Page 38 of This Feeling

Sean suddenly looked nervous. “Um, the Stevens family.”

“The girls too?” I asked.

The way Sean glared at me, as if I didn’t have any right to ask about them, made me arch a brow.

“Caroline and Crystal, right? Mom always thought you and Crystal would end up together. No offense, Harper.”

She lifted her hands. “None taken.”

“I asked Caroline out once, and she turned me down,” Gavin said.

Sean’s head whipped up so fast, I was surprised he didn’t hurt himself. “Youwhat?”

Gavin nodded. “Yeah, she turned me down flat. I should probably try again, now that she’s moved back to town.”

“She’s dating someone,” Harper said, looking at Sean, then back to Gavin. “At least, I heard she was.”

“She is,” Sean said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d thinkyouwere the one dating her, Sean,” I drawled, folding my arms over my chest and glaring at my brother, who was glaring at Gavin, who was utterly oblivious to what was happening. An investigator, he would not make.

Sean cleared his throat…again…before looking at Harper. “So, you’ll come?”

Watching her closely, I saw her jaw tic, like she was clamping down in frustration. Her eyes grew dark, and she drew in a slow breath before releasing it even slower.

“I’ll try, but I’m making no promises.”

Sean smiled. “Great. Thanks!”

He turned to walk off before Harper cleared her throat. “Sean?”

When he looked back, she tilted her head subtly and raised her brows.

“Oh, right, sorry!”

He quickly returned to her and kissed her on the lips—it was another peck. Then he waved to me and Gavin. “Later.”

“Later,” Gavin said, as he watched Sean walk away, while I studied Harper. She looked like she wanted to throw something at my brother.

When she turned and saw me watching her, she smiled. “How do you like being a police officer in the crazy town of Moose Village?”

“It’s quiet.”

She laughed, and I tried to ignore the way that made my insides warm.

“I bet it is. Gavin showing you the ropes?”

“He’s trying to get me fired.”

Harper’s brows shot up, and she gave Gavin a questioning look as he held up his hands in self-defense.

“It was a joke! And I would have stopped him if he’d tried to ticket the guy.”

“Ticket him for what?” Harper asked.

“Jaywalking,” Gavin and I said at the same time.

A look of surprise moved across her face. “Is that illegal? Shit, I do it all the time.”

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