Alexander sat on one of the couches, his long legs stretched out and his arms crossed. Harsh lines fanned out from his eyes and mouth, the force of his frown giving him an ominous air.
I sat across from him and took a sip of the hazelnut coffee. A bitter tang hit the back of my throat and I almost spit it out. Harper actually liked this stuff? The beans had been harvested too early, then burned to cover that fact. The result turned theflavor to ash in my mouth. I set the cup down with a thud that scraped through the room. “We need to talk about Harper.”
Dante muttered under his breath. “Why?”
“Because she’s avoiding me.” I cracked my knuckles, realized I’d left my sleeves rolled up, and started to roll them down. I stopped after the first roll, then shoved both sleeves up past my elbows. No one here cared if I showed my tattoos. “Either of you noticing the same thing?”
“Yes.” A pained look raced over Alexander’s face.
Dante muttered a string of curses and rubbed his forehead. “I’m sick to death of this bullshit.”
“What do you mean?” Alexander’s sharp tone snapped Dante’s head around.
Dante stood, his body rolling upright with the precision of a serpent coiling for a strike. “I’m sick of dancing around and pretending. I haven’t trusted a woman in years. Harper is quickly becoming the single most important person in my life. I need to either get her out of my life or accept that this is it.”
“Shit.” His confession rattled me so badly that I picked up the coffee and drank without tasting.
Dante, our fearless and tightly wound control freak, had fallen under Harper’s spell. I’d suspected as much after how he acted yesterday, but this confirmed it. His possessive streak rarely made such a strong appearance.
“I do not care for her actions today. She’s been practically invisible all day.” Alexander ran his hands up and down his thighs, then crossed his arms again. Seconds later, he crossed hisankles and dropped his hands to his lap again. His inability to be still told on him as well.
Harper had shaken him. She’d rattled all our cages.
Dante headed to the liquor cabinet but stopped before he opened the glass door. “Perhaps she’s still anxious about the possibility of rumors and doesn’t want to encourage gossip. It would be unusual for her to be in our presence more than usual. We’ve seen her as much as we did those first few weeks.”
“You mean we could be reading too much into her sudden disappearing act?” I snorted even though it made sense. “That might be true, but it doesn’t explain how she’s acted the two times I tried to talk to her today.”
“Were there other people around?” Alexander sat forward and propped his elbows on his thighs.
“Well, yes. But that’s because she’s suddenly keeping people around her all the time. She used to come to our floor all the time. Today, she only visited once and spent the whole time with Bethany.” The mystery of it all made me twitchy. And itchy. I scratched the back of my neck and tried to concentrate on the facts. “I think it’s more than rumors. I’m worried she got swept up in the moment and now she’s regretting it.”
“Explain.” Dante sank onto the couch beside Alexander and leaned back. He laced his fingers together behind his head.
I considered the hurtful thoughts that spun through my head. They did me no good taking up space, so I threw them into the world for them to hear. “Maybe she’s come to realize that we’re too old for her. We’re her father’s friends. Perhaps now that she’s had her fun?—”
“Harper isn’t like that.” Alexander leaped to her defense so fast Dante’s mouth fell open. Mine snapped shut, and Alexander pointed at me. He took a breath and held it, then released it in a blast. “Never say anything like that again.”
“Okay. Explain what the hell that was, because I’ve never known you to be protective like this.” I splayed my hands, palms toward him. “I want to believe. Tell me why I should.”
He scooted back with a grunt and settled his ankle on his knee. “We talked at the gala. While we were dancing. I brought up the exact same objections. She told me Peter always put her happiness above everything else. She swore to me that if she was happy, Peter would have been happy for her. That’s the reason I’ve been able to overcome my concerns.”
Ah. Well, that explained it. “That brings us back to the rumors then. Either we’re all three going crazy, or Harper is worried about something and is pulling away.”
Dante’s knee bounced, the nervous jig completely out of character for him. “I went back to the hotel and talked to that server. Arthur.” He dragged a palm down his cheek. “He swears he hasn’t said a word to anyone. I asked if anyone had tried to talk to him about us being there, and he denies that too.”
Interesting. I’d hoped Arthur shot straight. Seemed like he was going to do right by us. “Well we sure as shit can’t sit on our thumbs and do nothing. We need to get to the bottom of this.”
“Agreed.” Alexander’s foot bounced in time with Dante’s knee.
I hid a grin and coughed to cover the gruff laugh at their expense. This was not a laughing situation, but seeing both of them so torn up over Harper proved once and for all that we’d been right to spend time with her. She’d been good for all of us.
I pushed to my feet and poured each of us a finger of whiskey. Carrying all three glasses in one hand, I held them out. “I’m going to message Harper. I think it’s time for a strategy meeting at the cabin.”
Dante took his drink, then Alexander. They shared a look and both men nodded. “Sounds like the perfect weekend away. If she’s worried about rumors, taking our relationship away from the office is the best bet. But I’ll be damned if I stop talking to her in the office.” I clinked my glass against theirs and downed the drink in one gulp.
Seconds later, I’d drafted a text in our group chat and showed it to them for approval.
Dante’s slow smile emerged. He skimmed his tongue over his teeth and closed his eyes. “A weekend at the cabin is exactly what we need.”
