“Where are you originally from?That doesn’t sound like a Florida accent.”Harper panicked, trying to think of a plausible lie.Why couldn’t she remember any of her stock answers to personal questions?Lying used to be so much easier.
The buzzer to the condo interrupted her, and Diana jumped to her feet.“Oh, they’re here.Wait ’til they see the two of you.It’s going to knock them on their asses.”
Trent leaned over the counter and reached for her hand, pulling her close.“Say whatever you need to say to feel safe, darlin’,” he whispered.“We can undo it all later if we need to.”
***
“I keep meaning to tell you, Harp—I’m going to be gone a few days.I have to go to LA next week on business.”After grappling for a week with telling Harper the truth of why he was going, he’d decided against it.Granted, though, telling her in a restaurant in front of his family might not be the best idea he’d ever had.
The quick flash of disappointment that crossed her face did nothing to ease his guilt.“I’ve always wanted to go there,” Harper said softly.“I’d go to the Getty Center in the morning, Santa Monica Pier in the afternoon, and then Mann’s Chinese Theatre in the evening.”She let out a soft laugh that warmed him.“Not that I know if those things are even remotely close together.What are you going to do there?”
“Are you going to see Shane?”Kit’s crush on the guy was no secret, but thankfully one-sided, given that he was over a decade older than she was.Truth was, even if she’d been his age, Shane was a sucker for a woman with curves—real big curves—and Kit’s trim, athletic frame would have put her out of the running.
“Yeah, I’m going to check out his new tattoo shop, take one of his bikes up the coast, and go to the annual ink expo with him and Juliette,” he replied, chuckling at Kit’s grimace.Her nose piercing sparkled as she scrunched up her face in response to Shane’s wife’s name.
Didn’t it figure that LA was somewhere Harper would want to visit?Just when he couldn’t feel any worse about lying to her.Thank God, literally, that there wasn’t a circle in hell for the sin of omission.If there was, he was certainly going there when the big guy called.Assuming there was a big guy.Something Trent wasn’t absolutely sure of.
A part of him wanted to share the news about the TV show with her.To have someone to share his excitement with.But how would she respond if he didn’t get it?Could he live with disappointing her?
He watched as Harper tucked into her shrimpal ajillo,the creamy garlic sauce likely seasoned to perfection, as she listened politely to his mom go on about the latest sale at JCPenney.Harper glanced up at him and smiled.
“Thanks for choosing this place, Mom.It’s been a while since I came here.”Knowing him well, his parents had taken them to his favorite Cuban restaurant, Versailles, in Little Havana, the proud center of the Cuban community.Once you got past the ornately mirrored walls and row of large chandeliers, it was a pretty cool place.Just about every politician with ambition had drunk the rich café and kissed babies here.Bush, Thompson, Cain, they’d all sipped their coffees for the perfect photo op.If you wanted the Cuban vote, you started the campaign at Versailles.
“Hey,” Harper exclaimed as he speared one of her shrimp with his fork, smiling at her as he put it in his mouth.
“You can have some of mine,” he mumbled over the tasty shrimp.He loaded his fork with hisropa vieja,the shredded beef threatening to topple.“Open.”
“Mmm.That’s so good.We’ll have to come back so I can try everything.”
Yeah, he wanted to bring her back here.Take to her to some of the best restaurants in the area.And travel with her.She hadn’t been on vacation in nearly five years, hadn’t even ventured outside of Miami since moving here, and it was about time someone corrected that.The show, if it worked out, would certainly help him be the one to do it.Their lifestyle would change exponentially if it happened.But he wasn’t going to get her hopes up only to disappoint her.That path was a painful one.
Harper leaned over and whispered in his ear.“What’s got you looking so serious over there?”The warmth of her breath and her lips on his neck felt way better than she’d likely intended.
He turned and kissed her gently behind her ear.“There’s a full moon tonight and I’m wondering if I can get you to let me make love to you on the balcony.”
He felt like a heel as she blushed and laughed at him.Lying didn’t come naturally to him, and it felt particularly unsettling to be lying to Harper.
There was a very real chance he wouldn’t get the show once the producers realized he had no experience even remotely close to what they were looking for.And it wasn’t like the world really needed to know he’d failed at something if he didn’t get it.He had firsthand experience of seeing that look of disappointment on the face of someone he’d loved, and he wasn’t ready to see it there again.
“Any chance Drea might be able to cover some of your shifts before I go so we could spend some more time together?”
He watched her text her friend, doing his best to ignore the whisper that told him lying to her was a really bad idea.
***
“Remember, put the strongest body part you have available into the weakest part of them you can find.Let’s go again.”Harper memorized every word.Trent had said Frankie was an incredible fighter, had even shown her some of Frankie’s fighting footage online, but learning from him was worth the pain.
Harper flinched as Frankie grabbed her right arm slightly above her wrist.She rotated her arm at the elbow in a clockwise direction, forcing his hand to break his grasp.Raising her left hand, she aimed for his eyes with her fingers.
“Great, Harper.That was much better.”Harper took a deep breath.The amount of body contact she was experiencing was jolting but not quite panic-worthy.Frankie passed Harper her water bottle and she gratefully downed a few large gulps.She was sweating from places she didn’t know were capable of sweating.
“Ready to go again?”They’d been at it for nearly forty-five minutes, and it was as tough as any workout Harper had ever done.
“Sure thing, coach,” she groaned.
“You want to try an approach from behind to end the session?”Frankie scrutinized her face, watching for her reaction.
“Not really, but I have to get past this, right?”
