Friendly

HARPER

Dropping Levi off in his new classroom was hard for me, but he slipped right in and introduced himself, the fearless little monster he is.

I was always in awe of his confidence because I knew for sure he didn’t get his charisma from me. He inspired me on so many levels.

I was also happy that being here meant he would be able to witness what it was like to have a male around.

Uncle Clade had offered to collect him every day and take care of him while I was at work.

Daycare was expensive, and having my uncle to watch him meant more money in the bank and a brighter future for my son.

Upon arrival at the Outdoor and Adventure store in the center of town, I was immediately greeted with friendly faces.

The owner, Mr. Johnson, was a poker buddy of my Uncle’s, so he hired me without an interview or resume, guess the word of a drunken gambler was enough.

I laughed to myself about how small towns like Clarkson Glades still existed.

“Ahhh…you must be Harper Maddox. You look a little lost.”

I shook his hand enthusiastically. “Yes, is it that obvious?”

“Not many new faces around these parts and the snapping of your head left and right was a dead giveaway you had no idea where to go.”

I laughed. “Note for the future: don’t look so out of place.”

He smiled back. “Your uncle was so vocal and excited about you coming here, near on talked my ear off about your son, Levin.”

I chuckled, “Leivon—well, Levi is his nickname, and yes, he’s always been an incredible man. I’m very lucky.”

Mr. Johnson laughed soundlessly. “Sorry, Levi. I stopped listening to Clade after a while of him fleecing me of my cash. Right this way, we have a new shipment in and it needs to be unpacked, priced, and filled. You can place your bag in the lockers and we’ll get started.”

Mr. Johnson seemed like a very fit man. He still had a full head of brown hair that had only just started to gray, sky blue eyes, and a lean structure.

You could tell he was an outdoorsman, which was fitting considering his business.

It was almost one o’clock when I looked at my watch, hearing my stomach grumble and so did Mr. Johnson.

“Sorry,” I blushed.

“Jesus, what kind of monster are you hiding in there?”—I giggled as he looked at his watch—“Dang it, no wonder you’re starving, I should have at least given you a break by now, sorry girlie.”

“It’s okay, I—” my words were cut off completely by the local law enforcement that walked in and stood behind my boss.

My eyes immediately fell upon the divine specimen that stood just behind the older cop. The strangest feeling swept over me as if I had been temporarily placed in a tornado.

My heart pumped rapidly within my chest, I lost all hydration in my mouth and the subtle scent of oak mixed with rain perfumed the air.

He was tall, I’d say over six foot, with a muscular build. I could see the bulging of his arms and the tightness of his shirt across his chest. His hair was black and spiked but short back and sides.

When he pushed his aviators up to rest on top of his head, I nearly whimpered as his dark sapphire blues raked the length of my body causing not just my skin to melt under his burning gaze.

A flurry of inappropriate thoughts invaded my overactive mind.

“Harper, you okay?” I just tilted my head to the officers standing behind him and he turned in surprise. Truth was, at that very second I couldn’t speak, I was barely holding myself together.

“Fuck, how long have you two been standing there?” he questioned the older man.

“Just walked in,” the older cop’s gruff voice replied, as they shook hands.

“Ah, Fitz, this here is Clade’s niece, Harper, she just moved to town. Harper, this is Sheriff Fitzpatrick and his son, Deputy Spencer.”

I extended my hand with a warm, welcoming smile despite the fact my pulse was racing and I could feel how weak my knees were. They both clasped my hand and gave a tight squeeze.

When Spencer and I made contact, my breath caught in my throat. A wave of what felt like an orgasm crawled from top to toe below the surface of my skin.

I felt a rush of fluid moisten my core as I tried desperately to push the lewd thoughts out of my head so I could act appropriately in this situation.

“N-nice to meet you both. M-Mr. Johnson, I’ll just head out for my break now and leave you to it.” I went to walk past them but then stopped in my tracks. “Uh, Mr. Johnson? Where do I go?”

He laughed. “Oh hell, girlie, you are from out of town…”

“There’s a nice diner on the corner. I could show you if you like?” Spencer’s husky deep baritone rippled through me, hardening my nipples as arousal flared through my nervous system.

“Ah…n-no, that’s okay, I’m s-sure you gentlemen are busy. I’ll…”

“Son, show the young lady to Patty’s,” Fitz ordered, turning back around and focusing on Mr. Johnson.

“Take a forty-five-minute break, Harper, I missed your fifteen minuter this morning,” my new boss called out.

“Thank you, sir.”

I headed towards the front door, trailed closely by the young officer but then I paled in realization and stopped. Suddenly Spencer walked into me with an “Oof! What the—”

“My bag,” I cut in quickly, ignoring the sudden urge to lean into him. “I-I…have to get my b-bag.”

His hand jutted out and grasped my upper arm. The connection had me almost whimpering. “You don’t need it,” he stated.

“But I need to—”

“Nah, I got this round.”

“But I need money—” I protested.

“Nah, I got it,” he flatly replied again.

“Why would you do that? You don’t even know me.” I could feel my eyebrows rise in curiosity.

“Call it a…‘Welcome to Clarkson Glades’ gesture.” He smirked, moved his sunglasses down to cover his intoxicating eyes, and carried on past me.

It was like he was insusceptible to the sudden and very dramatic air floating around us, or maybe it was simply just me. How embarrassing that my body was responding this way.

“You really don’t have to,” I pleaded, falling into step behind him.

He said nothing on the excruciating walk to the diner and opened the door for me to enter. I mumbled my thanks and made my way to a table.

“Spence, how are you, son? What are you doing here?”

“Clade’s niece moved to town, she needed lunch. Dad told me to bring her.” The older woman’s eyes snapped to me as I nervously twisted a napkin between my fingers.

“Well, take a seat. I’ll bring you some menus.”

He joined me at the four-seated table, but instead of sitting across from me, he sat next to me. I got a strong whiff of his cologne, oak and rain. I wondered if he tasted that way too.

“So, why did you move here?”

My depraved lustful thoughts were clamped shut upon hearing his voice, and I shuddered. “Ah…um…I—”

“Well now, are you going to introduce me?”

My head lifted.

“Sorry, Mom, Harper, this is my mother Patty. Mom, this is Harper.”

I stood to my feet and gave an amused smile. “Pleasure to meet you, Mrs…um…Spencer’s mom.”

I realized I didn’t know what his last name was, and my face scrunched in horror at my idiotic babbling.

She took my hand and practically snorted as she laughed.

“Mrs. Spencer’s mom? That’s a new one! Nice to meet you, and it’s Marcelo, but Patty is fine. Sheriff and I just happen to have the world’s best son together. I carry his last name, but we ain’t married, just filling you in before the gossips do.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I just—”

She winked at me playfully. “All good, love, forget it. What can I get ya?”

I sat down again with bright red cheeks and ran my palm over my face. “Um, what do you suggest?”

“She’ll have the same as me, Mom,” he cut in with a sharp snap.

His mother smiled lovingly at him. “Two burgers with everything and thick chocolate shakes, coming up.”

“Oh, sorry,” I quickly interrupted, “I’m not a fan of chocolate, do you have banana?”

They both scrunched their faces at me, the same look everyone gave me when they found out I wasn’t particularly fond of chocolate. “Sure, love, banana it is.”

“Why, do you not like chocolate?” he asked incredulously.

“I suppose…I’m sweet enough, won’t that satisfy your curiosity?” He shook his head side to side with an amused smirk on his face—it was the first sign of humor and I enjoyed it.

“No, well, my mother has an extremely rare allergy to the cocoa bean. It’s almost unheard of and most medical professionals don’t believe it even exists, claiming it’s other ingredients. She seriously hurt herself attempting to prove it. Thankfully, it was not passed on but having grown up without chocolate, I never really acquired a taste for it.”

“Wow, that’s a weird story,” he commented.

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat. “I’m a weird person,” I shrugged.

“So weirdo, why are you here? You on the run? Should I handcuff you now in case you make a break for it?” I creased my forehead at his choice of words—the idea of being handcuffed did nothing to control the blasting heat radiating off of me.

“I wish my life was that exciting. No, I lost my job when the bakery closed down and couldn’t find any more work, so my uncle suggested here.”

“Just you?” That was rather personal. Why was he prying so much?

“Why?”

“Why am I asking? Or you don’t want to say?”

“Why are you asking?”

“Curiosity. This isn’t exactly an exciting town.”

“I refuse to rely on welfare to survive. ~Exciting~ was not exactly what I was looking for, more…financial stability.”

“So, you move here on your own?”

“No, not just me.” Here it is, the moment all men run for the hills, “I have a seven-year-old son.”

He nodded slowly as if digesting my words carefully. Any moment now he’ll get an “emergency call” or remember a “business meeting” he had to get to. “Nice, you have a son. What about the father?”

I wasn’t expecting that question. “Huh? H-h-he jumped ship the moment I found out I was pregnant,” I replied slowly, trying to understand why he hadn’t hightailed it.

“So you’ve been alone for seven years?” His tone indicated surprise.

I turned away in horrific abashment, spotting the bathroom sign. Yes, I had been alone for seven years. Being a mom with a child didn’t exactly have the men lining up for my number.

“Excuse me.” I removed myself, unable to meet his eyes, and walked into the restrooms, trying to regain my composure at having my private life so questionably examined by someone I just met.

This was not my idea of fun. Did I wish things had turned out differently with Levi’s dad? Of course, but that wasn’t in the cards for me.

I had resigned myself to watching love from the background instead of experiencing it firsthand. I guess I was okay with that, as long as Leivon was happy and got to live a life full of love.

I returned a little while later, still unable to look him in the eyes. The food and drinks were waiting for us when I sat down. “This looks lovely,” I mumbled more to the food than him.

Spencer reached over and collected my hand, running his thumb along my knuckles. The sparks that flew across my skin where he touched so intimately were crippling.

“I’m sorry for my behavior, questions fly out my mouth when trying to suss out someone, it’s my job.” The hair on the back of my neck rose when he spoke.

I finally looked up, meeting his furrowed brow. “No, I’m sorry.” I extracted my hand feeling self-conscious and uneasy about how my body responded so lustfully to him.

“I get I haven’t done a lot with my life, being a young mom at seventeen there weren’t a lot of options open to me and yes, I have been alone for a long time, raising my son on my own and the few men I have been on dates with, the mention of a kid and they run as fast as they can.

I’m not someone that needs to be sussed out, I’m boring, my son comes first and ensuring his happiness and future is the most important thing in the world to me. I’m not used to people asking me personal questions, especially those I just met a few minutes ago.”

“I get it, though I would like to say that I think it’s admirable and clearly shows you’ve sacrificed a lot for your child. From now on, I’ll be more respectful of your personal life. It’s kind of hard to switch off the deputy sheriff role.”

He gave me a tight smile. “New subject, what do you do for fun?”

We spent the next thirty minutes talking and laughing about other subjects. He had the most enchanting laugh. It was nice to have someone to talk to, even if it wasn’t substantial.

Spencer even walked me back to work; his father was still there when we arrived. “Well, thank you for lunch,” I timidly spoke.

“It was my pleasure; I hope we can do it again sometime?” My heart flipped. He was gorgeous. I secretly hoped we would meet again, though I highly doubted it.

I had nothing to offer a man, especially one as incredibly sexy as him. I returned to the stock and continued to unpack, price, and put away the items.

I arrived home just before six to find Uncle Clade and Levi in the kitchen, setting the table. “Hey you two, how was your day?”

“Mommy,” Levi squealed, his tiny arms wrapping around my hips.

That night, as we read our bedtime story, I looked over to see him fast asleep before we had a chance to finish. The poor monster, seems school really tuckered him out.

I kissed his forehead and then switched off the light. Uncle was in his suede recliner watching TV with a beer in hand. “Hey, wanna do something fun next weekend?”

I eyed him suspiciously. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“Let’s have a barbecue? We’ll invite some folks around.”

“Okay, sounds good. It will give me a chance to make a friend.” I wished I would run into Spencer again and then I could invite him to the barbecue. Damn, I shouldn’t follow this train of thought.

“How was work?”

I smiled. “Good, I think it’s really friendly here.”

“Wouldn’t have anything to do with our Deputy Spence and your impromptu lunch date, would it?” I grabbed the couch cushion and hurled it in his direction.

“How much do you know? He was just being…friendly.”

“Yeah, friendly.” He rolled his eyes.

“They all were…”

“Friendly?”

“Yes, welcoming, happy, and caring and—”

He jumped in, “I get it; I get it…”—he held his hands up defensively—“Friendly.”