He smiled. “That’s good news. I’ll try and catch them when they’re on their way out. And how are you doing? It’s been a while.”
“About ten years, I think,” Caitie said, her eyes darting to the left. “I’ve been living in New York for most of it. I only moved back recently.”
“That’s great. I bet your mom’s pleased to have you home; it’s a long way to New York.”
Caitie smiled. “She is. And so am I.” Her eyes dipped down and she pulled at a loose thread on her sleeve. “Um, this is a really weird thing to ask, but were you at the opening of the Silver Sands Resort a couple of months ago?”
James swallowed hard. He’d tried to not think about that night. Or about the beautiful blonde he’d spent the evening with.
He ran his thumb along his jaw, feeling the roughness. “Ah, yeah. I think I did. Why?”
Caitie shifted from one foot to the other. “Well the thing is, I um…” She took a deep breath. “I think you might have spent the night with my friend.”
He could feel the blood in his cheeks heat up. “Your friend?” He blinked, trying to ignore the tug of unease in his stomach.
“Harper. Blonde hair with pink ends; looked amazing in a gold vintage dress.”
Yeah she did. She looked beautiful. The tightness in his gut rose up, curling around his chest. “Um. Yeah, I know who you’re talking about.” He had no idea what else to say, especially to a family friend. ‘Yeah, we had mind-blowing sex until the early hours and then I walked away’ didn’t seem quite right.
“She’s here,” Caitie said softly.
“What?”
“Harper. She’s here. Sitting over in the waiting area.”
He tried not to show his shock, but from the expression on Caitie’s face he failed miserably.
“She wants to talk to you. If that’s okay.”
He swallowed hard. “I have to get back to work. I have patients I need to see.”
Caitie nodded. “Of course, but this is important. And it won’t take very long, I promise. We’re leaving in a minute, but there’s something she needs to tell you.”
From the determined expression on Caitie’s face, he wasn’t going to be able to dodge this one. Slowly looking over his shoulder, his gaze fell on the bank of chairs at the far side of the entrance, filled with a group of women, all wearing dressy clothes and talking loudly. He scanned their faces, his mouth pressed together tightly, until finally he found the features he was looking for.
She was staring right at him. With her wide eyes and pale face she almost looked scared.
Dear god, was she going to tell him she had an STD?
“Okay.” He nodded at Caitie. “I can spare ten minutes.”
“Thank you,” Caitie said, following his gaze to beckon her friend over. Harper. He watched as the girl stood up, taking in her long blonde waves as they cascaded over her shoulders, and the soft pink ends he could remember all too well.
She still had that certain something about her; it was in the way she stood tall, her shoulders back, her face calm. She strode across the room with the same confident gait she’d had in the bar, and the memory of their frantic night together hit him like a cannonball, reigniting all the feelings he’d tried to forget.
God, she was beautiful. He swallowed hard, trying to ignore the desire curling in the pit of his belly.
“Harper,” Caitie said, when the girl came to a stop in front of them. “This is James. James, this is Harper.” Her lips curled into a grimace. “I’m going to leave you guys… ah, yeah… to it.”
He turned to the woman next to Caitie and felt a jolt of recognition. That smooth skin, those pretty eyes, the hair that no matter how many times he’d tried he couldn’t quite forget about.
“Hi, Harper.” She was smaller than he remembered, the top of her head only reaching his shoulders. He had to drop his gaze to look at her.
“Hi.” She licked her lips, pulling the bottom one between her teeth. “James. Or Frank. Whatever.” She smiled, and it was the same as the first time. Full of sunshine and warmth.
He laughed in spite of himself, feeling his body relax as Caitie walked back to the waiting area. His blood felt warm at being alone with Harper. “James will do. Are you okay?”
Harper nodded. “Yeah, I’m good.”