by Tess Summers
“What’s going on?”
“I heard you’re living with someone—and you’re engaged. Is that true?”
He sighed. Hurting people sucked. He hated being the bad guy.
Yet, there was no way around it.
“Yeah, honey, it is. I’m sorry I wasn’t the one to tell you, and you had to find out through the grapevine.”
Talk about a fucking grapevine. Damn.
He should’ve expected this after his and Scout’s official appearance together on Saturday night. He was certain they were the talk of the ball—from no one seeing it coming or even having thought about pairing them up, to her father’s behavior, to the speculation that she had to be pregnant since it had happened so fast.
He’d snorted when he’d heard that one. If only.
Margo asked the same thing through sniffles.
“No, we’re not going to have a baby yet. I just love her. She’s the one.”
“So it wasn’t that you didn’t want to live with someone or get married—you just didn’t want to…” She burst into sobs. “With me.”
How the fuck was he supposed to answer that and not be a total dick?
Yes, that’s exactly it? Because it was.
It just happened? That was true.
I didn’t go looking for a relationship? But man, when it found me, she knocked me on my ass.
He opted for, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” That seemed the safest.
“What’s wrong with me? Why couldn’t you love me like that? Am I not pretty enough? Smart enough? Sexy enough?”
Ugh. For fucking real? No, there’s no comparison to my future wife.
“Margo, you’re a beautiful, intelligent, sexy, passionate woman, and you’re going to make someone very happy someday. It’s just not me. You and I were not meant to be.”
“Why?” she whined.
You have got to be kidding me. Because I’m fucking in love with someone else.
“We just aren’t, honey. I’m sorry.”
But here’s a coupon for a free oil change. Have a nice day.
She looked vulnerable, and Ben felt bad, but he was careful not to hug her. He didn’t want to risk giving her the wrong idea or any inkling of hope she had a shot.
“I can be anything you want me to be, Ben,” she said suggestively, then reached over and started to stroke his inner thigh.
He practically jumped out of his seat and opened up his office door, then stood there waiting for her to exit.
“You can’t be Harper Finch.”
She took the hint and stood. Instead of crying, now she was angry. Pausing in the doorway, she jabbed her finger into his chest.
“You’ll be sorry someday. You’re going to look back and realize, I’m the one that got away. But by then, it will be too late.”
Can you be the one to go away already? Fuuck.
“Maybe so.” I highly doubt it.
They walked out to the lobby, and he escorted her around the counter, then stood there awkwardly waiting for her to leave. She gave him an evil grin, then startled him by reaching up to kiss him on the mouth.
He heard the lobby door chime and pushed her away.
“What the fuck—?”
“I love you, too, Ben. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, either.”
He knew without having to look that Harper was standing in the doorway.
“Nice try, Margo. Not happening. Ever.”
Ben turned around to see a surprised Scout watching their exchange.
“Hi, baby girl. I’ll be with you in just one second. I’m just showing Margo to the door.”
He folded his arms in front of him and raised his eyebrows as he cocked his head toward the exit.
“You need to leave.”
Margo shot him a look that could kill, then marched past him toward the door, pausing in front of Harper.
“I don’t know why you’d want to be with someone who’s a cheater.”
Harper tilted her head with pity.
“I wouldn’t want to be. That’s why I’m with him.”
She looked over at him and gave him a genuine smile and wink.
That’s my girl.
Before the door even finished closing behind his ex, he’d swept Scout up into his arms and kissed her like he hadn’t seen her in a month.
“What are you doing here?” he asked when they finally came up for air. “And I mean that in the best possible way.”
“I came by to take you to lunch so I can tell you how it went with Travis.”
He released her from his embrace and stood her upright, not letting go until he was sure she was steady on her feet.
“Be right back. I just need to let Frank know I’m leaving.”
Judging by the levity in her voice, it had been a good meeting. They needed to celebrate, if that was the case.
****
Harper
Honestly, sometimes it was like she was living in an alternate universe.
“What did I walk in on?” she asked in the car on the way to lunch.
“In a nutshell, my ex-girlfriend crying and wanting to know why I’d marry you but not her.”
“And your answer?”
“Well, my answer to you is because you’re the woman I’ve been waiting all my life for, and no other woman has even come close to comparing to how I feel about you. My answer to her was a little gentler.”
One side of her mouth went up.
“She seemed a little unhinged.”
“She’d been crying pretty hard, then she got angry. I have no idea what she was thinking with that bullshit when you walked in. I’m glad you saw through it, though.”
“There wasn’t even a doubt.”
He looked at her as he turned the wheel to head into the restaurant’s parking lot.
“No? Why not?”
“I know you. Your body language was rigid and uptight—it was obvious you were uncomfortable. Not at all how you are with me. When you kiss me, we kind of melt together… you were like a cat on a hot tin roof when her lips were on you.”
“I don’t want anyone’s lips on me but yours.”
“That makes two of us,” she said with a smirk. “She’s lucky I didn’t deck her.”
“Is it wrong that thought just made my cock hard?”
“Yes, that’s wrong! Why would the thought of me beating your ex-girlfriend up turn you on?”
“Not the idea of you actually hitting her, but the fact that you’d fight for me is sexy as hell.”
Harper looked at him and smiled. “I’d fight for you any day, baby.”
She really would—he was worth fighting for.
Chapter Forty-Three
Harper
Life was good. Her career was on track and going well, wedding plans were moving along, and Ben continued being the best thing to ever happen to her.
She loved coming home to him every night. And he had become an expert at his ‘job’ as a boyfriend and excelled at knowing when to make love to her, when to fuck her, and when to cuddle her. He was so good at pampering her that Harper began to worry their relationship was lop-sided—in her favor.
She decided to leave work early one Thursday in August with the intention of spoiling him for a change. She needed to make stops at his favorite bakery for the dessert he loved, plus a loaf of his preferred bread for when she made him breakfast tomorrow. Followed by the grocery store for his favorite beer and other items she’d need for breakfast, then the florist—because flowers weren’t just for women, and finally, the Harley store—for what, she had no idea. Hopefully she’d know it when she saw it.
With her back seat full of her purchases, she pulled into her neighborhood with the radio turned up high as she sang along with the latest pop song—or was it country? It was so hard to tell these days.
Harper was excited to surprise Ben and shower him with the attention he deserved. It was going to be all about him tonight. Her nipples pebbled at the things she wanted t
o do to him.
Turning down the music as she neared her house, she hit the garage door button just as she noticed Ben’s truck in the driveway. He was home early.
Too early, dang it. She needed at least an hour to get everything ready.
Maybe he’d just forgotten something at the house; the shop didn’t close for another three hours.
She left everything in the backseat and walked inside with her purse and briefcase. The dogs didn’t greet her at the door, which meant they were outside.
Setting her things down on the small, built-in desk in her kitchen, she ventured to the patio door and looked out to find Ben sitting at the table under the umbrella with a beer in his hand. There were empty bottles laying on the table. This didn’t look good.
He hadn’t seen her, so she went back out to the garage and brought her purchases inside, putting the refrigerator items away before going onto the patio with the flowers and gifts from the Harley store. The boots-box was a little hard to manage with the flowers, but she leveraged it against her hip and walked out through the French doors.
“Hey handsome—what are you doing home so early?”
“Didn’t have anywhere else to be. What’s all this?” he asked when she set the giftwrapped boxes and flowers in front of him.
His words weren’t slurred, but his eyes were glassy. She wondered how long he’d been home and drinking.
“Just some things to tell you I love you and show you how much you mean to me.”
He smiled with his eyes closed and reached for her, hugging her around her middle and bringing his head to her chest. She half-expected him to launch into a drunken, I love you, baby.
“Whatcha been drinking?” she asked gently as she brushed her fingers through his hair and kissed the top of his head.
He sighed and pulled away, sitting back in his seat.
“Well, I started out with gin but then we ran out, so I switched to beer.”
She sat down next to him.
“I see. And what’s the occasion?”
“Your father ruining my business,” he stated matter-of-factly then gestured to the presents on the table. “Can I open these?”
She brought both her hands to cover her mouth and closed her eyes while taking a deep, cleansing breath. What the fuck is going on? That might be difficult to figure out, given Ben’s current condition.
“Why don’t you explain what that means, baby? How is Daddy ruining your business? And why are you drunk at three in the afternoon?”
“Colin came by the shop this morning to give me ‘one last chance’ to end things with you. Of course I told him to pound sand. Two hours later, I had OSHA inspectors at both sites who decided my conditions were unsafe and hazardous. They shut me down immediately and locked everyone out. I’ve got customers with their cars half-finished, some with engines torn apart, and a full schedule for the rest of the week that I can’t even access to call them to rebook. They’re going to show up and find a big notice on my door announcing that I’ve been closed down by OSHA.”
Harper sat there stunned, hardly able to breathe. Goddamn her daddy. Damn him to hell.
“Let me call Travis.”
“I’ve already called my attorney. He’s working on it, but said it’s probably going to be at least three days to a week before he can get my case before a judge.”
That sounded about right.
“Let me call Pop. He might know someone.”
Ben shrugged like he didn’t care, or it didn’t matter.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” she assured him.
****
“Colin did what?” her grandfather roared.
“Had OSHA shut McCallister Motors down—effective immediately. Locked Ben and all his employees out.”
“They can’t just do that.”
“No, but they did, and it’s going to take at least a few days to get a court date and an emergency injunction to open his shops back up. That’s going to cause immense damage—to his clientele, his reputation… You don’t just recover from something like that.”
“That son of a bitch.”
“Do you know anyone who can help?”
“I’m not sure. Let me call some contacts and see what they can do. I’ll call you back if I find something out, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
That was what she was afraid of.
She went back outside and found Ben asleep on the lounger, the boxes still unopened and in a pile on the table.
Harper dumped his remaining beer and put the rest of the empty bottles in the recycling bin, then got him a pillow and a bottle of water.
“I’m going out for a minute; I’ll be back soon,” she whispered in his ear. Then she stood up straight with her shoulders back and marched to the door. Her daddy was about to understand why she was considered a badass attorney.
****
The Volvo screeched to a halt in the circular drive outside the entry of her parents’ estate. She hopped out, taking the stairs two at a time, and rang the doorbell, waiting all of one second before pounding on the front door.
Trying the handle and finding it unlocked, she barged in, yelling, “Daddy!” as she strode through the house.
“Goodness gracious, Harper Jean Louise,” her mother said, appearing from the kitchen door. “What is all the commotion about?”
“Where is Daddy,” she demanded.
“In his office—”
Harper stormed past her mother and continued to her father’s office.
“What in the hell have you done?” she accused with a pointed finger.
Colin looked up from his computer and smiled—the bastard actually smiled.
“Hey, Scout.”
“Fix this, Daddy. Fix it. Now.”
He cocked his head, like he was confused.
“Fix what?”
“You know perfectly well what. I don’t know who you have in your back pocket that you were able to pull this off—but you will have Ben’s shops reopened before five o’clock.”
“Okay,” he replied with a shrug.
“Okay?” she said, sliding into the leather wingback facing his desk, the fight leaving her body.
Wait, that was too easy.
“Sure. As long as you don’t marry him.”
“Fine.”
She’d agree to anything right now; that didn’t mean she meant it.
“And remarry Tyler.”
“I am not remarrying Tyler.”
“He’s perfect for you, Harper. And I’m not getting any younger… I’m going to need someone to take over my business someday. Tyler would be ideal.”
“So leave your goddamn business to Tyler, Daddy. You don’t need me to be married to him to do that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I’m a licensed attorney—I can guarantee that no, you don’t. You can leave your property to whomever you please.”
“I’m not leaving it—he’d have to buy it from me, like I did from Mark.”
“All the more reason we don’t need to be married.”
“It needs to remain in the family, and I want to be sure you’re taken care of.”
That fired her right back up, and she jumped out of the chair.
“For fuck’s sake, Daddy—if you truly wanted that for me, you’d be thrilled I was marrying Ben.”
“He’s a mechanic, Scout. He is not marriage material.”
“No one is asking you to marry him,” she shouted in exasperation.
“I let the cussing slide, young lady, but you’d better tread lightly and watch the sass.”
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
“I love him. And he loves me. I don’t understand why you don’t want that for me.”
He smirked.
“Love fades. You need someone with a similar background—the same station in society. Who can make sure you never want for anything. That your children—my grandchildren—will never want for anything. Do you really want your kids’ fathe
r to be a grease monkey?”
“Yeah, I do. Ben’s a good man; he’d be an amazing father and a wonderful husband.”
“I’m sorry, Scout—I can’t accept this. I won’t.”
She clenched her teeth and swallowed hard, looking at her watch. Four o’clock.
“Make the call; open his business—now. Be sure OSHA lets his clients know it was a clerical error—on their end.”
“If you won’t marry Tyler, what assurances do I have that you’re going to end things with him?”
He wouldn’t even say Ben’s name.
“I’m not ending things with him—I just said I wouldn’t marry him.”
Lies.
“Unacceptable.”
“I am not leaving him.”
“Then tell him to plan on a nice vacation, because his business is going to be closed for a while.”
“You don’t want to do this—I can play dirty, too, Daddy. And just remember, I learned from the best.”
His eyes opened wide when he realized she was threatening him.
“What are you going to do?” he taunted.
“I work for one of the most prestigious law firms in the state—I’m sure I can think of something. But let’s just say, as my first order of business, I hope you aren’t too set on the new racetrack you’ve been working so hard on—because I think I’ll advise my client to sign the contract on that offer he received for his property last week after all. The offer was from Ben, by the way. And you know Pop will do it, too.”
Colin was well aware of how his father-in-law felt about him these days.
She continued with her arms crossed as her foot tapped.
“I’m sure your investors will be interested to learn you aren’t able to secure the property necessary for the track.”
“I’ll get the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to declare eminent domain.”
She was cool as a cucumber when she chuckled, put her fingertips on the edge of his desk, and leaned down.
“Go right ahead. I’ll tie you up in court for so long, they’ll be racing spaceships by the time you can build a track.”
Colin’s eyes flashed in surprise. He’d never seen badass lawyer Harper, only dutiful daughter Harper.