Falling for Mr. Wrong(23)
Harper laughed. “Man, you love that woman, don’t you?”
“It’s only that she’s always put me and Marcy in a competition and I hated it. Left to our own devices, we could have been good friends. But with her mother adding that layer of ‘my daughter’s better than you,’ it was pretty much a doomed friendship from the get-go.”
Harper reached for her hand and pulled her toward the steps. “Well, you look absolutely ravishing.” And she did: her blond hair was pulled into a French braid that highlighted her soft, blue eyes. She wore a silver silk dress with a flared sheer floral silver organza overlay. The high-waisted dress was scooped at the neck and landed midcalf. She had on the most amazing glittery silver pumps. Harper pointed at her feet. “Oh, man. Those shoes. I have serious shoe envy, you know.”
Georgie stuck out her foot and wiggled it. “I borrowed them from my mom’s best friend, Margie. Margie said she knew my mom would’ve bought me something equally dazzling if she were around to do so.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet. I love that you have her in your life.”
She nodded. “Tell me about it. You can’t put a price tag on moral support.”
Which was true. Harper still had her parents, though she tried not to lean on them. She’d done enough leaning on them for that first year after being dumped, so when she finally rose from the ashes, she savored her independence. She got along with them just fine, but she tried to give them space. Plus they traveled so much they were rarely in town anymore. All good, though. Harper had a wonderful network of friends and had carved out a lovely life for herself.
They entered the inn, which was spacious yet cozy, with two overstuffed floral-patterned sofas facing an inviting fire crackling in a large fireplace. An older woman ushered them through a second room with tables set up for the reception, out toward an expansive tented deck space that overlooked the ocean. Hundreds of lit candles twinkled both outside and inside the clear-sided tent.
Harper was partial to ocean-front views. The sand and the surf spoke to her, and ever since she was a little girl, it was a place she associated with joy. She and Noah had spent lots of time on the beach, both by day and night. It was the perfect place for a little late-night delight when there weren’t many quiet places to go parking in. They must’ve known every private beach cove for a good twenty-mile stretch of beach.
When they reached the door to exit onto the deck, someone opened the door for them.
“Welcome, ladies,” a man said. But not any man. That man. The man she so didn’t want to hear, even though she really did. Harper looked up to see Noah in a smart charcoal business suit with a crisp white button-down and a magenta-and-gray diagonally striped tie. She wondered for a second if he was the first course or the second course for dinner tonight. Because he looked good enough to eat, though she couldn’t let him know that’s what she was thinking.
She cocked her eyebrow at him. “Is this your day job or something?”
He shrugged. “You could say that.”
“Okay, then. So you’re a wedding usher by day, Uber driver by night. Interesting.” She nodded her head.
“Funny that we hadn’t gotten around to discussing our chosen career paths yet. I guess we’ve been too busy with more pressing matters.” He winked at her, and she was torn between wanting to punch him or kiss him. Or both. She was beginning to see there was a fine line between love and hate. Except this wasn’t love. That was then. This was pure, unadulterated lust. And she was good with that. She was perfectly happy to employ him as her itch scratcher. She deserved that, at the very least. Plus it could save her a ton on batteries.
Georgie looked at Harper, then at Noah. “So you two know each other?”
Harper had been busy staring at Noah in a suit, which was almost as big a turn-on as Noah without his pants on. She’d yet to encounter the full Monty since he’d been home, at least, but the suit was a completely perfect stand-in for a thoroughly naked Noah. She nodded slowly then turned to Georgie. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to be rude. Georgie, meet Noah.”
Georgie knit her brows. “Noah as in that Noah?”
Harper so wished she hadn’t said that. It meant Harper had told Georgie all about him, and she wanted Noah to think she was long ago over him.
“This is the Noah I might have mentioned before.”
Georgie shook his hand as if she’d touched something hot. “Damn, girl, you failed to tell me that he looked like this. No wonder you were pissed at him leaving.”
The corner of Noah’s mouth curled up into a grin. He reached his hand out. “Georgie—delighted to meet you. How do you two beautiful women know each other?”
Beautiful women. What a suck-up.
“I’m Harper’s right-hand woman in the shop.”
“Oh? What shop is that?”
Georgie threw a side glance at her friend. “He doesn’t even know about the shop?”
Harper frowned. “Um, no?”
“I’d love to hear more about this mystery shop.”
Harper shook her head. “Stop mocking me. There’s nothing mysterious about it. I simply didn’t want to share my private business with you. I reserve that for people I trust.”
Georgie licked the tip of her finger and tapped the air, making a sizzling sound. “The score: Harper, one. Noah, zero.”