Page 61 of The Complication with the Best Man
She shakes her head. “Not especially. I mean, they’d be on me when I didn’t study for a test—which was most of the time—or if I handed in an assignment late. But any parent does that. I just always felt like because they worked at our high school, I should have represented them better than I did. God knows my brother did.”
“He did well at school?”
“Easton wasn’t a scholar, but he did better than me. He had to be a good student so it would help him get a scholarship to play baseball in college.” She sets the rubber spatula against the edge of the bowl. “I think we’re ready for the chocolate.”
“I’m sorry. That sucks.” I hold the bowl of melted chocolate over the other bowl, and Harper uses the spatula to slowly fold it into the mixture.
“It’s partly my own fault. I think when I realized that I could never live up to anyone’s expectations, I just stopped trying and maybe went too far the other way to make sure they didn’t have any expectations for me, period.”
My chest pinches. I hate hearing her feel anything but the way she should—proud, confident, and successful.
“Were you good at school?” she asks. She’s done folding in the chocolate, and she brings the spatula up to her mouth. Her tongue darts out, and she licks off the chocolate mixture.
My eyes widen, my heart rate picks up, and my dick twitches. I have to dart my glance away. “I was okay. Not a star student, but I got by.”
“Well then, hopefully our baby will inherit your genes in that regard.”
My gaze snaps back to hers, and I frown. “Hey, don’t do that.”
“Do what?” She appears genuinely perplexed.
“Sell yourself short.” Harper has some chocolate beside her mouth, and I can’t stop myself from bringing my hand up to cup her cheek and swiping it with my thumb. “You’re an intelligent woman who runs her own successful business. A woman who was fully prepared to raise this child on her own if it came down to that. You’re kind, almost always look at the bright side of things, and you care deeply for the people who matter in your life. Just because you didn’t pull an A+ average in high school or college doesn’t mean shit. None of that determines your worth.”
Harper’s eyes widen, and the space between us heats. My palm feels as if it’s on fire where it rests against her cheek, and my lips tingle, wanting to feel hers again.
“All right, everyone.” Ellen claps her hands at the front of the room. “We should be finishing up with the mousse right about now so that we can take the pork out of the oven in a few minutes.”
I drop my hand from Harper’s face, and she looks away from me, turning back toward the table to spoon the mousse into the smaller takeaway containers so we can leave with it.
I’m not sure what it is about this woman that makes her so irresistible, but I need to get a handle on my attraction to her before it ruins everything we’re trying to build.
twenty-four
HARPER
The weekend after our cooking class, feeling emboldened by how well we did, Finn and I go to the grocery store together to grab some items for a recipe we’re making tonight. It’s a Mexican lasagna recipe with green chilis. Not super complicated, but it seems like something that will be good to make a few nights after the baby is born. Or we can make some ahead of time and freeze it.
Finn grabs a grocery cart, and we make our way through the store, working from the list we made. My appetite is back again, so we’re grabbing some staples too.
“Oh shoot, I need to grab more prenatal vitamins while we’re here. Don’t let me forget.”
“Why don’t I just run and grab them now since they’re not on the list?”
I smile. “Okay, that would be great.”
“Here, you take over.” He rolls the cart in front of me. “Be right back.”
He walks down the aisle, and he has a really nice ass. It’s perky and muscular. Must be from all his working out. It’s getting colder out at night now, but I’ll still find him in the backyard going through his routine from time to time. He said he plans to join the gym in Sunrise Bay once it gets too cold outside.
I glance at the list and push the cart down the aisle but stop when I hear a familiar laugh from around the corner.
“Shit,” I whisper, wondering if I should turn and head down the other way.
But it’s too late when my mom and dad come around the corner together, my mom pushing a grocery cart as my dad looks to be chasing her. Gross, can’t they at least keep their hands off each other while grocery shopping?
“Eww,” I say, and my mom looks up. My dad’s hand smacks my mom’s ass.
Double eww.
