Her phone vibrated from her pocket, and she cringed, not sure if it would be her brother again. She had no idea why he was still calling her. He’d told her about their father. She had nothing for them. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone?
She pulled out her cell to see it was Tilly. The woman had come in earlier and they’d exchanged numbers.
Tilly: What do you do when you can’t sleep? Alcohol? Tylenol?
Harper laughed, and damn it felt good.
Harper: Well, for me, I find falling asleep to a book or a TV show on my phone does the trick.
Tilly: You’re a good influence on me. Wanna meet for coffee tomorrow at Sugar and Spice?
Harper: I’d love that. Ten?
Tilly: Perfect. See you then. Message if you need a lift.
A lift…because her car was gone. She groaned. It was insured, but these things took time to process, and even when she received the money, she’d still have to source and buy a new car.
She shoved her phone into her pocket and moved across to Cody. “Anything you need me to do before close?”
“Could you just make sure the tables are clean?” His gaze didn’t rise as he spoke. Then he moved past her into the office.
All right, that was it. She was done with the attitude.
She crossed the room to Barry. “Are you okay looking after the bar on your own for a couple of minutes?”
He looked up, his eyes moving to the office, then back to Harper. “Yeah. You go talk some sense into the grump.”
That got a small smile out of her. “I’ll try.”
In the office, she found Cody facing the filing cabinets on one side of the room, his brows tugging together.
“Everything okay?” he asked without looking up.
“Funny, I was about to ask you the same question.” She stepped farther into the room.
“I’m fine.”
He went to move around her, but she stepped to the side, cutting him off. “You’re lying. You’re not fine.”
He blew out a long breath. “What I’m not fine with is some out-of-towner wrapping his arm around you like he did tonight. What I’m notfinewith is all the damn attacks you’ve had since getting to Misty Peak.”
“Cody, tonight was some drunk idiot who grabbed me. A hazard of working in a bar. And each time before tonight, I’ve come out relatively unscathed.”
He stepped forward, basically towering over her. “I don’t like it.”
“Me neither. But your brother and his deputies are looking into the incidents, and I don’t think that guy tonight will be back.”
“Move in with me.”
She internally groaned. How many times had he asked that already? This morning, he’d asked her at least half a dozen times. “Cody, I told you I can’t do that.”
“You can. You just don’t want to. Why not?”
“Because we’re new and…I don’t know. Are we even a thing?”
He laughed, and the sound was a little bitter. “We’re definitely athing. At leastIthink so. But…do you feel for me what I feel for you?”
Her lips parted, her heart wanting to give one answer, her head another. “Cody…”
