Page 41 of Nothing to Tell

She turned, smile lighting her whole face.The vision of her was a sucker punch to the abs.Breathe, man, don’t forget to breathe.

“Bastian!”

Harper stepped in to press herself against his side.Her automatic impulse to make full body contact—yep, he’d forgotten his own name.Her arm slid around him under his jacket until she hooked her thumb into one of his belt loops.

“Looks like he found me,” Harper said to Ricardo.“I should’ve known if I stayed in one place long enough he would.”

“Your friend is Bastian Hunt?”

Bastian registered Whey’s incredulity.Let him wonder.Harper kept on smiling, being polite, but he could sense her desire to get away from Whey.

“Someone has to take pity on him,” Harper said, resting her head on his chest.

She wanted everyone in the room to believe she belonged to him.Good.Worked for him.

“Good to see you, Bastian,” Whey said.

“And you,” Bastian said, shaking Whey’s hand.

“No Colliers in the room tonight.”

“Not that I’ve seen.”

“A lot of low profiles these days.”

“Which profiles are you thinking about?”Bastian asked, knowing exactly who the man didn’t want to see.

“I heard Zairn’s still in town.Not seen him around.”

“Since the wedding?”Oh, that’s right, Whey wasn’t invited.They both knew it.And, boy, it gave him some pleasure to see the man bristle.“You’ll be disappointed if you came tonight to see him.Last I heard, Roxie’s keeping him busy across town.”

“No,” Harper said, interrupting the men’s flow.“They’re dancing.Roxie and Zairn are dancing.”

“They’re…” How the hell did Harper know Zairn?Time to get her alone.“If you’ll excuse us, I promised this beautiful woman a dance.”

Whey lifted his glass in concession and took Harper’s when she held it out.

Check that out, not many people would ask Ricardo Whey to pick up after them.

Arm still around her, he held her tight all the way to the dance floor.Like it was choreographed, when he swept her into his arms, Harper slipped her thumb from his belt and relaxed her hands on his chest.

Absorbing her scent, he loosened.Thoughts of leaving evaporated.This had suddenly become the hottest ticket in town and the only place he wanted to be.Thank God his mother was his mother.

“What did you think you were doing?”Bastian asked, inspecting those circulating close, being less than subtle in their scrutiny.

Not that Harper noticed anyone else.

“If you’re upset I’m here, it’s easily remedied,” she said, bringing her hands closer to the center of his chest.“I can leave.”

Good, chastise her.Great.Where did that fit in with the plan to win her over?He’d never been so happy to see a person in his life and, somehow, he’d put the opposite in her head.If Harper left right then, they’d probably never see each other again.Severing ties wouldn’t make him happy.New plan, erase any doubt.

“I’m not upset you’re here.”

“You sound upset,” she said, tipping her head back.

He did, but it wasn’t because she was at the party.“I’m upset that you came here without me.”

“I hoped you would be here.”