Frankie stirred her coffee. “Lucas texted me this morning to say how much he enjoyed having us over and asked if I wanted to walk Archie with him and Scout today.”
“Your first unchaperoned date. Things are getting serious,” Harper said.
Frankie picked up her mug of coffee and took a long sip. “Hush your mouth. It's just two neighbors walking their dogs together.”
Harper cupped her mug between both hands and leaned against the counter. “Sure, that’s what it is.” She couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she said it, though.
Frankie wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what to think.”
“He likes you. That’s what you should think.”
“I don’t know.” Frankie shook her head. “Seriously. He probably just wants help with his logo and recognizes a sucker when he sees one.”
Harper frowned. “You’re not a sucker. What makes you say that?”
“Free help is free help.” Frankie stared tentatively into her coffee. “Look at me. I’m nothing special.”
It hurt Harper to hear her sister say that. “Don’t do that. You’re amazing. You’re beautiful. And you’re a smart, capable, talented woman.”
“Who’s carrying forty extra pounds and needs to color the gray in her hair.”
Harper went into secret keeper-life coach mode. “First of all, none of that matters. Mature women are hot. They know who they are and what they want out of life. And in bed.”
“Harper!”
“Well, don’t you?”
“I mean, I guess.”
“Also, for your information, a lot of men don’t like stick-thin figures. They want curves. And a woman who doesn’t eat a tablespoon of food and call it a meal. That’s no fun. Especially on a date. There’s nothing sexy about dieting, either.”
Frankie glanced up.
“Secondly, who cares what he wants? All that matters is what matters to you.”
“You should put that on a T-shirt.”
Harper cocked her hip out. “How do you know I haven’t?” She winked at her sister. “If you want to help him for free, then do it, but personally, I think you should take a business card along on this walk and let him know what your rates are.”
A smile inched up the corners of Frankie’s mouth. “Thanks. I still don’t think he likes me as more than a friend, but I’m okay with that. Lucas Prime would be a pretty cool friend to have.”
“And who knows? If you help him with his logo, maybe he’ll give you a shoutout on his social media and you could get more business out of that. But don’t do it just for the mention.” Harper raised her brows to accentuate her seriousness. “He has money. He can afford to pay you. Then you can list him as a client, too. And that would be impressive.”
“Hmm. I never thought about that.”
“When is this walk? Because Archie needs to go out now.”
“Not until nine.”
Harper looked at the time. It was not quite eight. “All right. I’ll take him out, then when I get back, we’ll watch the show and see how my client did.”
“Okay. I’ll be right here.”
Harper grabbed Archie’s leash and got him down the steps and out into the backyard. She glanced over at Mitch’s.
He was on the back deck, coffee cup in hand. She quickly averted her eyes and pretended she hadn’t seen him. Despite their civil interaction yesterday, she doubted he’d like her spying on him. Which was exactly what he’d think she was doing.
“Morning, Harper.”
