than to run out of the hall and to her car. She lived on her grandfather’s farm, on the outskirts of town about twenty minutes from the hall. Tonight was Sunday, which meant that Pops and her dad were sitting in front of the television watching whatever sport they could find. Uncle Giff and Aunt Laura would be at their house a little closer to town, probably sitting in front of their television, too. There wasn’t much else to do in Temptation on a Sunday night, except maybe stand around with a strange—yet undoubtedly sexy—guy.
He came straight toward her, stopping only a breath away. A breath that Harper immediately sucked in when he closed his eyes and shook his head. Before Harper could make another move, he was gone. He moved even faster than he had before, because by the time Harper found her breath and let it out slowly, a hand going to her thumping heart, he had disappeared around a corner.
What the hell had just happened?
Harper had no clue. What she did know was that she wasn’t going to forget her first and only Sadie Hawkins dance, or the undeniable arousal that her highest bidder had awakened.
He was undressing in front of her. Slowly unbuttoning the three buttons at the top of his shirt before pulling it up and over his head. His body was magnificent—bulging muscles, ripped abs, narrow waist. It was like a Playgirl centerfold.
When his strong fingers touched the button of his pants, Harper sucked in a breath. He was actually getting naked. The tightening of her nipples at that thought drew her gaze down her own body. She was already naked. Lying on her bed, legs spread wide in open invitation.
Had she invited him to her place? Her room? Her...
He stepped closer to the bed now, his pants unbuttoned, his chest bare. His gaze was hot, sending heated glares down her body until every inch of her exposed skin felt as if it were on fire.
“Show me what you want,” he said, his voice thick with desire. “Show me how to please you, Harper.”
What?
No, she couldn’t.
It was wrong. Wasn’t it?
She lay back against the pillows then, heart beating wildly as her throat tightened and the heavy fog of anxiety began to settle in. She was a healthy twenty-nine-year-old woman who had a right to know what she wanted and to ask for it. No, to demand it. She deserved that, didn’t she?
Especially after all that Harper had been through, all the humiliation and embarrassment she’d endured over the years. And not just in Temptation, but even during the four years she’d spent in Virginia. She’d been a trouper, as her father would have said. She’d stood strong in the face of adversity each and every time.
So, yes, dammit, she deserved something for herself. For once in her life, she deserved pleasure that she so often dreamed of. And tonight, she was going to take it.
With that resolution in mind, Harper opened her mouth to speak. She let one hand fall down to cup her breast while the other moved farther down to rest on her cleanly shaved mound. She was going to show and tell him what she wanted. He’d bid and donated a good chunk of money on her behalf tonight, and he wanted her. She wanted him, too, so much that she was ready to take the biggest risk of her life. She was about to invite him to make her...
Harper’s eyes popped open at that moment. She sat straight up in her bed. Her bedroom was empty, but her heart was still beating fast, and between her legs moisture still pooled as a reminder of her arousal. But he wasn’t there. She’d been dreaming about a man she didn’t even know. Fantasizing about someone she would never have.
Some things never changed.
* * *
“I told Mama it wasn’t going to work. You’re just not interested in men. Don’t know why you’re still trying to keep that a secret.”
Harper picked up the to-go cup of coffee and considered tossing the hot liquid into Leah Gensen’s perfectly pretty face. Then Harper thought better of that act, knowing it would draw too much attention to them. Ignoring Leah’s snide comment was the next option. Harper had made a habit of doing just that since she and Leah were in second grade. But Harper wasn’t seven years old anymore, and she couldn’t help it if Leah hadn’t figured that out yet.
“No secrets to be kept,” Harper said as she used her free hand to retrieve three dollars from the back pocket of her jeans. “But the next time your mother wants to play matchmaker, she should take note of the fact that you’re available. Especially since your third divorce was finalized last month.”
Leah’s pert, glossy, red-painted lips turned upward into a smirk as she narrowed her gaze at Harper.
“At least I’ve had a man,” Leah snapped.
“And I’ve got a college degree and own a business, while you’re serving coffee at your aunt’s coffee shop. You want to continue keeping score of who’s doing what, go right ahead, but I’ve got work to do.”
Harper dropped the money for her daily large coffee and plain bagel on the counter and turned to leave.
“That’s my girl,” Smitty Hallern said as Harper passed the table near the front window where he always sat.
“Hi, Mr. Hallern,” Harper said after mustering a smile.
Smitty played poker with Harper’s grandfather on Saturday nights. He had enlisted in the army the same time as her grandfather but had received a medical discharge when he’d suffered a severe asthma attack.
“Don’t let ’em get to you today,” Smitty said with a nod toward the front counter, where Leah and the other customers stood. “They always need something or somebody to talk about. Tomorrow they’ll be on to a different story.”
Harper shrugged. “It’s their life. They can live it how they please.”
It was an awful life, Harper thought—sitting around a café all day talking about people and what they did or didn’t like about them. Pitiful, really.
“That’s true,” Smitty continued. “But it ain’t good for you or people like you to hear all that negative talk. That’s what happened to Teddy and Olivia’s marriage. People kept talking about them and what they were doing with those TV folks. It got right messy around here with the rumors flying around. People got hurt, and then Olivia packed her kids up and left.”
Smitty went off on tangents often. Normally, it was something about the “good ol’ days,” as he and her grandfather called them. To which Harper would simply listen and smile. It was nice to hear their memories, and sometimes she even managed to learn a little about how the world was sixty years ago.
This morning, however, she had a headache. She’d been up for hours already, after waking from the disturbing dream. She was tired and cranky, and Leah hadn’t helped the situation at all.
“Right, I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Hallern,” she said and pressed her back to the front door of the shop.
“Yeah, gossip can cause lots of pain,” he continued with a nod. There was a newspaper spread out on the table in front of him, a half-full cup of
