Pretend You're Mine(45)
“Are you getting territorial? You’re not going to pee on me, are you? Because I am not into that.”
“When you’re sleeping with me, you’re sleeping with only me.”
Her arm snaked out, and she grabbed a fistful of shirt, yanking him down to her. “It so happens that I have the same rule. So right back at you, Captain.”
He tugged the sheet down and palmed her breast. “Just so we’re on the same page.” His mouth closed over hers, forcing her head back.
When she moaned, he swore and pulled back. “Damnit, Harper. You’re making it very hard to go to work.”
She reached out a hand to cup him through his shorts. “Yes, yes I am.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
She forgot about their dinner guests until Gloria texted her Monday morning to see if there was anything besides apple pie she could bring for dinner. Harper slunk into Luke’s office to break the news.
“Hey. You want to get some lunch?” he asked, looking up from his monitor.
“Uh, yeah, sure. But I forgot to tell you that we’re having Gloria and Aldo over for dinner tonight.”
He stared at her for a beat. “When did this happen?” he asked finally.
“Saturday. They both stopped by and I forgot to mention it because you were all naked and distracting and I just now remembered. Anyway, it’ll be fun and Aldo said he’d bring hamburgers and hot dogs to grill and Gloria’s bringing pie so all we have to do is come up with some side dishes —”
Luke sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face.
“Look, I don’t know you well enough to know if you’re mad or not. So if you’re mad and you don’t tell me it’s your own damn fault and I’ll probably keep doing it over and over again secretly pissing you off every day without knowing it,” Harper said, wringing her hands.
“I’m not mad. I’m ... inconvenienced.”
“The way you say that makes me think there’s no difference.”
“Where are we going to put them? There’s no furniture!”
“They’ve both been to your house before, so I don’t think they’re expecting any to magically appear.”
He swore quietly and shoved out of his chair.
“Get your purse and get in the truck.”
“Where are we going?”
“Fucking furniture shopping.”
***
His mood hadn’t improved much by the time they got to the store. He had planned to coax Harper into leaving work early to spend the whole evening in bed. Instead, he got ambushed with a stupid dinner party. He was trying to be mad at her, but he knew it was his own damn fault. He was the one who agreed to let her move in. He was the one who had nosey friends. And he was the one who had never gotten around to buying a damn couch or table.
He hated shopping. But it was time to pay the piper.
“Hi, Luke!” A chipper redhead dressed in a royal blue suit crossed the furniture store’s glossy tile floor. “You must be Harper,” she said cheerfully waving.
Luke rolled his eyes and tucked his sunglasses in the neck of his t-shirt. Just once it would be nice to be anonymous.
“Harper, this is Becky. We went to high school together. Becky, this is my girlfriend, Harper.” He knew the last few words came out kind of strangled, but it was the lesser of two evils. His mother had tried to set him up with Becky two years ago, and she had good-naturedly accepted his brush off, but he had felt a little guilty about it. Thankfully, she had since married Bob of Bob’s Fine Furnishings.
“What can I show you two today?”
Harper looked at Luke and smiled.
He sighed. “We need a living room suite and a dining table. Today.”
“Great! Let’s get started.” Becky turned and started to wind her way through leather recliners and end tables.
He grabbed Harper’s hand and dragged her after Becky.
Before it was all said and done, Luke picked out a couch, a loveseat, two accent chairs, a coffee table and matching end tables, an entertainment center, four handmade bookcases that would look pretty great in the second living room that he had planned to turn into his home office, and a dining room table with eight goddamn chairs.
The only enjoyment he got out of the trip was watching Harper get paler and paler every time he told Becky to add something to the bill.
“Luke, are you sure we need all this?” she whispered while Becky discussed the benefits of Scotch Guard.
“You’re the one who invited people over with no place to sit down. Might as well get it all out of the way now.” He draped an arm around her shoulder. “Don’t you want furniture?”
“It’s a lot of money,” she hissed.