LITMIR.BIZ

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dictator his father had been, but he wouldn’t have wanted to live with her mom, either.

      “So, what’s up with you?”

      He laughed, glad for her obvious change of subject to lighten the mood. “Not much. Jake’s a much better businessman than my father was, so working with him is good.”

      “And your mom?”

      He snorted. “My mom isn’t quite as bad as your mom, but we have our issues.”

      She nodded sagely. “Sometimes the best you can do is avoid them for the sake of peace.”

      He’d never say that the feelings he had around his mother were peaceful. He had a million questions he’d like to ask. Like, why she’d said nothing when his father embarrassed or humiliated him and Jake. Or better yet, why she’d stayed married to a man who was awful as a husband and father? She’d known he was cheating. She’d known he wasn’t a good father. Yet she’d stayed. Forcing them all to live a lie.

      Deciding he didn’t want to burden Harper with any of that, he rose. “Do you like baseball?”

      “Sort of.”

      “Sort of?” He sniffed a laugh. “There’s a game on tonight that I’d love to see. If you want to watch, too, I can watch out here. If not, I can watch on the television in my bedroom.”

      “I don’t want you to change your routines for me.”

      “I won’t.”

      The sound of the baby crying burst from her phone. She held it up. “Baby monitor is attached to this. And it looks like I’m going to be busy for a while. Go ahead and put your game on.”

      Harper walked into her room sort of happy. It had been nice to talk about Clark, her mom and even being alone. She wasn’t trying to make a new best friend, but she had been lonely. Having someone to talk to, to share a meal with, had been more of a treat than she’d expected it would be.

      With Crystal on her arm she walked out to the common area and found Seth was nowhere around. Thinking he must have decided to watch the game in his room, she warmed a bottle, fed Crystal, played with her, let her sit in her little seat that rocked her sideways, then finally put her into bed.

      After a quick shower, and still wired from their talk, she put on a pair of pajamas and returned to the living room to watch TV.

      A few minutes later, Seth returned to the main living area. He held up his phone. “Work call. I also took a shower while I was back there.” He set the phone on the center island and pulled a beer from the fridge. “Want one?”

      She shook her head. “No. I might have to get up in the middle of the night.”

      That piece of information seemed to horrify him. “Really?”

      “Crystal is a fairly good sleeper, but I never know.”

      He twisted the top off the bottle. “So, on the off chance that she’ll wake up, you don’t drink?”

      “Yes.”

      He sat beside her. She liked his hair all rumpled from his shower. Whatever his soap was it made him smell like heaven.

      Strange things happened to her pulse. Her breathing shifted. Probably so she could inhale the wonderful scent of his soap or shampoo.

      She eased a few more inches away from him. It didn’t help.

      “What are you watching?”

      She handed him the remote. “Nothing. Put the game on. I need to get to bed.”

      He frowned.

      “You know...in case Chrystal wakes up.”

      “Right.”

      She walked into her room and closed the door behind her with a deep sigh. Her weird reactions around him shouldn’t surprise her. Her husband had been gone a year and she’d all but locked herself in her house. Primarily to prepare for and then care for her baby. And she might be too needy to be around such a gorgeous guy. But she also couldn’t risk slipping it to her parents that Clark had failed. Or, worse, having her mom or dad read her body language, realize something was wrong and grill her until she crumbled. That had kept her home, alone, more than she wanted to admit.

      These feelings she was having around Seth were nothing but her reaction to being around a man again. A young, handsome, sexy-smelling guy who should not tempt her.

      But he did.

      Not because she was attracted to him. Though, she was. What woman wouldn’t be? The real bottom line was a combination of things. Her having been sheltered for months combined with his good looks and their close proximity was making her supersensitive.

      But it was Clark she loved. Clark she still missed.

      She crawled into bed and closed her eyes, thinking about his silly laugh, how he’d loved to cook, how much he’d wanted their baby.

      And all thoughts of Seth vanished.

      In the middle of the night, Seth awakened to the sound of crying. Recognizing it was Crystal and he was repaying a debt, he rolled over to go back to sleep, but sleep didn’t come. He put the pillow over his head. No help.

      Finally, the little girl quieted, and he realized Harper must have given her a bottle or something. He fell back to sleep, woke when the alarm sounded and sneaked up the hall to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Their conversation the night before had been good, but they were still uncomfortable with each other. And he was still fighting that attraction. So better not to wake her.

      “Good morning.”

      Damn. She was already up.

      She wore the pale blue pajamas he’d seen the night before. They were much less revealing than things he’d seen in Vegas or Barcelona and his face should not have reddened. But it had.

      She looked soft-and-cuddly sexy. Her sleepy blue eyes should have reminded him that she’d gotten up with a baby the night before. Instead they reminded him of warm, fuzzy feelings after sex.

      “I just, uh, wanted a cup of coffee.”

      “Okay.”

      He neared the counter, where she sat holding the baby. The little girl looked at him.

      “Hey.”

      Harper shot him a confused expression.

      “Just, you know, saying, hey, to the kid...the baby... Crystal.”

      The little girl grinned.

      “I think she likes you.”

      “Well, she terrifies me. In a good way,” he quickly added. “I don’t want to hurt her.”

      “You won’t.”

      “Sure,” he said, knowing he wouldn’t ever hurt her because he wouldn’t ever touch her.

      He got his coffee and went back to his room, where he dressed in his typical work clothes of jeans and a halfway decent shirt. When he returned to the kitchen for his keys and wallet, Harper and the baby were gone.

      Wincing, he walked back the hall and knocked on her door.

      “Yes?”

      “Just wanted to let you know I’m on my way to work.”

      “Okay.”

      He squeezed his eyes shut. The melodious sound of her voice drifted through him like a blast of sweet summer air. She sounded so happy and content that pride surged through him, tightening his chest. This time two days ago, she’d been facing homelessness and he’d fixed that for her.

      He started up the hall and picked up his keys and wallet. What the hell was wrong with him? Helping her should feel good, but he wasn’t doing this for her. He was doing it for Clark. To pay back Clark for taking him in when he needed help.

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