“Lucky me.” She winked and instantly regretted it. “Ow…”
“Time for some rest, Harper.”
His voice was warm and inviting, but Harper knew it might be a while until she could pursue what she wanted with the full strength of her personality. What would Theo think of her when she wasn’t helpless and in need of a knight in shining armor? She was almost too excited by the prospect to rest. Almost.
Chapter Three
“Do you wish to press charges against the vandals, Ms. Pettinger?”
Flynn watched Harper’s muscles tighten in anxiety at the question. She knew better than to say yes, as did the policeman. Officer Reynolds was a well-respected man in the community. It wasn’t Harper who would be put in danger by pointing fingers. The community would rally behind her and support her decision. She was one of their own, and they knew she did all she could to give back while asking for nothing in return. The truly dangerous criminals, the ones you wouldn’t put it past to shoot a man on sight to get what they want, left her alone, respected her enough to keep their business off her block. A mutual understanding. No, it was the stupid kids who did this who would suffer if she named them. And from the marks and graffiti signatures left all over her floor, Flynn could tell she knew instantly who’d wrecked the building.
“No, Officer Reynolds. I don’t want to press charges against the ones who trashed my place. I do want to find the asswipe who did this.” She pointed to her bruised face. “And stole from me.”
“You’re sure it wasn’t the same person?”
“I’m one hundred percent certain.”
Officer Charlie Reynolds snapped his notebook closed with a sigh and turned to Harper with a friendly glare—if such a thing existed, this man had perfected it. Flynn placed the chair he’d been setting to rights back down on the ground and moved closer to their conversation. Charlie would never hurt Harper, but he had a tendency to get on her nerves whenever he dropped by the Full Spoon. Police presence put her visitors’ teeth on edge, taking away the feeling of safety they received from walking through her doors. Flynn suspected Harper and Officer Reynolds had known each other for a long time. When they argued, he would always see them end the exchange with smiles and a hug. The thought of this smart and handsome police officer knowing the woman he intended to date better than he did made his hackles rise. He didn’t have any right to be jealous, as nothing was settled between him, Theo, and Harper yet, but that didn’t stop the emotion from piercing his nerves.
“How many times do I gotta tell ya to get security cameras, Harper?” He spoke fast, keeping her from interrupting. “We’re not gonna find nothin’, and you know it. You didn’t see his face, you didn’t recognize his voice, and no one was around to be witness. Trail’s gone cold because of the time you spent in the hospital, and the only statement I could get was from Mr. Raine, who found you.”
Harper glanced at Flynn, and he nearly tore into Charlie for putting the pissed look on her face. She shook tightly, signaling Flynn to back off. Police officers didn’t like it when civilians got up in their business while they conducted inquiries or investigations. Flynn knew better than to get hostile with one who was clearly worried about his friend. But he couldn’t stop himself from walking over and placing his arm around Harper’s shoulders, pulling her in tight. She might think she was ready to take all this on by herself, and if he hadn’t been there she would have stood her ground, but he’d be damned if he let her face this shit, and an angry cop to boot, without offering his support.
“Charlie,” Flynn warned, raising his gaze, letting the officer see his disapproval of how Charlie was handling things.
“Don’t give me that, Raine! I’m tellin’ it like it is.”
“Take your bullshit New York City accent somewhere else. You’ve got a fucking master’s in criminal law, and you’re from New Hampshire. Stop talking like an uneducated Guido.”
“Half a master’s, thank you very much. I dropped out to do this. What the hell was I thinking?”
“That you’re a good man who wanted to help,” Harper said, grasping Charlie on his bicep and squeezing quickly before letting him go.
He looked guilty for treating her in such a brash way.
“Shit. I’m sorry, Harper. We don’t have anything to help find the perp. If you remember something about him, give me a call, and I’ll be the first to start an investigation. All right?”
She nodded in thanks, though Flynn could still tell she felt brittle about the whole ordeal.
“Mitch might stop by later to help with cleanup,” said Officer Reynolds, referring to his young nephew.
“That would be great,” she said, stepping away from Flynn to walk Charlie to the door. She’d donned her armor again and was now spouting off reasons why people close to the community should volunteer more. She became a one-woman-pamphlet as she began to recite all the benefits of community service. Flynn had the feeling she was delivering the familiar lines more to have something to say than because she felt Charlie needed the lesson.
“I know, I know. He knows it too,” Charlie said in exasperation, familiar with the speech. They said their good-byes, and after Harper closed the door, she leaned her forehead against the beat-up, heavy wood and sighed, her shoulders slumping in exhaustion.
“You should have taken a few more days to rest before dealing with all this.”
She glared back at him before pushing away from the wall and stalking toward an upended table. “I’m fine. Don’t you have a job or something?” She paused and then quirked her head at him, a question forming in her mind. “What do you do for a living? I honestly don’t know a damn thing about you.”
“I’m in security.”
“You’re a bodyguard?”
“No.” He laughed. “Cyber security, that type of thing.”
At his answer, she raised her eyebrows and her expression changed to one of delight. “A cyber bodyguard and a handsome doctor want to take me out to dinner. What fantasy lottery did I win?”
Flynn pitched in to help her finish cleaning up. They worked in companionable silence until most of the tables, chairs, and benches were back on their feet. Only a couple had been broken or trashed beyond repair. They were lucky in that. About a half hour later, a loud knock on the front door echoed through the quiet room. Flynn checked his watch, wondering what had kept the man.
“I’ll get it,” Flynn said as Harper waved him on in approval and then walked through the swinging doors that led into the kitchen. There was an open space where he could see into the kitchen and keep an eye on her, the pass, as proper restaurants called it. Harper would dish out food there and hand it to her visitors, what she called the people who spent their time at the Full Spoon.
He double-checked to see she was doing all right before running to the door, unlocking it, and then pulling it open to let their guest in. Dr. Theo Backstrom didn’t smile when he walked into the room. His tall form was clad in a navy-blue sweater that hugged his arms, highlighting strength that hadn’t been on display at the hospital. As Theo strolled farther into the room, Flynn took a moment for himself and let his gaze wander down to a well-formed ass encased in jeans. Theo turned back to Flynn, catching his gaze traveling back up the doctor’s body.
As their glances collided, Theo took a cautious breath and returned the favor, sending his gaze on a wandering journey along Flynn’s body. If Flynn had to guess, he would imagine Theo had perhaps experienced some level of homoerotic thoughts in his life, but Flynn didn’t think the good doctor had ever acted on them. A flurry of satisfaction enveloped his thoughts. Flynn liked thinking he would be Theo’s first male lover, and there was no doubt in his mind that was what they would become.
A crash outside the Full Spoon brought Flynn out of the intensity of sexual fantasy. He closed and locked the heavy door, ensconcing the three of them in privacy. Theo stepped farther inside with a restrained grace, then turned his keen gaze on the room, no doubt noting the broken chairs now pile
d in the corner and the graffiti all over the walls and floor.
“That’s normal.” Flynn pointed to the walls where Harper gave the kids free rein to do what they wanted. He pointed to the fresh marks on the ground. “That’s not.”
Theo nodded at Flynn, then looked back toward the kitchen. Harper was there, leaning on the ledge that separated the kitchen and the main seating area. Had she seen their short but intense exchange? Her expression was closed off, and Flynn couldn’t tell what she thought of the doctor being there. In fact, he couldn’t tell what Theo thought of being there either, as the man hadn’t said a word since arriving.
Had Flynn made a mistake choosing the two of them the way he had and making his hunger transparent? He hadn’t thought there was any reason to hide what he was feeling, and he’d assumed their reactions to him were clear enough. Then again, he had been told on occasion, and by more than one person, that he had a tendency to rush into things.
“Listen—” He didn’t know how to backtrack his aggressive behavior, when what he needed was obvious to all of them. And so simple. Couldn’t they feel the tension thrumming among their trio? Flynn cursed himself, thinking he might have gone about this the wrong way. Sex and desire might be a facet of life that had always been straightforward to him, but now he needed to take Harper’s and Theo’s needs into consideration.
Flynn had been the first to make a move toward starting this journey; it was his responsibility to ensure the others were well cared for. Up to this point, he didn’t think he’d done a good job, no matter how early it was in their adventure. Harper was still recovering, physically and emotionally, and Theo seemed out of his depth, standing in the middle of graffiti-painted tables and chairs and wearing a sweater that probably cost close to two hundred dollars. Flynn wanted them, yes, but he also wanted them to be sure of their desire for him.
“I can be a bit of a steamroller, and sometimes I think I know what’s best for everyone. If you don’t want to be here—”
Theo clamped a hand on Flynn’s shoulder, a knowing look in his eyes. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be. What can I do to help?”
“That question is for me, right?” Harper called from the kitchen. “I run this joint, not Flynn.”
“I never doubted it, ma’am.” Theo nodded toward the lady of the house. “What can I do to help you, ma’am?”
A devil’s smile lit her features, bruised face and all. “You can help me clean out the spoiled food from the walk-in fridge.”
“Sure thing,” Theo said, strolling through the swinging doors and into the kitchen. Flynn didn’t feel one bit of shame when Harper caught him staring at Theo’s retreating ass. It was a fine ass, and he wanted to look at it…a lot. He shrugged with a wink and went back to straightening up the seating area, his earlier worries not completely erased but lessened by Theo and Harper’s teasing one another in the kitchen, playing like an old and comforting song in the background.
* * * *
“What do you call this?” Theo held up a large plastic container with orange and brown bits inside.
Harper looked up from scrubbing the stainless steel countertops. “Mac ’n’ cheese with ground beef. It’s a favorite here.”
He pulled out another tub of expired food. “And this?”
“Chicken Parm.”
“This?”
She slapped the sponge down on the counter and glared at Theo. If he asked her again, she might come over and smack him. “It’s fucking meatloaf. Have you never seen meatloaf before?”
He made an overly exaggerated face of disgust at the container. “Not looking like this, I haven’t.”
“Apparently you’ve never seen it prepared on a mass scale for hundreds of people. That’s what it looks like. I’m sorry if you’re only used to your food being plated with delicacy and paired with fancy-ass wine, Doctor Backstrom.”
A few women in Theo’s past would have turned away and let the comment hang in the dead air between them, making it stick and sting, turning what could have been a playful moment into bitterness. Harper squared off with him, challenged him, telling him she might be pissed but she was ready to tango. And he was grateful for it. She was well and truly annoyed, but Theo refused to let her take on the defeatist demeanor she’d adopted as they’d worked in silence over the past hour. Angry defiance he could handle, and he’d take it any day over the depressed creature she’d become.
“I think you’ve got some false ideas about my life, Ms. Pettinger.” She narrowed her gaze at the use of her last name. Perhaps she liked it about as much as he did when she called him doctor. He’d grown used to hearing his name trip over her lips as they’d worked, and he refused to accept anything less of her from now on. “I may be a doctor, but I wasn’t born this way. I scrounged and I worked and I sacrificed. It’s not all deals with pharmaceutical companies and schmoozing with rich dicks to get grants for research. You live in the same city I live in. You know what kind of injuries get sent to the ER most frequently. I work in the ER. That is what I do. It’s not glamorous, but at least I’m able to help people.” He hadn’t meant to become heated toward the end of it, but he needed her to see him for who he truly was. He’d kept himself hidden, and now his heart seemed to be cracking open and the floodgates were threatening to spill. Perhaps he should go. Allowing anyone to see his raw wounds he’d unknowingly bared to them was overwhelming. He’d been trying for levity and had failed miserably.
“What have you sacrificed?” Flynn asked. He appeared out of the blue, sitting on the pass. When Theo didn’t answer right away, thrown off balance by the out-of-the-blue question, Flynn had the grace to look a bit chagrined. “Sorry, that was a personal question I had no right to ask.”
“You’re so rude, Flynn.” Harper snorted, resting her fists on her hips.
“I’m rude? Who goes around smacking the kids on their foreheads whenever they start cursing in here?”
“I do that because they’re being rude.” She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Their chatter gave Theo a moment to collect his wits. He wasn’t an idiot. Harper was an extremely observant woman and had probably seen he was on the edge of falling apart. Such was her magnanimous nature that she pushed aside the ire he’d sparked and began to focus on caring for him, in whatever way she thought necessary…like he’d been trying to do for her moments ago. What a pair they made. Trio, rather.
Thinking of Flynn brought his intrusive question back to the fore of Theo’s mind. The odd thing was, Theo felt Flynn did have the right to ask such a question. They’d each shown him something personal after only knowing one another for a few days. He was helping Harper pick up the pieces in a space she considered part of her heart, and Flynn had introduced his son to them, laying his cards plainly on the table. It was only fair that Theo gave them something of himself. But at the same time, this thing between them was too new for all that baggage to be revealed. And what would they think when they saw past the image he presented to the world to the lonely, walled-in life he lived?
Theo huffed. He was talking himself into circles while Flynn and Harper continued to banter.
“I may be here helping you, baby, but that doesn’t mean you get to order me around like one of your volunteers. Not right now.”
Flynn’s voice was heated, but he sported a wicked smile that highlighted a dimple in his cheek. Seeing that dimple pulled at something tight within Theo’s gut, a feeling he’d only ever had before when watching a woman. No, that wasn’t right. He needed to be completely honest with himself if he was going to start something with them. There were men he’d found attractive in the past. Theo had done everything in his power to convert that attraction into what he called admiration. That was an okay thing to feel when looking at another guy. Not now, though. This was brutal, lustful desire. And he felt it for both of them.
“Don’t you call me baby, baby,” Harper snarled, gripping the stainless-steel countertop until her knuckles were
white.
Theo could see Flynn was enjoying himself, working Harper into a frustrated mess. Theo couldn’t blame the man. Harper, with her curvaceous body all puffed up with tension and those full lips tightened to thin lines, made him want to coax her body into relaxation. The considerable bruise on her face didn’t detract from the sheer wildness of her vibrant personality. She was arguing loudly, gesticulating enthusiastically, tossing her head back and forth as though she hadn’t suffered a concussion a couple of days before. She was better now, healthy. Healthy enough to do things he’d kept himself from doing after first meeting her.
Something unlatched within Theo, opening a cage he usually kept closed for fear he’d frighten his lovers, the majority of which were one-night stands. Harper wouldn’t be easily frightened. He trusted her to handle her own. He began to move, and before he realized he’d taken more than a step toward her, he was directly in front of her.
“Oh good,” she said, turning to face him, not understanding what he’d come to her for. “You’re on my side, right?”
Theo laced his fingers through her hair and gently tilted her chin back. “Always,” he murmured. Then, with a delicate expediency, giving her enough time to pull away if she wished, Theo leaned down and kissed her.
She was frozen, unreactive to the sudden move. But that was all right… He’d come over here with the intention of relaxing her, and if he had to work at it, he was more than happy to do so. She’d earned time off, and he enjoyed doing the work.
He stroked her temples as he nuzzled at her lips, taking his time and enjoying the sensation of her against him. Her lips were warm and slightly cracked from the time she spent on pain meds. He licked them, softening the rough surface, then bit the lush bottom lip. She gasped and gripped his T-shirt tightly, but she didn’t pull him closer.
Still unsure, then.
He moved from her lips to her bruised cheek, brushing his mouth against it without exerting much pressure. Her breathing was harsh, but she wasn’t pushing him away yet. He continued his form of care. Seeing the swollen skin made him angry. A primitive creature inside him wanted reassurance that she was all right, wanted to protect her from any future harm and take away what had already transpired. He’d healed her to the best of his ability, but now he craved a physical reminder that she was alive. If her injuries had been worse, he might never have known her, known this.
Food for the Soul Page 4