If Tomorrow Never Comes (Harper Falls Book 2) (17 page)

"But you weren't in England," Dani pointed out, tongue firmly in cheek. "It's mostly a UK thing, isn't it?

"Not going to let this one go, are we?"

Dani just shook her head.

"Fine." He sighed. "It seems like a cooler way to say panties, or undies, or whatever."

"Sounds like there has to be an untold story attached."

"Nope, I just really hate the word panties. And undies, if you're not female, makes you sound like a three-year-old."

"Fair enough." She chuckled. "Knickers it is. But mine are staying firmly in place, at least for tonight."

Alex shook his head. "You scratched my itch, so to speak. I plan on returning the favor."

"Nope." Dani gave him a quick peck on the cheek before standing and holding out her hand.

"I know you’re Superman, but those purple splotches on your ribs need a hot bath and a couple of aspirins, then a good nights sleep. Lucky for you I can provide all three."

Panic, real and sudden, gripped at Alex's gut. Spend the night? Not happening.

"Sounds tempting, but I need to get back to H&W, check in on the recruits, make sure everything is locked up tight?"

"You need to play house mother to a bunch of twenty-something men?"

"That's one way of putting it." The least complimentary way but Alex needed to get going so he wasn't going to correct her terminology. He grabbed his jacket, quickly putting his helmet on as he headed for the door.

"I don't even get a kiss goodnight?"

"What? Oh, sure. Sorry."

He flipped up the visor, then leaned in, his lips grazing her cheek, just barely. He turned and jetted away so quickly Dani practically had run to keep up, following him down the stairs and to the front door.

"Expecting some kind of midnight high jinx back at H&W or are you just that anxious to get away from me."

Suddenly feeling like a werewolf on the night of a full moon. Even though he wanted to get away for her own safety, Alex realized how ridiculous he must look. He hadn't even zipped up his pants. Besides, he only had to worry if he fell asleep next to Dani, he could certainly take a minute and give her a proper good night.

"I'm an idiot." He stopped before opening the door, pulling her into his arms.

Mollified, Dani gave him smile.

"That might be a bit strong, but close, very close."

He kissed her, lingering for another taste.

"Busy for lunch?"

"I think I can clear my calendar."

"You pick, I haven't had a chance to try much yet." He climbed on his bike, fastening the chin strap of his helmet. "Though I wouldn't argue if you wanted to hit the diner. First rate pot pie."

"I think we can broaden your culinary horizons a bit. I'll call you in the morning and we can decide what we're in the mood for."

She waited, expecting him to start his bike and roar off into the night.

"What?" she called out ofter a few second.

"Get in the house, lock the door."

"Honestly? It's five feet—max. And I can kick ass. Black belt." She took an exaggerated Karate stance. When Alex just waited, his arms crossed over his chest, Dani threw up her arms and marched back into the house, muttering the whole way. So what if she got a secret thrill out of his ȕber-macho attitude? She wasn't about to let him know.

Locking her door, she pulled back the curtain and watched Alex circle his bike back towards Crossfire Hill. She made sure all the lights were out before climbing back up the stairs. Overall it been a good evening. Running her tongue over her lips, getting one last taste of him, she corrected that. It had been a great evening. The ending had been a little strange. Something had sent him rushing for the door and it wasn't a need to tuck in his baby security guards.

Knowing she wasn't going to get the answer by worrying about tonight, Dani let it go. If it came up again, then she would pin him down. He'd pulled his head out, given her a very satisfactory kiss, and that was all that mattered.

She finished up in the bathroom, almost reluctant to brush away the taste of Alex. But not having minty fresh breath at bedtime was a no, no. She snuggled down under the covers, smiling, happy. Alex was in Harper Falls to stay. Lucky girl that she was, she didn't have to worry about never getting another helping of his addictive flavor. Not when he was less than ten minutes away and she could get her fix right from the source.

"MISS WILDE, PEASE wait up."

Dani stopped at the sound of her name, looking around for the unfamiliar voice. A harried, but well-dressed woman was charging down the sidewalk, frantically waving.

"Oh, I'm glad I caught up with you."

Dani admired anyone who could cross uneven concrete, in four-inch heels, and not break an ankle. She smiled at the gasping woman and patiently waited for her to catch her breath.

"Are you all right? The heat hit us early this morning." And it couldn't help to be wearing a wool suit, impeccably tailored though it might have been, when the temperature was pushing eighty.

"I'm fine, just in a hurry. I'm running errands for Mrs. Harper and I've gotten a bit behind schedule."

In other words, if I'm thirty seconds late getting back to dragon lady, I'm out on my butt; job wise.

They were just outside Dani's loft. She had been on her way to meet Rose and Tyler for breakfast, but unlike Regina Harper, her friends wouldn't roll out the guillotine if she didn't arrive precisely on time.

"Look, Ms.…?"

"Nessmith, Portia Nessmith."

"Ms. Nessmith, why don't you come in and have something cool to drink? Then you can tell me what you need from me."

Obviously tempted, the woman shook her head.

"Thank you, but I really don't have time. Mrs. Harper sent me with a box of old family pictures she thought might be useful for the book you're compiling. I'm supposed to remind you that as town founders, the Harpers should be the focus of your project. The pictures she is
lending
you are all archived, dated chronologically, you know."

"Oh, I know."

Regina Harper, in her typical passive-aggressive manner, was reminding Dani who was buttering her bread. The fact that the fee for the project was so small it might as well not exist didn't seem to matter to Queen Reggie. Money was being exchanged—that meant until said project was completed to the grand lady's exacting standards, Dani was her bitch. Or whatever was the socially acceptable lingo equivalent.

Dani could have gone off on this poor woman, but what good would it have done? Poor Ms. Nessmith could never repeat any of it to her employer, so why distress the woman any further. Working for Regina Harper had to pack more stress than being an air traffic controller at O'Hare on Christmas Eve.

"I won't keep you then. Is the box in your car?"

Obviously relieved to be checking one more thing off her to-do list, the woman handed over two rather hefty boxes into Dani's care. She emphasized once more that the photos were practically the equivalent of bullion, and then was on her way.

"HONESTLY, I THOUGHT the poor woman was going to have a nervous breakdown right there on the sidewalk. What does the Harper Harpy do to her employees to turn them into such a mess?"

"Ooo, Harper Harpy, that's a new one." Rose took a sip of her iced coffee, using her tongue to catch a bit of whipped cream from the corner of her mouth. "You have to feel for that poor woman. How desperate must she be to stay working for such a tightwad? She wouldn't pay minimum wage if she could get away with it."

"Room and board," Tyler said pragmatically. "There's something to be said for not having to pay rent or worry about the cost of food. Patty Wilcox, the cook up at Harper House? She told me Reggie's personal assistants were dropping like flies, some not lasting longer than a couple of days. For this last one, she threw in a place to live and three squares a day, and boom, two months of servitude and counting."

Tyler knew everyone in Harper Falls and had a way of getting them to talk. Some might call it a sickness—keeping tabs on Regina Harper's life behind the walls of her mansion. But Tyler saw it as know your enemy—and knowledge was power.

"Well, I'm sure she had someone take pictures of the pictures. If I send them back with even the slightest hint of a crease that wasn't there before, her wrath will fall."

"Scared?"

Dani held up her hand, making it quiver with exaggerated nerves.

"Terrified."

The three friends laughed, drawing attention from a nearby table of businessmen. Urged on by his colleagues, striped tie guy stood, obviously intent on making his move. One raised eyebrow from Tyler and a look that said, not in this lifetime buddy, had him back in his seat, cowed and a little scared.

"Jeez, Tyler," Dani laughed. "Maybe he was going to the bathroom."

"He was coming over here. If he had any balls, one little look from me wouldn't have stopped him."

"I think it was his
balls
he was worried about. That look of yours has been known to send a guy's cojones into hiding faster than a bucket of ice water."

"It's her own personal dating test. If a man can't withstand
the look
, he's not getting to first base."

"Not that I don't appreciate the kind words, but enough about me. I want Dani to tell us about her date with Alex. Did
he
get to first base?"

"From what Jack told me, he wasn't in shape to do much more than lie there and let you do all the work," Rose said. "Though there's something to be said for being on top and having all the power."

"TMI."

"Since when?" Tyler asked, genuinely astonished.

"Since it's my love life under scrutiny and if you share, then I'll be expected to reciprocate."

"Again, when has that ever mattered?"

"Because it's not just any guy," Rose answered for her.

"I…," Dani struggled for the right words to let her friends understand how she was feeling. So far, they didn't exist, at least not yet.

"I understand." Rose knew what it was like to have a man throw your world for a loop. Nothing was more exciting, or more frightening.

"I keep reminding myself, we don't know each other." Dani swirled her straw through her tea, creating a mini whirlpool, not unlike her mind when thinking about Alex.

"But then we start talking and I feel like I've known him forever."

"What's the problem? You have time, you don't need to rush into anything."

"The problem is," Rose said gently, "that when you care about someone, every little detail becomes magnified."

"And I'm not on solid enough ground to take the bumps in stride."

"You're in love, or," Rose quickly modified when Dani started to protest, "on your way. There
is
no such thing as solid ground. Ask Tyler."

A bite of blueberry muffin half way to her mouth, Tyler stopped, her gray eyes morphing from surprise to stormy.

"Me? What do I know about being in love?"

"Well…"

"I was sixteen and in lust."

"
Love
." Rose wasn't going to let her friend rewrite history to make herself feel better.

A moment of uncharacteristic vulnerability passed over Tyler's face. She'd taken on her tough girl persona at an early age, and it was part of her now, as natural as breathing. But on the rare occasions she let the mask slip, it was usually because her friends threw some home truths at her that she couldn't deny—not to them.

"Fine, but teenagers should be banned from falling in love. They know nothing but raging hormones and the need to get everywhere yesterday. Caution, slow down, wait and see? Not even in their vocabularies. If I had it all to do again, I would..."

"You would…?"

"Do it exactly the same." Tyler saw the look that passed between Dani and Rose. "Surprised?"

"Only that you’d admit it."

"When have I ever been able to lie to you two?"

"I didn't mean admit it to
us
," Dani said with a sympathetic smile. "I meant admit to
yourself
."

Tyler sighed, ignoring the twinge in the region of her heart. She'd gotten used to feeling it, even a vague mention of Drew brought it on. She'd also become an expert at pretending it didn't happen.

"I guess I'm becoming more self-aware with my advancing age. I'm painfully aware that Drew and I had a good year, a
great
year. It might have ended badly—"

"To put it mildly," Rose interjected.

"The body count was epic," Tyler joked. Though it wasn't much of an exaggeration. "For a while, I knew what it was like to have it all. It might have been an illusion, temporary, and as it turned out, as fragile as a snowflake in summer. But I have the memories and it makes it hard to settle for anything less. Which brings us back to Dani. Two weeks, two years, it doesn't matter. You loved Alex, probably still do."

"And if he leaves this time it will hurt a whole lot more."

"Is he thinking of leaving town?" Rose asked. "Jack talks as though Alex is planning on making Harper Falls his permanent home."

"He
says
he's staying."

"You don't believe him?"

"No, I do, if for no other reason than his sister is here. But something is wrong. I don't know if it has to do with the reason he left the army, or maybe it's just restless feet."

"And naturally he won't talk about it."

Dani looked at her friends and shrugged.

"I haven't asked."

"What?"

"You always ask," Tyler said, the look she and Rose gave her full of disbelief. "Questions are your thing, and you never give up until you have a satisfactory answer."

"I know, and normally it would drive me crazy. But I promised. Alex's Army career was lived in the shadows—secrets on top of secrets. There are things he can never talk about and I don't want to put him in the position of always reminding me of that. For now, until he brings it up, I'm going to have to curb my curiosity."

"This from the person who wouldn't rest until she found out why Norman Freed always wore one blue sock and one black sock to school."