Okay, she may be beautiful, but she wasn’t so friendly if her frosty tone was anything to go by. “Hi. I’m Harper.”
The woman started moving forward again, but her steps were slower now, her eyes assessing. “And what are you doing behind the bar, Harper?”
Harper’s brows rose. Whowasthis woman?
“Got it!”
They both looked toward the kitchen doorway as Cody stepped behind the bar. He stopped when he saw the woman. “Vanessa. What are you doing here?”
Vanessa’s gaze shifted from Cody to Harper, then back to Cody. “I came to talk to you about the work luncheon.”
“I thought we already did that.” Cody continued forward, only stopping when he was beside Harper, where he placed a small box onto the counter.
Vanessa’s gaze shifted to the box, a frown creasing her brow before she looked up again. “I had some more things to run past you.”
“What things?”
She cleared her throat. “Can we talk about it in private?”
Okay, Harper knew when she wasn’t welcome. She started to walk away, but Cody touched the small of her back, sending an immediate blast of awareness up her spine.
“This is Harper, my new bartender. She’ll be present at the luncheon, so she’ll need to know any and all details about the event.”
There was a slight narrowing of Vanessa’s eyes, but she recovered quickly. Was she an ex? It wouldn’t surprise Harper. Cody was gorgeous. The woman was gorgeous. They’d make a lovely couple.
“Well,” Vanessa finally said, straightening just slightly. “My boss has added a couple of people to the list, so with more guests, I was thinking I’d arrive a bit earlier. Maybe ten?”
“That’s fine.”
Did Cody’s thumb just graze her back?
“And I have a small list of things I’d love Barry to cook, but I’ll also bring some pre-lunch snacks.”
“Barry can do that, and I’m fine with you bringing in snacks.”
“I was also wondering if you could be on hand to make drinks. I just love your Negronis,” Vanessa continued, leaning across the bar, her overpowering floral perfume heavy in the air.
“Yeah, we can make whatever. Barry was just teaching Harper this morning, so we’re all set.”
Her lips pursed, but she nodded.
Harper shifted away from Cody’s touch, lifting a couple bottles from the box and starting to put them on the shelves as the two continued to talk details. Nothing Vanessa said sounded like it wasthatimportant, or at least, it could have been texted or emailed. Was this just an excuse to see Cody? She didn’t blame the woman. Who wouldn’t want an excuse to spend time with him?
It was twenty minutes later when Vanessa finally stepped away from the bar. “Thank you, Cody. I so appreciate you doing this. You’re making my life just a bit easier with your kindness.”
Even though Vanessa said the words in a sweet, I’m-kind-of-flirting-with-you voice, Cody gave her a quick nod. “Happy to help.”
She turned to look at Harper. “It was nice to meet you.”
That was almost laughable, because the hard expression on her face in combination with the cool in her voice told Harper it was actually the opposite. “You too.”
When she walked out, Harper peeked at Cody. He was still looking at the closed door, his knuckles white around the counter. She nibbled her bottom lip, considering what to say or whether to just remain quiet.
In the end, she stepped closer to him. “Are you all right?”
He looked at her, blinking as if he hadn’t even realized he’d been staring at the door. “Yeah. We used to date, but she cheated on me with my best friend…right around the time my dad died.”
Jesus. “Cody! That’s awful. And you’re letting her host a work luncheon here?”
