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I grimace. She knows what I’m implying. It hurts to ask her for help. I used to give press conferences, do TV interviews regularly. Hell, I’ve even emceed galas for thousands. Now I can’t trust myself to finish a sentence when it counts. I can only hope that with Harlow by my side, I’ll feel less wound up and more able to carry on a conversation.
“Of course. I’m not throwing you to the wolves,” she assures me so sincerely in a low voice for my ears alone before she raises her voice to something designed to carry. “I’m simply getting the family who cares about me off my back while assuring them that I’m not fucking my way out of a broken heart. Hi, guys. Keeley, Britta.”
Maxon rolls his eyes. “Delicate as always, I see, little sister.”
Griff groans. “Did you have to put that mental image in my head before dinner?”
“Hey, I’ve been in the same house with you and Britta when you’ve been busy, so I don’t want to hear your complaining.”
“We weren’t loud,” he objects.
Harlow snorts. “And the sky isn’t blue, either.”
“Ignore my husband,” Britta insists as she comes forward to hug Harlow. “I promise I’ll kick him under the table if he doesn’t behave.”
Keeley is right beside her, giving Harlow a quick squeeze. “And Maxon simply doesn’t want to remember that you’re a grown woman.”
“Don’t I know it,” Harlow says. “In between nailing all the women in sight, he and Griff chased off every date I could have possibly taken to my senior prom. I’m still a little bitter.” She levels a stare at her brothers. “You owe me, guys. Lighten up. Be nice to Noah. No biting. No baring of teeth. He came here voluntarily. Don’t make him regret it.”
Neither of her brothers says anything for a long moment; they both just eye me as if they’re wondering how much they can trust me with their sister. Finally Maxon sighs and extends a hand.
Exhaling in relief, I shake it. “Good to see you.”
“You’re wearing more clothes this time, so that’s a bonus.”
Ah, the subtle dig. “Thanks. Now I know where your sister gets some of her charm.”
He laughs out loud. Keeley and Griff join in.
“I like you already,” Maxon’s wife drawls. “Why don’t you follow me into the kitchen and I’ll pour you a drink.”
“I’ll go with you two,” Britta says. “I’m not sure how much more knuckle-dragging I can take from our husbands.”
They seem like potential allies, and I’m relieved someone from Harlow’s clan doesn’t hate me, but I’m not down with the idea of leaving her to deal with her none-too-happy siblings. “Will she be all right with them? They won’t grill her too hard, will they?”
“Harlow?” Keeley laughs. “You should be worried about whether she’ll skewer her brothers for acting like asses and whether they’ll still have both their pride and their man parts intact after she’s done.”
Britta nods in confirmation. “Harlow is no fainting flower. Trust me. She can handle herself with them.”
I cast her a glance over my shoulder as the women lead me to the kitchen. The trio of siblings is already deep in conversation, and my girl looks as if she’s getting in most of the words. I relax and follow her sisters-in-law into the white, bright kitchen.
This may be my best opportunity, and I need to take advantage of it.
“What are you drinking?” Keeley asks.
“I don’t care as long as you two can shed some light on what’s going on with Harlow. Why is she so against…attachments?”
Britta slants a glance Keeley’s way. I see on their faces they both know exactly what I’m talking about.
“How serious are you about her?” the blonde asks, her voice soft.
“I don’t know yet. I like her, and I suspect that what I feel may be even deeper than that. I definitely want more than she’s giving me now. She masks everything with sarcasm or sex. No offense, but I feel like the female in this relationship. She never wants to talk about feelings or anything beyond the moment. I know what happened with Simon must have been rough, but—”
“Simon is a symptom, not the problem,” Keeley cuts in.
“Exactly,” Britta agrees. “All the Reed siblings seem to have hearts shuttered extraordinarily tight until you pry them open. Has Harlow told you much about their parents?”
“Almost nothing. Her dad is a distant asshole and her mom was a stage-parent type, living vicariously through her daughter.”
