Page 66 of The Sexy Part
The doorbell rings.
“Must be more trick-or-treaters. I’ll get it,” Mackenzie says as she hurries for the candy bowl.
“We’ll have to put a bowl of candy on the porch before we leave,” Harper says. “But not before I snag our favorites for later.”
“A woman after my own heart,” I say.
Mackenzie appears holding a bouquet of flowers. “It was a flower delivery. Who orders flowers for Halloween? They’re not even black.”
My heart races. Did Cooper send flowers to apologize for kicking me out after sex last night? He didn’t need to do that. No strings.
Mackenzie hands them to Harper. “They’re for you.”
“For me?” Harper plucks the card out and opens it. She reads it to herself and stares at the flowers.
“Who’s it from?” Mackenzie asks. “Does Oliver want a second chance?”
Before I arrived in town, Harper had recently had three dates with a guy she met online, Oliver. There wasn’t a fourth date because he ghosted her. She said he was dead to her after that.
“No,” Harper says quietly.
“Then who?”
Harper heads to the kitchen. We follow her. She fills a vase with water, takes the wrapping off the flowers, and throws it in the trash can under the sink along with the card. She places the flowers in the vase and arranges them before setting them on the center of the kitchen table. “There. Now we can all enjoy our Halloween flowers. Let’s go to the party.”
Mackenzie grabs the trash can and pulls the card out. She gasps. “It’s from Nathan.”
“Who’s Nathan again?” I ask.
“He’s my business partner,” Mackenzie says. “And he’s also Harper’s archrival.”
A rare pink suffuses Harper’s cheeks. “He’s not an archrival. He’s my brother’s friend. An old family friend. He’s whatever.”
“Listen to this.” Mackenzie reads from the card. “I heard the way to a woman’s heart is through flowers.” She puts the card down. “Nathan must be making his move after all these years! What’re you going to do?”
“Nothing,” Harper says. “I have a boyfriend.”
“No, you don’t,” Mackenzie says.
“For tonight’s purposes I do. His name is Oliver.”
Mackenzie shakes her head.
Harper puts a palm up. “It’s ridiculous. Why would he send this?”
I venture to say the obvious, “He must be into you.”
She rolls her eyes. “I completely ignored him at Shayla and Owen’s engagement party. Not one word. Suddenly he sends flowers?”
“Maybe he wants a fresh start with you,” Mackenzie says. “You were best friends when you first met.”
“When we were little kids. That doesn’t count.”
Mackenzie shrugs. “Let’s go and find out.”
Harper freezes. “How about some wine before we go?”
Mackenzie sends me a significant look. Not only is Harper stalling, she’s nervous to see Nathan. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.
