by Ann Carver
Chapter Twelve
Joe mostly flipped through the channels trying to find something to distract him from thinking about Harper. She was probably splayed out in his bed with her little tank top and shorts pj’s writhing around under the sheets waiting for him. He wished! But dammit, he had to quit thinking about it. They didn’t love each other and they weren’t going there. He wasn’t going there. He hoped.
When his lids began weighing down, he dragged himself off to bed. He contemplated sleeping on the couch, but something seemed to urge him to his own comfortable bed. Harper. Even though he wasn’t going to touch her, he’d grown used to having her in his bed.
He’d stripped down to his boxers and quietly climbed in, hoping not to wake her. As soon as he fluffed his pillow and exhaled his day away, Harper wrapped herself around him as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do. He liked feeling her, but it also made him feel something else. An erection.
She nestled her lips so near to his neck that he could feel the condensation building up on his neck. That alone kept him hard. Every so often, she’d whimper in her sleep as if having a nightmare. She’d clutch onto him just a little tighter as he found himself wondering what was going on in her pretty, little head.
But all that thinking led him to other questions. Like, what had she done in the years she’d left? How many men had she’d been with? Had any of them been decent human beings? What made her think she had to be that way? His head spun until he fell asleep.
Harper woke bright and early with a big smile on her face. She’d had a great time on the date with Joey and she was currently wrapped around him, feeling safe and warm. He’d come to bed late and she didn’t want to wake him, so she wiggled out as quietly as possible. She dressed, ate a quick breakfast, and drove to the block house.
The first thing on her list was to start putting the tile down in the kitchen. She had looked up, on YouTube, how to install it and was confident she could do it herself and save some money.
An hour later, she had one row completed. It was actually more difficult than she had anticipated, but after watching a few more videos from her phone, and a lot of cussing, she was finally satisfied with the second row.
Before she began the third row, the electrician showed up. She quickly made her way outside and introduced herself to a handsome twelve-year-old electrician. Well, he looked twelve anyways.
“Um, here are the papers the electric company gave me. They said you’d need them to have an idea of where to start,” she said reluctantly handing over the papers. “Uh, is there someone else with you?” she asked thinking he was a twelve-year-old kid helping his dad.
“Nope, I’m your guy,” he said with a playful smile.
“Uh, okay,” she said still holding back.
He winked at her. “I’m twenty-two by the way. I’ve been doing this with my pop since I was fourteen.”
Harper knew her eyes widened. “Oh, um, okay,” she said nervously. He’d seen right through her and she felt like a jerk and wished she could crawl under a bush and hide.
The man that looked like a kid laughed at her. “I’m Kevin, I’ll get started on this right away. Will you be staying or should I call you when I’m finished for the day?” His eyes ran over the papers. “It’ll probably take me a couple of days to get this done.”
“I’ll be here most of the day,” she said sadly. She was hoping it’d be a one day job, but she wanted it done right and his company had high reviews.
“All right, Harper, if I need anything, I’ll come find you. And, don’t worry, everyone thinks I’m way too young to be doing this.” He winked at her again and walked around the back of the house.
She shook her head and giggled to herself before turning to go back to the kitchen. As she started walking up the porch, another truck pulled into the driveway. It was Vinny. She walked back out and greeted him.
“Hey, Harper,” he said as he got out of his truck.
“Hi, Vinny,” she said with a smile. “Are you starting today?”
“Yeah, I finished up another job early and have time.” He looked up into the sky, then back down at her. “The weather is supposed to be really nice this week, so I thought I’d get started before we get any late summer rain storms.”
“What can I help you with?” she asked.
Vinny shook his head. “I got it. Today, I’m just going to start tearing off the old roof. It’ll probably fill your dumpster, so I’ll call and have them dump it.”
“Okay, the electrician is here and will be back tomorrow as well, but I don’t think you guys will be in each other’s way. I’m putting down tile in the kitchen, so if you need me, just yell.”
“Putting down tile yourself?” Vinny asked surprised.
Her hands went to her hips. “Yes, I’m quite capable,” she said with attitude.
Vinny put his hands in the air. “I didn’t mean anything like that by it. I just figured Joe would be in there helping you. You two make a good couple,” he said sincerely.
“Oh,” she said as she relaxed her hands to her side. Then she shook her head. “We’re not together like that. We’re just friends.”
“If you say so,” he said and started pulling a ladder off his truck.
“Vinny,” she said wanting to get to the bottom of this. He turned and looked at her. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but why would you think Joey and I are together?”
Vinny grinned and leaned up against the truck. “Where are you staying, Harper?”
She didn’t know what that had to do with anything. “At Joey’s.”
He nodded. “Who’s been helping you with this house? Free of charge?”
Okay, so she saw where he was going. “Joey, but we’ve been friends forever. He’d do anything for any of his friends.” She knew this for a fact. That’s just the type of guy he was.
Again, he nodded. “Do you know why he got a bruised face and a black eye?”
Maybe she didn’t know where he was going. She tried thinking back if he’d told her, but he never had. When she asked him what happened, he kissed the living daylights out of her instead of explaining what happened.
“Um, no. He never told me,” she said quietly. She looked up at Vinny. “What happened?”
Vinny chuckled. “I think he should be the one to tell you.”
“Don’t you dare do that,” she snapped at him. “You can’t ask me something like that and then not tell me.” Her eyes narrowed in on him. She was not about to let him walk away from this conversation.
“No way am I saying anything. He needs to tell you,” Vinny said, not giving in to her demand.
Harper threw her hands in the air and shook them. “Why are men so damn frustrating?”
“Harper, it’s one of those things that needs to come from him. He’s going to be pissed off enough that I even brought it up, again. Ask him and you’ll understand why people think you’re a couple.” And with that, he hauled the ladder over his shoulder and went to the back of the house.
After a few minutes, she gave up wondering why men drove her nuts and went back into the kitchen. She flipped through her music until she came to Salt-N-Pepa. Turning it way up, she got back to work on the tile floor as she sang “Push It.”
With the last piece in place, Harper slowly stood and stretched her back. She ached. Her toes hurt, her neck was cramped and even her fingers felt stiff. She twisted side to side to work the kinks out and then looked back at the floor.
She’d done it. She’d actually put down a tile floor, and better yet, it looked damn good. A smile slid across her face at her accomplishment. Never in a hundred years did she think she’d have a house of her own, let alone doing some of the work herself.
Her stomach growled. If Joey hadn’t been her best friend, then food would have been. She asked the twelve-year-old looking man and Vinny if they’d wanted food because she was running to get some. Twelve-year-old declined, but Vinny gave her an order with an apprecia
tive smile and she was off for food.
There wasn’t much to choose from in a small town, so she opted for the local ice cream parlor. When she walked inside, Lila was walking out with a very yummy looking hot fudge sundae.
“Hey, Harper, what are you doing?” Lila said before shoving a big scoop of ice cream in her mouth.
Harper was pretty sure she heard a moan escape Lila’s mouth. But then again, maybe it was hers. “Hi, Lila, I’m picking up some lunch and heading back to the block house to do more work.” Her eyes settled on the hot fudge sundae. She licked her lips.
“Prue, will you make another one of these for my friend, Harper?” Lila called back to the girl behind the counter.
“Oh, no, that’s okay. I’m just grabbing lunch,” Harper said, still eyeing the sundae.
Lila laughed. “Yeah, well you can eat your sundae while they make your lunch. Come on, you can catch me up on what you’re doing on the house.”
“Uh, okay,” she said. She placed her order to the pretty brunette behind the counter and she handed over a hot fudge sundae to her. She practically drooled on her way to the table.
“So, what are you doing on the house today?” Lila asked.
Before answering, she shoved a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth and this time she knew it was her who moaned. When she composed herself, she finally answered. “I put down the tile flooring in the kitchen. The electrician is there, so hopefully I’ll have lights in a couple of days. And, Vinny started on the roof today.” She talked quickly and then shoved in another large bite. With another moan.
“Sounds busy. What are your plans with the house?” she asked in between bites of her own ice cream.
Harper looked at her friend. “What do you mean?” she asked confused.
“Are you going to flip it or live in it? It’s a big house.”
“I’m going to live in it,” she said still confused.
Lila almost choked on her ice cream. “You’re staying in Harpers Ridge?”
“The name fits,” she said with a laugh. She’d always hated living in a town that bared her name. She’d been teased relentlessly and vowed she’d never come back, but people change. She’d changed. “Besides, I want to honor the Mitchell’s. I never understood it before, but now I realize they really cared about us foster kids. I’ve heard horror stories of foster parents, but the Mitchell’s weren’t like that. Not by a long shot. I want to make them proud.”
Lila grabbed her hand. “That’s great, Harper. I’m glad you’re staying. We definitely need to go out sometime. Lily will be back soon and we should make a night of it.”
“I just realized, I don’t even know what you guys do? Honestly, I’m surprised you two didn’t move to California or some exotic island in the Caribbean.”
Lila laughed. “Lily is a plane stewardess. Who would have thought that? Sure, our parents are rich, but they encouraged us to follow our dreams. Lily says it’s the best way to travel the world. She’s right. She’s been just about everywhere, twice. I work for Shultz and Holt.”
Harpers eyes grew. “You’re a lawyer? Like your parents?”
Lila shook her head. “Hell no! I’m not that dedicated, or smart, to go through law school. I call myself a concierge, but I’m really a glorified secretary.”
Harper was waiting for a frown to cross Lila’s face, but it didn’t come. Instead, her face filled with a big smile. There was a secret lying there and she wanted in on it.
“What’s the smile about?” she asked before eating a big scoop of hot fudge.
Lila’s cheeks turned red. “Because I get to work and flirt with Donavan Holt, every single day.” She sighed dreamily.
“Donavan Holt? Holy shit! He’s a lawyer?”
Lila nodded. “Yup, and still hot as ever,” she said fanning herself.
“Huh,” Harper said. “And here I thought you had the hots for Jax, the bartender.”
“Who doesn’t have the hots for Jax? I mean, I’m not dead, but it’s Donavan who gets the wet dreams going,” Lila said with laughter.
“So, are you and Donavan…you know?” Harper fished for information.
Her eyes rolled up and she sighed heavily. “The man is a jack-ass. Some days he gives me those fuck-me-now stares and other days he give me the drop-dead-now stares. The man frustrates me on every level.”
“Well, make the first move, then,” Harper suggested.
Lila shook her head. “I’ve tried. The man is dumb, can’t even take a hot, steamy kiss for what it is. A take-me-now kiss. Stupid man!”
Harper could relate with stupid the men comment. Joey ran hot and cold too, but they weren’t romantically attracted to each other. They didn’t have that passion between them as Lila and Donavan obviously did.
“Here you go, Harper,” Prue said as she handed her a bag of food and drinks.
Taking the bags from her, she said, “Thank you.” She turned toward her friend, gave her a hug and wished her luck with Donavan.
Lila promised to get in touch with her when her sister came back to town. Harper nodded and then left to go back to the block house where she and Vinny ate their late lunch on the front porch. Afterwards, Harper went on to put flooring down in the bathrooms and Vinny went back to the roof.
When the sun was setting and the light was scarce, Kevin, the electrician had called it a night and left with a promise to return in the morning. Vinny had packed up just after Kevin left and sat on the porch with her.
“I got a pretty good start today,” he said as he plopped down next to her.
“That’s great. Are you coming back tomorrow?”
Vinny rubbed the back of his neck. “Yup, that’s the plan. I plan on being here every day, since the weather is going to be good.”
Harper was going to say good-night to Vinny when a truck pulled up in the driveway. Joe’s truck.
Vinny stood and stretched. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and walked down the stairs. He stopped by Joey’s truck and they talked for a minute or so before Vinny left.
Joey walked up to the porch and smiled at Harper. “Vinny said you laid down tile all by yourself. I’m impressed.” He sat next to her.
Harper looked at him. He was in his EMT uniform. His hair was still wet from a shower and hadn’t seen a comb. He hadn’t shaved either. The shirt on his broad shoulders hugged him nicely. He was a very good looking man. He was more than good looking.
“Joey, why did this happen?” she asked softly as she slid her fingers over his purplish, blackish eye and then his bruised jaw.
Chapter Thirteen
Joe was excited when Vinny had told him that Harper laid tile, in the kitchen, all on her own. He couldn’t wait to see it and tell Harper he was so proud of her. She’d looked exhausted but still beautiful as she sat on the porch while the sun was setting, casting red, orange and pinks into her hair, enhancing her own red color. She was breathtaking.
But she’d taken him off guard when she asked about the fight he’d been in. “I told you. It was a misunderstanding.”
“Tell me, Joey,” she said as she ran her fingers around his eye again.
He sighed. “It’s Joe, and it doesn’t matter why it happened. It’s resolved and that’s all that matters.”
Harper looked at him and blinked. “Vinny seems to think there’s something that matters, so why don’t you?”
He recognized the signs on her. Her eyes narrowed at him as her body stiffened. The snappiness of her voice spoke volumes and to top it all off, he was pissed at Vinny for opening his big mouth. Something he’d have a chat with him about later.
“Vinny doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It was an argument, but we’re cool now. No big deal,” he said as he shrugged his shoulder.
Harper stood and put her hands on her hips. “Tell me. What are you hiding, Joey?”
Joe winced. He swears she calls him Joey just to piss him off. And pissed she was, too. He couldn’t tell her the real reason he’d gotten in a fight. Ther
e’s no way he could look into her eyes and tell her what Bobby said.
He stood and took Harper’s shoulders in his hands. “Harper, please just drop it.”
She nodded her head at him and got loose of his hands. “I never pegged you for a coward, Joey. I’d tell you anything, yet, you feel the need to keep things from me. That’s not being a friend.”
The way she spoke in a calm, cool voice scared the hell out of him. He was prepared for the wrath of Harper in a loud, drawn out ordeal, but this was something different. This was scarier than hell.
Running his hands through his hair, he cursed. “Harper, I’m trying to save you from the pain. That’s why I don’t want to tell you. Bobby said something asinine and it’s not worth mentioning.”
Harper crossed her arms over her chest. “Am I not worth, Joey? Obviously, it had something to do with me, yet, I’m not worthy to know?”
“Damnit, Harper,” he swore again. “You are worth it. I just don’t want to upset you for something that some asshole said, that’s all.” She was worth everything. He’d lay down his life for her. Even when they were teenagers, he never doubted his loyalty to her and would have done anything for her. Still would today.
“Then tell me,” she whispered.
He came undone. He dropped his head in defeat. Telling her was the right thing to do and he was planning on how he would comfort her with the news. His gut twisted and when he looked at her, his heart jumped.
“Bobby made a comment,” he said quietly. He didn’t want to finish. He did not want to say it, but because Harper meant the world to him, he had to. “About you sleeping with a lot of guys back in high school.” He closed his eyes and hated himself.
Harper blinked with her mouth slightly open as if she was going to say something, but she didn’t right away. “Oh,” she said quietly.
Joe pulled her close to him and hugged her. “I’m sorry, Harper. I didn’t want to tell you.”
He stood there and hugged her while she didn’t say a word. Not knowing if he should say anything else, he continued to hug her instead. He waited for a sign. Anything.
