Charlie licked her lips, trying to bring a little moisture to what felt like Death Valley. “Well, you said that in the moment, but you never brought it up again, so I didn’t think you were serious.” Of course she wanted her to come and wouldn’t mind an excuse to give her a few more assists during class, but the idea raised the stakes so much more than a normal classful of strangers.
“Charlie. I took you to the spectacle of Mallory Square last night because I enjoyed class so much that I lost the bet. The fact that I would go to that tourist trap should have been a clue that I really liked your class.”
Harper laughed, but Charlie felt like a dart had just popped her optimism. Her shoulders sagged. She’d been so sure Harper had really wanted to go with her, to spend time with her, but apparently, it had all just been the bet.
“Hey, no.” Harper placed her hand on Charlie’s forearm. “I didn’t mean I didn’t want to spend time with you. But Mallory Square is a lot. The people. The noise. It’s not my scene. Since I left Chicago, I don’t exactly love crowds.”
Charlie stopped staring at the vee in Harper’s shirt and looked up. “Oh?”
Harper’s crooked smile greeted her. “Yeah, I was actually thinking we should see the sunset from somewhere a little better. Are you game?”
“Of course. When?”
“How about tomorrow?” In a rare show of nerves, Harper rolled her lips in.
“Don’t you have to work?”
“No. Well, I did. But Aiden is going to cover it.”
She’d already asked him to work for her? Before Charlie had even come in? Her chest lifted as the finale of a fireworks show seemed to be going off inside her. “Excellent. I’m in.”
Harper’s smile probably mirrored her own. Wide, beaming, unguarded.
Her face was only inches away as she cradled her chin in her hands while her elbows continued to rest on the bar. Charlie wanted to kiss her for the umpteenth time in the last twenty-four hours. Somehow, she resisted again.
“Good,” Harper whispered before straightening and standing tall. “Now, what can I get you this evening?”
A knock sounded at Charlie’s door at three fifty-two p.m. She wasn’t surprised that Harper was early, but she also wasn’t exactly ready. As in, she was still in a robe. A terry cloth robe that covered a lot more than her yoga clothes did, but a robe nonetheless.
Was this a real date? Charlie wanted it to be, but Harper could be so hard to read that she simply couldn’t be sure. At least not until—unless—Harper made a move.
Or until Charlie tossed caution to the wind and admitted how she was feeling. Which was scary. What if she was completely misreading the situation? What if Harper iced her out again? She’d realized when Harper had been avoiding her just how much she’d come to rely on her connection to her and Franky. She didn’t want to ruin that.
“Sorry I’m a little early,” Harper said, her eyes wide as she took in Charlie’s robe. “Franky wasn’t in the mood to walk, so I just came over without thinking about the time.” Her words spilled out in rapid succession.
Charlie chuckled, and it sounded nervous. Shit. “No problem,” she said and let Harper in. “I’m running a little behind, as you can see, but I’ll only be a couple of minutes. I’m mostly ready. Please have a seat. Do you want something to drink?”
“No, no. I could just run back to my place and wait until the actual agreed upon time.”
Charlie scoffed. “Don’t be silly. You’ll just confuse Franky. I’ll only be a minute.”
And she would be. She’d been agonizing because she didn’t know where they were going, other than to see the sunset, and she probably should have asked what Harper was planning to wear. But now that she’d seen her, she knew it was casual, given Harper’s navy hiking shorts and tan sleeveless shirt, in addition to the picnic backpack she was carrying. She was pretty sure picnics were always casual.
She grabbed a pair of olive green khaki shorts and a racer back tank top and pulled them on. She also remembered to grab a headband to keep her hair off her face in case it was breezy, a frequent occurrence down here.
Harper turned from the painting she’d been examining when Charlie emerged from her bedroom. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”
Charlie laughed. “Oh really?”
“Yeah, this is a really pretty painting of the sunset.”
“It came with the place. I haven’t had much time to decorate, but my landlord has pretty good taste. That is a gorgeous painting.” She smiled but wondered what Harper was really thinking, given Charlie hadn’t changed a single decoration or added even one personal item. It felt a little pathetic.
Harper looked her up and down. “I can assure you, your landlord has excellent taste.”
Charlie licked her lips as all the moisture fled her mouth. “So does her tenant,” she whispered. Heat flooded the area between her thighs. Charlie wasn’t sure how to take Harper’s sudden shift in reactions toward her, but she liked it and hoped it stayed.
Charlie watched Harper watching her for a few breaths before Harper finally said, “We’d better go, or we’re going to miss sunset. Well, we might not miss it, but we might not have time to get to the perfect part of the park and get set up. Are you up for a bike ride?”
