Teaching Harper (Tempting Mr. Bedford #2)

Twenty

POV: SIMON

As we pulled up to our street, I breathed out a sigh of relief. The evening was coming to a close and thus far, Harper had not tried anything sexual on me. Dinner was a relaxed affair, and all we did on the drive home was talk. Maybe I would win this bet after all.

"Invite me in for a nightcap," she said.

"No."

"You're not playing fair, Simon."

I frowned. "Explain."

"Well, you can't actually win this bet by avoiding being alone with me. That's cheating."

God damn it. She'd laid a trap for me, and now I was caught in it.

"Fine. One drink."

"Just one?"

"It's a school night."

We had bourbon out by the swimming pool. Harper had insisted it would be nice to sit outside and I couldn't disagree. It was early fall and while the day was relatively warm for the season, it was a cool night, but not too cold.

"So, when is Lucas coming back?" she asked casually.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask him yourself."

"I stopped calling him. All he does is warn me to stay away from you."

I wince. "Sorry about that. He's only a year older than me but he likes to act like he's my father."

We sat on a wooden outdoor swing only a few feet away from the water. While my instincts urged me to keep my distance from Harper, that would have been cowardly. Sitting beside her was not going to turn me into a raging sex monster, for God's sake.

"He and Madison will be coming back next week. I'll have moved to an apartment by then."

"Oh. When are you moving, then?"

"This weekend."

"Do you need help?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you offering?"

"Yeah. I'm free."

I hesitated. "Thank you, but I hired a moving company."

"You'll still need help setting up your stuff in the apartment." She poked my side with her elbow. "C'mon, it will be much more fun if we do it together. Faster, too."

"Okay." I nodded. "That's nice of you to help. Thank you."

"You won't have a private pool at your new place, will you?"

"No, there's just the apartment pool. But I don't swim."

"Why not?"

I shrugged. "I've been busy."

"So you haven't been using this, then?" She gestured toward the pool.

"No."

"Come on, then." She put her drink down and got to her feet.

"What are we doing?"

"Going for a swim. You need to use this pool at least once before you move out."

"Harper, I can come back and use the pool anytime—"

I stopped at the sight of Harper nonchalantly slipping out of her dress. She stood in front of me in nothing but a pale white thong.

"No time like the present, right?"

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. Until she got to her knees in front of me and began unbuckling my belt.