24. Wyatt
TWENTY-FOUR
WYATT
With Harper on my arm, I led her through the mansion, past the guards and into the garage.
“Pick one.” I pointed to the row of cars.
“Where are we going?” She bit her lip as she scanned the fleet of vehicles.
“Wherever you want.” I patted her hand and then draped my arm over her shoulder. “I think it’s a good idea to get away from the house for a while, just the two of us.”
“Really?” She turned to face me, her eyes shimmering with tears. I swiped at the one that slipped down her cheek with the pad of my thumb. Cupping her face, I bent and kissed her softly.
“Really,” I whispered. The sides of her lips turned up. I didn’t know a lot about women’s tears, but I learned that I liked the happy kind better than the angry variety. “Everything has been so crazy around here. I wish that we could go back to the time that we spent together in the cabin on the island.
She nodded, the tears returning.
“Shit,” I muttered. “I’m sorry.” The majority of the time at our cabin was spent together before Harper lost her memory. She didn’t remember some of the best times we shared together. My stomach clenched. The ramifications of what Valentina had done to us were constantly showing up, and likely would plague our relationship for years.
Harper bit her lip and stood on her toes to kiss me. “I may not remember it, but…” she placed her hand on my chest above my heart and looked up at me, “I can feel it. I know that what we shared before was amazing.”
“I’m sorry I brought her back into our lives.” I hugged Harper, squeezing her body tightly to mine. “Baby, what we’ve got now is amazing. You have to believe that everything I’m doing here is for you.”
“Even dumping me as your date for the gala?”
I stiffened. This was going to be a sore spot for a while, and I got it. “It’s safer for you to stay here. We’ve already gone through this. As soon as we’ve sorted out this whole Carder, Genocorp thing, and fixed your father, I’ll make sure Valentina knows that she’s no longer welcome in the house – or in the north.”
She sniffed and pulled away from me. “For good?”
“For as long as you shall live.” I smiled, but hers faltered. I was sticking my literal big foot in my mouth with each word that came out. Harper’s lifespan was shorter than mine. I’d be heartbroken, traipsing through the damp, mossy forests of the pacific northwest years after her death.
“Right.” She looked to the polished concrete floor.
“I didn’t mean it like that.” It wasn’t even noon and already the day had gone sideways.
“I know.” Harper squared her shoulders and strode to the combination safe on the wall. “Code?” She raised her eyebrows at me.
“Six, nine, six, nine.”
She shook her head and punched in the code. The safe beeped and popped open, revealing the keys to the cars. “Let me guess, Tank picked the code.” She raised her eyebrows and flashed a hint of her playful smile.
“Close. It was Jax.” At the mention of his name, I realized that I still hadn’t heard from him. This whole situation would be so much easier if he was still here.
“How is Jax?” Harper bit her lip as she fingered the key fobs hanging in the safe.
“I wish I knew.” I inhaled. “I haven’t heard from him. But he’s traveling through remote parts of the Himalayas and Siberia, and they aren’t known for their stellar cell phone reception.” I left out the part that Jax had a satellite phone, and I should be able to reach him anywhere on earth. I wasn’t ready to admit that something might have happened to him. I shook my head, ridding the thought from my mind. He was away on a journey to find himself.
“Maybe he doesn’t want to be contacted.” Harper shrugged.
It was possible. More than possible, actually. I stood a little taller and smiled. I couldn’t believe that I was worried about the most capable man I’d ever met. It was likely he was balls deep in a lady Yeti and had decided not to push the power button on his phone.
Part of me admired him for it, another part was jealous. But for the most part, I just missed him.
“How about that one?” Harper said, plucking a set of keys from the box.
“Which one?” I asked.
Harper pushed the button on the key fob and the Lamborghini’s taillights flickered. She tossed me the keys. “That one.”
I’d thought that she would’ve chosen the Bronco, or one of the Range Rovers – something that was capable of off-roading. Harper loved going into the forest, and the clearance on the Lambo wasn’t exactly cut out for the speed bumps on my street, let alone a dirt road.
“I want you to take me to lunch. Now, how the hell do you open this thing?” Harper was already at the passenger side.
“Hold on, let me get that for you.” I opened the scissor door and held onto Harper’s hand as she contorted her body to get into the sports car.
After sliding into the driver’s seat, I opened the garage. The engine of the Lamborghini growled and rumbled to life.
“Where would you like to go for lunch?” I asked.
Harper turned to me, crossing her legs at her ankles. “Salder’s Kitchen.”
My forehead crinkled as I stared at the girl in the passenger seat. “Who are you, and what have you done with my Harper?” Salder’s Kitchen was the newest and trendiest restaurant in the city’s culinary scene. Harper liked picnics in the forest and cooking together at home. She’d never shown any interest in flitting around Seattle’s social scene.
She smiled. “Your Harper heard that they make a mean clam chowder.”
“Alright.” I put the car in reverse and like any red-blooded man, or close relative to man, I revved the engine a couple of times before squealing out of the garage, having the car up to sixty before we hit the gate at the end of the long laneway.
Harper was wearing leggings and a sweatshirt, and looked sexy as hell. The clientele of Salder’s Kitchen were more of the Chanel crowd, but I smiled, knowing that as Wyatt Westwood, I could walk into that restaurant with my athleisure-clad girlfriend in tow and still get the best seat in the house.
The gates opened and I eased the car onto the street. It wasn’t a vehicle that I drove very often, and we’d spent a fortune fixing the bottom of the damn thing from Jax driving it. I made a quick call to my assistant and got her to set up our table at Salder’s. Even Sandy sounded confused at the request, but like the good assistant she was, didn’t ask any questions.
Heads turned as we drove by. Harper unrolled her window and let her hand hang over the frame, the charms on her gold bracelet fluttering in the breeze. I might be a clueless dude, but halfway to the restaurant I realized what was going on. Harper wanted to be seen in public with me. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel. Had she overheard our conversation the other night? The one where Valentina made the comment about keeping Harper locked up like Rapunzel or… I stiffened, had she heard the crude comment about her not being able to give me a child?
It wasn’t a huge deal, and I couldn’t blame her. I was known as a playboy billionaire. If I was seen at a restaurant with a pretty young blond one day, and at a fundraising gala with a leggy brunette the next, no one would bat an eye.
But, I realized, I didn’t want people to think of Harper as one of those girls. She was so much more than the women I’d dated in the past. “I’m going to make this all up to you, you know.” I patted her leg.
“Can I shift?” she asked, ignoring my comment.
“Sure.” I pushed in the clutch and she grabbed the shifter and down geared perfectly. “Where did you learn to do that?”
“My dad.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Earlier you said you would fix him. What did you mean by that?”
It was another secret I’d kept from Harper, and I wasn’t ready to fill her in on all the details. Not yet, anyway. Not until I knew for sure that we could reverse the damage that had been done to him. I smiled and tried to make the tone of my voice as light as possible. “Not the veterinarian kind of fixed.” I chuckled, but Harper didn’t laugh.
She crossed her arms. My attempt at humor had failed miserably. I changed lanes and stepped on the gas to make it through the yellow light before it turned red. “No secrets, right?” I was talking to myself.
“Right.” She nodded, a slight waver in her voice. Her heart rate also increased. It was slight, but I knew her resting rate, and she’d risen to the next level. “No secrets.”
“Tim is working on something that might help your father. I didn’t want to tell you about it until we know if it will work. I hope you’re not upset at me for keeping this from you.”
Her body softened and her pulse returned to resting. She placed her hand on my thigh. “That, I understand. The Valentina thing…” Her voice trailed off.
How many times did I have to reassure her that taking Valentina to the gala was for her own good?
I was flip-flopping between empathy and frustration. I felt like she was overreacting to the situation. “Look. I’m not going to fuck Valentina again. Going to the gala with her is purely a business decision, a strategic call, one that you’re going to have to accept.”
The valet was waiting out front and opened the door for Harper. She stared at me, but I got out to a barrage of camera flashes. I squinted into the lightning-like display and rushed around the car to help Harper out of her seat. As she reached for my hand there was no sign of the sparkle in her eyes.
“Mr. Westwood. Who will you be taking to the Genocorp gala?” One of the paparazzi shouted.
I ignored them.
“Who are you?” Another one shouted at Harper. There was a murmur amongst the group as Harper emerged in her outfit. I crooked my arm and she slid her hand in and squeezed it hard. As we made our way to the circular gold-plated door, she dug her fingernails into my forearm. “Again?”