Love on Ice (Manhattan Mavericks #1)

19. Harper

19

HARPER

I ’ve refused to speak to everyone. They can call, they can text, I’m not interested. Josh hasn’t bothered me all week, so their stupid idea that having Felix stay with me is the only way to keep me safe is wrong.

There’s a tap on my office door, and when I look up, it’s my mom.

“Hey, Mom, what are you doing here?” I greet her.

“I was in the neighborhood and wondered if you had time for lunch with your mother,” she asks.

“Of course. Where would you like to go?”

“The Rose.” It’s our family’s historical property, which is just around the corner from my office.

“Sure, sounds good, Mom,” I say, grabbing my bag.

“Clive is waiting downstairs for us,” she explains. Clive has been my mother’s driver for twenty years. The sleek black town car is waiting for us downstairs, Clive is standing, holding the door open for my mother. He tips his cap at me as I get in.

Thankfully traffic is light, and it doesn’t take us long to arrive at the hotel. Of course, the hotel manager is there waiting for us when we arrive.

“Mrs. Rose, Miss Rose, it’s a pleasure to see you both again. Would you like to follow me?” He nods.

“Thank you, Carlos,” my mother says.

We are shown to the champagne bar at the hotel and to our favorite booth in the corner, away from prying eyes, but where we can look out onto the street and watch everyone pass by, but they can’t see in to us.

“Carlos, sweetheart, may we get a bottle of champagne? The bar knows which one I like, caviar, beef tartar, and a garden salad. Harper, what would you like?” my mother asks.

“Lobster tails, with a garden salad, thanks.” He nods and disappears. “To what do I owe this lovely occasion of lunch?”

“Sam called …”

I cut her off. “Seriously? Sam called you?”

“Darling, it’s not like that,” she says, trying to calm me down.

“It’s everything like that. I can’t believe he’s gone and tattled on me.” I huff.

“He’s worried about you. You haven’t been returning his calls,” she explains.

“Did he explain why?” I ask her.

“Yes. I also saw the photo of you in the news with that young man.”

Oh no. “You did?” I wince.

“What a gentleman to protect you from that asshole, Joshua.” Mom never swears. “Sam explained that your friends are worried about you.”

“They don’t need to be. I have beefed up my home security, and I haven’t heard from Josh all week. I think he was just upset over the article but maybe he’s cooled down and has moved on with his life,” I explain to her.

“You believe that?” She doesn’t look convinced.

“Yes. He is worried about his reputation more than me.”

“The one that he believes you ruined?” she states.

“He did that all himself.”

“He certainly did, but from what I hear, he is blaming you for it.” I guess he is. I nod. “And that he thinks you are dating this Felix boy?”

“The press believes I am.”

“Because of the photo of him kissing you?” she asks.

“Yes, but it wasn’t a romantic kiss, it was a trying to stop me shaking kiss,” I explain to her.

“Never heard of such a thing. A kiss is a kiss.” She smirks.

“Not with him.”

“I think it’s very gentlemanly of him to want to help you,” she whispers across the table. Before I have a chance to argue back, the waiter brings out the bottle of Krug and pops it for us before pouring us each a glass. “Cheers, darling,” she says, holding up her glass to me. I clink it and take a sip.

“He’s incredibly cute,” she states, grinning over the rim of her champagne glass.

“Mom!”

“What? I have eyes. I’m not dead,” she argues.

“And he’s seven years younger than me.”

“It’s not taboo nowadays.” She shrugs.

“Nothing is nor will ever happen between us. It’s one big misunderstanding,” I add.

“Never say never, sweetheart.” She grins.

“Am I that much of an embarrassment when it comes to dating that you want me to fake date a hockey player, to try to revamp my image?”

My mother’s face softens. “You’re not an embarrassment, the men you date are.”

“Mom,” I groan.

“Well, it’s true. I am also worried about you. The fact that he came to your home and screamed profanities at you. You didn’t deserve that,” she says, reaching out and placing her hand over mine.

“I know,” I answer softly.

“You father and I wish we never introduced the two of you,” she says, shaking her head.

“You didn’t know.”

My mother takes another sip of her champagne. “Not sure what is wrong with New York men that they can’t see what an amazing catch you are. Maybe it’s time you date outside of asshole society men.” I burst out laughing because my mother hardly ever swears, it’s the Southern Belle in her. “Excuse my French, but it’s true.”

“My life is amazing, Mom, I don’t need a man to complete it.”

“I know you don’t, sweetheart, that isn’t at all what I’m implying. I just want you to be as happy as I am with your father.”

“I think what you and Dad have is pretty rare,” I tell her, taking a sip of my champagne. “I hope you are giving Sam this talk, too.”

My mother huffs. “That boy is blind to what is right in front of him,” she says, shaking her head.

“Don’t tell me you’re still waiting for Sam and Kimberly to get together?”

“I don’t understand why they aren’t dating. Anytime I see the two of them together they seem to have great chemistry.”

“They do. But they’re just friends. Plus, Sam is a perennial bachelor, he won’t give up dating younger models to settle down.”

“You might be my only hope for grandchildren.” She sighs.

“Gee, thanks. I’m not over the hill yet.”

“But I am.”

“That’s a little dramatic.” I chuckle.

“All my friends are becoming grandparents. I hate being the odd one out,” she explains.

“Maybe I should go to a sperm bank and pick a baby daddy,” I tease.

“Harper, hush, I don’t think we are at that stage yet. But do you think the cute hockey player might be open to making a donation?” She grins.

“Mom!”

“I’m joking,” she says, waving my shock away.

Thankfully, we are saved by the caviar. That should shut her up for a while. Is it a full moon? Why is everyone acting weird around me?

“About the baby thing?” she asks as she dollops caviar onto her bellini, “Would you do it by yourself?”

I pop my bellini into my mouth as I think about what she’s asked before swallowing it down with some champagne. “Yeah. I mean, I have the money to support myself. And you have just told me you are eager to babysit so …”

“Not sure about eager as I am old.” She winks at me.

“Maybe I might investigate it. I can’t seem to find the right man. If I do it this way I wouldn’t have any baby daddy drama.”

“That is very true, sweetheart.” She nods in agreement. I’m surprised by her acceptance of me maybe going my own way. “Oh. Oh. Is that …?” She gasps. “Felix, sweetheart is that you?”

My heart stops in my chest. No. It can’t be. I turn my head slowly, and there he is looking like a delicious hunk of beef, dressed in jeans and a tight white tee that shows off his muscular, inked arms. His floppy hair looks shorter—has he trimmed it? —his face is clean-shaven. Has he always been this good-looking?

“Mrs. Rose, it’s so lovely to see you again,” he says, greeting her warmly. Again? When did she meet him for the first time?

“Come, sit, join us,” she asks. Nooo. What is she doing?

“I don’t want to intrude on your lunch.” He grins, those hazel eyes lingering on me, I can feel them sweeping over my skin, heating it.

“Oh, I insist. Do you like caviar?” she asks.

“Why, yes, I do.” He smiles at her. Is my mother blushing?

“Take a seat.” She points to the one beside me. I pick up my glass of champagne and throw it back.

“Hi again, Harper,” he says, taking his seat beside me. The man is a fricken mountain and takes up the entire booth space beside me. I can feel the heat of his leg against mine. I shuffle into the corner more so no part of us is touching, then pop a bellini in my mouth and nod.

“Excuse her, Harper loves caviar.” My mother glares at me as I try to ignore the man beside me. “Felix, how are you enjoying the city?” she asks.

“It’s been years since I’ve lived here, but it’s good to be back on the East Coast,” he answers my mother politely.

“Do you get to go back home often?” she asks.

“I try to, but usually it’s easier for my mom to come see me during the season. Between my brother and my sisters who live overseas, she has a lot of zig-zagging to do to see us all.”

The waiter comes over and pours Felix a glass of champagne. He thanks him.

“Help yourself, Felix, to the caviar,” my mother offers. I watch as Felix loads up his bellini and pops it in his mouth, my eyes land on the way he sucks his fingers clean of the tiny black balls. My thighs tingle, remembering him sucking me off his fingers. I shake my head and take another sip of my champagne to steady my beating heart, my mother smirks, catching me ogling Felix. Shit. She is going to try to play matchmaker.

“Oh shoot, I just remembered I’m supposed to meet Delilah about flowers for the gala. Something about a shortage of orchids in Singapore.”

“Mom,” I warn her as I watch her get up from the table. Felix stands as my mother does. Which makes her smile. She’s a sucker for old-school manners.

“It’s an emergency, sweetheart. You know I am swamped with the gala.” Which I know is true, but in this situation I call bullshit. “I ordered the beef tartare and garden salad, it’s delicious, I hope you enjoy it,” she says, tapping Felix’s chest.

“It was lovely to see you again,” he says, kissing her cheeks.

“You too, my love.” She smiles up at him. “Bye, sweetheart, call your brother,” Mom warns me before disappearing from the restaurant.

“Did you know about this?” I ask Felix, who thankfully takes a seat across from me, giving me my space.

He shakes his head. “No. I thought I was meeting Sam.”

“My brother?” He nods. “And when the hell did you meet my mother?”

“The other night, Sam invited me over to dinner at their house. Your parents are so nice,” he explains.

“When did you and Sam become so close?”

“Since meeting at your house. When you kicked us out, Sam invited me back to his place and we hung out,” he says as he pops another bellini into his mouth. “We’re now running buddies. I met Nate, too. He’s a cool guy.”

Nate? What is happening? “Are you being a stalker? Should I be worried about you and not Josh?”

Felix glares at me after my joke. “It’s not like that. I came over that morning when the article dropped to apologize for kissing you and then things went left.”

“I’m still not talking to you.” I huff as I pop more caviar into my mouth.

“Guess this is going to be an awkward lunch then,” he says, taking a sip of his champagne.

“You can get it to go,” I snip.

“I thought you weren’t speaking to me?”

“I’m not.”

“Seems like you are,” he argues.

“Have you always been this annoying?”

“Probably,” he says with a shrug. I scowl at him as silence falls between us, and I angrily keep eating the caviar. “I’ll say it again. I’m sorry I hurt you,” he says quietly as he scoops caviar onto his bellini. “But I’m not sorry for telling your friends and brother about Josh’s threats.”

I throw my napkin onto the table. “This has been great.” I stand up.

“Sit down,” Felix says firmly. The deep growl in his voice surprises me, and I do as I am told. “We are going to talk about this until it’s sorted. Oh, that’s right, you’re not talking to me, so maybe you can listen.”

“You can’t talk to me like that,” I say.

“Why not?”

“You’re being mean.”

“Mean?”

“Yes.” I grab my champagne glass and throw it back.

“And you are being stubborn.”

“Stubborn? You all burst into my home and then tried to dictate my life to me,” I argue.

“To keep you safe,” he argues back.

“Do you know what it’s like to have the people closest to you think you’re that much of a fuck up that you can’t look after yourself anymore?” “They don’t think you’re a fuck up, Harper.”

“Yes, they do. I make such poor dating decisions that they would rather I fake a relationship with you, so society thinks there’s nothing wrong with me.” I sigh, grabbing my glass of champagne and finishing it.

“There’s nothing wrong with you. And screw your New York society. Who gives a shit what they think? The only person that matters is you,” Felix says angrily. “Also, Sam’s terrified something is going to happen to you. That Josh might come back, and his threats might not be verbal anymore.”

Oh. “He is?” I whisper.

“Yeah. He is.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Maybe if you picked up the phone and called him, you’d know,” he says angrily.

“That’s not fair. You all ganged up on me last week.”

“Your friends care. They were trying to make a messed-up situation better for you,” he explains.

Okay. Now I feel like a bit of a bitch. “You’re seriously okay with this whole fake dating story the media is portraying?”

“Yes,” he says firmly. Oh. “I saw the hatred in that man’s eyes toward you.”

“It’s been a week, and nothing’s happened. Everyone can relax now.”

Felix frowns at me as we sit in silence staring at one another. “I took your advice, and I told my lawyer that I wouldn’t be giving Cynthia the house. And that I knew about her parties with Rori and Dave,” Felix says, changing the subject.

“You did?”

He nods. “Her lawyer dropped the request.”

“So, you didn’t have to pay her?”

He shakes his head. “No. But it does mean she can talk shit about me if she wants.”

“Don’t think she’ll do that now that she knows you know about her sex parties.” I smirk.

“I would have loved to have seen her face when the lawyer read out that I knew about her girls’ nights.”

“Could you imagine if her new partner was in the meeting, too?”

“Stephen would be having a lot of questions on why she quickly wanted to drop her request.” He chuckles.

“You think he knows?”

Felix shrugs. “Doubtful.”

The waiter brings out our lunch, he is slightly confused when he sees my mother gone and Felix in her place.

“Orchid emergency,” I tell him. He gives me a smile and walks away.

“So, this is your family’s hotel.”

“It is.”

“It’s nice.”

“That’s all Mom and Dad,” I say, digging into my lobster tails.

“They really are nice. They are very proud of you,” he says.

“Really?”

“Um, yeah, they didn’t stop talking about everything you have accomplished at dinner.”

Oh wow. That’s unexpected seeing as Sam is the golden child. “Still weirds me out that you had dinner with my family, and I wasn’t there.”

“Next time you should come,” he teases.

“Seriously, there’s a next time?”

“So, your mom says.” He shrugs, digging into his dish.

“You seem to have charmed my mother,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“I’m incredibly charming, but it doesn’t seem to work on you.” He grins. I glare at him. Which just makes him smile wider. “I truly am sorry for how things have turned out. On the island, you said that your life was constantly under a microscope, and I guess I didn’t understand what that meant until I saw that article about us. I get it. And I felt bad, that terrible moment was blasted for the world to see. Then I went and kissed you and added to it.”

“You don’t need to apologize. None of this is your fault. I appreciate you being worried about me but you’re not responsible for me.”

“We’re friends, aren’t we?” he asks. I nod. “Then I look after my friends. And as a friend, I’m going to tell you, call your brother and call your friends. Issy has been complaining that you’re not talking to her either.”

“Fine.” I sigh.

“Good girl.” I still.

He stills.

“Hmm, this is good,” he says, ignoring the tension that’s popped up between us, shoving as much beef tartare as possible into his mouth.