“Why do you keep looking at your watch?” Harper asked suspiciously.

“Just curious what time it is.”

“Five minutes from the last time you checked.  What’s going on, Jules?”

They’d gone to the pub after work for drinks and appetizers, but Julia seemed jittery, and when she wasn’t looking at her watch, she kept glancing toward the door.

“Nothing.”  And then her hand shot up, and she waved eagerly at whomever had just walked in. 

Harper swiveled in her chair to see a handsome man in a long black wool coat and a Burberry plaid scarf walking toward them.  Julia had jumped off her stool, and he instantly wrapped her in a tight hug. 

When they let go, Julia turned to Harper and said, “This is my cousin Will.  I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned him to you.”

Only a dozen times in the past few weeks.  Now Harper understood why Julia had been so nervous.  Sneaky girl! Shooting her friend a knowing look, she stood up and shook Will’s hand.  “Harper Davies.  Nice to meet you.”

“Good to meet you too,” he said warmly. 

In the short time he’d been standing there, and from what Julia had already told her, Harper had formed a favorable impression of Will.  Maybe this won’t be so bad after all, she thought as they all sat down.

A waitress came over right away to take Will’s drink order, and Harper was somewhat surprised when he ordered a glass of wine instead of a beer.  Most of the men in her life drank beer—or did.  She felt a pang thinking about having been in that very restaurant with Blake a couple of years ago.  They used to like to come there for pizza and beer on Friday nights.  And sometimes, their friends, including Finn, would join them.  Oh, how things change.

“Let me apologize for my cousin here,” Will said.  “I have a feeling she didn’t tell you that I’d be joining you this evening.”

Polite.  She liked that in a man.  “No, she must have forgotten to mention it,” Harper replied teasingly.

“Hey!  No ganging up on me,” Julia said, and they all laughed. 

“Jules has had nothing but good things to say about you, by the way,” he added after taking a drink of wine. 

“Well, I think pretty highly of her too,” Harper said, smiling.

Julia had started out as her assistant a few years ago, but she’d quickly become so much more.  They’d clicked immediately, and she was not only a valuable employee, but one of Harper’s best friends.

“So, Julia tells me you’re in banking.”  Harper felt so out of practice with this, but asking a guy about his job seemed like a good place to start. 

“I am.  Business banking, actually.  Not as exciting as what you guys do, but it pays the bills.”

He thought being a photographer was exciting?  Really?  Whenever she told people what she did, they’d often reacted like it was a fluff job instead of an actual career.  It was nice to know that Will wasn’t one of them. 

“Jules has told me some funny stories about some of your clients—keeping their names strictly confidential, of course.”  He smiled, and it was hard not to smile back.  Julia had been right.  Her cousin was warm, friendly, and easy to talk to.  And not bad to look at either.  With his reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes, he was clean-cut and stylish in his business attire.  She couldn’t help but think that he looked like the exact opposite of her husband.

“I told Will about that woman who wanted glamour shots of herself,” Julia said, her eyes twinkling at the memory. 

“We assumed that she wanted them for her husband, but she very clearly indicated that they were for her lovah!  That’s how she said it—lovah!” Harper said, laughing.

“It was a little awkward when she took off her robe and wasn’t wearing anything underneath,” Julia said.

“Needless to say, that was the first and last time we did glamour shots.  Now we stick to family photos, babies, engagements, and that sort of thing,” Harper added.

“Sounds safer that way,” Will said with a chuckle.

The conversation moved along to other topics after that, and Harper found herself relaxing and having fun.  The pub had become more crowded, and the noise level had risen, but she decided she liked being out on a Friday night instead of sitting at home alone.  Maybe she was finally turning a corner…

And then a deep voice from behind her said, “Hello, ladies.”

Harper turned around to find Finn and his brother, Connor, standing there. 

“Oh.  Hey, guys,” Julia said, suddenly sitting up straighter.  “Finn, Connor, this is my cousin Will.”

Will had already stood and was shaking the men’s hands.  “Will Peterson. Nice to meet you.”

Harper noticed the way Finn studied Will, while Connor seemed distracted by Julia. 

“Would you like to join us?” Will asked politely. 

“No thanks,” Finn said.

“Sure,” Connor said at the same time. 

Finn shot his brother a scowl that only Harper seemed to notice, and she wondered why.  But Connor was already pulling up two stools, which he placed between Harper and Julia. 

Once the men were seated and had ordered beers, there was an awkward moment of silence.  And then Finn spoke up. 

“So, what do you do, Will?”

Harper listened as Will gave him a slightly more detailed job description and wondered if he was trying to impress Finn.  It almost felt like Finn had taken on the role of big brother and was quizzing Will to make sure he was good enough. 

After a few more probing questions, she pinched Finn’s leg under the table. 

“Ouch!” he said.

Everyone stared at him. 

“Sorry.  I bumped my knee under the table,” he said, avoiding Harper’s eyes. 

“So, how do you all know each other?” Will asked, turning the tables on Finn.

Placing his arm around the back of Harper’s chair, he replied, “I’ve known Harper for quite a long time.  Ever since she married my buddy Blake.”

She stiffened at the sound of his name.  For some reason, it didn’t seem right to talk about Blake in this company.  And it had obviously made Will uncomfortable too. 

“Julia told me about your husband.  I’m so sorry,” he said, looking directly at Harper. 

Damn it!  Things had been going so well until Finn had shown up.  “Thank you,” she said, wringing her hands beneath the table. 

“Connor, you about ready to go?” Finn asked abruptly. 

“Not yet.  I just ordered another beer,” Connor replied. 

Of the three O’Brien brothers, Connor was the most outgoing, and according to Finn, he was a bit of a player.  Connor had met Julia briefly when he and Finn had stopped by to take care of something at Harper’s house and Julia had been there.  But tonight, he appeared to be laying on the charm for her benefit.  And apparently, it was working.  Julia hadn’t been able to take her eyes off him since he’d sat down. 

The conversation moved along, but nothing felt the same as it had before Finn arrived, and Harper felt irritated with him for showing up and ruining her time.  She’d also noticed that he hadn’t removed his arm from around her chair, and it was almost like he was staking a claim to her.  What was with him?

After the O’Brien brothers had finished their second beers, Finn stood up to leave, brooking no argument from his younger brother that time. 

“It was nice to meet you,” he said, leaning across Harper to shake Will’s hand. 

“You too,” Will said politely. 

And then, to Harper’s astonishment, Finn leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.  “See you soon,” he said. 

What the hell was that?  Harper wondered as he walked away.

Shortly after the O’Brien brothers left, Julia excused herself to use the bathroom, leaving Harper and Will alone. 

Will studied her for a moment and then said, “Just curious.  Are you and Finn…?”

“What?  NO!” she replied, horrified at the suggestion. 

Will raised his eyebrows, obviously surprised by her loud outburst.  “Sorry.  It’s just that he seemed…”

“Overprotective?  Yes, that’s true.  Finn has made it his mission in life to protect me ever since Blake died.”

Will looked slightly relieved.  “So, you two aren’t…”

“No,” she said, more quietly that time. 

“Ok.  Well.  Good to know.”

Harper gave him a weak smile and wondered what that meant.  Seconds later, she found out. 

“Would it be ok if I called you sometime?”

Looking up at him in his tailored wool coat and his Burberry scarf and seeing his hopeful expression, she could hardly say no.  Besides, there might have been a spark between them if Finn hadn’t shown up and gotten her all flustered.

“Yes.  I’d like that.”

He was smiling sweetly at her when Julia returned from the restroom, and Harper knew that she’d be treated to Julia’s full interrogation later. 

They finished their drinks and then walked out of the restaurant together.  After a quick goodbye in the parking lot, Will got into his BMW and drove away.

“So, what did you think?” Julia asked. 

“I think that I’m going to give Finn a piece of my mind the next time I see him!”

Julia cocked her head and eyed Harper strangely.  “I wasn’t talking about Finn.  I was talking about Will.”

“Oh.  He was very…polite.”

Julia scowled.  “Polite?  That’s it?”

“And easy to talk to and good looking.  Just like you said.”

“But?”

“No buts.”

“C’mon, Harper.  I can tell there’s a but in there.”

Sighing heavily, Harper said, “Honestly, Finn showing up kind of ruined it for me.”

“Why?”

“I guess because seeing him reminded me of Blake.  And thinking about Blake when I was talking to another man—well, it didn’t feel right.”

“But Finn’s ‘another man,’ and you talk to him all the time.”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“Has anyone ever told you that you ask a lot of questions?”

“You tell me all the time.  How is Finn different?”

“I guess because he’s been part of my life for so long that I don’t think of him that way.”

Julia scoffed.  “Seriously?  You don’t notice that he’s a man?”

“Well, of course, but…”

Placing a hand on Harper’s shoulder, Julia said, “Sweetie.  I know how much you loved Blake, and I know that you still miss him.  But he would want you to move on.  He would want you to be happy.”

It sounded so cliché, but she was probably right.  Blake had never been one to ruminate over things for long.  “Life’s too short to go around being miserable,” he used to say.

“But I am happy,” Harper insisted. 

Julia shook her head.  “You’re existing, but you’re not really happy.”

Harper didn’t bother denying it that time, because that’s exactly what she’d been doing since Blake had died—existing.  “What’s up with you and Connor?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

“Connor O’Brien is nothing but a tease and a womanizer.  He thinks he can charm the pants off any woman he meets, but that won’t work with me.”

“It seemed like it was working tonight,” Harper teased. 

“Oh, he was laying it on thick, but I wasn’t buying it.  He’ll have to work a lot harder than that to get into my knickers!”

Harper laughed.  “Knickers?”

Julia shrugged.  “I’ve been reading a lot of books by British authors lately.”

Harper shook her head.  “Ok, well, as much as I’m enjoying this conversation, I’m freezing my knickers off!  I’ll see you on Monday.”  She started to walk away when Julia stopped her. 

“What should I tell Will if he calls?”

Harper thought for a moment and then said, “Tell him that it was nice meeting him and I’ll look forward to seeing him again sometime.”  It wasn’t overly encouraging, but it was the truth, and that was all she could offer at the moment. 

Julia nodded, and if she was disappointed, she didn’t show it.

Later that night, Harper lay in bed and thought back on the evening.  It would have been easy to say no to Julia about going out after work.  After all, she’d been saying no to a lot of things since Blake’s death, so she had to give herself some credit for trying.  And she had been enjoying Will’s company until Finn came along.  For Julia to accuse her of not seeing Finn as a man was ridiculous.  He was too big and masculine for her not to notice.  Not to mention that dark, wavy hair that rivaled Patrick Dempsey’s and those mischievous blue eyes that seemed to see right through her.  And for a man who had such strong, powerful, hands, he could be surprisingly gentle. 

She shook herself to clear her train of thought.  She shouldn’t be thinking about Finn’s hands while she was lying in bed.  He’d been Blake’s best friend, and it was simply wrong to think of him in any other capacity.  Besides, she was mad at him for acting all territorial with her at the pub.  Despite what he thought, she didn’t need his protection, and certainly not from other men.  She could handle herself, and she would make sure to tell him that the next time she saw him. 

Turning onto her side, she hugged the extra pillow to her chest and sighed.  “Why did you have to leave me, Blake?”  And just like she’d done every night for the past year and a half, she fell asleep clutching his pillow and pretending it was him.