"Um, well…" Gwen was still rubbing her wrist. "Itmight'vebeen me."
I still didn't understand why Drake and his dog were such a secret. But Ididknow what it was like to be interrogated by Harper.
Iwas used to it.
Gwen wasn't.
To rescue my cousin, I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head. "Yeah, I had intercourse. What of it?"
That did the trick, alright.
Harper whirled to face me. "Iknowyou had intercourse. And if you'd had it with anyone else, I'd be glad for you. Really, I would. But why, oh why, did you have intercourse withhim?"
This was a good question.And it was the second time she'd asked it. Unfortunately, I still didn't have a good answer. "Because…" I tried to think and ended up repeating the same thing I'd said the first time. "I couldn’t help it?"
"Or maybe," Harper gritted out, "you didn'twantto help it."
She was right, not that I would ever admit it. I mumbled, "Well at least he didn't slip me a roofie."
"Not that you know of."
By now, I'd heard more than enough. "For the last time, he did no such thing." But hehadinvited me out for a late dinner. In fact, I was supposed to be meeting him across the street in just under an hour.
He'd even offered to pick me up here at the house. But I'd thought the idea was laughable, considering that he lived a snowball's throw away. Plus, there'd been my sister to consider.
A few weeks ago, when he'd returned the Kitten Cove sign, Harper had been incredibly rude.My fault. Not hers.Regardless, I could only imagine how she'd act now.
Proving my point, Harper gave a huff of annoyance. "And why didn't you tell me you were seeing him?"
"I meant to," I said. "And I would've. But…maybe I was worried."
"About what?"
"Well, for one thing, that you'd…I dunno…burn dog poop on his front porch or something."
"Don't be silly," she said. "We don'thavea dog."
"Fine," I said. "Then cat poop."
Next to us, Gwen gave a solemn nod. "Well, we have plenty ofthat."
This was true.We emptied the litter boxes every day, taking turns so each of us only had to do it a couple of times a week. Regardless, there was no shortage inthatdepartment.
But Harper wasn't done. Her eyes narrowed as she told me, "Even if he didn't slip you a roofie, he still ruined your job prospects. Tell me. Did you at least confront him about it?"
My chin lifted. "Yes, actually."
"And?"
"And he denied it."
"Of course he denied it," she said. "The guy's a total liar."
I felt my fingers clench in irritation. "You don't know that."
"Oh, yes, I do," she said. "Because, as we've already discussed, I know for a fact that he's been giving you bad references. And Ialsoknow – thanks to what you just told me – that he denies it, which makes him a big ol' liar."
I considered my recent visit to his office.Well, he was definitely big. And quite skilled, too.And don't get me started on his fingers.
