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"I guess I should get her home to bed."
I sit on the couch next to Clover and slide a hand under Harper's warm little body, preparing to lift her from Clover's lap. I look into Clover's eyes as I slide another arm under Harper's upper back, but freeze when my hand brushes Clover's breast.
She sucks in a sharp breath, and I pull back, taking Harper with me.
"I swear that was an accident."
"Uh-huh," Clover says, but she's smiling.
Harper snuffles in her sleep, but doesn't wake as I settle her against my chest. She's a heavy block of dead weight and I hope Clover wasn't too uncomfortable, stuck here under her while she slept. "Thank you for taking care of Harper. I guess I let her get overtired." I sigh. "And I probably let her have too much sugar."
"Not going to say I told you so, but…"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm new at this whole uncle gig, okay? I'll figure it out."
"You're welcome. Harper's a sweet kid."
I'm tempted to pinch myself. This whole evening feels surreal. "Why are you being nice to me?"
"I've had a lot of time to think in here, rocking your niece to sleep, and I haven't been fair to you, Asher. You're a nice guy who just wants to buy the gym that should be mine. I shouldn't hold that against you."
I'm not buying this for one hot second. No one does a one eighty like this, no matter how much time they've had to think. "What do you want?"
Her smile slips the tiniest bit, and it's a relief, because this changed expression, slightly sour, looks more like the Clover I know. "Maybe I want us to be friends. Is that so hard to believe?"
I laugh louder than I mean to and glance down at Harper, but she doesn't move. "It's so hard to believe, Empress, that I would bet my soul on you having an ulterior motive."
She sniffs. "I can't imagine your blackened soul is worth very much."
"Enough games. I've got a toddler I need to get to bed. Tell me what you want."
Her expression softens when she looks at Harper and, for the first time, I can almost believe what Honey said about Clover helping other people. "I've been thinking about your request for us to train together and I think it might not be the worst idea ever."
She is definitely up to something and I'm not going to like it. What I'm less sure of is whether I'll hate it enough to give up the opportunity to spend more time with her. "What's in it for you?"
She blinks at me with wide eyes and an innocent expression.
"Don't even try it, Empress. What do you really want?"
She huffs out a sigh and her face returns to the usual scowl she wears around me. "Fine. Our sex tape—"
"Nope. No way. I'm not going to have a—" I glance down at Harper. "S-E-X tape to my name when I didn't even get to have S-E-X with you."
"Whatever you want to call it. The snake tape, or—"
"How about the video we pretend doesn't exist until Simon makes sure it doesn't exist?"
She twists her hands together. "The thing is that my followers love that video and I posted some video of you from our run with Grant and —"
"You posted a video of me without my permission?" I don't really care, but I play up my shock and dismay.
"Shut up. Don't try to push your advantage by pretending you care that five hundred women and more than a few men loved what I posted. Several of them offered marriage."
"Five hundred? I feel like a piece of meat." I don't feel like a piece of meat. I feel pretty damn good.
"Whatever. The point is, you need someone to train you in running and I need to increase my followers, so it makes sense for us to team up."
"Why?" I ask.
