“I have plenty of fun!” Harper defended herself.
“Not this kind of fun. Harper, I know you want to get married someday. But not every guy you spend time with has to be a potential husband. Sometimes it can just be about having a good time. Did you have a good time with this man?”
“Well, yes,” Harper admitted. “But that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to see him again. The fact of the matter is that he wasn’t someone that I can take seriously. So, I did have a good night with him. But that’s all it’s ever going to amount to.
Tara gave a sigh. “Sometimes you really make me wish that I was single again,” she said.
“You don’t wish that,” Harper said with a laugh. “You and Max are the perfect couple. Your kids are beautiful. I know perfectly well that you wouldn’t change that for anything.”
“Well, no, of course I wouldn’t,” Tara agreed. “But if I could just be single on the weekends or something like that, you and I could go out on double dates. I could help you meet guys.”
“I don’t need you to be my wing-woman.”
“No,” Tara said with a smile, “I really think you do. I think that’s exactly what you need.”
Harper turned her attention back to her coffee, hoping to end the conversation. But the seed Tara had planted in her head didn’t seem to want to go away.
Maybe her friend was right. Maybe sheshouldbe trying to see Theo again.
But it doesn’t matter what I want. Theo doesn’t want us to have that kind of relationship. And I can’t push. If I did, it could ruin everything.
She would just have to do her best to forget the way she felt — to forgethim. It was the only way to move forward.
CHAPTER 18
THEO
Theo’s phone rang. He grabbed at it quickly — far more quickly than usual — and looked at the screen, aware of the fact that his heart was pounding and not really liking it.
Unknown number.
He clicked the button to silence the call and set the phone down with a sigh. Still nothing from Harper.
It had been days now, and he had to admit, he wasn’t enjoying the radio silence. He was used to her pestering him regularly for wedding-related details, and now… was she ever going to call him? Therewerethings that still had to be worked out, after all, things they still had to decide together. It didn’t make sense for her to ignore him. He had even texted her a few times and had only gotten one-word answers from her.
He pulled up their text thread. The last text between them was yesterday morning. He’d sent her,Do we need to figure out the cake?and she had responded with a thumbs-up. That was it. Nothing more.
What was he supposed to take away from that?
They were going to have to get into a room together at some point, really sit down and go over these things. But until she decided to be more communicative, that wasn’t going to happen, and Theo was going to be stuck in this frustrating holding pattern.
The thought came to him unbidden —I’m sure this is how it was for her at first, trying to deal with me when I would hardly give her the time of day.
But that was different! At least, it was supposed to be different. He had thought things had changed between the two of them now. After all, they had agreed that they were going to take it easier on one another. They had spoken about it the morning after…
After we slept together.
Was that what all this was about? He had thought things were genuinely all right, that they were on the same page about what had happened and what it had meant to each of them. Now he found himself wondering. What if he’d been wrong? What if he had overstepped somehow—made her uncomfortable? What if she regretted what had happened?
Well, for God’s sake, it’s not that big a deal. It was one night. If she has regrets, she can talk to me. I never took it seriously, and she told me she didn’t either, so we should be able to just put it behind us!
Yes,in theory. But what if that wasn’t true? What if shehadtaken things seriously? What if she was angry with him now?
Well, Theo couldn’t be held responsible if that was the way it was, he told himself firmly. He had been abundantly clear with her about the fact that he didn’t want a serious relationship. He had told her explicitly that he wasn’t interested in marriage, and she’d told him that shewas, so of course the two of them were incompatible. She was a smart woman. She understood that. If she had feelings about it all, that was too bad, but it wasn’t Theo’s business. She would manage those feelings on her own.
Anyway, he had work that he needed to focus on, so maybe it was for the best that Harper seemed to want to handle wedding details by herself for the moment. He opened a folder that had been on his desk when he had come in that morning.
Scouting Report: Jason Alamedes
