I shake my head, smiling. “She ate it up.” I was shocked. My grandmother preened.
He grins. “I told ya women of all ages love me.”
“I know you said that, but she’s in a whole different cranky category.”
“People are all the same. They just want to be recognized and treated with kindness.”
My throat tightens with emotion. He’s just so…perfect. Can anyone be that perfect? It’s scary, but I want to believe in him.
“Ready to get off?” he asks with a wink.
I laugh and get off his bike. He’s always sexy flirting.
A few moments later, he opens the wooden front door of the restaurant for me, and I step into the warm and inviting space. There’s a hostess desk up front, empty now, and just past it is a huge stone hearth that was used for cooking back in the old days. The front dining room is empty since it’s late afternoon. The bar is in the back, along with a large room added on in the seventies. It’s the only bar for miles around, and locals often gather just to watch the game on the three flat-screen TVs behind the bar.
A young man I don’t know is setting the tables for the dinner service in the front dining room. “Hi,” he says. “We’re not open for dinner until five, but you can help yourself to the bar.”
I nod. “Thanks. I’m friends with Sydney. She’s expecting me.”
I take Garrett’s hand and guide him through the maze of dark wood tables. Looks like Sydney’s attempting to make it more upscale. I wonder if the menu changed too. Used to be home-style comfort food—meatloaf, fried chicken, burgers. Most every dish came with a baked potato or French fries.
I peek around the corner. “Hi!”
Sydney’s working behind the bar, her auburn hair up in a messy bun. She drops her rag and throws her hands in the air. “Oh my God! It’s Harper Ellis!”
I laugh. She likes to pretend she’s a fangirl. A few people at the bar watching the football game turn to look. I don’t know them, some men in their thirties. They glance at Garrett and turn back to the game.
Sydney takes off her apron and rushes around the bar to hug me. “The famous Harper Ellis! And is this the secret prince of Brooklyn?” She grins at Garrett. “I have a Google alert on her name since she can’t be bothered to keep me updated on her career highs.”
Garrett smiles and offers his hand. “That’s me, though the secret’s out on being a prince. Garrett Rourke.”
“Sydney Robinson. I own this beautiful mess.” She plants her hands on her hips and looks around the historic restaurant she inherited from her dad. Her pink T-shirt with a rhinestone heart, black skinny jeans, and high-heeled boots look out of place in the dim historic setting. Not that I’d expect her to wear an old colonial dress.
“It’s nice,” Garrett says, rocking back and forth on his heels. “The floors are a little wavy.”
“Ah, yes,” she says. “Sloping floors, low ceiling, original post and beam.” She gestures around. “We’ve got all the cool historic touches and all the modern headaches. Let me get a replacement behind the bar, and we’ll take a seat.”
She gets the guy we saw in the front room to take her place. Then she pulls her phone from her back jeans pocket, tapping away. “I’m letting Jenna and Audrey know you’re here. They’re around. Jenna just opened a bakery in the old café.”
“Wait, the café closed?” I ask.
She lifts her brows. “Ah, yeah, last year. Keep up with the times. Summerdale moves fast.”
“What about Rainbow?” She was one of the last original hippie founders and the owner of the café.
She gestures for us to join her at a table for four. “She retired to Florida like all the senior citizens. Your grandmother being the exception.” After we’re all seated, she props her chin on her hand and asks brightly, “How’d it go with her?” She knows exactly how difficult the General can be.
“Like expected with me,” I say. “She had Garrett running around fixing everything she can’t trust Adam to do, because how could she trust a master carpenter with a small job?”
Garrett puffs his chest out. “Takes a skilled construction worker to fix the back gate latch.”
Sydney grins.
“I put my foot down when she wanted him to fill a hole a woodchuck dug under her fence,” I say. “Of course she still warned me to be careful. She thinks all men have an agenda.”
Sydney purses her lips, thinking that over. “You know, I can’t say she’s wrong. Some are better at hiding it than others. Look at my dad, a decent guy. Nobody knew he ran this place into the ground before he died.”
I shoot her a sympathetic look. She was close to her dad. Her mom died when we were twelve. After her dad died, Sydney’s oldest brother took over the restaurant. Last year he said it was a lost cause and wanted to sell it. Sydney moved home, determined to continue the town’s legacy and her father’s.
Sydney continues. “I’ve got a marketing background, so I figured all it takes is some good word of mouth and advertising. Welp, it also takes money. I’m having no luck with the banks with the debt we’re in.”
“How much?” I ask.
She holds up a palm. “Nope, not going to ask my uber-successful friend for a handout.”
“You could pay me back.”
“This is a hometown deal. Local investment for the locals. You keep giving to Best Friends Care. Your reach is global now, lady.”
We chat for a bit, catching up on old times.
She waves over my shoulder. “She’s here, and she brought her secret prince!”
Garrett turns, smiling at my friends. “Just Garrett.”
I stand to greet Jenna and Audrey. “It’s been too long.”
Jenna is long and lean, surprising for someone who loves to bake. You’d think she’d have love handles. She’s wearing a black turtleneck with jeans and black boots. Audrey is more understated in a beige tunic over beige yoga pants. Her black hair stands out in stark contrast. She runs the local library.
I hug them both.
Audrey glances over at the bar area and quickly faces front again. I hadn’t noticed him when we first came in, since Sydney distracted me with all her enthusiasm and big hugs. Her oldest brother, Drew, is sitting in the corner, nursing a beer, his gaze on the game. He’s as dark as Sydney is light. Hard to blame him after serving as an Army Ranger on multiple deployments. Not that he was ever Mr. Sunny. He’s five years older than us, and rarely acknowledged his little sister’s friends. Audrey has had a secret crush on him for as long as I can remember. She even wrote him regularly when he was deployed, but, apparently, none of her emails ever let him know how she feels about him.
After we’re all seated at a larger round table with ice water and a bowl of pretzels, Sydney announces, “Garrett is much nicer than Nick.” That’s my ex from a few years back. She met him when she visited me in LA.
Jenna checks Garrett out. “It doesn’t hold true that the more gorgeous they are, the more of an asshole they are, huh?”
“Uh, thanks?” Garrett says.
“We could tell you’re not an a-hole right away,” Sydney says, leaning around me to speak directly to Garrett. “First off, you took Harper to her benefit when she was suddenly single.”
“That sounds like a sitcom right there,” I say. “Suddenly Single.”
“Speaking of, we love Living Gold,” Audrey says. “We had a watch party when it aired for the first time here at the bar.”
“Aww, thanks, guys.” They say they love everything I’m in.
Garrett puts his arm around the back of my chair, resting his hand on my shoulder. It warms at the spot. “We had a watch party at my parents’ house too since my sister-in-law Josie Abbott is in it.”
“Oh my God, I love her!” Sydney exclaims.
“What’s she like?” Jenna asks.
They all turn to Garrett, excited to hear about Josie.
I wave in front of their faces. “Uh, guys, I’ve only worked with her for the past seven
weeks.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sydney says, looking at Garrett expectantly.
Garrett smiles. “She’s great. Really bubbly and outgoing.”
“I could see that about her,” Sydney says. “Unlike our Harp, who only comes out of her shell onstage.” She elbows me.
“Sydney used to be my costar in our school’s drama club,” I tell Garrett.
“That’s right,” Sydney says. “But Harp was always the star.”
“Sydney can sing and she’s funny,” I say.
She pulls her hair band out and shakes out her long auburn hair dramatically. “And you’d think that Broadway would’ve called after our freshman production of Grease.” She sticks her tongue out at me. “Harper abandoned us for Hollywood after freshman year.”
“We’re so proud of her!” Jenna exclaims. Audrey nods vigorously.
“Wish I could’ve seen it,” Garrett says. “I’ve only had one line ever.”
I hitch a thumb at him. “Garrett just filmed his first commercial.”
My friends stop smiling. I know I’ve bitched about my exes using me, but Garrett’s different. The man did chores for my grandmother on his day off.
He cooked for me.
He’s the marrying type.
It hits me in a dizzying rush—I’m falling for him. It’s a too fast, scary, out-of-control feeling, but there it is. In that moment, my defenses completely crumble. I can’t fight this thing. It’s too powerful, unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.
“Oh, you’re in the business too?” Sydney asks him in a terse tone.
“Just got in, actually,” he says. “After the gala, I got an agent. I’m really in construction with some acting on the side. I had my first session with my personal acting coach, and there’s more to acting than I realized.” He squeezes my shoulder. “The more I learn, the more I admire Harper and what she does with a role.”
I smile what I’m sure is a dreamy smile. “Thanks.”
Sydney shoots me a questioning look, checking if I’m okay with the commercial thing.
I send back the all-clear signal with a small nod.
The guy behind the bar calls over to us, “Anything else I can get you?”
Sydney pops up. “I’ll get us some champagne to celebrate Harper’s new show.” She leans forward, smiling. “The good stuff.”
“I’ll chip in,” I say.
“Get out, lady! I own the damn place. It’s like, a write-off.”
“Tax-deductible champagne?” I ask in a teasing voice. “Who’s doing your books?”
“Ha!”
As soon as she’s out of hearing range, I turn to my friends and lower my voice. “How’s she doing here, really? Is she going to be able to keep the place open?”
Jenna and Audrey exchange a look.
Audrey speaks first in a whisper. “She’s working on a big New Year’s Eve party with a silent auction as a fundraiser. After that, I’m not sure if there will be enough to keep the place open.”
“Maybe it’s best if it closes,” Jenna whispers. “I know it’s a piece of history, but if she sells, someone with money could come in and turn it into something new. Like I turned the café into a bakery.”
“Weren’t you working in IT?” I ask Jenna. “That was a good-paying job.”
“My soul was dying,” she replies.
“Oh.”
She waves that away. “You don’t know anything about that since you followed your heart from the beginning. The rest of us are looking around, saying, is this all there is?”
“You too, Audrey?” I ask.
“I’m happy running the library, but even I sometimes wonder if the grass is greener doing something else. Something exciting.”
I stare at her. “Like what?” Audrey has always been about books, books, books.
“Pole dancing,” Sydney says with a laugh, returning with the champagne. “Our little Audrey on the pole.”
Audrey shakes her head, blushing and glancing at Garrett. He’s smiling. “That’s you, Syd.”
“I’d pay to see that,” I say.
Sydney holds her palm out for cash.
“Just Audrey,” I say.
Audrey shakes her head vigorously, waving her hands back and forth. “No, no.”
Everyone laughs.
Sydney pops the champagne, and we clap. Once everyone has a glass in hand, Sydney raises hers. “To Harper, our hometown girl gone big time!”
I lift my glass to them. “To you wonderful ladies. I’ve missed you. I swear I’m going to come back to visit more.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Sydney says.
We all clink glasses and drink.
“You should stop by on Thursday nights,” Sydney says. “We started a book club.”
“You mean Audrey started it, right?”
Sydney inclines her head. “True, but we have it here. I renamed it the Thursday Night Wine Club because who are we kidding? Audrey’s the only one who ever finishes the book. The rest of us just drink wine and gossip. Two birds, one stone this way—supporting The Horseman and feeling like we’re more intellectual. The group’s been growing and the wine’s been flowing.”
Audrey sighs and looks to the ceiling.
“I could get into a Thursday night wine club,” I say. “Too bad I can’t make it. Dress rehearsal is on Thursdays, and then I have to be fresh and ready to go for Friday’s taping. No late night wine drinking.”
Sydney tosses her hair and bats her lashes at me. “One day when you get off the Hollywood treadmill, you’ll have time for these more glamorous social events.”
Garrett chuckles. He knows what a red-carpet event is like now.
We talk for a while. They’re curious about Garrett’s royal side, and he doesn’t disappoint with the details on Villroy. Before we go, I try one last time to contribute toward The Horseman. Sydney won’t have it. Finally, I say, “I’ll be here for your fabulous New Year’s Eve party, and you can’t stop me from bidding on the auction items. In fact, I’ll donate a few items too.”
Her blue eyes light up. “Oh, Harp, that would be fantastic. I know you don’t get rushed when you’re in town by fans, but you’re famous, and I know it’ll draw a crowd to have you here.”
I sigh dramatically. “Everyone’s crazy about me but General Joan.” And I wish I didn’t care so much about her approval.
“You’re invited too, Garrett,” Sydney says.
He smiles. “Thanks.”
I shake my head. “He’ll probably escort my grandmother here. He called her Queen Joan, and she practically swooned.” I leave out my own swooning moment.
Sydney slaps the table. “No! The general swooned?”
“She likes Garrett better than me. He taught her how to record Living Gold, fixed her back gate, and unstuck her painted-shut window.”
Sydney eyes him. “I’m starting to like him better than you too. What can you fix around here?”
“What do you need?” he asks.
I put up a palm. “No, no, no. You call Adam or a local contractor. He is outta here.”
She whips out a business card and hands it to him. He stands, tucking it into his back pocket. This guy. Too generous. My heart is officially melted. No walls could stand up around him.
I hug my friends goodbye and return to Garrett. He puts an arm around my waist and says to Sydney, “I’ll be back to help you out with my toolbox. Maybe before your New Year’s party.”
“I love this guy!” Sydney exclaims. Then she jabs a finger at him. “Just don’t hurt her. She’s had enough of that shit.”
“I’ll treat her right,” he says solemnly.
I give him a squeeze around the middle. Melted.
Sydney walks over, smiling, and punches his bicep playfully. She has brothers, so that’s her friendly way. When she punched me in kindergarten, saying she wanted to be my friend, I went home and cried. I didn’t want a friend who punched me. My grandmother told me to punch her back with equal force (which wasn�
��t much, my feelings were hurt more than anything), and we’ve been friends ever since.
Garrett just smiles and waves bye. I guess he’s used to punches with five older brothers.
We head out the door. I shouldn’t have stayed away so long. I let the tension of visiting my grandmother keep me from my friends. There’s nothing like having friends who’ve known you your whole life. I know they see the real me.
Garrett retrieves our helmets from the back of his bike. “So, think I’ll be here on New Year’s?”
“I hope so,” I blurt. It’s three months away. I don’t usually admit my hopes for the future this early in a relationship, but it’s true.
He kisses me. “I like that you’re thinking that way about me. Now let’s get back. I’m dying to have you again.”
A thrill goes through me. I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him passionately.
“Harper Ellis!” a shrill old lady voice exclaims.
I jerk away, looking around wildly for my grandmother. Sydney peers at me through an open window of her restaurant. “Ha! I still got it.” She’s great at impressions.
I shake my head. “Very funny. Not!”
“Better make that business private,” she says. “Tongues will wag, and you’ll hear from the General!”
Garrett chuckles and hands me my helmet. “Small-town gossip, huh?”
“It’s a little scary how quickly word spreads.” I wave to Sydney as she slips back inside.
His phone rings, and he pulls it from his pocket. “Uh-oh. It’s your grandmother. She probably wants to know why you’re mauling me in a parking lot.”
I gasp. “No! Don’t answer.”
He grins and gets on the bike. “It’s my brother.”
I smack his shoulder, climb on behind him, and press my burning cheek against his back. The hazards of going home again. Feeling like a teenager caught with the bad boy.
Except, this time, he’s actually good.
16
Garrett
Tonight’s our second date, and we’re finally going to see Wicked. I can’t wait to share all my big news with Harper. I knock on her apartment door. She’s expecting me. I’ve already gone through building security, her guard was notified, and so was she. I don’t mind the layers of protection. Anything to keep her safe. Joe waits by my side for her to answer.
Rogue Beast (The Rourkes, Book 12) Page 15
