I glared at him, seething at his words. My relationship with my father was completely fucked to the point that I hated him now; hated what he’d done to my mother and hated that he’d had a whole other family. What kind of man did that to his wife and kids? Obviously the kind of man that I didn’t know quite as well as I thought I did.
“Griff, can I see you in my office? Got some paperwork I need you to look at,” he said and left with Griff.
J blew out a breath. “I fucking hate your old man.”
“You’re not the only one, brother,” I said as I shoved my hand through my hair.
We sat in silence for a moment, contemplating that, but J was like me and hated going over and over shit so he moved on to another subject quickly. “Hey, what’s with the blonde you hired? Saw the way you looked at her.”
“How the fuck did I look at her?”
He smirked. “Hate to break it to you, but I’ve never seen you look at a woman that way before.”
I leant forward and demanded, “What fucking way, J?”
“Like you want to fuck her and not let her go, brother.”
I shoved my chair back. Standing, I muttered, “Not fucking likely. Told you before, that shit’s not for me.”
J laughed. “We’ll see.”
I left him there, laughing to himself. He had me thinking about Harlow though. And that pissed me off because I had so many other things I should be thinking about. This was one reason why I didn’t want to settle down. I’d watched friends settle down; it fucking consumed them and I didn’t have the time or desire for that.
***
The next morning, I still hadn’t heard from Harlow at eleven o’clock so I picked up the phone and called her.
“Sorry, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to scratch myself,” she answered the phone in a flap. It brought a smile to my face; couldn’t tell you why, but it did.
“All good. But I need the fridge details so I can get that organised for you.”
“I’ve got a line that’s six customers deep. Can I text you the info once I get through them?”
“Sure. And once I know what’s happening, I’ll let you know,” I said and hung up. I put the phone down and leant back in my seat thinking about her. I’d actually been thinking about her all last night and most of this morning. Fuck, I’d been waiting for her call. Not my finest moment; waiting for a woman to call me. I wasn’t sure what it was about Harlow that put her in my thoughts so often but I suspected it was how different she was to every other woman I’d ever met. Being VP of Storm, I’d had my share of women who just wanted in on the club. They were an easy lay; there was no challenge there. In fact, there was never any challenge from any of them. Harlow was the opposite; she’d questioned me repeatedly. It annoyed the shit out of me, and yet, at the same time, it turned me the fuck on. I wanted more of her sassy mouth.
***
At three o’clock I parked my bike outside her café. I’d organised the fridge delivery and even though there was no need for me to be, I found myself here for it. I stood outside for a couple of minutes assessing the outside of the café. The outside needed some work; a lick of paint and some new signs wouldn’t go astray. I pushed through the front door and was hit by the country feel they had going on; red and white checkered tablecloths and other random country knick knacks were impossible to miss. It seemed out of place in the middle of Brisbane.
My eyes landed on Harlow who was bending over sweeping dirt up. Fuck, she had an amazing ass and I couldn’t pull my gaze away. I planted my feet wide and crossed my arms across my chest, enjoying the view. She was wearing those tight jeans again and when she finally stood up straight and turned around, I sucked in a breath at the tight as sin red strapless top she had on. Christ, my dick jerked to attention at that.
She was momentarily caught off guard by my presence but quickly recovered, throwing a smile in my direction. “What are you doing here?”
“Came to make sure the fridge arrives okay.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.” She walked away from me, towards the counter, and my eyes were trained to her ass again.
The sound of kids coming through the front door pulled me away from what I was doing. Harlow’s face lit up and she greeted the kids. “Hey, you two! Time for some red velvet cake?”
Their mother laughed and nodded. “Yeah, they’ve been hanging out to come and see you and also to have some cake. But mostly to see you.”
Harlow indicated to a seat in the front window. “Take a seat and I’ll bring cake and milkshakes for you.” She looked at me, her face flushed with delight, and said, “Do you want some cake while you wait?”
Not what I’d been expecting but fuck, I never knocked cake back. “Sure, thanks.”
She flashed me a brilliant smile and said, “Great! Grab a seat, I won’t be long.”