“I know, Ms. Graham, but I don’t mind. You have a very busy schedule, and I enjoy helping you keep on task.” I heard a child in the background.

“Suzy, please call me Harper. And I didn’t know you had kids. How many do you have?” I felt like an ass because she’d been working for me for five months and I didn’t know anything about her.

“I have just one child.”

“You should bring him by the office sometime so I can say hello. I keep a stash of suckers in my drawer for kids.”

I could almost hear her smile through the phone and what sounded like a sigh of relief. Was I that intimidating? “I definitely will. Thank you, Ms. Graham.”

“It’s Harper, Suzy. And you can relax, I don’t bite. I’ll see you in the office in a little bit. Thanks for the reminders.”

“You’re welcome, Harper.”

With that we hung up, and I spent another ten minutes sipping my coffee and scrolling through some unread emails. I paused when I saw an email from Kyler. I’d been getting emails and texts from him almost daily for the past three months. I stopped reading them shortly after he started sending them. He used to call too, but stopped when he realized I wouldn’t answer. Not that I was answering his texts or emails either. Ky and I had gotten together for a brief time while Emilyn and Finley were working their shit out. Prior to that we had hooked up every once in a while but kept it quiet, since we were unsure what we were even doing with each other. It hadn’t taken long to realize that Ky wanted more from me. I didn’t do relationships, but for him I had been willing to give it a shot. He’d told me the evening when we left the hospital after Em had lost her baby that he wanted to “define what we were doing.”

Things had been going really well, but then he was asked to go on tour with the band Down Glory Road. Ky told me that nothing had to change, and we could Skype, text, call, email. He was even willing to fly me out to whatever town he would be performing in. As much as I had really considered it, I knew it just wouldn’t work. I led a very busy life, and I wasn’t about to play second fiddle to a band on tour, wondering if my man was shacking up with some groupie whore at the end of each night. I’d told Kyler that we weren’t working and he needed to head out on the road, as a single man. I’ll never forget that night for as long as I live. He was pissed at first. He had thrown his hands up in the air and yelled and cursed a blue streak. He begged me not to do this to him, to us, but he must have seen the resolve in my eyes. I had no intentions of budging. He stared and said that we weren’t over, and that was the last thing he said before he walked away. I’ve heard from him every day since. The first few emails that I did read were all about what he had been doing, where they were performing, how exhilarating it had been standing in front of those huge crowds.

He also included how much he missed me.

I was glad that he seemed to be having a good time, but I didn’t want to know that he missed me. I’d made up my mind that he must be with a new girl every night. Why wouldn’t he? I was a red-blooded female, and I could see how hot he was. There was only so long that a man could say no. I started deleting the emails after that, not even bothering to open and read them. With my finger hovering over the delete button, I tapped it and got up from the table. I had work to do. I headed out the door and made my way across town to get the house ready to show.

I got to the Meadow Estates subdivision and pulled up to the house that I was working to sell. I was more than happy selling homes in this area of town because they showed well. Finn had bought a home in this area a few months back. The neighbors kept their yards manicured, and the curb appeal was a dream for both the buyer, and the realtor selling it. When a house in this area went on the market it usually took less than a month a sell. I was certain the couple that I was meeting would be putting in an offer. They were eager to purchase since their lease was going to be up in just over a month.

Pulling up the driveway, I got out and walked up the stone path to the front door. The home was vacant and there was a lock box on the front door. While I was putting in the combination, my cell phone started ringing. I swear to god if it was the couple calling to tell me they need to reschedule, fuck the commission, I was going to dump them on Bruce—my newest employee who was struggling to make sales. Pulling out my phone, I saw the name “Michael” on the screen.

Michael Brandt was a good friend. We’d hooked up on occasion, and he’d helped me get Harper Realty off the ground. He was a good-looking guy, not as hot as Ky, but I was certainly attracted to him. I hated to call him a “fuck buddy”, but it was inevitable that when we got together our clothes would come off.

“Well good morning, stranger,” I said in a flirtatious voice.

“Hey beautiful, what are you doing?”

I was walking through the empty house, turning on lights and making sure that it was lit up. A dark house didn’t sell as well as one with natural light, or one that was brightly lit.

“I’m about to show a house, how about yourself?”

I could hear his smile through the phone. “Well, I was sitting here thinking about you and wondering if you would let me take you out tonight?”

Not even needing to think about it, I said yes. “What time will you be by?”

“I can come pick you up at seven and we can go try that new place Mexican restaurant in Twin Falls. Sound good?” He sounded so confident it was sexy.

“I’ll be ready by seven,” I told him.

“Great. See you later, beautiful.”

Michael had that way about him—he didn’t just say I was beautiful; he made me feel like I was beautiful. He commanded your attention, be he also gave his own back, one hundred percent.

Despite the house being vacant, there were two bar stools still at the kitchen counter. I sat down and waited for my couple to show. When they finally did, they loved the house and decided that they wanted to make an offer—just as I knew they would. I told them I’d call the listing agent and make the offer, and be in touch. After shutting off all the lights in the house, I got in my car and made my way back to the office.

The day continued right on track as far as my appointments went, and I even managed to stay on time—a rarity for me. It was six forty-five when I looked up at the clock. “Fuck, I’m going to be late,” I said to myself, shutting down my computer and walking through the now empty office. I was always the last one to leave. I didn’t want anybody else to be responsible for locking my businesses doors besides me. Making a quick call to Michael on my way home, I let him know I was running about thirty minutes late but he was more than welcome to come and hang out while I got ready. I shook my head. Of course I managed to be on time all day, but when it came to doing something for myself I was late.

Go figure.

The food at the restaurant was delicious and I would for sure be going back. Michael looked just as appetizing as the ‘melt in your mouth’ fried ice cream I ate for dessert. And that was pretty good if you asked me because fried ice cream was my very favorite treat. We’d just pulled up to my place when Michael got out of the car and walked me up the steps to my front door. He leaned in to kiss me, lightly touching his lips to mine.

“Mmm … you’re coming in.” It was a statement, not a question.

He smiled against my lips. “So bossy. What if I say no?”