She Loves Me (Harmony Pointe #3) - Melissa Foster Page 0,94
said as he came around the bar.
“It’s going a’right,” Ben said.
Bea bounced in Ben’s arms, her chubby cheeks split by her babbles, “Ha, Ha,” which was what she called Harley.
Harley tickled her chin, earning muffled giggles as she buried her face in Ben’s neck. “And how are you, sweet thing?”
Bea was precious, with her daddy’s big brown eyes, and wispy light brown hair that curled at the ends around her ears and the collar of her red-black-and-white checked dress. She had Ben—and Harley—wrapped around her tiny finger.
“I meant to get here a week ago, but kids have a way of screwing with even the best-laid plans.” Ben kissed Bea’s forehead. “Totally worth it, you know.”
“After spending a couple weeks taking care of my nieces, I get it.”
“I never got to thank you for letting Sophie spend the night. Bea had the time of her life, and Soph is just incredible. She acted like a big sister.” Ben brushed another kiss to Bea’s forehead and said, “There’s something awesome about seeing your own child making friends.”
Harley was looking forward to doing that one day. “Sophie had a blast. She’s still talking about it. Piper and I appreciated the break, too.”
Ben’s face turned serious again.
“What’s up, Ben? Is something wrong?”
“Just doing my brotherly duty,” he said in a voice Harley imagined took control in many boardrooms. “You know how this goes down.”
Harley chuckled. “You’re here to give me the talk? Shake down the new boyfriend? Man, I did not see this coming. Isn’t that usually Piper’s job?”
“Yeah, but someone’s got to have her back.”
“I’m sure you know I do and have for a long time. Hell, everyone in this damn town knows how I feel about her. It just took your sister a while to realize it.”
“She’s a stubborn one,” Ben said.
“She is. But I’ve got to tell you, Ben, bringing a cute little sidekick takes down your alpha cred. Give me that little princess.”
He reached for Bea, and she thrust out her grabby little hands. “Ha, Ha.”
“That’s right, princess. Come to Uncle Harley.” Harley loved children of any age, but he missed when his nieces were that small. He settled Bea in one arm and lifted her hand to his mouth, covering it with kisses. She giggled, pulling her hand away, then pushing her hand back to his mouth, urging, “Muh, muh!” which was little-girl speak for more.
“As you were saying,” Harley said to Ben, noticing Murphy watching them from across the room.
“Just a minute.” Ben stretched his neck from left to right, rolled his shoulders back, and crossed his arms, lowering his chin with his eyes trained on Harley.
It was all Harley could do to pretend his chuckles were all caused by Bea’s playfulness as she tried to tug on his beard.
“Listen up, Dutch. Piper might seem tough, but she’s more sensitive than you think. I can only remember seeing her cry once, and that was when we were little kids. I killed a caterpillar and she bawled . . . for like a minute. I was only about six, which means she was around five, and I remember thinking that was the worst minute of my life, because she never cried. But that wasn’t the worst, because after those tears, she turned stone cold and beat the crap out of me. I haven’t seen her cry since, but I know she’s got tear ducts.”
Harley laughed, then looked at Bea. “Your daddy is not very good at this shakedown stuff.”
At hearing the word daddy, Bea reached for Ben. “Dada, Dada!”
“In a minute, Bea. I have to finish.” His jaw clenched as he eyed his daughter. “Aw, hell. Give her to me.”
Harley handed Bea over. “I get it, Ben. Don’t mess with Piper’s feelings, or I’ll have you to deal with. I respect that. But I also respect Piper. I’d never purposefully hurt her, and we both know that if I did, she’d have my balls in a vise before I knew what hit me.”
“You’ve got that right.”
“Anything else you need to say? Because I’ve got a surprise planned for your sister, and I’d like to roll out of here in a few minutes.”
“Yeah,” Ben said with that snarky grin Harley knew so well. “If anyone asks, I rattled you, maybe shook you up a bit, left you thinking about things, like how you’re determined to treat Piper right.”
Harley nodded. “Of course.”
Murphy came up behind Ben and said, “I’ll back you up on that, Ben. You were freaking badass. I saw