Harper sniffed, and stepped back.“What do you think?”she asked with a watery smile, twirling in place.
Drea wiped a tear from under her eye.“You need a smaller size, let me go get one.”
Harper let out a deep breath and pulled a tissue from her purse, grabbing her phone as it buzzed.
Anxious to see if it was Trent, she checked the screen.
Atrophied sinister voyeurism.
Harper’s mouth went dry and her heart pounded as she stared at the message.An unknown number.Harper inhaled slowly through her nose and out through her mouth.There was no reason to get in a state over what was likely a wrong number.Very few people had her pay-as-you-go Miami cell number.The letters in the text that made upHarperjumped out at her.The letters of anagrams had always fallen into place for her, like alphabetical Tetris.Nathan used to say it was freaky.The best anagrams always contained fully fleshed-out words to distract the eye and make it harder to reshuffle them into new words.She could already see words and started stringing them into sentences.Praise you in this storm.Inside the Soviet Army.A very serious person.But none of them quite used all the letters of the text.Harper shook her head and looked away from the phone.This was silly.There were so many possible combinations.How on earth could this really mean something?She looked back.Missed.It.Isn’t.Over.You.And oneIleft:Harper, I missed you.It isn’t over.
Drea flung the curtain back.“This is more your size.”
Harper dropped her phone back into her purse.It was a mistake, someone accidently misdialing or having autocorrect issues.Reading anything into it was crazy.She needed to stop imagining the worst.
***
Wow.Watching Harper walk into the club was an education.
He wasn’t really sure where to look first.From top to bottom she was one hot-looking woman.Her long dark hair had been curled into soft waves.
She’d done that smudgy thing with her eyes that chicks did, capitalizing on their natural dark green beauty.Imagining them heavy lidded while she was crawling up the bed toward him made him shake his head and reach for his beer.
She was wearing the sexiest black heels with skinny black jeans, and it took every ounce of effort to not imagine those legs wrapped around his waist.He wondered how many other pairs of spectacular shoes she had hidden in that apartment.Maybe she’d model them for him one day, in her underwear.No, naked.
He locked his gaze on her until she found him and she smiled that shy smile.
Kicking Cujo off the end of the sofa, literally, and getting a punch in the arm for his efforts, he got up and went over to her.Cupping her face with both hands, he touched her forehead with his before kissing her gently.
“Hey, baby,” he said into her ear.He wrapped his arms around her back to hug her closer.
Holy shit.Stepping back suddenly, he looked at her and grinned.Mischief sparkling in her eyes told him she’d planned this surprise just for him.
“Turn,” he mouthed.He wanted to seeallof her—front and back.
Without saying a word, she spun around.The cream blouse had narrow straps, and while it had appeared fitted at the front, it flowed down into a backless creation that showed off her tattoo.
The outline of the sword was complete and the shading he’d finished to date hid the worst of her silver scars.Even though it was still unfinished, his work looked good on her.
Harper gazed over her shoulder and mouthed, “Surprise!”
Trent let out a laugh.A drunken idiot shoved his way between the two of them to get to the dance floor.He stumbled, then grabbed hold of Harper’s back to regain his balance.
The playfulness in Harper’s eyes vanished, panic replacing it.
Trent gripped the guy’s arm, and yanked him away from Harper.“You need to watch where you’re going there, friend.”
“Sorry, man,” he mumbled, stumbling away.
While it was hard to ignore the goose bumps on Harper’s arms, he figured playing the whole thing down was best for her.
Locking his arms around her, he pulled her into his chest.“You are a beautiful woman, Harper Connelly.”He lowered his lips down to the side of her neck, nipping her gently.“Want to leave right now and go to my place?”he asked, nuzzling his way down her shoulder.
“Not on your life,” Harper shouted over the loud music.“You promised me normal, and drinking and dancing is normal.”Her voice sounded confident, but Trent wasn’t fooled as she used her arms to pull him even tighter up against her back.
Cujo greeted them as they walked over to the table.He raised an eyebrow in Trent’s direction.“Hey, Harper.Looking good!”
“Thanks, Cujo.”
