She Loves Me (Harmony Pointe #3) - Melissa Foster Page 0,31

the leash to his collar. Fine. She’d walk him. It wasn’t the dog’s fault Harley was wreaking havoc with her sanity.

But she was going to walk right outside, and when she came back in, she wasn’t even going to look at Harley.

Harley put the groceries away, surprised to find a box of bones for Jiggs among them, and then he started cooking dinner. As he seasoned and browned ground beef for nachos, he thought about Piper. She’d stalked right past him to take Jiggs for a walk a little while ago, which had surprised him, since she was working on the bathroom. He hadn’t expected her to stop working to walk Jiggs. But she had a huge heart, and Jiggs was a tough guy to turn down. Harley just hoped he hadn’t pushed her too hard today with all his innuendos. But he’d tried dropping small innuendos and scaring off her dates. He’d even asked her out a time or two, but until this week, she’d never looked at him like she was interested in more than friendship. Then again, Piper rarely looked at anyone like she wanted anything from them. She talked a big game about wanting this or that type of man and having her way with men. That’s why he figured he’d try to be as in-her-face as she was about most things.

He’d spoken to Delaney earlier, and he’d admitted how much he liked having Piper around. He didn’t tell his sister that he sensed Piper’s walls coming down or that their dynamics were definitely changing. But he must have said all the right things, because his sister, whom he trusted implicitly with just about everything, told him to stop dicking around and let Piper know exactly how he felt about her.

He also didn’t tell his sister he’d finally done exactly that.

Piper hadn’t said a word when she’d come inside after walking Jiggs and headed upstairs. She was probably pissed at him, but at least now he’d seen the truth in her eyes, heard it in her voice. She was definitely into him.

“Okay, Uncle Harley,” Sophie said. She was sitting on her knees on a chair at the table, spreading nacho chips over a baking pan that was covered with tinfoil. “Did I do it right?”

Nachos were Piper’s favorite meal. He was sure she’d eat them for breakfast if she weren’t such a sugar fiend. Luckily, the girls liked them, too.

“That’s perfect.” He put the meat in a bowl and said, “Now spread the cheese over the chips. I’ll cut the tomatoes.”

“Heavy on the cheese,” she said, parroting what he’d said a million times when they made nachos or pizza.

“That’s my girl.” He put a cutting board on the table and stood beside her, halving cherry tomatoes. “Missed a spot,” he teased.

“I’m not done!” She snagged a tomato and popped it into her mouth. “Are you trying to make Piper your girlfriend?”

“What? No, why?” He hated lying, but on the off chance he’d read Piper wrong, he didn’t need his niece knowing he’d blown it.

She shrugged, spreading cheese over the second pan of chips. “I wish you would. I like her.”

“I like her, too, squirt.” He pushed the cutting board over to Sophie and said, “You can do the honors of adding the tomatoes while I get the olives, the corn, and the beans.”

“Ricky Ciccarelli gave Jenny Johnson his Cheetos and now they’re boyfriend and girlfriend. Maybe if we make these good enough, Piper will be your girlfriend.”

“If only it were that easy,” he said as he brought the rest of the ingredients to the table. “It’s a little more complicated than that with adults.”

“Can I do the meat?” She peered into the bowl.

“Absolutely.”

After they finished layering ingredients on the chips, Harley put the trays in the oven and Sophie ran upstairs to tell Jolie to start her homework. The girls did their homework while dinner cooked and Harley cleaned up. When the girls sat down to eat, he realized Piper had been upstairs a long time. Taking a hint from Sophie, he stuck a bottle of beer in the pocket of his hoodie, realizing he had no way to carry a plate of food upstairs without spilling it.

“Hey, girls, I need some help. I’d like to bring this up to Piper, but I can’t carry a plate upstairs without spilling it. Who wants to be the waitress?”

Sophie’s arm shot up. “Me!”

“Jolie? You want to help?” He tried to get her involved since she seemed to be