She Loves Me (Harmony Pointe #3) - Melissa Foster Page 0,11

who had taken that picture. Probably one of the ladies he dated.

Jiggs jumped onto the couch, landing on Harley’s chest, his back feet in Harley’s crotch. Harley doubled over and moaned, but those big, strong arms were wrapped around Jiggs like he didn’t want his dog to jump off.

Sophie laughed. “Jiggsy!”

Piper couldn’t do anything other than stare at the man who glowered threateningly at her dates and fought like a pro with his fists, as he loved on his dog despite being curled in pain.

“Jiggs,” Harley croaked. “We have to work on your aim.”

She was right.

Harley was all cuddly cub.

Thank God.

If she was going to be subjected to Harley’s flirting, which was totally different when he was under the influence of pain medication than it was normally, she needed big, uncrossable barriers to remember why she wasn’t taking him up on his innuendos. Cuddly cubs were a big no for her. The last thing she wanted was a man who was looking to settle down.

She tried to figure out what had changed besides the addition of the pain medication. Usually when Harley said something flirtatious, he was reacting to a guy hitting on her or to their friends joking around about sex or relationships. But they weren’t with any of their friends now.

Oh shit . . .

She realized they were always in a group, doing guy things—watching sports, drinking at the pub, playing basketball. She stole a glance at him, catching him watching her with a darker, hungrier look than she’d ever seen. That new look called to the animal in her, sparking flames deep inside her. God, she loved the feeling of lust simmering hot and anticipatory, just waiting to ignite. Apparently even when it was coming from Harley. She couldn’t tear her eyes from his, despite knowing she couldn’t afford for their flames to become an inferno.

Sophie popped to her feet and said, “I need help with math.”

“I’m great at math!” Piper grabbed Sophie’s hand and dragged her away from Harley before Piper caught fire—or Harley noticed her momentary slip into Hornyville.

CHAPTER THREE

HARLEY HAD FORGOTTEN how much he hated pain medication. Piper had given him another dose at nine, and by nine forty-five he was high as a kite again, which made focusing on his phone conversation with his sister difficult.

“Soph got an A on her math test.” He was sitting on the couch with his foot propped on a pillow on the coffee table, and Jiggs was lying beside him. He scratched Jiggs’s head, trying to remember if the girls had said anything else worth mentioning.

“She told me. Are you sure you’re okay? You sound out of it.”

“I’m fine. Piper’s here, and she’s like a whirlwind of badass energy. She’s putting the girls to bed now.”

“Ah, now I see what’s going on,” Delaney teased. “You’re drunk on love.”

Harley chuckled. “Drunk on pain meds, maybe. But I’m fine, sis. How are you?”

“Recovering. Not fast enough, but appropriately. They took the drains out today. I shouldn’t look too scary to the girls Friday, but I’ll look tired.”

Delaney was an attorney, and like Harley, she wasn’t used to not being in control. She had opted to have immediate breast reconstruction, and Harley had learned that immediate didn’t mean they reconstructed her breasts at the time of surgery. It meant they started the process, putting in an implant during the mastectomy. It would be weeks before the reconstruction was complete.

“I’ve got weeks of discomfort ahead of me,” she said. “But I want details, Har. Is Piper pampering you? Are the girls being nice to her?”

Harley was taking care of the girls until a week from Friday, when Delaney should be well enough to have them come home. He didn’t want her to worry about Jolie seeming withdrawn when she needed to rest and relax, so he said, “The girls are fine, they’re nice to Piper, and Piper’s taking great care of me. She’s not really a pamperer, but I’ve got no complaints. She’s perfectly Piper. We’re in good hands.”

He rested his head back. Piper had switched into work mode right before his eyes, a mode he knew she found much more comfortable than hovering over children and a man with a bum ankle. She’d helped the girls with homework and then made sure they had everything they needed for school tomorrow. Then she’d gotten them to take showers and made a grocery list of all the things they liked to eat. He had no idea what she’d do with those things