Page 60 of Redeeming Harmony

Nathan followed Harper down the hall toward the elevators. They still held hands, and she glanced at their clasped hands before letting go. “Oh, uh, sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he said.

She pressed the elevator button before giving him a hesitant look. “You don’t have to stick around. Preacher and Addie will give me a ride home.”

“I don’t mind staying,” he said.

“I’m sure you have better things to do on a Friday night,” she said.

He shook his head as the elevator doors opened. “Nope, I’m all yours for the night.”

It came out sounding more intimate than he meant and he cursed inwardly. “For support, as a friend, I mean.”

She smiled and didn’t bring up the fact that he was a complete moron as they stepped into the elevator. “Thank you, Nathan. I really appreciate that.”

Chapter 15

“Nathan?”

Nathan looked up at the rap on his office door. The clinic had closed almost half an hour ago, and he and Hal were the only ones left. It’d been a long and tiring Monday, mainly because they’d had no surgeries and very few appointments. Of the six they did have, five of them had insisted on being booked with Warren. The three clients that called to have their files transferred to a different vet clinic had been the icing on the shit cake.

“‘Hey, Hal, what’s up?”

“Harper is here. She’s wondering if you have a minute to talk to her before you head home?”

“I do.” He hadn’t seen or spoken to Harper since he dropped her off at her house in the early hours of Saturday morning, and he was pathetically excited to see her again. He stood and headed toward the front of the clinic, hoping his eagerness wasn’t apparent to the vet tech.

He pushed through the swinging door. Harper hovered near the counter, and he did a truly stupid and ridiculous looking wave. Christ, what the fuck was wrong with him?

“Hi, Harper.”

“Hi,” she said. “How are you?”

“Good, you?”

“Good.”

Hal’s footsteps broke the uncomfortable silence. He had his helmet in one hand and his knapsack in the other. “See you tomorrow, Nathan.”

“Night, Hal.”

Hal grinned at Harper. “See you, kiddo.”

“Bye, Hal.”

Harper waited until Hal had left the clinic before saying, “Sorry to come by when you’re about to head home. I thought I would talk to you later on Saturday at the clinic, but Dad said you had the weekend off.”

“Yeah, I was in an online gaming tournament with Wyatt and some other people.”

“Oh, you like to game?”

“I do. How about you?”

“Nah, it’s not my thing,” she said. “But Emma over at Twisted Stitches is totally into it. Do you know she holds a record for the highest score in an online game, Shadow Lions, maybe?”

“Shadow Dragons,” he said with a laugh. “It’s a very popular game created by Stark Entertainment.”

“Stark,” Harper said. “Wait, that’s the guy that opened up the new company here, right? Lucas works for him.”