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“Why can’t you just be honest with me?” I demanded, leaning forward on the worktable. “What are you so afraid of?”
“Everything!” she shouted. “I’m straddling two completely different worlds here: one I belong in, and one I don’t. I don’t fit into the one over there.Clearly.” She gestured with a flower, her lip trembling. “But I have to pretend that I do, that I’m not the complete odd woman out, until you send me home or choose me. Or this was for nothing. It was all for nothing.”
I took in a deep breath, not quite prepared for her answer. Harper never seemed to be one that cared what other people thought, always doing what made her happiest. She kept hiding behind a wall, rebuilding it every time I tried to knock it down.
“All for nothing,” I repeated.
Was she referring to us? Her café? Both?
“Yes.”
“You never answered me.”
“About what?” Her temper still simmered beneath the surface, even though some of the wind had been let out of her sails.
“Am I part of the reason that it’s so terrible you’re on this show? I hoped we’d moved past some of this. I’m the prize at the end of this. Is this really just about your exposure for the café being threatened, or am I part of this too? Are you angry that you’re having to commit to this to compete for me?”
Her cheeks flamed again.
“That’s not fair. We both know I don’t belong in your world, Flynn. Last night is a stark reminder of that. Women like Lexi are the popular girls, always have been. She fits your type: outgoing, gorgeous, arm candy. She’s the person you want on your arm for awards or to show off at competitions. I can’t compete with that. I know it, you know it, and other people in the house know it.”
“What does that even mean? You’ve always been a part of my world.”
I couldn’t believe what she’d said, that she could believe even half of what she’d yelled at me. Girls like Lexi hated to ski and certainly didn’t teach kids how to do it. They never wanted to hear about my life or stay up late watchingDirty Dancingwhile arguing over the last drop of honey for their pizza crust. They certainly never had the confidence to start a business that didn’t fit the typical mold, like a fusion of flowers and baked goods.
“Really? When was the last time we talked?Beforethe show.” She raised her eyebrows, tapping her fingers against the metal of the worktable as she waited.
“It was… Well, there was that time…”
“Exactly.” She sighed and went back to work. Her shoulders drooped, as if she carried the world on her shoulders. “You’ve been busy with competitions and gorgeous women and practices. We’ve talked more in the last few weeks than we’ve talked in years. Can’t you understand? I don’t fit into any of that.”
Riding the fire of emotions that raged within me, I crossed over to her, tangling my fingers in those gorgeous curls I loved so much.
“Youareall of that.”
I pulled her head to mine, crushing my lips to hers in a way I’d wanted to do for years. It was nothing like her kiss from the group date. It wasn’t soft. I wasn’t careful. Everything I’d ever felt about her flooded into the kiss.
She sighed against me, wrapping her fingers around my neck and pulling me deeper.
Whether I liked it or not, I knew exactly who I wanted my prize to be. And she’d been under my nose the entire time.
