. “Then someone’s not doing it right.”
Laughing, she replied, “Well, you’re included in that list, so what’s that say for you?”
He shot her a look and without saying a word, he put his plate in the sink and walked out of the kitchen.
What the hell? She asked herself. What was he always so touchy about? It made her angry instantly. She stormed down the hall after him where he was pulling on shorts. “Why do you keep walking away from me?”
Joe turned and shot her a look. “I don’t know why you always have to bring up the fact that we slept together. I get that it didn’t mean anything to either one of us, but why can’t you just drop it? I just want us to be friends,” he said raising his voice slightly.
“It’s called teasing, Joey. What happened to you? You’ve changed so much I don’t even recognize you anymore,” she spat back at him as the hurt filtered in. Sleeping with Joey had meant something to her, but the next day when he acted like nothing happened, she assumed it meant nothing to him.
He ran his fingers through his hair and cursed. “It’s Joe,” he growled, “and people grow up, Harper. They change.”
Not wanting to hear anymore, she gave him the finger, turned on her heels, and walked straight out the door. It didn’t dawn on
her until she was sitting her in truck that she was in her pajamas. She shrugged it off and drove to the block house.
Without having shoes, she settled into the house doing light work. She washed walls, weeded the flower beds, cleaned cupboards and shelves and swept floors that really didn’t need it. When she felt like she couldn’t do much more without the proper attire, she settled on searching for contractors for electrical, plumbing, and the roof.
Joe noticed right away that she didn’t deny the fact that them having had sex meant nothing. He shouldn’t care because he was over her, but it still hurt like hell. He hated that she walked out and he should have gone after her, but he’d still been angry too.
Instead of going after her, he finished getting dressed and met friends for a game of basketball. Of course, he was off his game and got harassed, but he continued to beat the pavement taking his frustration out on the court.
“What’s got you off your game?” Taylor asked snickering at him.
“Not a damn thing,” he said quickly.
Taylor laughed at him. So did Bobby, Dylan and Vinny. “You’re so full of shit. Does it have anything to do with the red head Vinny saw you with?”
Joe slid a look at Vinny, who waggled his brows. “Hey, if you’re not making a move…”
“Fuck off,” Joe said checking him in the shoulder as he walked past him.
“Dude, she’d done just about everyone back in the day. Does she still, Joe?” Bobby asked with laughter.
Everyone started laughing. Except Joe. It’s not that he told lie. He didn’t. It was more that they judged her without really knowing her. They didn’t know that she felt empty inside. She’d felt abandoned her whole life, being left in foster care, never knowing her biological parents.
Without a single thought, Joe punched Bobby right in the eye. Things got blurry after that. Literally, because a fist connected with his eye next. Fists were swinging. People were yelling and cursing until he felt arms around his waist, pulling him away.
“Dude, what’s going on? Why the hell did you hit Bobby?” Vinny asked.
Dylan and Taylor were holding Bobby back, who looked like he wanted to shred him to pieces. Bobby was as tall as Joe, but on the lanky side. That didn’t mean he couldn’t do his fair share of fighting. He had been known to take down some of the biggest brutes in school by his quickness.
“He doesn’t need to talk about Harper like that. He doesn’t know her,” he growled through clenched teeth.
Bobby looked at Joe with fire in his eyes and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. “It’s the fucking truth, asshole,” he yelled.
Joe tried breaking free from Vinny, but Taylor quickly jumped in between them holding his hand out. “Woah, wait a minute,” he shouted. “This ends now! You guys have been friends for years and have to work together. Don’t fuck it up for the rest of us and make it awkward.”
“She’s changed,” Joe said through gritted teeth, even though he knew it was a lie. “Besides, you don’t get to talk about her like that. Out of respect for me, you owe me that!”
Bobby’s eyes calmed. “Fine,” he said through the same gritted teeth.
“Good. Now kiss and make up, girls,” Taylor said.
Both men stared each other down before Bobby finally stuck his hand out. Joe held out a few seconds longer, but finally extended his hand and they shook.
“All right, girls. Get your assess home and cleaned up. Get a drink or seven, pass-the-fuck-out, and be ready for work later,” Taylor said laughing at them.
Joe didn’t want to go home or get a drink. He was too hyped up and if he drank, he knew he’d get into more trouble. He was too tired to go to sleep, even if he had to work later that night.
The last place he wanted to be was exactly where ended up. At the block house where Harper was. He sat out in his truck for a good twenty minutes before going into the house. He found her sweeping the carpet-less floor in the living room with her back to him. He leaned a shoulder on the frame of the door and watched her.
“Took you long enough to come in, asshole,” she said full of attitude. “You’ve been sitting out there for an hour.”
“Twenty minutes,” he corrected her.
Silence fell between the two while she kept sweeping the floor with her back toward him. He crossed his arms still watching her. She was barefoot and in her pajama’s. Her hair was piled on top of her head in some kind of messy bun with strands dangling down. She was beautiful.
She stopped moving and hit the broom on the floor a couple of times. “Okay, well it was great you stopped by,” she said filled with piss and vinegar as she turned around. Her eyes widened. “Oh my gosh! What happened?” she shrieked as she dropped the broom and moved quickly toward him.
Shrugging his shoulder, he pushed off the frame of the door. “It’s nothing.”
“Nothing?” she said with scrunched eyes. “Your eye is swollen and bleeding,” she said as her fingers touched lightly near his eye. Then she touched his jaw. “Joey,” she whispered. “Your jaw is swollen too. What happened?”
Joe winced when her fingers touched his aching skin. Bobby had gotten him good with three punches. One to the eye, jaw, and side of the head. It hurt like hell now, which was only an indication of what it was going to feel like later.
“It was nothing,” he said. There was no way in hell he was going to tell her what Bobby said. He didn’t want to lie to her, so he figured he’d plead the fifth.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “It was something. What the hell happened?”
He pulled her hands down and held them. “Harper, don’t take this the wrong way,” he said before he pulled her into him and put his mouth to hers. He moved his lips on hers until she parted, inviting him in. It was one invitation he wasn’t going to refuse. He slid his tongue along hers which produced a moan. He wasn’t sure if it was him or her, and he didn’t care. He wrapped his lips around her tongue and sucked, producing a moan from her. This time he was pretty sure it was her. When he was done ravaging her tongue, he settled on her lips and kissed her until they had to stop for air.
When they parted, she slowly opened her eyes. They were heavy and satisfied. “What was that for?” she asked softly.
His lips curled up, even with the pain. “I wanted to make my lips happy,” he said as he gently ran his fingers over her ear and down her neck.
Then, he turned and walked out the door to his truck and left.
Chapter Eight
Harper stood in complete and utter shock as Joey walked away. She knew he’d just kissed the living daylights out of her, but what she didn’t know, is why? She just knew it had to do with the obvious fight he was in. Who had he fought with and what made him come to her? She finally shook the confusion from her head and continued to sweep the floor for the next hour, thinking about the way his lips felt on hers.
The drive to Joey’s apartment was agonizing. Her and Joey were friends, so why did he kiss her like that? There had been something off about him the minute she first saw him after returning to Harpers Ridge. He’d changed and wasn’t the care-free, fun-loving guy he used to be. He seemed cold most of the time.
Not wanting to bother herself with things she didn’t know, she decided to drive around the Shenandoah Valley to take in all the beauty she hadn’t seen in so long. When hunger finally threatened to kill her, she drove to Joey’s apartment. She’d tried staying out as long as possible so she didn’t have to see him. He had to work that night and in either case, she didn’t want to wake him either.
When she pulled into the parking lot, Joey’s truck was nowhere to be seen. She thanked her lucky stars and quickly made her way inside. Not knowing if he’d show back up before work, she showered in record time, dressed and went to the Dancing Pony.
The Dancing Pony was the happening place on Saturday nights in Harpers Ridge. There wasn’t any competition, so the choices were limited…rather, nonexistent. Looking around, she noticed every table was filled with p
eople laughing, drinking, and having a good time. She spotted an empty seat at the bar and planted her butt in it.
“What’re you having,” a guy asked before she even had time to shift comfortably in the hard stool.
“I’ll have a Coke,” she said as she looked up at a hotter-than-hell dark, luscious, hunk of a man.
He quickly raised a brow. “With jack…rum?”
She smiled. Well, she thought she smiled because his hotness melted her skin into a droopy mess. “Uh, no, just coke, please.”
He smiled and the whole room lit up like the grand finale of fireworks. He nodded his head and winked at her. “Living large tonight, huh?”
Her breath caught. “Uh, huh.”
“Right on that, sweet thing,” he said and walked away.
“Damn,” she muttered to herself. “Did the sun just hit the Earth? It’s hot in here.” She fanned her face wishing for an ice age to hit, instantly.
“Harper?” someone asked her. “Harper Fiore?”
Still fanning her face, she turned and saw an old high school friend, Lila. They had met in math class. Lila was a lot like Harper. She’d been put in foster care, with her sister, at the age of seven when her parents were killed in a car accident. They had been adopted right away and lived a good life. They’d connected over their misfortune and it grew into a good friendship. Not as good of a friendship as she had with Joey, but still good.
“Lila!” she shrieked as she stood and hugged her friend she hadn’t seen in years.
“What the hell brings you back to this hell-hole?” Lila asked, hugging her back.
Harper hadn’t known how much she missed her old friends and town. They welcomed her back, even with her troubled past, like she never imagined possible. She finally felt a sense of something.
The chair next to Harper’s opened up and Lila sat down. “My foster parents passed away a little while ago. They left me the block house, so I decided to come back and fix it up.”
