Page 32 of Business or Pleasure

Well, technically, it was Alec’s brother with the excellent taste. I met Brody a time or two, and I sampled various labels from Shannon’s. Right now, I was working on my second beer and wondering if Alec brought any of the fine whiskey Brody had made.

Every function or party I went to, I was either hosting or had another purpose, even if that purpose was to be seen and give due to the McFann name. Here, virtually no one knew who I was, and those that did had no expectations for me, which meant I had the luxury of simply blending into the background. I sat, ate, drank, occasionally talked to Alec, and watched people.

I watched people playing Frisbee and volleyball. Others swimming and waving ‘sparklers’ around. Evanne solemnly explained to me how to use one safely and then demanded that I try lighting one. I knew better to argue with Alec’s daughter. She had his stubborn streak.

And that was when it happened.

As I stood with a burning bit of sparkly stuff, feeling quite foolish waving it around at Evanne’s insistence, I heard a familiar laugh. Not a laugh I heard often, but one that was far too memorable considering to whom it belonged.

Harlee Sumpter.

I hadn’t been able to stay away.

Since I met with Alec for lunch both Thursday and Friday, I stopped in her office both days and chatted with her about her progress, the conversation between us so easy. Both times, I was reluctant to leave despite knowing that she had work to do. Work that she was doing for one of my closest friends.

But that didn’t change the fact that I wanted to stay and talk about things that weren’t work-related. All the things that I hadn’t been able to talk about the night we spent together.

Considering how my last relationship had begun and ended, I knew even entertaining the notion of spending more time with her was a bad idea. Not only that, but I lived in a different country. I was here in Seattle only as long as I needed to be.

I didn’t know if she felt the same way though because by the time the sparkler was done and I turned to find her, she wasn't there.

Then, about two hours after I arrived, she suddenly appeared next to me with a beer in each hand.

“Would you like a refill?” she asked, holding out one of the beers.

I shocked myself with the words that came out of my mouth. “Only if you join me.”

Her cheeks flushed, but she looked pleased as she sat on the bench next to me. She handed me a beer and took a long drink of her own.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You’re welcome, Mr. McFann.”

“Baylen, please.” I shook my head. “While we’re here, at least, call me Baylen.”

“All right.” She picked at the label on the bottle. “Baylen.”

I liked how she said my name, liked the memories it brought back, which should have made me change my mind, keep the distance between us, but I didn’t. I wanted to be near her, even if it was just for the holiday.

For several minutes, we sat like that, the silence between us strangely comfortable, though I wondered if that was because it wasn’t actually silent. We had the noise of everyone else around us, but I’d been in plenty of situations where I was surrounded by sound and sitting quietly with another person was awkward.

Especially when sex was involved.

But not with Harlee.

I caught myself looking at her more and more, quick little glimpses. The contrast between her golden blonde hair and its dark blue streaks, without the black she had the night we met. The multiple piercings in her ears. The tattoos I saw that first night, but only caught glimpses of since.

The ivy around her left ankle and the butterfly coming out of a cocoon on her right shoulder. And then, she leaned forward to brush a bug off her sandal, and I caught a hint of something colorful on her back. The fire that ran along the small of her back, with a single lick of flame going up her spine and under her shirt.

“Mind if I ask why you don’t have any tattoos?”

The question startled a laugh out of me. “I have a problem with needles.”

“That’s why no piercings then, huh?” she teased.

“Definitely not.”

While the silence between us had been comfortable, this exchange was decidedly not comfortable. What felt like static electricity crept across my skin, but it wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, I liked it. This was something new. This woman intrigued me, and I couldn’t think of the last time that had happened. All I knew for certain was that it hadn’t been Angie.

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