Page 52 of Capture The Moment

“I’ll have a rum and Coke.” She needed something stronger than a beer to do what she had to do.

After Will placed her order, they settled back to wait.

Might as well make small talk before my drink gets here. “How was your ski trip?”

“Really good. It was nice to hook up with my old friends. Well, not hook up, but you know what I mean.”

If she weren’t mistaken, Will seemed nervous, and she wondered why. But then her cocktail arrived, and she took a long drink of it, enjoying the warm, tingly sensation it left behind as it slid down her throat. You can do this, Harper.

“So, what about you? What have you been up to since I last saw you?”

Oh, nothing, except for making out with Finn in his living room. She let her eyes travel down the bar while she decided how to respond and stopped short. There, at the opposite end of the bar, sat Finn and Liam, drinking beer and watching football on the big screen mounted behind the bar.

Great!The joys of living in a small town. She couldn’t go anywhere without running into someone that she knew. As if he sensed her eyes upon him, Finn looked up from his drink and made eye contact with her, a flicker of surprise flashing across his gorgeous face. And then he caught sight of Will, and giving her a forced smile, he held up his beer bottle in salute.

The entire transaction took less than thirty seconds, but Harper had almost forgotten that Will was there. And then Will cleared his throat and said, “Does he know?”

Jerking her eyes away from Finn, she said, “Does who know what?”

“Does Finn know how you feel about him?”

Oh God. Her first impulse was to deny, deny, deny, but then the mature part of her brain kicked in. “Will, I…”

“It’s ok, Harper. I had a feeling about this anyway.”

“You did? When? How?”

He chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “That first night when he showed up at the pub. I sensed that there was more between you two than friendship, but I wanted to be wrong.”

Twisting her hands in her lap, she said, “I’m so sorry, Will. I came here tonight to tell you that I’m not ready for a relationship, but it’s not really because of Finn.”

Eyebrows raised, he looked at her skeptically. “It’s not?”

Shaking her head, she said, “No. Finn and I…well…it’s complicated.”

“Because he was friends with your husband?”

“That’s a good share of it. Yes.”

Nodding with understanding, he took a drink of his beer and ventured a glance down the bar at Finn, who was staring right at them.

“Doesn’t look like he agrees with you.”

Harper had been trying to avoid eye contact since she’d first spotted Finn, but now she glanced down the bar and saw him turn away. He’d suggested they remain in the friend zone, but he didn’t look pleased to see her there with Will.

“Like I said, it’s complicated.”

“Well, thanks for your honesty. I hope we can still be friends.”

“I’d like that,” she said, smiling for the first time since she’d spotted Finn. “You’re a great guy, Will. I mean that. You’re going to make some lucky lady very happy.”

He took another swig of beer and said, “That could happen sooner than later.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when I went skiing, one of my old college girlfriends was there. Last I knew, she was married, but now she’s divorced. Nothing happened. I told her I was seeing someone, but if she’d have known I was free…”

Placing a hand on his arm, she said, “Oh my God, Will. Now I feel even worse!”