More of You

Chapter 9

Harper had just finished with her shower when she heard the doorbell ring. She quickly wrapped herself in her favorite black silk robe and reached for a towel to start towel drying her wet hair. Her guess was that it was her sister at the door because it always was at this time of night.

Peeking through the peephole, she was surprised to see Luke looking back at her.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. "Did I leave something in your truck?" she asked.

"No, but I thought you might like dessert," he said as he held up a bag with a logo of the restaurant where they had had dinner. "You requested banana pudding I believe?" he asked.

Harper was speechless as she held open the door allowing him to enter. She stared at him for a moment until she came to her senses and moved towards the kitchen for a bowl and a spoon.

"I'd offer to share, but I assume that you still hate bananas?" she asked. She was completely floored that he had taken the time to go back to the restaurant and get her dessert. No one had ever done such a thing for her before, unless she counted Christmas as a kid, and yes, Luke was always good at bringing her her favorite things to butter her up, but this was simply because she had mentioned a wish to have it.

"I do," he smiled.

She returned his smile as she sat on the couch and reached for the bag he had placed on the coffee table. "You'll keep me company for a few minutes?" she asked as she scooped out a generous helping of the pudding.

"Sure," he agreed as he sat in the armchair to her left, watching her as she stuck the spoon in her mouth while she closed the container from the restaurant.

"So, which one do you think was trying to make the other one jealous?" Harper asked as she settled back in the cushions of the couch. Putting her feet up on the coffee table.

"Definitely Delia," he said, laying is head back and closing his eyes.

Harper looked at his trusting pose and swallowed her bite of pudding with difficulty. Luke was an all-around nice and fun guy, but he had never been one who trusted easily. Despite what she had said the other day about the guys getting drunk and the tools that went missing, she didn't doubt that it would have never happened on his watch, and that he had been covering for someone else.

"Why do you say that?" Harper asked around another mouthful of pudding.

"Because, he's clueless," Luke lifted his head and looked at her, really looked at her, the way a man who is interested in a woman would look, and Harper couldn't help the blush that stole up her cheeks.

He was doing it again, making her think about kissing him.

She quickly looked down at her pudding as if her life depended on getting the perfect next bite.

"I doubt that," Harper said. "He seemed pretty tuned into Delia." She paused spoon in mid-air. "It's because I'm safe," she nodded as it finally made sense. She had been the safe one in college too.

"Safe?" Luke asked.

She nodded. "It was the same in college, I'm like one of the guys but not, I'm easy to take on a date, not too bad to look at, I don't expect anything like commitment, and for some reason other woman aren't threatened by me."

"Delia was threatened enough to invite herself on your date."

"Is that what she did?" she asked surprised at the thought.

"Yes."

"Did it hurt your feelings Luke?" Harper teased as she scooped up the last bite of pudding. Knowing it would have done no such thing."

"Not terribly, I knew what was going on when I agreed to the date."

"Then why on earth did you agree?" She leaned forward and placed her bowl on the table before she leaned back into the couch.

"To look out for you."

Harper snorted. "I can look after myself Luke," she assured him.

He looked at her for a moment as if he was trying to decide if he wanted to say something or not.

"Come on Luke, why don't you tell me just how inept I am at taking care of myself?" she goaded. "You know it's killing you not to."

"Did you know that every time you leaned forward at dinner your little blue dress gave me an eyeful of your pretty white lacy bra?" He didn't pause when she spluttered her outrage. "Do you now know that that pretty silk robe of yours gapes open every time you lean forward and that the way your legs are bent, you're an inch away from giving me an eyeful? Any other man would think you were doing it on purpose."

Harper looked down at her robe and sure enough it had come loose from the belt so she sat up tightening the belt and straightening her legs.

"Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed every glimpse you've given me. You're a beautiful woman Harper, you have near perfect breasts and your legs are magnificent, but you seem to be completely unaware of your yourself or of how others see you. Sometimes I think your a little too innocent."

Her face was blood red, and her embarrassment was quickly turning into anger at the fact that he hadn't told her sooner, especially since he knew she wasn't doing it on purpose.

"Fine, then if I'm so unaware tell me this, the other night in the office, were you thinking of kissing me?" She looked at him with a smug expression, she knew enough to know that that was what he had been thinking about.

He stood up and walked towards her, leaning over her and placing a hand to either side of her head on the back of the couch. "Yes, but did you know that I have been thinking about it for the past ten years?"

Harper looked up at him with wide brown eyes. She couldn't have been more shocked if he had told her that aliens had just landed. 

"You think of kissing every girl you meet," she said weakly, in an attempt to dismiss his revelation as important.

"Not like I think of kissing you Harper." He brushed the side of her face gently as he said the words. "We could be very good together."

The doorbell suddenly rang and Harper jumped. Luke looked at her for a moment longer before he backed off allowing her to stand on wobbly legs. They stared at each other until a second peal from the doorbell broke the spell and Harper moved to open the door.

Her sister, Mindy, didn't wait to be invited in as she pushed past her. "I need to talk, Richard says we can't keep seeing each other if I don't tell Mom and Dad!" she wailed, stopping short at the sight of Luke. "Luke, what are you doing here?" Mindy looked from Harper to Luke with a confused expression.

"I lost a bet and I am paying your sister in full with her favorite Banana Pudding. I think that there is still some left." He grinned his devil may care grin as if the tense scene that had just happened between them hadn't happened.

Harper could see exactly how he had been able to keep the fact that he had wanted to kiss her for years hidden, if that was even true. Now that the tense situation had passed she had her doubts.

He said a few more off handed remarks about not having heard a thing about what she had said about the secret Richard, before he left them without a backwards glance.It appeared as if he was a master at hiding his true feelings when he wanted to.

"Luke is awesome, too bad he's to old for me and that he's practically family," Mindy said as she reached for the rest of the pudding. "It would be awesome if the two of you got together though."

"Mom and Dad would pitch a fit," Harper said offhandedly as she closed the door behind him.

"And if they didn't, his parents would," Mindy agreed.

"Now, tell me what's going on with Richard?" Harper asked as she sank into the chair Luke had been sitting on earlier, not hearing a word her sister was saying.

All she could think about was Luke. She wondered what would have happened if her sister hadn't of shown up? Would they have kissed, would they have been able to stop?