Page 68 of The Sexy Part
Harper shrugs.
Nathan gets irritated. “For God’s sake, Harper, we grew up together. Is this still about—”
“When did you get that tattoo?” she asks quickly.
He flexes his bicep impressively. “You like it?”
She can’t take her eyes off it. “Just curious.”
“It’s fake to go with the costume.”
She backs up a step. “Of course. That makes much more sense. Nothing’s changed.” She whirls and walks right into me.
“Ow.”
“Sorry. Let’s go to the back room now.”
She darts away. Mackenzie and I follow behind but get caught up in the crowd, slowing us down.
“So that’s Nathan,” I say to Mackenzie.
“He’s loyal, not bad to look at, and smart,” Mackenzie says. “Of course she hates him.”
“That didn’t look like hate to me.”
“Those flowers threw her for a loop. Funny thing is, she once told me that tattoos were not sexy. Anyone could get one. Yet she couldn’t keep her eyes off it.”
“What happened to make her so mad at him?” I ask.
“I think it’s more what didn’t happen. I suspect she either made a pass at him and he turned her down, or worse, they hooked up and he ignored her after. She refuses to talk about it.”
“Or she’s madly in love with him, and she’s indulging in a frenemy war like your parents.”
Mackenzie bursts out laughing. “Right. Mom wasn’t madly in love with Dad when that went down. Who knows what goes on in Harper’s mind? She’s complicated.”
“Aren’t we all?”
We pass the bar on the way to the back room. Cooper’s in deep conversation with a beautiful redheaded woman wearing a maid costume. He doesn’t even notice me.
“Hi, Cooper!” I yell. “Nice costume.”
He gives me a small smile and goes back to chatting with the redhead.
Jerk. Just because I said we couldn’t go out in public together doesn’t mean we can’t speak to each other in public. Or maybe he’s just trying to respect the line I drew. Part of me wants to push that line. Just a little.
Mackenzie and I continue on.
“So what’s going on with you and Cooper?” Mackenzie asks when we reach the back room.
I wave madly. “There’s Harper. We’d better save her. Big Foot looks like he’s making a move.”
When we reach her, Harper’s in a heated debate over the existence of Big Foot with the guy dressed as Big Foot. She says he’s not real, and this guy truly believes. He even pulls his phone out to show her pictures of what really does look like sightings of Big Foot.
An old woman wearing a flapper costume starts a conga line, and we get swept up in it. I laugh as we move our way past the pool table and an old-fashioned jukebox. She leads us out of the room past the bar, and I slip away, taking a seat on a barstool. It’s my turn to talk to Cooper. For once he’s talking to a guy. A handsome guy in his twenties with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a mechanic’s jumpsuit.
Wait a minute. I know him. He’s the guy fromHot Finds! “Are you Mason Shaw?”
He gives me a slow, sexy smile. “Sure am. Are you a fan?”
