Take Me Now (The Knight Brothers 3.5)

She and Emily couldn’t be more different, Harper with her dark hair, wide hips and bigger frame, Emily with her soft blonde hair, lithe body, and beautiful face. But Harper loved her best friend.

“Bye, Em! See you Monday!” Harper called out.

“Bye! Text me!”

The noise of pans and tins falling sounded from the kitchen and Harper laughed as she walked out of the shop and headed to her car parked on the street.

As she opened the door to her car, her gaze drifted across the street where Matt stood in front of the open double garage doors, wiping his hands on what looked like an old greasy rag. When she realized she even found that action sexy, she knew she had a problem.

Jerking her stare away, she climbed into her navy compact car, settling herself in for the three-hour drive. She ran through everything she’d packed, and certain she was set, she put the key in the ignition and turned it on. The car chugged to life, making an unusual sound that she’d never heard before.

Instinct had her looking Matt’s way only to see him watching her, a frown on his handsome, bearded face.

“Dammit.” She shut the motor off and tried again … and heard the same noise.

Though it made sense to let Matt check things out, checking meant her seeing him, seeing him meant her talking to him, talking to him meant listening to him grunt as if he was merely tolerating what she had to say until he finished his job.

No thank you.

She let the car run for a few long seconds, relieved when the vehicle mellowed out and sounded normal once more. Unable to help herself, she looked across the street again.

Matt had started to walk towards her. Of course, he was worried about her car, she thought. Annoyed by the prospect that it took a motor problem to get him to come to her, she put her vehicle in drive and pulled away, leaving him in the middle of the street, staring at her taillights as she disappeared from view.

She’d barely covered one block when her cell phone rang. She glanced down to see his business name flash on the screen. Although they weren’t friends per se, he was the only garage in town, so of course, he had her number.

She answered on speaker. “What?” she asked, knowing she was being rude and her parents had taught her better.

“I don’t like the sound of your car, Harper. Why don’t you turn around and let me take a look at the engine before you leave for the weekend,” Matt said.

She frowned, ignoring the trip of her heart at the sound of her name on his lips. “How do you know I’m going away?”

“Your uncle mentioned it when he was in the shop with his truck.” Her retired uncle used to own the hardware store before selling to a man about ten years older than Harper who had moved to the area with his family.

Small town and uncle with loose lips, she thought, her ire building. “I’m on a tight schedule. There’s a late lunch with other shop owners I want to make it to.”

Matt muttered something to himself and she thought she heard the word stubborn in there. “Then promise you’ll call me if you have a problem.”

“Yeah, okay. Thanks,” she said, softening her tone. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t reciprocate her feelings.

“Have a good trip,” he said in a gruff voice before disconnecting the call.

She’d have a great trip if she could put all these feelings behind her. She couldn’t deny his good manners or caring personality. Would she be so crazy for him otherwise? But he didn’t see her, he never had. And that truth only fed into the insecurities she’d possessed ever since she realized she was bigger than the other girls, and when her curves had developed at an earlier pace and had been much more pronounced than her friends.

She tried not to wonder whether that was why Matt wasn’t interested in her, but she’d also dated enough men to know she was a pretty enough woman with a personality they’d enjoyed.

It’s not you, it’s me. The line she’d used to end more than last night’s relationship. And that’s what Matt would probably say to her if confronted with the fact that Harper wanted him.

She wanted his muscular arms wrapped around her and his full lips coming down hard on hers. She yearned to feel the scratch of his beard on her cheeks and between her thighs. In fact, she desired him to the point where she had full-on erotic dreams starring the man. She wriggled uncomfortably in her seat, her body coming to life at the thought of being with Matt.

But thoughts and dreams were all she’d ever have.

Maybe she’d meet a guy on this trip, she mused, in an attempt to be more optimistic and to lighten her mood. A sexy barista who shared her love of coffee and classic rock and who found her curves the hottest thing he’d ever seen.