“Oh, before I forget. Luke told me you’re a caffeine fiend so I made extra coffee, and there’s French vanilla creamer in the fridge.”
“You’ve earned the flowers back,” Beth said, springing up and making a beeline for the coffee pot. “I don’t care if you’re crazy or not. You’re thoughtful, and you understand my deep and abiding love for caffeine. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Harper laughed and turned back to her computer. Beth would be a good distraction from thoughts she didn’t need to be thinking right now. Like the feel of Luke’s hard cock against her.
Damn it.
***
Harper beat Sophie to the cafe by a few minutes, so she settled in with the menu and an iced tea. Sophie all but collapsed into the chair opposite her.
“Oh my God, thanks for having lunch with me today. Josh is driving me crazy,” she said, wringing her hands around air. “He gave himself a hair cut with freaking safety shears. I didn’t even notice until I caught him trying to put his hair clippings in the dog dish.”
“And here I thought parenthood was all ethereal moments of story time and nap time.”
“And scraping dried spaghetti off the legs of the dining room table time and holding your ears because your toddler is practicing for a career in opera time,” Sophie added.
Harper smiled into her drink. “Rough day, huh?”
“I should have just had you meet me at the liquor store so we could drink our lunches. But enough about me. How’s work? How’s living with Luke?”
“It’s good. I’m still working through the backlog of paperwork and updates, but I like it.”
“Uh-huh. And how’s the home life?”
“It’s, uh, good, too. Luke’s pretty easy to live with.”
“I hear you both were caught practically naked in the kitchen this morning.”
Harper choked on her tea.
“How did you hear that?” she demanded through the paper napkin.
Sophie grinned. “Angry Frank has a bigger mouth than Georgia Rae.”
“Oh my God,” Harper buried her face in her hands.
“Do you like him?”
“Frank? Not very much right now!”
“No! No one likes Frank. Do you like Luke?”
“Sophie, you’re his sister. What am I supposed to say?”
Sophie leaned back in her chair and smiled a cat-that-ate-a-whole-nest-of-canaries grin. The server interrupted for their orders and Harper used the time to try to force the blush from her cheeks.
“You like him,” Sophie said simply.
“Of course I like him, Soph. What’s not to like? He’s smart, he’s thoughtful, he’s beyond gorgeous, he’s good to his family. But liking each other isn’t part of the deal. I’m only here for a month. I don’t want to complicate anything.”
“What’s complicated about liking each other?” Sophie asked, accepting the diet soda from the server. She drank deeply. “Oh my God, caffeine, I love you.”
“I just don’t want to get attached,” Harper sighed. “This isn’t real. It’s for convenience. He’s leaving soon and I’ll be moving on.”
“Then there’s no reason not to enjoy what you have right now,” Sophie insisted. “You’re both consenting adults.”
“I think I’m a little more consenting than Luke is.”
Sophie laughed. “My big brother can be very stubborn about staying on course. But I have faith in you. You’ll drag him off course and he’ll end up happy about it. Last Sunday was the most relaxed I’ve seen him in a long time.”
Harper perked up. “Really?”
“You’re exactly what he needs.”
“And you’re the diabolical puppeteer who’s making it all happen?”
Sophie waved the words away. “All I did was put two healthy adults alone in a house together in a mutually beneficial arrangement. I had a strong belief that nature would take its course, and judging by Frank’s eyeful this morning, nature is winning.”
“Hey, I’m all for nature in this case, but I don’t think Luke is as receptive. I don’t think he wants to ... like me. I just can’t get a read on him.”
The server returned with their meals and Sophie took a bite of her sandwich. She pointed it at Harper. “You know the reason Luke was at Remo’s in the first place last week?”
Harper shook her head. There was nothing about Luke Garrison that said Friday night social butterfly.
“Because two Fridays ago I had some problems with a customer who wouldn’t leave and tried to get handsy. Thankfully, Ty was picking me up after my shift and took care of it. But Luke showed up last Friday and planted himself on a barstool all night, just to make sure his little sis was okay. That’s the kind of guy he is,” Sophie said, slapping a hand to her heart. “I love that boy so much it hurts. I want to see him happy again. And I think you’re the ticket.”