A Brush with Love(57)

“Well, I got you to your room and uh”—he cleared his throat—“you took your dress off…”

Harper’s entire body flushed with embarrassment, and she brushed a hand over her face.

“I didn’t see anything,” he added hastily. His eyes landed on her chest again and she knew he was lying. Her mortification swelled in her stomach.

“I grabbed your T-shirt from the floor and threw it on you. Same with the bottoms. I tucked you in and stayed with you for a bit, but eventually moved to the couch so I wouldn’t scare you when you woke up.” A violent blush erupted on Dan’s cheeks, making her heart inflate. The coffeemaker was the only sound in the room as they both tactfully looked at the floor.

Dan lifted his gaze and met her eyes with a new seriousness.

“But you should know that we kissed last night. When we left the party. You weren’t drunk then, but just in case you forgot … I figured you should know everything that happened between us.”

Harper wanted to open a small window in her chest and release the thousands of butterflies that were fluttering through her body. He was good and kind, and in that moment, her heart beat only for him.

Not willing to fight the instinct, she reached out her hand and cupped his cheek.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” she whispered, looking into his blazing green eyes, waves of tenderness and excitement unfurling deep in her belly. “And I do remember the kiss.”

Heat and affection radiated off Dan, tempting Harper to give in, to get closer—plans and control and focus be damned. But even if she did hand over her mind and body and told her anxiety to go to hell (as if), a clock would still be ticking down to her departure. There was no reconciling her few months left when Dan still had three years ahead of him—an obstacle that easily crushed any vulnerable infatuation.

“Care to repeat it?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts.

Dan stepped closer, moving his hands to her waist. Every muscle wanted to move toward him. Instead, she leaned back, putting a hand between them. He looked at the roadblock, then at her eyes, his own filled with questions.

“I haven’t brushed my teeth,” she said feebly.

Dan huffed out a laugh. “I appreciate you being the conscientious dentist, but at this point, I don’t care.” He cocked his head to the side and inched closer.

“And we’re still just friends.” The necessary words squeaked out of her mouth and she wanted to cram them back down her throat.

He stared at her incredulously before dropping his arms. He opened his mouth and Harper thought he was going to argue. Instead, he turned away from her, dragging his hands over his face and letting out a groan.

“Really?” he finally said, turning back around to look at her.

No. “Yes. Nothing’s changed.”

“Nothing,” Dan repeated.

“I’m still moving this summer.”

Dan blew out a heavy breath through his nose. After a pause, he fixed her with a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. But as he continued to stare at her, looking her up and down, the smile turned almost wolfish.

“That’s fine,” he said at last.

“Really?”

“Yes.” He stepped closer, erasing the space between them as his eyes bore down on her. “Of course it’s fine. Because when we do finally get together, you won’t have blacked out the night before. I won’t have slept with a fifty-pound cat on my neck. And you won’t wake up wondering if we did anything. Because you’ll know. And you’ll want more. So take your time, Harper, I’ve got nowhere else to be.”

Dan grazed his knuckles along her jaw, making her shiver. He dropped his hand and stepped back.

They stared at each other, the moment heating to the point of combustion. Harper could feel the fire of his touch all over her body, even while his hands were balled into fists at his sides.

A loud knock on her door made them both jump.

“I didn’t hear your intercom buzz,” Dan said, turning narrowed eyes in the direction of the front door.

She glanced at the clock and groaned. “That’ll be my friends. We study on Sundays and Lizzie brings us baked goods. They have my spare key.”

With her hangover just gaining momentum, the last thing she wanted to deal with was their line of questioning at Dan leaving still in his suit.

“I’ll get out of here then,” Dan said, rubbing a hand over his forehead.

Harper stepped around him, and he followed her to the door. She took a deep breath before opening it.

Thu, Indira, and Lizzie stood clustered in the doorway, plastic bags of food in their hands. In the span of the world’s longest second, all three of their jaws dropped as they noticed Dan standing behind her.

“Bye, Harps. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Dan leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Ladies.” He greeted them with a nod, maneuvering past their frozen bodies to escape down the hall.

The four women stood there staring at each other, before Indira broke the silence.

“Told you he’d see that half bush.”





CHAPTER 23





HARPER

Harper’s hungover stomach lurched as she stared at the cinnamon rolls Lizzie had brought over. She pushed her plate away and rubbed her temples before risking a glance at her friends. Lizzie looked the worst, green and slack-jawed, a cloud of alcohol fumes almost visible around her as she sprawled out on the couch. Thu looked only marginally better, wearing oversize sunglasses and taking tentative sips from her coffee.