Marie Harte - Raising the Bar

Wednesday afternoon, Harper finished up at the construction site after a heavy argument with the crew leader. The guy had lagged so long that he’d cost them extra time and money on some rental equipment. Now they strained the budget—shit Harper didn’t stand for, but the guy was new. After jacking the asshole off his feet and dangling him like a rag doll, he’d seen the light and called his guys back in to finish the job.

The others gave him a wide berth as he returned to his truck and answered Natalie’s calls. He yessed her to death, ignored her snippy comments about his attitude, and texted Freddy about dinner at her place. A dinner they’d be having alone again, without Dylan.

While Harper understood Dylan’s need to take some time and deal with some work issues, he had a feeling the guy was using work to avoid them. And it hurt. Especially because Freddy felt it too.

But, really, could he complain? He hadn’t told Dylan how he felt, and neither had Freddy. They played at being a unit, a monogamous threesome. But, hell, for all Dylan knew, this was a regular thing for two members of the club.

Harper returned to his office and finished filing some paperwork he’d been putting off for a while. Then he called his mother. After telling her about the new loves of his life, he felt better. She was excited to meet them.

It never failed to amaze him how lucky he’d been with family. A mother and father who supported a bisexual kid in the Deep South. Miracle number one. That his mother couldn’t wait to meet Harper’s new partners was miracle two. Of course, he had to break the news to his father. But the old man still couldn’t get over all the headway Harper had made with Natalie, whom he considered to be a shark in women’s clothing.

That and the investments he’d made with his construction sales had more than made up for his weird love life. He loved his dad, but the truth was, his father liked the finer things in life. And if it took a bit of cash to buy his father’s support and happiness, Harper was all for it. He knew his dad loved him regardless, but the cash didn’t hurt.

He finished his work and drove to Freddy’s by six. On the way, he thought about all they’d learned from Brian. Things Dylan should have told them but hadn’t.

The Warrens were a tight family, well thought of in Augusta. Dr. Barbara Warren had a prestigious practice on the Hill that had been serving the city’s upper class for years. WCC, Derrick and Gage’s baby, was still in the black and doing big business, thanks to their tie to the city’s new development deal. Derrick had recently won a state award for his designs, and Gage had a rep for being one of those rare miracles in the world—an honest contractor.

Harper grinned. He’d already known most of that about Gage and Derrick. But he’d also learned that Gage was engaged to a sexy blonde named Hailey, and Hailey’s best friend, Sydney, was soon to be Mrs. Derrick Warren. She was just waiting on her slow man to pop the question.

Poor Derrick.

Harper chuckled, walked to Freddy’s door and knocked.

“Come on in, Harper,” she called through the door.

Dylan’s reputation as an exceptional doctor, sought-after bachelor and all-around stud anyone would be lucky to have came as no surprise. But the guy wasn’t available anymore, and it bugged the shit out of Harper that he couldn’t say anything about it.

“Long day?” Freddy asked from the kitchen.

He went straight to her, lifted her off her feet and kissed her until neither of them could breathe.

“Oh wow. Long day.” She laughed and shoved a hank of blond hair from her eyes. She had such a powerful personality, it always amused him to tower over her. He ran a light finger over her brow piercing, thinking her so damn sexy.

“I nearly strangled a guy. But he’s finishing the work he should have had done three days ago, so it’s all good.”

“Ah, okay.” She stirred something that smelled amazing. “Well, I hired a new guy to run the cleaning staff. I had to let Manny go. He was doing the maids instead of making them do their work.”

“Bummer.”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “So you’re really okay with me owning the place, right?”

“I’m fine with it as long as you’re not personally servicing the clientele. I like having a rich girlfriend.”

She elbowed him in the belly. “Yeah right. From what I hear, you’re Richie Rich. I’m just a poor perverted tramp trying to earn a living.”

“I don’t know that I’d say poor. Perverted and trampy, sure, but those tats cost money.”

“Jerk.” She laughed, and then her expression sobered. “Heard from Dylan?”

“No.” He hated her crestfallen look. “Honey, maybe we should tell him how we feel. He might not think it’s anything serious. And, hell, it hasn’t been that long that we’ve been lovers.” A week and a half maybe? Yet long enough for Harper to know he’d found true love.

“But it feels like forever.”

“Yeah.” He kissed her. “I know the doc. He has to think everything through to the nth degree. He’s probably unsure about us, and he’s new to three people in a relationship. You still love him, right?”

“Yeah. Though I couldn’t tell you why.”

“I can. He’s thoughtful, usually. Gentle and rough, has a big fucking cock and he makes you laugh with that dry sense of humor.”

“He’s really handsome,” she added. “He likes us, and for a fussy guy, he never judges. Man, I hate that I love him. You, I get. Him, I have to ask myself, why?”

“He’ll be worth it. You’ll see.” Harper kept saying that. He just hoped they wouldn’t be disappointed in the long run. “I talked to my mom today.”

“Oh?”

“She wants to meet you. I’m just warning you. She really wants grandkids. I think she’s already impregnated you. And with my brother and sister taking their time, it’s up to me to perpetuate the line. Just sayin’.”

“No pressure or anything.” She glared at him.

And that pixie anger made him laugh.

“If you tell me I’m cute when I’m mad, I swear I’ll spit in your soup.”

He bit his lip, but he didn’t fool her.

“Oh shut up and eat. Then you can take me in the back room and make me see stars.”

He reacted as she’d no doubt known he would. Instead of waiting, he lifted her to the counter and unbuttoned his jeans. Then he worked her pants and panties off and got down to business.

After he had her crying out his name, then cursing it for screwing in the kitchen right before dinner, he heard his phone chime.

“Hell. Be right back. It might be Natalie.” He darted after the phone in the closet, where he’d hung his coat. Except they both knew he couldn’t care less about Natalie’s call. They were waiting to hear from Dylan.

He checked his messages and found one from Brian. He returned to the kitchen with a smile he didn’t have to force. Much. “My invite to your brother’s party on Friday.”

Freddy’s smile was just as fake. “Oh good. We’ll go and have a good time.”

“Yeah.”

He wondered how long it would take her to stop waiting on Dylan and go after the man. Apparently, at least another few days. Brian had invited Dylan to the party as well. They’d have to wait and see.

“Waiting sucks,” he said.

“Sucks ass,” she replied. By the look in her eye, she remembered the last time they’d had a similar conversation, because she added, “So fuck it. I’m done waiting. Grab your coat and let’s go.”

Dylan sighed. He never saw patients in his own home, but Faith was different. A good friend of both Sydney and Hailey—his future sisters-in-law—Faith had been dragged, almost kicking and screaming, to see him the first time. She absolutely refused to step foot in a “shrink’s office” ever again, especially after her breakup with Dr. Jeremy Pichter. The fact that Pichter was an orthopedic surgeon and not a psychiatrist meant little to Faith. She saw “doctor” and had a miniseizure.

But after their fifth session together, he saw real progress.

“I absolutely refuse to be used again.”

“Good.” He nodded. “And why did you allow yourself to feel that way, do you think?”

“I didn’t realize he’d been using me. It was more like I was using him.” She sounded guilty.

“No, Faith. Own it. Why did you allow him to take control of you like that?”

“Because I’m a poor, white-trash girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Literally.” She laughed, but not with the bitterness she’d used the first few times she’d come in. “I thought he was better than me because he had money. I let him talk down to me and cheat on me because I wasn’t any good.”

Wasn’t—past tense. Progress. Dylan nodded. “But…?”

“But he’s a piece of shit. I’m a strong, successful woman in a leadership position. I make my own money. I don’t need it from anyone else. And I don’t need a man in my life.”

“Very good. But do you want a man in your life? Just because you’re strong and successful in one part of your life doesn’t mean you have to be in every aspect of it. You can want a man but not need a man. That doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human.”

“Oh? What about you, Dr. Warren?”

He smiled. “If I wasn’t your doctor, and I wasn’t already in love, I’d ask you out myself.”

“Oh, uh, that wasn’t what I meant.” Faith turned the loveliest shade of pink when embarrassed. She had long light-brown hair pulled back behind her ears. Deep-green eyes flashed with emotion, and her lips had a natural fullness and shape to them that invited naughty thoughts. To say nothing of her frame. Slender yet curved in all the right places. He might be a doctor, but he was a man as well. He had no doubt that Faith remained single because she wanted to be. Any man in his right mind would snap her up in a heartbeat.