Authors: Kirsty Dallas
“Sean, chill out,” Harper growled. Sean’s gaze pierced Harper.
“Did you fucking chill out when you found out?”
“Yeah, cause I knew she needed calm, not lose your shit hysterics. Breeze regrets leaving us out of the loop and she has to deal with that, you yelling is not going to fucking help anything. So, fucking chill out!” Now Harper was yelling and Tonya was standing to one side with two beers in her hands watching the unfolding yelling match. The guys seemed to retreat to their corners as she popped the top off Sean’s beer and handed it to him, then proceeded to sway across the room to Harper and hand him his. Her eyes watched him like a cat might stalk a mouse. I wanted to gouge the damn things out.
“Thanks, could you go grab Breeze a Cruiser too, please?” Harper said through gritted teeth. Her seductive gaze became a little confused as she took me in. I smiled a little too sweetly and she frowned as she turned to go get me my drink.
“What the hell Sean?” I demanded. His brow furrowed in confusion.
“Your girlfriend keeps eye-humping Harper. Doesn’t that bother you?” Sean cracked up laughing.
“Eye-humping, really?” I shrugged. I was only telling it how it was. “She’s not my girl, just a girl. She wanted to meet Harp and I thought I’d bring her home and we could have some fun.” I was horrified. First of all, what the hell? Secondly, she was a woman, not a damn toy! Even if she was an itch I was ready to slap.
“There won’t be any fun on my part,” Harper said, his voice not reflecting the shock I was feeling. Both mine and Sean’s eyes swung around to stare at Harper. He shrugged, his eyes locked on Sean’s.
“There is only one woman who I will ever lay my hands on again and she is sitting right beside me.” I felt Sean’s shocked gaze move between the two of us. Harper gave me a wink. Two ‘ticks’ for Harper.
“Since the fuck when?” It was now Sean’s turn to growl. The Somerville family was just full of growly men.
“Since she came to her senses and saw the light,” Harper said reverently. I punched him.
“Arrogant ass,” I said playfully. Sean’s stare was hysterical and I burst out laughing. Tonya re-entered the room and handed me my Vodka Cruiser without popping the top. Harper did the honors as she took a seat opposite us, flashing more underwear than I cared to see.
“Well fuck me,” Sean murmured. He looked unimpressed though. I could feel Harper tense up under my feet.
“You got a problem with this?” All playfulness had suddenly disappeared.
Sean nodded. “Oh yeah. I know you, Harper, hell, Bree fucking knows you. How long before you fuck this up? She doesn’t deserve you fucking her up like this.” I knew Harper was a breath away from losing it, so when he went to move my feet and stand I beat him to it, pushing him back down into the chair.
“Stay!” I demanded and he cocked a brow. I swung around to face Sean.
“You!” I pointed my finger at him as I stormed forward. He had the good sense to lean away from me. “What kind of an idiot do you take me for?” Sean’s mouth opened, then self-preservation set in and he shut it again. “I know Harper as well if not better than you.” I was shaking my finger at him. It was the finger shake that scared the boys because that’s when they knew I was really angry. “After this last year I have had plenty of time to realize what I want and what I deserve and it just so happens to be Harper! And do you honestly think that little of Harper that you believe he would hurt me? Me of all people?” Sean shook his head.
“He wouldn’t intentionally hurt you, Bree, but Harper has never been a one girl kind of man.” I took a deep breath.
“Yeah, Sean, well neither were you, until Evie.” Sean shook his head.
“And look how well that ended,” he murmured.
“Sean, I’ve learnt many things since having to face death, one of which is you can’t predict your future. I’m just going to throw my future into the air and live each day as it falls. Some of those days are going to be pretty and I have no doubt that some are going to be ugly, but would you give up all the pretty days because you’re scared of the ugly ones?” Sean watched me silently for the longest time before standing and pulling me into his arms.
“When the fuck did you get so wise?” Of course the embrace was short lived. Harper dragged me straight out of Sean’s arms and into his own.
“Just so you know, there are going to be lots of pretty days,” he whispered in my ear. I smiled.
“Pussy,” Sean murmured.
“So, is this going to be a threesome or a foursome?” Tonya said from behind us. My body tensed, ready for attack. Sean thankfully saved the evening.
“Tonya, sweetheart, I’m afraid I am going to have to call you a cab.”
***
I had ended up going easy on the Vodka Cruisers, my mind didn’t really end up needing the cleaning I thought it might following Sean’s bedroom romp. The incident had become a little more of a joke than an awkward moment. This morning, I beat both Sean and Harper up and quietly started the computer in the study. The screen was ridiculously massive, more like a television flat screen than a computer screen. I impatiently tapped away on the desk as the computer came to life. Mia and I had organized a Skype chat for nine this morning, and it was already 8:55. I hated being late for anything. Finally with the program launched, I dialed Mia. She answered singing
Hey, Soul Sister
. I burst out laughing at her incredibly off key rendition.
“So, Harper kiss you again?” she asked enthusiastically.
“Mia, seriously? Is that all you ever think about, kissing?” She nodded with a big childish grin and I rolled my eyes.
“Mia!” Harper’s booming voice from behind me made me jump. “I kissed her over, and over, and over again.” He hung his head over the top of mine and gave me an awkward upside down kiss.
“Ewwww, get a room,” Mia complained.
“Hold up, just a second ago you wanted to hear all the gory details,” I laughed.
“Uh, yeah. Hear not see!”
“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I never saw true beauty till this night.” Sean’s Shakespearian quote came from behind us and Harper and I swung around to stare as he grinned wickedly at Mia. I turned back to face the screen shaking my head. Mia on the other hand seemed captivated. I didn’t entirely blame her, Sean wasn’t ugly, that’s for sure. He was as tall as Harper, a little leaner but just as muscular, with playful blue eyes and a mop of unruly dark hair. The Somervilles bred good stock!
“Don’t be fooled, Mia, that’s the only line from
Romeo and Juliette
that he can remember. And he only knows it because I made him take me to see the movie when I was going through my Leonardo Dicaprio faze. I was going to marry that man until he went all nutso on me in the
Aviator
.”
“Mia, it’s a pleasure, I’m Sean. The better looking Somerville.” Mia actually gasped.
“You’re Harper’s brother?”
“Cousin,” Sean corrected.
“Wow, ego must be a strong gene in the Somerville men.” She sighed and I grinned as I sipped my orange juice. “So Sean, Harper’s kissed Bree, what about you?” I spat my orange juice all over the desk. Silence embraced us.
“As a matter-of-fact,” Sean murmured.
“What the fuck?” Harper all but yelled. I winced. This Skype wasn’t going the way I had wanted it to. I glared at Mia and she grinned, obviously enjoying the show and tell from my side. “When?” Harper demanded.
“Her eighteenth birthday,” Sean said with a smug sense of pride.
“Son of a bitch,” breathed Harper.
“You might have got the final kiss, but I got the first,” sang Sean.
Harper laughed. “In your dreams, asshole.”
“Harper, watch your language, there’s a minor around,” I scolded and Harper glanced apologetically at Mia.
“Oh please, I’ve heard that and worse. You do remember my brother Jack?” Mia reminded Harper. Sean glanced from me to Harper and I sank deeper into my chair, wishing the big desk would swallow me up. Did we really have to talk about this now?
“What does that mean?” Sean asked.
“It means, dipsh…” Harper stopped himself just in time. “Idiot, that I kissed her first,” he grinned. “And last.”
“When the hell did you kiss her?” Now Sean was demanding answers.
“Guys, seriously, I’m trying to have a conversation with Mia so bugger off.” I attempted to finish the conversation.
“Oh no way! This is gonna be the highlight of my day.” Mia grinned happily. Harper gave her a cheeky wink.
“When did you kiss her?” Sean asked again.
“He was her first kiss, when she was fourteen,” Mia answered. The guys swung around to stare at her. I, on the other hand, groaned and slipped off the edge of my chair and straight under the desk.
“How do you know?” They both asked in unison.
“Wow, you guys really are related,” Mia said with wonder.
“Fourteen?” yelled Sean. “She wasn’t even legal!”
“I kissed her Sean, not,” Harper paused, “you know,” he stumbled over the fifteen year old in the room.
“Sexed her up?” Mia offered.
“Right!” I stood from under the desk. “You,” I pointed to Harper, “I want scrambled eggs on toast before you head off, and you,” I turned to Sean, “you are taking me shopping for a dress, so go get ready.” They both stood like dumbfounded statues for a moment. Sean moved first, shaking his head.
“Bye, pretty Mia. Call me in ten years.” I gave Sean a reproachful stare as he left the room. Harper leant over and kissed my cheek.
“Was it as good as mine?” I leant back.
“Was what as good as yours?”
“The kiss?” he whispered.
“Well obviously better cause she let you do it again, and apparently not just on her lips.” Mia grinned from behind us. Oh good lord, I was seriously going to strangle that girl.
Chapter 21
Close Out
A wave that is totally unreadable and no good for surfing; usually causes a wipe-out
The plan was Harper would take care of his running around while Sean took me shopping. We would meet back at the hotel around five to get ready for the Ripcurl function. I decided to surprise Harper though and went back to Sean’s to get dressed. I had bought a sexy black strapless dress. The sales girl had talked me into something called ‘chicken fillets’, sticky silicone things that stuck to the underside of my non-existent breasts, giving me a lift that made me seriously happy. Sean assured me it looked natural and I punched him in the arm for staring too long. I bought a pair of strappy heels with pretty little diamantes crossing over the top of each foot. I applied a little makeup and bought a new black head wrap. I felt about as sexy as a bald girl could feel. Actually, I felt as sexy as I had ever felt. I felt powerful and thrummed with anticipation as Sean drove me into town.
“Okay, Rick says Harper’s room is floor twenty, room six,” Sean explained.
“And he doesn’t know I’m coming, right? I don’t want him to tell Harper.”
“I didn’t mention your name. I told Rick I was stopping by the hotel with a drop off for Harper and I couldn’t get him on his mobile.” Sean pulled over to the side of the road. I clutched the cute little purse I had bought and leant over to give Sean a quick kiss.
“Honey, you really do look beautiful. And I’m happy for you and Harper. Anyone with eyes could see the way you guys always looked at each other so I’m not really surprised.”
“Thanks, Sean,” I whispered, feeling myself get teary.
“I’ll see you for Christmas,” he said as I climbed from his car. “And, Bree,” I turned to face him, “I owe you a payback,” he grinned.
The elevator ride to the twentieth floor seemed to last forever. My stomach was full of nervous butterflies. As the doors swung open, I strolled with more confidence than I felt down the wide hallway. Two, four, as I approached door number six, my palms were sweating. I was nervous but also excited. I might as well be turning up for my very first date. I knocked. After a moment the door swung open, my heart hammered in my chest and my eyes rose to meet… Naomi? I became frozen in that instant. She looked just like I remembered her, beautiful, elegant, tanned and wearing nothing but Harper’s shirt. She smiled at me.
“Bree, how can I help you?” she murmured. I tried to speak, God I did, but no sound would leave my lips. “Harper’s just taking a quick shower.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Do you want to come in and wait, though if he’s not expecting you he might come out a little less than PG rated?” I shook my head and backed away from the door. In that moment I thought I might be sick. I took long deep breaths and without saying a word I turned and left. As I pressed and re-pressed the button for the lift with shaking hands, the doors finally sprang open and I stepped in. My heart was thumping so loudly I could barely hear anything else over it, so when the bell chimed to sound the arrival at the ground floor, I didn’t even notice. It wasn’t until the doors began to close again that I jumped forward and moved.
“Bree?” came startled voice from beside me as I stepped out. I only paused for a moment to notice Rick, Harper’s agent, strolling toward me from the front desk. He was smiling but it disappeared fast as he took in my panic. He looked confused as he went to speak but I couldn’t do this now, I couldn’t speak even if I wanted to and Rick was most definitely not my most favorite person in the world. My inner woman was seething with unrestrained hate at this moment and I would lash out at the first person who so much as looked at me wrong. I shook my head and bolted from the hotel. I shoved into the back seat of a taxi that had just let off a fare.
“Lady, I got another pickup I can’t take you,” a far too overweight man with greasy dark hair said from the front seat.
“I’ll give you five hundred dollars if you can take me to the airport right now,” I breathed heavily trying to get my credit card from my purse with shaky hands. “Here, swipe it now if you want.” He looked at me, the card, then me again, and with a shrug he finally pulled away from the curb. I didn’t look back, I kept my eyes forward and ignored my phone as it began to sing from within my new pretty purse. Never have I jumped in a taxi and screamed follow that car, I thought. Ridiculous, my head was swimming with confusion, my heart thumping painfully and I was thinking about Harper’s stupid game. Offering someone five hundred dollars to take them to the airport had to be right up there though.