She Loves Me (Harmony Pointe #3) - Melissa Foster Page 0,41

school, washing dishes, doing inventory, and mopping the floors. It was at the pub where he’d first discovered his love of finances. He had always been good with numbers and had taken calculus in tenth grade and college-level math courses at Beckwith University for the remainder of high school. His mother had done the books for the business, and she’d taught Harley how to do them. His father, also a numbers guy, had been reading about the stock market in his office one day, and Harley had quickly become obsessed with the idea of investing in financial markets, how it worked, and the potential it held. By the time he went to college, he knew exactly what he wanted to do for a living, and he’d made it his life goal to work on Wall Street.

Now, as he sat behind the same desk his father had, going over inventory and receipts from the last day and a half, he didn’t miss the all-consuming career he’d once enjoyed. He liked knowing he was carrying on a family legacy, and he hoped one day to have children who might want to do the same, though like his father, he’d never push them into it.

The morning flew by, and he was knee-deep in work when Jasper poked his head into the office and said, “You icing your ankle yet?”

Jasper was a laid-back, good-natured guy, with Matthew McConaughey hair, a little long and curly in the back, and wily eyes. He’d lived in New York City for several years, working in restaurant and bar management, and had come to Sweetwater two years ago. He’d become a loyal employee and a good friend, and he was excellent at managing their part-time bartenders and waitresses.

Harley looked up from the report he was evaluating and said, “Who are you, my mother?”

Jasper strolled into the room, closing the door behind him, and dropped a bag of ice on the desk. “No, but Piper called and said to make sure you took your meds to stay ahead of the pain, and that if you didn’t elevate your ankle and ice it at lunchtime, she’d have my ass.” He carried the chair from the other side of the desk over to Harley. “I’m sure you’d eventually get around to taking care of this, but I do not want to get on that woman’s bad side. I like Piper, but I’ve seen her take guys bigger than me to their knees with her sharp tongue.” He pointed to Harley’s sprained ankle and then he motioned toward the chair.

Harley put his leg on the chair and began unwrapping his ankle. “I love her sharp tongue.” He also liked knowing she cared enough to check on him. “I’m surprised she called you after how pissed she was when she left to come here last night.”

“You guys came here after hours?”

“No. She left my place and headed here for a drink.”

“Then she never made it. Murph and I were here until closing, as you know.” Murphy was one of their waitresses. “Kase and some of the other guys who work for her were here, and Willow and Zane came in for a drink earlier in the evening.” Zane Walker was Willow’s husband. “But I never saw Piper. I figured you finally wrangled her into an after-party.”

Harley didn’t know what to make of Piper not showing up. “She must’ve changed her mind.”

“Guess you struck out, then, huh? I thought maybe she’d feel bad for you being hurt and, you know, give you a pity ride.”

“She does feel bad for me, but I’m not trying to score. I’m interested in making her mine.”

“This is Piper Dalton we’re talking about, right? Little sexy thing with a mouth like a sailor? The one who’s like those little dogs that don’t know they’re small? That Piper?”

“The one and only.” Harley set his ankle wrap aside and pointed to the bag of ice. “Give me that, will ya?”

Jasper winced at the sight of Harley’s bruised, swollen ankle and handed him the bag. “Damn, boss. You shouldn’t even be here. No wonder she called. That looks awful. I’d have my ass on the couch for a week.”

“I’d lose my mind.” He put the ice on his ankle.

“I don’t claim to know everything about Piper Dalton, but she makes no bones about not wanting to get married. Hell, I remember when she was a senior in high school and she turned down three different dates for the prom. She told them all