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Chapter Fourteen
Thankgod Harrison’s car had leather seats because she was soaking wet. Not from her initial drenching from the rain, but from the run to the car from the back door. She knew she looked like a drowned rat now.
The only consolation was that he did too. That is until he shook the rain from his hair in the car, and it had turned into completely sexy, messed-up wet hair. Hair that she wanted nothing more than to run her fingers through.
So far, during the ten-minute drive, she had been able to control her urges, though his earthy smell was intoxicating and inescapable in the small space. Added to that was the way his wet navy polo shirt clung to his body, showing her that he hadn’t changed much over the years. His body was as toned as ever.
Shaking herself out of those thoughts, she reminded herself that she didn’t want him in her life. Her life was great the way it was—no change needed. No need to get involved with Harrison Dean. Especially not with Harrison Dean.
“Do you know the bride or groom?” she asked, making conversation. She had to get her mind out of the gutter. Not that her efforts were helping; Harrison was wet!
“Groom. His dad is Veronica’s brother.” He grinned at her.
“Sorry about Buzz…. The kiss meant nothing to her. I know that.” Even after all these years, Sera didn’t know how to explain Buzz. Since she was ten years old, she’d had a hard time controlling her impulses and hadn’t gotten much better since. It was what made her Buzz in the end.
“I really don’t think the marriage will happen or last if it does. They’ve been dating for a long time, but I don’t think Brad’s really ready to settle down for her yet. He likes having a steady girlfriend but really likes dating also. I feel there was a bit of pressure put on by everyone around him, which won’t turn out well in the end,” Harrison said.
“Well, aren’t you Mister Optimistic? Not all relationships end badly.”
“I guess not. I just see a lot of my and Veronica’s relationship in them. College sweethearts that seemed to have everything going for them … until they don’t.”
“Do you regret it? I mean, it ended badly, but was it always bad?” She asked because Harrison and Veronica had stayed together for years after it turned bad. What had kept them going back to each other?
“No, we had some good years. Then she wanted kids, and that was what ripped up apart.” His eyes didn’t leave the road as he said the words.
“Would you still be married if you had kids?”
“Probably not. There were other things that we didn’t have in common after a few years. She wanted to be a society wife, and I wanted nothing to do with that.” His back was stiff as he stared at the road in front of them.
“But you still do society functions,” she argued. She had seen him a few times since she started helping Harper and Lucy. Usually, she tried to stay away from him if possible, not really wanting him to see her working a second job.
“Yes, but I don’t like going. Especially alone.”
“I’ve never seen you alone.” She bit her lip. Had she admitted too much?
“You have catered before? At functions I’ve been at?” His eyes finally left the road to look her way with a smirk.
“A cater waiter only, and yes, a few over the last few months.”
“I’ve never noticed you before.”
“I’ve been there. Harper and Lucy started the business three years ago, and it’s grown a lot in the last year. As I told your ex, help is hard to find.” Even before that, when they had functions, they didn’t have the money to hire extra people as waiters, so the family worked for free. Sera herself still did, though the others were paid now.
“Your friends are funny.”
“I think so. I love spending time with them.” You never knew how a conversation would start or end and the meanderings it would take with the girls. It had been that way when they were young, and it remained that way today.
“So, the redhead and the blonde are sisters?” he asked.
“No,” she stated quickly, then corrected. “I mean, they are all sisters. All five.”
“Are you one of the five sisters? I saw only four besides you,” he asked.
“No, I’m not. One sister wasn’t there today.” She rarely told people she was their mother. Well, stepmother in reality. But with Harper being five years younger than her, it just led to complicated explanations about divorce and their actual parents. It was easier to call herself their friend, which she was happy to be.
“How long have you known them?” He stopped at a stoplight as he asked.
“Sixteen years now. They were all in high school or junior high then.”
