Page 23 of He Has Charm (Boston Brawlers Hockey)
“You can do that?” She arches a brow at me.
“Enjoy.” She turns.
“Where are you going? You’re not off the hook yet. You didn’t tell me what’s going on to make you so upset.”
“I’m not telling you. That was a private conversation. And you’re not off the hook for eavesdropping.”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping. You were loud. You woke me.” I put down my fork. “Sit down, Harper. Have something to eat.” She sits, reluctantly, and predictably puts some salad on her plate, not meeting my eyes. I stare until she looks up. I recognize true distress when I hear it.
“Tell me about it. Do you have… gambling debts?” The words sound ridiculous the second they come out of my mouth and I wish I could snatch them back. She stops with her fork midair and I swear she wants to throw it at me, but I’m not about to wait and find out. Instead I take hold of her wrists and pin her hands down on the table between us.
“How—why would you make such a … ludicrous accusation?” The way her eyes skitter away from mine tells me I’m dead-on and my stomach knots up with excruciating disappointment that Harper may not be as sweet as I first thought. So what? She’s nothing to me but a temporary babysitter.
“Because I overheard you saying that you owe someone money and it sounded like you were being threatened.” I wait a beat and she meets my eyes. The storm cloud in her look threatens to erupt and I’m pretty sure that’ll mean tears. All disappointment about her relative innocence disappears and all I see is a strong, smart woman reduced to a vulnerable mess. “Tell me.” I hold her gaze.
“It’s none of your business. It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Don’t let your imagination run away with—”
I cut off her rambling. “My imagination thinks you’re in trouble. If you don’t want me to worry, you’ll tell me what the fuck that conversation was all about.”
“I don’t owe you—”
“It’s not about anyone owing anyone. But for the next four months, we’re housemates and partners in this mission. We’re going to be relying on each other to come out of this season whole. And the last thing I want to worry about is some leg-breakers coming around and—”
She snorts. “Don’t worry about leg-breakers. There are no leg breakers. Besides, I can pay what I owe.” She meets my eyes directly, her eyes fierce, her chin up. “Okay. So there is a gambling debt—how did you know?”
“Lucky guess.” My stomach clenches. “Though I wouldn’t have pegged you for—”
“Me?” She squeaks like an old door closing and the shock on her face is real, but she pulls her wrists from my grip and before she closes the door on me, I jump in.
“Whose debt is it, Harper? Why do you have to pay someone else’s debt?” My voice is as gentle as I can make it because I have this driving need to know what’s going on so I can fix it, an irrational need because in spite of the fact that we’re partners like I told her, it’s not like she’s family, or even a close friend. I barely know the girl.
But I don’t back off or take my words back. I wait for her to confess everything because nothing else will satisfy me.
“It’s nothing. I don’t have gambling debts. I have law school loans and a bill collector—the harmless variety—calling me regularly to remind me to make payments because I missed one lousy payment six months ago. You’d think I was—”
“Law school loans? Why would you cop to gambling debts if this is all about law school loans?” I have no idea what the real story is here. If I had to trust my instincts, I’d say she was telling the truth about the law school loans and it makes sense. Except her missing a payment doesn’t make sense because she’s meticulous when it comes to details. That much I’ve learned about her in the past couple of days.
“Because you—I didn’t—never mind.” She pushes back, making the table rock and the dishes clatter with the sudden move. I stand to come around the table. At the same exact time she stands. We’re close, almost body-to-body. We stare at each other for a beat, within a breath of each other as I take in her scent. Fuck. If I bend my head, I could brush my lips against hers, taste them. She breaks eye contact first, turning away and stepping aside.
“Wait a sec—why did you miss a loan payment and why haven’t you caught it up? Doesn’t Jett pay you enough? I’ll have to talk to Ham about underpaying you—”
“No, it’s not like that. He’s more than generous. Sit down and eat before you starve. I don’t want to be responsible for you being too depleted to play hockey.” I sit back down because my stomach gnaws in agreement with her suggestion and the smell of the food draws me in like a cartoon character transported by the aroma.
“You sit and eat too. Same reason. Except about playing hockey.” She almost smiles, hesitates, and then relents. When she sits, she picks up a piece of bread and butters it. Hallelujah. She’s a living, breathing woman with needs and an appetite after all.
“Maybe I can subtly suggest to Jett that he should give you a raise,” I say, digging into the pasta again because I could swear it’s the best homemade pasta I’ve ever eaten and that’s saying a lot. I’m a legit pasta slut, or connoisseur as my mom would say, though it’s a guilty pleasure left over from when me and my dad used to make it from scratch together.
I’m a connoisseur of women too.I wonder if Harper knew how much I love pasta when she ordered it?Impossible. How could she? I never eat it now except on rare occasions like holidays.
“No, don’t talk to Jett. Really there’s no need because if I can get your promo deal with Mama Regina’s back he’ll share the commission and give me a bonus, which is unheard of at other agencies.” I chew on her words, and on a meatball. The problem may not be Ham Jett, but I know something’s not right. She’s holding back and I need to crack her. God only knows why.
“Then what’s the problem? Why did you miss a payment?”
“None of your business.” She shoves half a roll into her mouth as if that’s going to stop me from prodding her.
“Tell me. Two heads are better than one and I have a feeling we can resolve your issue if we put our minds to it.”
“Not really. It’s my issue to resolve.”
