Free Spring River Valley: The Winter Collection (Boxed Set) by Clarice Wynter Page B

you later today. All right?”
    “Sure, yes. Any time.”
    She pulled the door open for him, reluctant to let him leave. Why hadn’t she picked a Saturday night to seduce him so he wouldn’t have to rush off at the crack of dawn?
    “Who the hell is this?” Bradley’s voice intruded on their good-bye kiss.
    Harper’s spirits plummeted , and her heart skipped a beat. In an instant all her giddy shamelessness transformed into guilt. This looked bad. Why? She couldn’t explain it. She knew she shouldn’t have had to. “What are you doing here, Brad?”
    He thrust a plump paper bag into her hands. “I was bring ing you bagels and coffee and I was going to suggest we have breakfast together and talk some more. I guess someone beat me to it.” He glared at Grant. “Who the hell are you again?”
    Harper had to give Grant credit for his smooth style. His voice remained perfectly modulated and casual. “I’m Grant ,” he said as if that explained everything.
    Brad shifted his hard gaze to Harper. “Now I get why you were so eager to break things off.”
    “As I recall, I didn’t break things off. You walked out on our wedding. That, in my book, equals breaking things off.”
    “And I suppose Grant here was just waiting in the wings.”
    “Actually we met when she came to pick up the flowers at the catering hall,” Grant offered, his voice still even. He glanced at Harper, a question in his eyes. Should he leave? She didn’t want him to, but she also didn’t need him here to defend her.
    “Oh, so I guess it’s all my fault , then? I threw you two together?”
    “Brad, I thought we’d been through this. It’s not going to work with us. Grant was just leaving , and I think you should too.”
    “So that’s it. You’re just going to walk away and not give me any chance to talk about what happened?”
    Harper’s face had heated to the boiling point. Despite the frigid air sweeping in from outside, her blood was sizzling and not in a good way. She shoved the bagels back into Brad’s gloved hands. “Let’s get one thing straight, Brad. Stop saying ‘what happened.’ It didn’t ‘happen’—you caused it. You walking out on me was not something that just occurred out of the blue like a thunderstorm or a car crash. You made it happen. Let’s use the real words and call it what you did . And I gave you a chance to explain, and you know what? I don’t care about the explanation. It doesn’t matter why you left. You did, and I actually do respect that you had your reasons for doing it. Now it’s your turn to respect the fact that I have my reasons for being glad it ‘happened.’”
    Brad sputtered a few choice words, dropped the bagels on the porch and stormed off. Grant let out a slow breath and slipped his arm around Harper’s shoulders. “I’m sorry about that. Should I have decked him?”
    She deflated, her cheeks cooling. In a second she went from ready to explode to shivering, and she huddled against Grant’s warmth for a moment. “No. Thanks for offering. I didn’t expect him to still want to talk.”
    “Are you okay?”
    She nodded and smoothed his shirt, then tugged the zipper of his own jacket up higher against the winter chill. “I’m fine. It’s all fine.”
    He held her gaze for a minute , and the depth of his stare had her heart rate up again. “I just want to be sure of one thing. That, between you and Brad, looked like it was over, but if it’s not…if there’s still anything there that needs to be resolved, let me know. I’ll stay out of the way.”
    “No. No.” She kissed him once, then again, longer and deeper. “I told him the truth. I’m not trying to make him jealous.” But it had sort of felt good to let Brad see she’d moved on. That thought made her cringe , so she refused to dwell on it.
    “Good. I don’t want to be the guy in the middle. I think we went a little fast, and I would really hate it if we both ended up regretting last night.” He tilted her