“I’m sorry. I know you’re just trying to help, but I promise you nothing happened.” I engulf her into a huge bear hug. “Thank you for showing me how much you care, but I promise you, it’s not what it looks like. Kohen is a good guy.”

She squeezes me back tightly. “Fine, I’ll drop it. Just promise me you’ll be safe.”

“I’ll be safe, promise.”

She gives me one more hug before leaving. I turn on the T.V. to drown out Harper’s words that keep echoing in my ears. I switch it off when it doesn’t help. I don’t get why she would immediately assume the bruises were from Kohen. He’s the last person I would suspect. It could have been anyone, a random person on the street. It could have even been Jax.

Groaning, I rub my temples with my palms. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to take off my jacket. I don’t want Harper treating Kohen differently, that will put everyone on edge and I don’t want to deal with that drama. It’s unnecessary.

As I attempt to sleep, without a shower, all I can think about is Harper’s reaction. I dread them being in the same room together, and I hate that. I don’t want to worry about her berating him, or her believing the worst if he gets upset in front of her. I know she’s going to watch him, watch us, every chance she gets. I can’t blame her because I would do the same thing in her situation.

My stars swirl around and around on their string from the breeze drifting through the open window. I don’t remember opening it this morning, but my mind was elsewhere. I should close it, but I enjoy the fresh air. The city noise comforts me. It’s as if I’m not alone.

Chapter Twenty

Two weeks have passed by since Harper and I went running. Two weeks since I met Jax’s latest troll in a bathroom. It seems like Harper avoids going out if Kohen will be there. Which he always is. I need to intervene.

“I swear this better be the last one!” Harper says, jarring me out of my thoughts.

I send an apologetic look to the sales clerk. “You act like we are at the dentist. You’re trying on dresses, not getting a root canal. Calm down and put it on.”

“I’m going to strangle you if I see one more dress.”

I ignore her. One thing I learned about Harper, she can’t stand shopping. Okay, so that’s not entirely true, she can’t stand shopping with me. Can’t blame her, most people can’t.

Harper emerges from the dressing room and poses in front of me. Wow. This is the one. It’s spectacular! She fights her smile. I’m sure because she fears me forcing her into the dressing room to try on another endless pile of dresses. I wait before I tell her I love it. I keep my expression bored, not showing that I want to jump up and down.

I make a turn signal with my index finger. Her figure looks amazing! Men are going to have a hard time keeping their eyes off her. Mission accomplished. Her shoulders sag a little when she faces me again.

“Well?” she asks impatiently.

“That’s the one!”

“Thank God! I thought I’d have to sneak out of here. I was afraid we would never leave!”

I grip my chest as if she wounded me. “And here I assumed you were dying to go shopping with me.”

“Yeah, that was before I knew you had to try on everything in each store.”

I shrug, not caring. “I’m not that bad. We didn’t even get to that section yet.” I nod to the left, proving my point.

“Okay, okay, you’re right. We’re done though, right?”

I nod.

“I’m starving!” she says dramatically as we leave the boutique.

Now here comes the hard part. I thought that I would sneak-attack a lunch between her and Kohen. What surprised me was when I heard Connor in the background. I have no idea why they’re together. Kohen usually only hangs out with the guys if I’m there. I wonder if it was Connor’s doing. It has to be, I don’t see Kohen calling up Connor. Sometimes I think he’s jealous of Connor. Gross.

“How about meeting Kohen and Connor for lunch? I told Kohen where we are and one thing led to another and we have a lunch date with them.”

I chew on my lip when she doesn’t answer. She hasn’t brought Kohen up, and neither have I. It has kind of been an unspoken rule between us. And now I’m breaking it by making her go to lunch with him.

She turns away. “Sounds great.”

She’s still on the fence about Kohen. As much as she hides it, I can tell. I link our arms together and steer us toward the little cafe down the street. We spot the guys at the same time. It’s pretty easy when every woman on the patio is doing her best to capture their attention. I’m not surprised Kohen ignores them; what surprises me is Connor does too.

“You sick?” I ask him.

“No. Why?”

I drop my bags down alongside Harper’s, then I give Connor a hug, and Kohen a chaste kiss on the lips. Kohen pulls out a chair for me, always the gentleman. He and Harper exchange tight smiles. Interesting, does he sense her hostility?

“Oh, I just assumed you were sick,” I say once everyone has sat down again.

“Again, why?”

“You know, because of all the women out here dying for the attention you’re not giving them.”

Both Kohen and Connor look like I started speaking a different language. Do I need to spell it out for them?

“She means she’s surprised that you don’t have your tongue down one of their throats yet,” Harper says with a wave towards the surrounding women.

Now they understand my earlier comment. Connor, gives Harper his panty-dropper smile, complete with running the tip of his tongue over his top lip. Here’s the Connor I was expecting.

“Don’t be jealous, Elizabeth, you know I save it all for you,” he says in a voice that should be reserved for the bedroom.

“I’d rather swallow my own tongue than have yours anywhere near my throat.”

Connor leans in so that his lips are inches from her face. “I promise you wouldn’t be saying that after I run my tongue up and down your throat.”

I shake my head. This guy is asking for trouble. You don’t mess with the devil, and she can be heartless when she wants. I’ve seen it, plenty of times on the opposite sex. It’s never pretty, but always funny.

Harper swallows loudly. “Sorry I just threw up in my mouth.” She sits back in her chair. “It’s Harper, by the way.”

“Not Elizabeth?”

And he wonders why she dumped water on him. What a mystery.

Lunch runs smoothly, at least until everyone has finished. Harper watches everything Kohen does, hanging onto his every word. And not in a good way. She’s studying him, waiting for him to mess up. I’ve been trying to steer the conversation away from the two of them, but she has other plans.

“I saw a documentary on abusive partners last night,” she says casually, but directs her eyes to Kohen.

I can’t believe she just said that! Kohen surprises me by remaining calm. I can tell that he’s nervous by the way his hand trembles slightly as he reaches for his glass of water.

“Any reason why you would bring that up, Harper? Is there a guy in your life that we should know about?” Kohen feigns concern.

She shrugs, but challenges him with her eyes. Harper stares him down until he turns away, to me. I shake my head, trying to convey my confusion. I can tell when his jaw tightens that he doesn’t buy it. Time slows down in an awkward silence that doesn’t break until Connor peers up from his phone, oblivious to the tension. At least I think he’s oblivious until he engages Harper in conversation. I beam gratefully at him. He nods.

Kohen drags my chair closer to him and lays his arm on my shoulder. Harper gives a slight shake of her head in disapproval. I rub my forehead, feeling the pangs of a headache. Maybe lunch with them wasn’t the brightest idea. When the bill arrives, both guys reach for it, but Harper intercepts it with her dainty hands.