Page 4 of Capture The Moment

Chapter 2

“Why do you keep looking at your watch?” Harper asked suspiciously.

“Just curious what time it is.”

“Five minutes from the last time you checked. What’s going on, Jules?”

They’d gone to the pub after work for drinks and appetizers, but Julia seemed jittery, and when she wasn’t looking at her watch, she kept glancing toward the door.

“Nothing.” And then her hand shot up, and she waved eagerly at whomever had just walked in.

Harper swiveled in her chair to see a handsome man in a long black wool coat and a Burberry plaid scarf walking toward them. Julia had jumped off her stool, and he instantly wrapped her in a tight hug.

When they let go, Julia turned to Harper and said, “This is my cousin Will. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned him to you.”

Only a dozen times in the past few weeks. Now Harper understood why Julia had been so nervous. Sneaky girl! Shooting her friend a knowing look, she stood up and shook Will’s hand. “Harper Davies. Nice to meet you.”

“Good to meet you too,” he said warmly.

In the short time he’d been standing there, and from what Julia had already told her, Harper had formed a favorable impression of Will. Maybe this won’t be so badafter all, she thought as they all sat down.

A waitress came over right away to take Will’s drink order, and Harper was somewhat surprised when he ordered a glass of wine instead of a beer. Most of the men in her life drank beer—or did. She felt a pang thinking about having been in that very restaurant with Blake a couple of years ago. They used to like to come there for pizza and beer on Friday nights. And sometimes, their friends, including Finn, would join them. Oh, how things change.

“Let me apologize for my cousin here,” Will said. “I have a feeling she didn’t tell you that I’d be joining you this evening.”

Polite. She liked that in a man. “No, she must have forgotten to mention it,” Harper replied teasingly.

“Hey! No ganging up on me,” Julia said, and they all laughed.

“Jules has had nothing but good things to say about you, by the way,” he added after taking a drink of wine.

“Well, I think pretty highly of her too,” Harper said, smiling.

Julia had started out as her assistant a few years ago, but she’d quickly become so much more. They’d clicked immediately, and she was not only a valuable employee, but one of Harper’s best friends.

“So, Julia tells me you’re in banking.” Harper felt so out of practice with this, but asking a guy about his job seemed like a good place to start.

“I am. Business banking, actually. Not as exciting as what you guys do, but it pays the bills.”

He thought being a photographer was exciting? Really? Whenever she told people what she did, they’d often reacted like it was a fluff job instead of an actual career. It was nice to know that Will wasn’t one of them.

“Jules has told me some funny stories about some of your clients—keeping their names strictly confidential, of course.” He smiled, and it was hard not to smile back. Julia had been right. Her cousin was warm, friendly, and easy to talk to. And not bad to look at either. With his reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes, he was clean-cut and stylish in his business attire. She couldn’t help but think that he looked like the exact opposite of her husband.

“I told Will about that woman who wanted glamour shots of herself,” Julia said, her eyes twinkling at the memory.

“We assumed that she wanted them for her husband, but she very clearly indicated that they were for her lovah! That’s how she said it—lovah!” Harper said, laughing.

“It was a little awkward when she took off her robe and wasn’t wearing anything underneath,” Julia said.

“Needless to say, that was the first and last time we did glamour shots. Now we stick to family photos, babies, engagements, and that sort of thing,” Harper added.

“Sounds safer that way,” Will said with a chuckle.

The conversation moved along to other topics after that, and Harper found herself relaxing and having fun. The pub had become more crowded, and the noise level had risen, but she decided she liked being out on a Friday night instead of sitting at home alone. Maybe she was finally turning a corner…

And then a deep voice from behind her said, “Hello, ladies.”

Harper turned around to find Finn and his brother, Connor, standing there.