Page 68 of One Night in Paris

Sliding into the booth, I took the magazine out from beneath my arm and laid it upside down on the table, waiting for Harper to appear. I prayed she wouldn’t just turn around and walk in the other direction.

When she first appeared from behind the swinging wooden door, she had an irritated look on her face, likely from being yelled at by her boss. Looking up and seeing me didn’t help matters any. Her eyebrows tightened into a thick wrinkle, and she narrowed her eyes.

At least she didn’t run away from me.

“What in the world are you doing here?” she muttered under her breath. Since it didn’t really seem like the sort of question she wanted me to answer, I didn’t. “It’s one thing to email me, Mr. Winters. It’s something else completely to show up at my work when I’ve made it clear I don’t want to see you. Now, what will you have with your side of spit?”

A laugh almost escaped my lips. Not because it was funny that she was so mad but because she always said the most hilarious things when she was out of sorts. “I’m sorry, Harper. I didn’t mean to bombard you. I just needed to speak to you, and I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Oh, well, if that’s what you want, Mr. Winters, then by all means, go ahead and take it. After all, you’re the bazillionaire in all of this. You’re used to getting what you want. All I wanted was a job where I could earn a little more money to take care of my mom and maybe not go home smelling like the underside of a griddle, but as long as you’re happy.”

“Harper,” I began. Taking a deep breath, I chose my words carefully. “Come on. Don’t be like that. Just come with me when your shift is over. I have something I want to show you.”

“Absolutely not!” she exclaimed loud enough to draw the attention of a few other patrons. Her boss scowled at us from behind the counter. I gave her a look that dared her to say anything, and she went back to her germ-spreading, dirty towel still in hand.

“Why not? Harper, I promise, if you don’t like what I have to show you, I’ll never speak to you again.” Saying that was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to say, but it was true. It would have to be, even if I hated it.

“How do you know I didn’t just start my shift? Are you going to sit there for eight hours and watch me bust my ass?” She folded her arms, tipping her head at me, almost daring me to say yes.

Shrugging, I said, “Judging by how exhausted you look, I’m going to say that you didn’t just start. But yes, if that’s what it takes, I’ll wait forever.”

“Great, so now I look like shit on top of everything else.” Shaking her head at me, she continued to glare.

“That’s not what I said. You look beautiful. You always do. But you look tired, and your uniform isn’t exactly pristine, so I’m just guessing you’ve been here for a while. But by all means, take your time.” With what I hoped was a warm smile on my face, I waited for her to clap back at me.

She didn’t, to my surprise. “Fine. I get off in twenty minutes. I’m telling you right now, though, Logan Winters. I swear to God, whatever it is you want me to look at better be uber important. Also, once I tell you to go to hell, you’d better do it.”

Nodding, I replied, “I’ll go ahead and text the devil to get a room ready for me.”

Harper bit down on her bottom lip. I knew that look—she was trying not to laugh. With a grunt, she spun around and walked away.

Hiding my satisfied smile, I took my phone out of my pocket to text a different sort of devil—Trevor. I just wanted to update him on the situation, that she had gone back to work here, and I’d been able to catch her on one of her shifts.

About ten minutes later, Harper came back to my table and slid a platter with a cheeseburger and French fries down in front of me, along with a soda.

“What’s this?” I asked. I hadn’t ordered anything.

“Dotty gets mad if people don’t buy food. Besides, I deserve one hell of a tip. By the way, the cook was chewing mint gum, so the spit should be nice and fresh.” Turning on her heel, she headed to the next table, leaving me chuckling.

I wasn’t hungry, but I didn’t believe anyone had spit in the food, and I had nothing better to do. Since I’d be paying for it anyway, I nibbled on a few fries while she finished her shift. When she came with the check, I left her a hefty tip, which got a small smile out of her.

A few minutes later, she was back with her bag. “All right, Winters. This’d better be good.”

With a nod, I slid out of the booth, tucking the magazine back under my arm. “Let’s go.” I reached for her hand, but she pulled it away from me. That stung. I knew she wasn’t happy about this situation, but I hadn’t realized just how angry she truly was at me until then.

“Where are we going?” she asked as I led her down the crowded street, dodging people flying in every direction as no one even bothered to look at anyone else while they plowed by.

“My apartment.”

Harper stopped abruptly in her tracks. “The fuck we are. Why would we need to go there?”

Sighing, I turned to face her. “Because what I need to show you would be better discussed in private.”

Her eyes stayed focused on me for a long time. “If it’s your dick, you can forget about it.”

Chuckling loudly, I said, “Good one. Don’t worry. I won’t even touch you unless you ask me to.” Thoughts of how sexy it had been all of the times she’d begged me to take her came to mind. If only I could get her to do that again.

Reluctantly, she began to move again. Without a word, she let me lead her to my SUV. I opened the passenger side door for her, and she climbed inside.

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