Falling for Mr. Wrong(8)

Breathe, Harper. Breathe.

She fanned her face, feeling desperately flustered.

“Sorry, can’t seem to find the cat anywhere,” Danny said, handing her a drink. It felt refreshingly cold, so she pressed it to her cheek. “You warm? I can open the sliding glass door.” He walked over to the door, which led to a screened-in porch. She followed him.

“I know it’s chilly outside, but I did get hot for some reason, so this would be great to cool down for a minute.”

There was a breakfast table on the porch with two chairs and a porch swing, so she sat at the table to avoid having to figure out what she was supposed to do here. She was as nervous as a kid on the first day of school. Except this might end in flesh-to-flesh contact and the exchange of bodily fluids. Not quite the same.

She was grateful for the sound of crashing waves along the shoreline—it filled the conversational void she seemed incapable of pouring herself into.

“Bottoms up.” Danny nodded and tipped his glass to hers.

“Cheers,” she said, taking a bit more of a swig than intended. She licked the residual Kahlua from her lips and nearly smacked herself for doing that. Again with the tongue action. “I’m sorry for that weirdly awkward scene in the Uber back there.”

He sat down opposite her. “It’s fine. I figured there must’ve been something there, but it’s not my business.”

She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. “And about that boyfriend comment…” She made air quotes around the boyfriend. What a dingbat she was, claiming they were dating. Way to kill the chance of a second date.

He shook his head. “Again, I’m sure you had your reasons.”

She nodded. “It sort of took me by surprise, is all. Suffice it to say I hadn’t seen him in a long time.”

He pointed his finger at her and then toward the door, as if Noah was still right on the other side of it, sitting in his car, waiting. “You two had a thing?”

She nodded, pursing her lips. “You could say that.” She didn’t want to get into the details. “Let’s leave it at things ended badly.”

He reached his hand across the table and rested it over hers. “I’m sorry, Harper. I can’t imagine how someone would ever want to hurt you like that.”

She heaved a sigh. Neither could she. That was the problem.

“It’s complicated,” she said. She took a look at her watch. It was late. The bloom was off the rose for this date tonight. To make matters worse, the cat wasn’t even here. Maybe another night would be better. Under the circumstances, Harper couldn’t see even having an innocent little make-out session with the guy. It would feel disingenuous. Not that she wasn’t interested, but now her mind was polluted with too many thoughts: about seeing Noah again after all this time. About all that they’d been through together. About how he betrayed her. And about how crazy horny he made her feel even when he infuriated her, like he had right now. Damn him. Ruined everything by leaving and now he was ruining everything by showing up unannounced.

Part of her wanted to sleep with Danny and get it over with. Just be done with that thing looming over her head like a ghost. Oh, crap. Having sex with a cute date should never be viewed as an albatross. And it wasn’t. She’d love to have sex with him. Or at least make out with him. Maybe some heavy petting. Heavy petting? She was starting to sound like a sex-ed class in middle school. What she meant was to have his hands on her private parts in a way that would make her feel the way she felt when Noah had done that.

She combed her fingers through her hair as she took another swig of her drink. Danny’s fingers started to walk up her wrist, along her arm. She instinctually wanted to swat at his hand as if it was a mosquito. Ugh. That is not the proper response when an incredibly handsome, kind, eligible man is trying to show you he’s interested in you.

Harper squeezed her eyes tightly. “No—I mean Danny. I know this is super lame of me, but I think I need to get back home. Can we maybe pick up where we left off another night? I had such a great time with you, but this sort of derailed me a little bit. I’d be much better company once I splash some water on my face, get a good night’s sleep, and forget all about that whole car ride.”

He frowned. “You sure?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry. We had such fun tonight. And I really would love to see you again.”

He stood up. “Let me at least take you home.”

She shook her head. “No. Please, I’m so good with taking an Uber back.” She already had her phone on the table and opened the app to call for a ride. “No sense in your going back out in this weather.”

“But I’m happy to.”

She held up her hands in protest. “No, seriously. I insist. I will be fine. It’s a quick ride home.” She glanced at her phone. “See? Says my ride will be here in one minute.”

She walked back into the house, took her drink to the sink, and poured the remainder down the drain, rinsing the cup and loading it into the dishwasher. She could at least be a considerate houseguest, albeit a fleeting one.

“Thank you, Danny, for such a lovely evening.” She reached up and gave him a chaste peck on the cheek.

“Can I call you?”

She smiled. “Absolutely. I’d like that.”