“Nothing,” I said. Looking around myself, I leaned in. “why, did he say something happened?”
“Ally, you bad girl!” They chimed with devilish grins.
I covered my face. “Nothing happened! I promise. He’s just going to help me with something.”
“Something like what?” Jules asked.
“Something embarrassing,” I said, remembering thetwopropositions he’d made me. Not to mention the whole reason I’d been so weird around him today. “But nothing like that! I wasn’t even looking at your ‘goods’ anyway. I was looking at your tattoos.”
They looked at me, then looked at each other and then they burst out laughing again. “Okay, Ally, calm down. Don’t burst a pipe.”
“Yeah.” Lana smirked. “Save that for Gus.”
“Oh my God!” My entire face suddenly went hot, my hands going slick and dropping my phone from between them. It clattered to the table in a jumble, messing up the flyers they set up so neatly. “I have to go!”
Laughter continued to ring out, and I was already turning away but the sensation of warm fingers wrapping around my arm stopped my escape.
“Leave her alone,” Harper reprimanded in a voice that was meant to be authoritative but was more so inviting to my ears. His voice was the least of my issues, though. Not when his large hand felt soft and gentle circling my wrist. Looking down at the connection of our skin, I felt the rest of my body start to burn. My heartbeat picked up speed from that touch alone. Swallowing, I looked up and found that he was already watching me, brown bear eyes captivating me in their entrancing embrace. “What’s up, Boss?”
“Nothing!” I straightened like a rod, sounding caught somehow. “I was just leaving.”
“Woah, woah,” he said, hand slipping down to mine as he again stopped me from retreating. “Didn’t you need me?”
“Yeah she did,” Lana said. My face burned on reflex.
Cutting his eyes sideways, Harper ordered, “Out. Both of you.”
“Where are we supposed to go?” Jules asked in an incredulous laugh.
“Take some cash and get everyone lunch,” he instructed. “Get whatever you want, the guys and I aren’t picky. Just bring my change and get receipts.”
“Sweet!” they said, asking no questions as they dipped their hands into the cash box and scampered off into the throng of the festival.
He shook his head as he pulled me around the table and into thebooth. “You can’t be such an easy target. They’ll chew you up if you let them.”
“What about you?” I asked. “You egged them on by saying I ‘needed’ you.”
Using his grip on me, he pulled me deep into the booth until I was under the tall black tent in the shade. A quick gasp pressed out of me as he suddenly spun me around to face him. I had to hold my breath, because he wasright there. Closer than normal as he stared down at me. “Always so quick to judge, Alta. I might start thinking you have something against me.”
“I’m not judging, I’m repeating what you said,” I protested.
He raised an eyebrow, “So you don’t need me?”
I did the fish thing. The one where my mouth gaped open and closed with no words coming out. The brilliant thing I was finally able to come up with was a sputtered, “No!”
“Shame,” he tsked.
“W-what do you mean?” I asked, my heart taking on the role of a bass drum. I lowered my voice to a whisper and leaned toward him. “Just because it happened once does not mean that I suddenlyneedyou.”
The smirk he let run across his mouth was infuriating. But it was hard to focus on as he let go of my hand and instead replaced that palm on my shoulder. I suppressed a shiver of anticipation as I wondered if he would touch my neck again. My face?
But he did neither, only leaning in slightly as he said in a mock whisper. “Shame you didn’t need that report after all, Boss. After I went through the trouble of saving it for you, too.”
The fish thing was back. This time it was out of complete embarrassment rather than lack of a response. Harper didn’t comment, only using his hand on my shoulder to push me gently into the seat he had apparently backed me up against and turning away with a darn satisfied smirk on his face.
He was so mean, toying with me like that! Teasing me.
I crossed my arms over my chest as I watched him mess around with the cash box and POS tablet they kept on the front table. This is why it was hard to take him seriously. He was always kidding around with me. How was I to know if and when he really meant what he said? Had he even meant what he said in his office the other day? It seemed like he did, but then again, he hadn’t brought it up again since.
