Part 4 (1/2)
”Okay,” Jared conceded, linking his fingers with hers and letting her lead him to the ornate French doors on the far side of the room. ”Let's check out the balcony.”
Harper threw open the doors, her excitement contagious as she stepped through them. She gasped when the lake sprang into view and then sighed as she took in the rest of the surroundings. ”Look at this.”
Despite himself, Jared was impressed. ”This is ... wow. I didn't know Michigan had views like this so far south.”
”Can we hang out on the balcony after dark?” Harper asked, her eyes twinkling. ”No one will be able to see us because we're isolated on the corner and ... well ... I've had specific fantasies about these balconies since I was old enough to have those kind of fantasies.”
”Heart, you had me at fantasies,” Jared teased, kissing the tip of her nose. ”It's too bright to do that out here right now, though. I'm a cop. I would hate to have to arrest myself for lewd behavior.”
”I know,” Harper said.
”Does that mean we can check out the bed?” Jared was hopeful.
”That means we can check out that awesome claw foot tub that's big enough to swim in and take a bath,” Harper countered. ”Then we can check out the bed.”
”Hey, there's nudity involved in both of those options,” Jared said. ”I'm up for whatever you want to do.”
”Does that include bubbles?”
Jared grinned. ”What's a bath without bubbles?”
”Boring,” Harper said, shuffling excitedly toward the bathroom. ”This is already the best vacation ever.”
”It really is,” Jared said, following her. ”Let's take a bath. Bubble me up, baby.”
FIVE.
”I don't know if I should wear this.”
Harper stood in front of the mirror and studied her black dress. It was a simple frock, boasting thin spaghetti straps, a modest neckline, and a skirt that ended three inches above her knees, but she still felt overdressed.
Jared s.h.i.+fted his tie knot into place as he looked her up and down. ”You look amazing.”
Harper lifted her blue eyes to Jared's and bit her lip. He'd never seen her unsure of herself in any situation. Her reticence now was cute. ”I have an idea,” Jared said, grabbing his cell phone off the table and punching in Zander's number.
Zander didn't bother with small talk. ”Is she freaking out?”
Jared chuckled. ”She looks like a dream and yet she doesn't think the dress looks good on her,” he said. ”I thought you could handle this situation.”
”Absolutely,” Zander said. ”Put her on the phone.”
Harper knit her eyebrows together and scowled as she took the phone from Jared. ”He's exaggerating.”
Jared smirked as he watched Harper talk to Zander, enjoying the way she fidgeted and twirled in front of the mirror. She had no idea how beautiful she looked, which was one of the things he liked best about her.
”I'm not being a pill, Zander,” Harper snapped. ”I just ... you know I have issues with dresses. Do you remember what happened at the senior dance when I wore that pink dress I found at the mall?”
Jared crossed his arms over his chest and patiently waited while Harper listened to whatever diatribe Zander launched into on the other end of the call.
”Oh, that's not true,” Harper said. ”That dress was beautiful. It wasn't doing me a favor when you stepped on it and it ripped resulting in no one seeing it. You're crazy.”
After a few more minutes of sparring, Harper ended the call and handed Jared his phone.
”Better?” Jared asked.
”I guess,” Harper hedged. ”I'm not a big fan of you turning Zander into your ally and my enemy, though. He's my best friend.”
”Which means you trust him to tell you the truth when you're still wondering if I'm schmoozing you to boost your ego,” Jared said. ”It's okay. That's how a relations.h.i.+p works. You look beautiful, though, and I don't want you thinking otherwise.”
”And it's just dinner first, right?” Harper pressed. ”We don't start the game right away, do we?”
”My understanding is that the game doesn't start right away,” Jared replied. ”That means you can enjoy your food and get to know everyone without your compet.i.tive side taking over.”
”What is that supposed to mean?”
”You like to win,” Jared said. ”You can say whatever you want about playing the game because we're guests, but you want to win. I know you.”
Harper frowned. ”I hardly think ... .”
Jared held up his hand to cut her off. ”I want to win, too,” he said. ”At first I thought the game was going to be a distraction that I didn't want when I could be holed up with you. Now I realize we can do both. With us working as a team, no one is going to be able to touch us.”
Harper fought the urge to smile ... and lost. ”You know there aren't going to be any real ghosts here to help us win the game, right?”
Jared shrugged. ”I know there's a really beautiful woman here to entertain me no matter what, so I think we're going to be okay.”
”You're full of charm,” Harper said, taking a step toward Jared so she could kiss his cheek. She wiped away her lipstick remains and smiled. ”Thank you for being you.”
”Oh, no,” Jared countered. ”Thank you for being you. Now, come on. I could use some appetizers. We worked up an appet.i.te this afternoon.”
”That was you,” Harper said, laughing as Jared ushered her toward the door. ”I've never seen anyone that excited to take a bath before.”
”Just wait until it's time to take another one,” Jared said. ”I'm going to add more bubbles and see where the night takes us. I have a feeling it's going to be soapy Heaven.”
”I can live with that.”
”WOW,” Harper said, exhaling heavily when she got a gander at the busy foyer. ”Did you know they were going to invite so many people?”
Jared shrugged as he glanced around the room. ”No, but it doesn't surprise me. They have forty rooms, right? This is supposed to be a charity event, so why not fill every room? Josh said that a lot of the people visiting go to murder mystery events all over the place. They treat it like a sport.”
”I don't think murder mysteries are a sport,” Harper said. ”Of course, I don't think NASCAR is a sport either.”
”Why not?” Jared asked. ”I'm not a big NASCAR fan, but why don't you like it?”
”I don't care about it either way,” Harper replied. ”It's not a sport, though. It's a hobby. Basketball is a sport. Hockey and tennis are sports. NASCAR is driving. That's not a sport.”
”I'll keep that in mind,” Jared said, chuckling as he slipped his arm around Harper's waist. ”Do you want something to drink?”