“I want to play!”
“No.” His tone left to room for argument. “Not in the shape you’re in.”
Harper sulked and took another bite of pie.
They picked teams, with Sophie and James pitted against Ty and Luke. The game’s action quickly escalated from casual fun to all-out war. Competition definitely ran in the Garrison blood, Harper noted, as Luke tripped James after his brother “accidentally” kicked him in the shin.
She stayed on the sidelines and enjoyed the chaos. The players tiptoed around Josh when the toddler chased a chicken across the field of play and no one batted an eye when Sophie put Ty in a headlock so James could run down field.
Distracted by Claire asking her if she’d like some coffee, Harper didn’t see the freight train of Luke and James hurtling towards her after a long bomb thrown by Ty until it was too late.
Luke caught the ball out of mid-air and she saw the exact second that it registered that he was about to crush her.
He twisted open in the air and wrapped one arm around her while cushioning their fall with the other. They landed halfway in one of Claire’s flowerbeds. Surrounded by azaleas, Harper stopped moving under Luke’s weight.
His hips pressed into hers and she forgot all about bruises and the ground beneath her.
“I keep finding you like this,” he teased, his breath warm on her face.
“It’s nice to not be unconscious this time.”
She saw the subtle change in his eyes and held her breath as he lowered his mouth closer to hers. Harper parted her lips.
“Touchdown, Uncca Luke!” Josh threw himself on Luke’s back.
***
That night, Harper stared into the mirror’s reflection as she brushed her teeth. She had wondered if Luke would acknowledge their “moment,” but he had simply pulled her to her feet and gone back to the game until it was called on account of darkness and they said their good-byes.
Claire had wrapped Harper in a gentle hug and told her she was welcome any time. It had been a great day with his family.
Luke rapped on the door. “You decent?”
Harper spit and rinsed. “Yep.” She reached for her hairbrush while Luke joined her at the sink.
“I really like your family,” she said, tugging the elastic band out of her hair.
Luke shrugged, loading up toothpaste on his brush. “Yeah, they’re not bad in small doses.”
“Not bad?” She ran the brush through her hair. “Everyone gets along. Your mom’s an awesome cook. There was no bloodshed at the table. I’m starting to think you conned me into this charade with a phony story about how crazy they are.”
“There’s nothing fake about their crazy. They just haven’t shown it to you yet,” he said, starting to brush.
“Maybe you’re just overly sensitive and can’t tell normal from crazy anymore,” Harper offered.
Luke glared at her in the mirror and she laughed.
“Anyway, I had a really nice time. It was fun hanging out with everyone talking and eating and picking on each other. I like them a lot.”
Luke rinsed and put his toothbrush back in the holder. “They like you.” He was quiet for a moment, watching her brush her long hair in the mirror before skirting around her to the doorway. He paused. “Thanks for doing this.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I might be a disaster at the office tomorrow.” She winked, and he turned on a sigh and left the bathroom.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Luke sipped the coffee Harper had brewed while he was out for his run and looked out the back window. He woke up feeling unsettled. He blamed it on the fact that it was the first time he had taken a girl home to meet his parents since ... Since.
It was just a month, he reminded himself. Then everything would go back to normal. If another deployment counted as normal.
