More of You

Chapter 1

Harper entered the office for the family's construction firm, which was housed in a long strip center on the far side of town. Her father, Troy Sinclair, had co-founded a construction firm, Hightower Construction, with Charles Grayson over twenty years earlier, and while they still ran the business, she and Grayson's son, Luke, were the primary project managers. There were a few other minor players, but everyone knew that when the time came for the older generation to retire Harper and Luke would take over the reins.

Looking at the clock, Harper was pleased that she was on time. It had been touch and go when a problem on one of the work sites she was in charge of had arisen, but it had been dealt with and she was able to make it to the meeting on time.

She moved through the office saying hi to the office manager, Trudy Dent, before she took the first seat she found at the back of the already full room. There were plenty of familiar faces around her, most of them were men that she and Luke had grown up with and were old enough to be their fathers. There had been some newer additions to the team over the years, but the company was like a large family and there wasn't a lot of turn over.

Luke slunk in after her, pushing her shoulder hard, giving her a less than subtle hint that he wanted her to move down.

"You're late," she hissed as she complied.

"No, I'm right on time, as usual, and I pulled into the parking lot right behind you little Miss Priss," he hissed back.

Harper hated the nickname, he had called her it since they were kids, but she knew he was baiting her so she chose to ignore the comment.

"Why are we here?" Luke asked, looking around the room, smiling at a few of the young female interns and Trudy. Construction was no longer a man's game, there were more and more young women entering the workforce every year, and her father had seen the opportunity to expand and taken it.

"I haven't a clue, what did you do? The last five times a meeting like this was called you were the one responsible." She looked at him hard, taking in his too tight t-shirt, tight blue jeans, and shaggy blond hair. His green eyes blinked back at her with mock innocence.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Last time you took some of the guys out drinking and they were too hungover to come to work the next day-"

"That was not-"

Harper ignored his attempt to defend himself and kept right on talking, "and don't forget about the time that you forgot to lock up a whole site worth of tools."

Harper heard him growl in response, but he didn't try to defend himself again.

Luke was two years older than her. She had been taking up the slack and covering for him for as long as she could remember, and she had never been able to figure out why. He wasn't her brother, he wasn't even family. She looked toward the front of the room as her father entered.

Her father was a large man and very formidable, his brown hair had turned grey many years before, but his shoulders were still strong and broad, and he still liked to work on the sites. He was very hands-on and always had been. Luke's father had always been the paper pusher.

"Your father's hair looks grayer than it did the last time I saw him. Is it you or your sister who's giving him a hard time?"

Harper shot him a look out of the corner of her eye before she turned her attention towards her father.

"I've called this prayer meetin' because there is a problem in the family." Troy Sinclair always referred to those that worked for him as family. "I have had a complaint that there has been a violation in our strict 'no fraternization' policy. Someone informed me that they witnessed improper behavior between two employees. Now, this person won't specify who it was, but they were concerned that if it continues it will affect the dynamic of the workplace."

"What about Luke and Harper? I saw them riding together in the truck last week, and they looked to be having a heated discussion!" Manny Smith joked from the front of the room. It was an ongoing joke among the staff that Luke and Harper were secretly in love with each other and it was only a matter of time before they hooked up.

"The only improper behavior was Harper changing all of my radio stations to Tejano music while I left her alone in my truck," Luke said drily, leaning back in his chair so that it was balanced on only two legs, seemingly relaxed, despite everyone's attention being focused on them.

"You still haven't figured out how to change them back, have you?" Harper snickered.

Luke only shot her a look that said he would get even with her eventually, and it took all of Harper's self-control not to push him back in his precariously balanced chair. The only reason she didn't was that she knew he would be unbelievably embarrassed when he landed on his butt.

Troy gave a weary sigh, he had been dealing with their bickering since they were kids, and his look of resignation said it all. "We're not here to try and out the two individuals, in fact, the less we all know the better, but I will say that it needs to stop now. We have the rule for a reason, and it is an important one. If it is broken the result will be immediate dismissal for both people involved.

"What if it's more than two people?" Manny called.

"Yea, what if it's like a love triangle or an orgy!" The youngest guy on the team who they called Possum shouted.

"Really Possum, an orgy? You took it there?" Kendra, one of the new interns called.

Possum shrugged. "It could happen."

"Not here, it couldn't, but if it did I would fire the whole lot of you!" Troy said, standing. "Now, get back to work. Time is money and you're all wasting both!" Everyone started to stand and move towards the exit.

"So, who's the new boy toy, Harper?" Luke asked, looking at her with a grin as his chair hit the ground with a thud before he stood abruptly, blocking her exit. He was obviously insinuating that she was the one having the affair.

She rolled eyes. "You realize everyone was looking at you when Dad was speaking, right?"

"Were they really?" He looked around with a devilish grin that always made Harper laugh just as it did this time.

She put her hand in the middle of his chest and pushed him out of the way, turning to walk away from him backward as she delivered her final shot. "You're a pain in the ass, Luke, just like the pain that your girl toy will have to go through when she has to get all those required shots she'll need after hanging out with you."

There were still plenty of people around to witness their exchange.

"You sound like you know what you're talking about Miss Priss. Why is that? Have you had a few of those shots?"

Harper felt he cheeks start to flame, he had always been able to one-up her when it came to witty barbs. "Just from sitting next to you," she returned, knowing it was lame, "a girl can't be too careful."

Trudy jumped in front of Luke, who frowned at her comeback, and Harper took the chance to slip away.

"For the record, I can change the radio stations in my truck anytime I want!" he shouted at her retreating form.

Harper was glad for the parting comment because it took a little of the attention off of her less than witty comeback. The fact was that she had limited experience in the man department, something that she would be beginning to rectify with her date that coming weekend. It had been a long time since she had been asked out, and she was looking forward to it.