On Monday morning, Harper was still on my mind. I was pissed off that she’d taken so much and left without giving anything in return. An orgasm wasn’t a form of currency or anything but it was an unspoken rule in the world of casual fucking that to get a little, you gave a little.

And she hadn’t given at all, the cold-hearted minx. The word ‘cock tease’ came to mind yet again. There would always be those, wouldn’t there? The hottest ones, the ones that knew just how to fuck with your ego and get away with it.

Yeah, that was what the little tart had done. I’d spent so much time at the bar talking to her, getting her to open up to me and in the end, it had all been a fucking waste of my time.

Perfect.

And I still couldn’t get the woman out of my mind. When I closed my eyes, I saw the long blonde hair and those oceanic eyes again. Those curves. And the sound of her moaning still echoed in my mind.

It was infuriating that she’d left me hanging. Fuck, blue balls wasn’t just a myth.

When Joel had found me again almost two hours after him and I had gone our separate ways to ‘divide and conquer’, I’d lied and told him I’d fucked someone just so he could clap me on the back and not think I’d wasted so much of my time on a woman that hadn’t wanted to give me an inch.

It was such a fucking turn off. And a turn on. Yeah, that was the part that really pissed me off. I still wanted her. In fact, I wanted her more, now, than I had before. Why? Because she was hard – no, impossible – to get. And women like that made me come in my pants just thinking about it.

I had to have her. It had gone from a matter of taste to a fucking matter of pride.

I dug in the pocket of my suit pants and pulled out the napkin that she’d used to write her number down for me. Why the hell had she given me this when she’d been so utterly uninterested? Or was that part of the game she played? What if she’d given me false digits?

I wouldn’t put it past her.

When I dialed the number, it rang and I cleared my throat. I waited for someone else to answer for the lie to be complete.

“Harper speaking?” she answered and for a moment I froze. “Hello?”

I swallowed hard. “Harper. It’s Liam.”

She hesitated. “Liam? Where did you get my number?”

I frowned. “You gave it to me, babe.” She didn’t remember that? Well, that explained a lot.

“Right, I remember,” she said. Liar. “Uh… how are you?”

“Aching for a release, sweetheart.”

She chuckled and I could imagine her blushing.

“I’m at work,” she said.” I can’t really have a conversation like this right now.”

“So, meet me for lunch. When is your break?” I asked. I glanced at the clock. It was almost one.

“Now, actually. At one.”

Perfect. “What’s close to your office?” I asked.

“Blu Jam Café,” she said.

That was close to me, too, coincidentally. That meant she worked close. I wasn’t going to ask where – I wasn’t going to get creepy on her.

“Meet me there,” I said.

She hesitated.

“Come on, babe,” I said when she didn’t answer.

“Don’t call me that.”

I chuckled. “I’m going to stick to babe because you’re a total hottie. And the way I see it, you owe me for running out on me on Saturday. That kills a man, in case you didn’t know. Have lunch with me.” Lunch wasn’t nearly as bad as what I wanted to do to her, but I wasn’t going to say that.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll be there.”

I smiled. “I’ll be the guy with the handsome face,” I said and hung up before she could respond. I left my office to go to Blu Jam right away. I was in charge and leaving a few minutes early was a total perk.

Blu Jam café wasn’t the type of place I usually went to. Tiled floors and a raw brick wall, wide windows looking out over the street and dark leather booths made the place look homey. I sat down at one of the booths by the window and waited.

She arrived ten minutes past one. I saw her the moment she walked through the door – her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, making her delicate face look even more so and she wore a dress suit that flared out from the waist so that her curves were accentuated. The suit was a mint green and it made her eyes look amazing.

“I came as soon as I could,” she said, sitting down.

“Thank you for meeting me,” I said. She looked at my clothes.

“You look different in a suit,” she said.

“Welcome to real life attire,” I said and she laughed. It skipped around me and I wanted to say more things that made her laugh just to hear it again.

A waitress arrived. We both ordered coffee.

“Now that we have that out of the way,” I said when the waitress left, “I have unfinished business with you.”

Harper blushed. Sitting across from me in a mediocre café wearing office clothes she didn’t look like the daring woman she’d been on Saturday. She was still a goddess but she was reserved, unsure. Shy.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said.

I blinked at her. An apology was the last thing I’d expected from her. An excuse, a sassy remark maybe, but not an apology.

“What happened?” I asked.

She looked around the café like the answer would be hiding between the other diners.

“I have a confession to make,” she said.

I blinked at her.

“Oh, God,” I said. “You’re married.” Of course, a woman as gorgeous as her would be taken.

She looked stunned for a moment before she laughed, surprised.

“No, no. I’m not married. I’m a virgin.”

“A what?”

She blushed. “Don’t make me say it again,” she said.

“No,” I said. “I heard you.” I just didn’t understand it. The waitress arrived with our coffee, giving us a break. The waitress didn’t stick around for long and when she left Harper looked like she wanted the woman to come back.

“You’re bullshitting me, right?” I asked. It couldn’t be real. She was too hot. She was too much of a tease.

Harper shook her head and I watched her, looking for something, anything that would give her away. There was nothing. In fact, she looked so damn unsure of herself right now, so innocent, that I had to believe her.

“Fuck,” I said under my breath. Her eyes shot up to mine and I lifted my hands. “Sorry. It’s just… unbelievable.”

She shrugged and stirred her coffee around and around, not making eye contact.

I turned it around in my mind, cradled the information like the rarity it was. The more I thought about it, the more unbelievable it was. An unbelievable turn on.

Harper was a virgin. No man had been in there. She hadn’t been fucked before. The more I thought about it the hotter it became. I’d wanted her before because she was hot as hell, but now…

“Why?” I asked. “If you don’t mind sharing?”

She looked up at me and a little bit of tension left her face. She pulled one shoulder up in a shrug and the gesture was cute.

“I haven’t found the right guy, yet.”

“So, nothing about religion or saving yourself for marriage or anything?”

She shook her head, her cheeks flushed again.

“It’s just because I haven’t found the right guy.”

I sat back in the booth.

“Well,” I said. “I’m sure the way we kicked it off must have been a shock, then.”

She did that one-shoulder shrug again.

“How about dinner?” I asked. “Tomorrow night. No strings attached. Just food and getting to know each other.”

She frowned at me. “Just dinner?” she asked.

I nodded. “Just dinner.”

“I have a confession of my own,” I said. If she was going to be this open with me, she deserved something in return.

“You’re not a virgin,” she said and I chuckled.

“No,” I said. “I’m not.” I was far from it. “But I do have a daughter. She’s six.”

Harper’s lips parted, surprised. After the side she’d seen of me, I didn’t blame her.

“Are you married?” she asked, throwing my previous question back at me.

I shook my head and shielded myself from the feelings that threatened to choke me every time I had to answer that question. “No, my wife passed away.”

Harper breathed in sharply. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“So am I,” I said softly.

We sat in silence for a moment.

“What’s your daughter’s name?” she asked.

“Kenna,” I said. I usually didn’t mention Kenna. I never needed to. But this was different. We both had something we were guarding from the world and that made me feel like we were equals, somehow.

Harper nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Dinner.”