“Yes, Jillian. Hey, I don’t know if you had plans after work tonight, but my migraine isn’t any better and I don’t want to go all the way home. Can I crash at your place?”
Silence on the phone for a moment. “It must be bad if you’re leaving work early,” Gardenia said. “Sure. I didn’t have any plans other than watching a movie with Kayleigh. Just head to my building and I’ll tell the front desk to give you a key.”
“Thanks, Gardenia,” Harper said.
“And help yourself to anything. My younger sister stayed with me last week, and she left a bunch of clothes in the guest bedroom that’ll fit you. I’ll see you later,” her friend said.
Harper put her phone in her purse and sighed. She knew Gardenia came from a big family and had four sisters. A pang of jealousy niggled at her.It must be nice to have people who care about you, people who you could rely on. It must be nice to have a family.
Usually, she didn’t think about it too much, other than on her birthday when she missed her parents and her one aunt. Whatever happened to her aunt? And she missed having family on the holidays. Okay, so maybe she did think about it a lot. With a past like hers, it was hard not to. But Ares and Xander were her family now, and she also had Josie and her mom, Fleur and the Bandit Brothers felt like big brothers and through them, well they all had Kayleigh, who was like everyone’s tag-along sister.
Harper shook her head, stopped at the café next to Gardenia’s building and got a tea. As she was waiting for the barista to brew it, a prickling sense came over her as she glanced out the windows to see a black-haired man walk by.
“Here you are,” the barista said, handing over the tea.
“Thanks,” Harper mumbled. She looked behind her, but no one was there. She shook off the feeling as she turned into Gardenia’s building.
“Miss Blake, I was told to give you a key.” The concierge said as she walked in. Harper startled, forgetting for a moment that she was the one being addressed. Her migraine was playing havoc with her head. She smiled. “Thank you.”
She pressed the elevator button quickly. For a moment, she longed to hear her father’s name and knew that wasn’t a possibility.
At Gardenia’s door, she let herself in, putting her shoes on the rack. She hung up her purse on a hook then knelt and scratched Snowflake, Gardenia’s grey and white tabby. “Do you want a treat, kitty?”
Walking into the open concept kitchen, the view of the buildings downtown was memorizing, with a peekaboo view of the ocean. Gardenia’s condo, though upscale, wasn’t as big as Logan’s and the tiny living room had enough room for a love seat, and a tv that stood on a wooden stand, piles of books were in stacks all over the room and a plush white carpet completed the look. But it was still Gardenia’s own space. Family photographs lined the walls, awards for equestrian riding stuck out here and there behind photos. An empty coffee cup rested in the sink.
From the cupboard above the sink, she took down the cat treats, shaking the container. Snowflake came running at the sound. Harper smiled and offered the cat two treats in her palm. Snowflake wrapped herself around Harper’s legs in thanks as Harper washed her hands and then finished her tea.
Harper went back to the small guest room and riffled through the closet and found yoga pants and a UBC sweatshirt. She folded her work clothes neatly, leaving them on a shelf in the closet.
She lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling the tears form in the corners of her eyes. She was selfish.
Not wanting to lose either man, she wanted to commit to both of them. But because Logan had asked her first, she guessed it was him. But losing Xander was too high of a price. She didn’t want them fighting about her yet ever since she’d started seeing Logan, they had done nothing but fight.
Harper didn’t know how she could love two men, but she did, and even after Xander was cold and awful to her; she couldn’t help remembering how much passion and possession there was in the touch of his lips against her skin. How his eyes grew a shade lighter when they looked at her, his touch demanding but gentle.
But her loving both of them wasn’t fair toeitherof them. She should do the mature thing and end it with Logan then tell Xander her feelings were misplaced, that she wanted to go back to being friends and only his executive assistant.
Harper pulled the blanket up to her chin and snuggled down, shutting out the world.
***
“Can you believe they wanted me to answer the phones?” Kayleigh said, handing Harper a glass of wine. “I worked with them for two years, writing articles and interviewing people for their podcast, I am not a receptionist.”
“So you quit?” Gardenia asked.
“Yes, I quit,” Kayleigh said, taking off her oversized cat glasses and wiping them on her shirt. “It was the best thing for my mental health, you know?”
Harper smiled at her friend. “You’ll find something soon. Or you could always go back to school.”
“No, that’s not for me. I don’t know how you do it online and work full time.”
“She has no life,” Gardenia said, “outside of work.”
“That’s not true!” She knew she was blushing.
“Yeah, it is,” Kayleigh insisted.
“Though both Xander and Logan look at her as if they could eat her,” Gardenia said.
