Page 79 of Seeing Harper

Harper grabbed one of his wrists in one of her hands, and using her thumb and finger, she pressed against his wrist so hard that something popped and he dropped the towel with both hands, so he could cradle the one she’d hurt.

“What was that?!” he demanded.

“That was me letting you know I don’t appreciate being forced into close proximity with anyone without my express permission. And I didn’t permit that.”

He was still rubbing at his wrist. “Jesus! A simple no thank you would have been sufficient.”

“No, I don’t think it would have been.” She started for the exit, planning to go back to her suite.

“So, I’m good enough to spend time with and to allow me to take you to dinner every night that you’re in town, but when I want to make it more personal, I’m not enough,” he said.

She turned and looked back at him as she hesitated by the exit. “I must have missed something, at what point did a business relationship morph into something else? When did I invite you into my private life, or even give you an inkling that I might be interested in more? And why do you assume that whatever you want is okay because you want it?”

“When you didn’t object every time I invited you to dinner, or said I’d be here to pick you up each morning and introduced you to all my contacts at the trade show.”

“Introducing me to contacts at the trade show is what was expected of the business relationship you and my father anticipated. I simply arrived in his stead. Picking me up at the airport was your choice. You could have sent a text that said you’d see me at the show, or done nothing at all. I’d have found it myself. The dinners, breakfasts, lunches… those were all your idea. In fact, the times that I tried to decline, you insisted. I wanted and expected a room. You upgraded me when we arrived here to a suite. That was what you were doing at the front desk ahead of me, weren’t you? What the hell were you thinking? I stayed professional, you did not. That’s not my problem.” She spun back toward the exit having said all she was willing to say to him, and left him standing there alone with his pizza.

“Harper, hold on. This is not a good idea for your father’s farm. My company is planning some new agricultural processes that will double his production. He’s going to want to have access to that information.”

“Then call my father and discuss it. It’s his business. I’m not included in the parts of his business you will have access to,” she yelled over her shoulder without looking back.

“You’re giving me the impression that you’re not easy to deal with. Walking away like this is not encouraging for a business future. Think hard about what you are doing here and what effect it will have on your father and your family business.”

She laughed and couldn’t help turning to look at him one last time. “I’m not easy to deal with. Whatever made you think I was? And you know what? Never mind about calling my father. I’ll do it. He should know that you just threatened dropping him as your customer because I wouldn’t allow a personal relationship to develop between us.”

“That’s not what I said or did!” he yelled after her, as he stood there watching as she left him standing there. Then he realized he needed to call Travis first, and quickly. He dried his hands and grabbed his cell phone off the table near the pizza he’d brought. He scrolled through his contacts and pressed the ‘call’ button above Travis’s name. It rang twice before Travis picked up.

“Joel! How’s things?” Travis asked.

“Well, they were great. We were forming a friendship, a bond. But then I think I pushed too hard, and now she’s irritated.”

“That’s not hard to achieve. She’s easily irritated lately. What happened?”

“Well, to give you a summary… met her at the airport, since then dinners, breakfasts, lunches, introductions like we talked about. Had lots of quality time. I had intentions of just being welcoming and introducing her as your daughter; you know, let people get to know her and that she’ll be taking over the business. But I like her, Travis. I really do. She’s funny, and witty, and smart!”

“And beautiful,” Travis said dryly.

“Without a doubt. But I think I read more into it than she did.”

“She throw you on your ass?”

“No, not at all. Just totally rejected me and stormed away. I’m not sure what happened, but all day she was distant. She said she missed home and wanted to get back home so she could get some exercise and feel like herself again. I suggested we skip closing day on Sunday because it’s usually just breakdown and ship the booths back to the company anyway, not a lot of networking going on and we could catch an early flight out tomorrow. She liked that, but still didn’t seem to settle. I suggested she go to the pool in the hotel and go for a swim. I went and took care of the details of us returning early — we’ll be there tomorrow morning by the way — and decided I’d come back here and spend some more time with her. Maybe swim a little, let her know I was interested. Brought her a pizza. She was not impressed.”

“Did she seem so before hand?”

“I thought so. Things were easy between us. Lots of laughing and just being real. We never spoke of anything other than the reason we were here, but did share a few anecdotes and enjoyed each other’s company. I know we did.”

“Maybe that’s what threw her. She thought it was all professional.”

“That’s what I expected, too. Until I met her and realized how amazing she is. It’s why I’m calling you. I’m definitely interested in her, and I hope it’s not a problem. But if it is, I’m willing to assign a salesman to your account.”

“I understand. And I appreciate the call. I would have told you to take it slow and not tip your hand if you’d called me before talking to her about it. But if I’m being honest here, when I sent her out your way I was kind of hoping she’d be interested in you and you in her. If she develops interest in working with improving our farm, it keeps her home, and if she likes you, too, keeps her focused on the subject of our farm and improving it. Even better.”

“Honestly, I wasn’t interested in anything other than making sure she had a pleasant trip and got back to you safely, until I saw her and spent some time with her. But I think I pushed too hard.”

“Yeah, you said that. What’d you do other than bring her a pizza?” Travis demanded.

“Nothing! Just helped her out of the pool and got a little too close, for her comfort at least. Nothing disrespectful. I didn’t touch anything I shouldn’t have. She seemed highly offended, though.”