Page 37 of Well Played

I chimed in, “It’s a designer, Fern.”

She shook her head. “Shame. Someone should be paying you to look that fancy.”

Harper’s brows were still pinched tight when Fern excused herself. “I’d love to stay and chat, but it’s my Mahjong night, so I need to get myself cleaned up. You two enjoy your evening now.”

After Fern walked away, Harper shook her head. “You’re going to have to explain what that woman just said.”

I laughed. “Come on. I think we need that wine you brought for me to do that.”

***

“I cannot believe you didn’t call and tell me you’re hot for your ex’s brother.” Harper sipped her second glass of wine. “Do you think maybe deep down you want revenge on Tanner?”

I shook my head. “I have zero desire to get even with Tanner. Maybe I did six years ago when I caught him cheating on me again and he walked out, leaving me with a one-year-old, but I’m long past that. I actually feel bad for him. He can’t seem to get over the life he lost enough to start making a new one. And that’s a shame, because he’s young and healthy with a great son, and he’s missing out on some of the best years of his life—and Alex’s.”

“Okay… Being with your ex’s brother still sounds kind of messy. I mean, how do you think Tanner would take the news if that happened and he were to find out?”

Just thinking about that scenario had me guzzling the rest of the wine in my glass. “Oh, I know exactly how he would take it—horribly. Tanner has always lived in Levi’s shadow. Levi was a first-round draft pick into the NFL. Tanner was a second. Tanner is six-feet tall. Levi is six foot three. But things got much worse after Tanner’s injury. He resents his brother’s success. Last year, their entire family went to Arizona for the Super Bowl to watch Levi play, but Tanner refused to go. Instead, he stayed home and betagainsthis brother’s team. Levi wound up with a Super Bowl ring, and Tanner wound up five-thousand dollars more in debt.”

I shook my head. “Tanner sees Levi’s life as the oneheshould be living. So I’m certain seeing Levi and me together would not go over well. It would be a disaster, really.”

Harper wrinkled her nose. “That doesn’t sound pleasant. I guess we’re just going to have to find you another man to—what did Fern call it?—boink. We’re going to have to find you another man to boink. That shouldn’t be too hard. I read an article on the flight down that said there’re a hundred-and-sixty-million men in the United States. Finding one to make you forget all about Levi shouldn’t be so hard.”

I nodded and smiled, though all I could think was…A hundred-and-sixty-million men in the United States, and of course, the only one I’ve wanted badly in years is the one I can’t have. Great. Just great.

CHAPTER 9

Presley

“I still cannot believe how much we got done this week.” After returning from the bathroom, I looked around the inn in amazement.

Apparently a visit from Harper was just what I needed. Over the last four days, not only had we painted six of the fourteen bedrooms, we’d also painted the living room, ordered new window treatments, and had all of the rotted pipes on the second floor replaced by a reasonably priced plumber whose name I’d gotten from Jeremy.

Harper had also offered to help with publicity for the grand reopening, and somehow talked both the local paper and local news station into agreeing to cover thehuge eventshe told them I’d be throwing to celebrate next month. It had been a whirlwind few days, and I was exhausted, but also sad that she was flying back home tomorrow.

Earlier we’d gone to dinner at one of the local restaurants, and now we were sitting around drinking spiked lemonade. Mine was going right to my head. I’d dug out some old photo albums to show Harper what the inn had looked like back in the day, and she sat flipping through the pages.

“Wow, Tanner was super hot in college.”

I peeked over her shoulder at the photo she was checking out. “Ummm…that’s not Tanner. That’s Levi. I think you’re looking at one of the scrapbooks his grandfather made. He made books of both his grandsons. But Levi has a few more since his career didn’t end as soon as his brother’s.”

She flipped a few more pages and stopped on a shirtless picture of Levi taken in front of the inn. He was all dirty and had on work gloves, leaning one elbow on a shovel. His bare chest glistened in the sun.

Harper lifted the book closer. “Damn, I might need to start watching football. He’s something else all sweaty.”

“That picture looks like it was taken in the last few years, probably during spring planting,” I told her. “As far back as I can remember, the brothers would come over to The Palm Inn every year and plant all the flowers out front. They were probably only six and eight years old when that tradition started. I know from talking to Thatcher that Levi was still doing it even last year. He’s a Super Bowl MVP and flew home for a weekend every April to plant his grandfather’s flowers. Obviously, he could have afforded to send a gardener in his place, but he never did. I guess it’s things like that that confuse me about how Levi can sell this place so easily. The Palm Inn meant so much to his grandfather and the entire family.”

Harper flipped another page. “Did Tanner come home every year to help, too?”

I shook my head. “He stopped doing it in college.”

On the next page was a newspaper advertisement. Levi had done an underwear modeling campaign for Adidas. Harper pointed to the very noticeable bulge in his gray boxer briefs. “They stuff these sometimes, you know.”

“I’ve seen the man up close and personal in his underwear. There’s no stuffing going on there.”

“Wow.” Harper picked up her lemonade and gulped back the rest. “Is it getting warm in here?”

I sighed. “Tell me about it.”

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