Breathless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires #1) (15 page)

Will had surprised her, though, hadn’t he? All those weeks ago, she’d assumed he would be just a rich man in a fast car, only a slight step up from the father of the teenage boy who’d run Jeremy down. But that wasn’t Will at all.

Was it possible that his friends would surprise her, too?

Maybe it was the beautiful night. Maybe it was the beautiful sex. Maybe it was how exhausting it was to keep holding up those heavy walls all the time.

Or maybe it was the way Will looked at her with such hope, as if her attending his party was the most important thing in the world.

Whatever the reason, she suddenly smiled and said, “A Memorial Day barbecue sounds great. I can’t wait to meet the rest of your friends.”

Will couldn’t stop staring at Harper as she chatted out by the pool with Evan’s wife, Whitney, and Whitney’s sister Paige. Harper was gorgeous in her bathing suit and matching wrap skirt, but trumping even his need for her was his pleasure at having her there with him and his closest friends.

He wished Evan could feel the same way about his own wife, although that was near impossible when Whitney had been engrossed in her cell phone the entire time she’d been at the barbecue. She had looks that turned most men stupid and as far as Will could tell, she’d been exploiting that her entire life. Her sister, Paige, on the other hand, was the sweet girl next door, the opposite of Whitney in every way, except for the auburn hair. It was hard to believe the two women had been raised by the same parents.

His pulse rate jumped when Harper came to join his conversation with the guys. Well, mostly with Jeremy, who held center stage. Will had to hand it to Harper’s brother—he definitely wasn’t shy.

“I deliver all the mail.” Jeremy mimed pushing the cart. “I stack everyone’s mail in order of where they sit on my route. I pass out supplies on my way, too, like pens and Post-its and binder clips and stuff. And I haven’t gotten any of the deliveries wrong, have I, Will?”

“You’ve nailed them all.”

“And when there’s a big meeting,” Jeremy added with a grin, “I make the coffee and go down to the bagel shop. I get a bunch of different bagels and the stuff for the bagels. Like cream cheese.”

Harper had been a little worried when she’d first heard about that duty, afraid Jeremy would be in charge of money and have to account for discrepancies. But she’d ended up agreeing that more responsibility was good for her brother, and so far, Jeremy hadn’t had any trouble with it.

“Those are really important tasks,” Matt said with a seriousness that made Jeremy beam.

Will had known that his friends would see the same things in Jeremy that he did—including his enthusiasm and perpetually upbeat attitude.

“With all those bagels, no wonder Will here is getting fat.” Sebastian pushed up his sunglasses and looked at Will’s waistline.

“Up yours.” Will
thwapped
his towel at him.

Sebastian fended it off and gave him the finger behind his hand so Jeremy wouldn’t notice.

“Will’s not fat,” Jeremy said. “Every day when I get to work, he’s just coming out of the gym. We’ve got machines in the office that anyone can use. It’s so cool. I lifted weights there yesterday after lunch.”

Will liked Jeremy’s use of the word
we
. It meant Jeremy felt like he’d become a part of the place. Which was exactly what Will had hoped for.

Daniel, who had clearly been playing with the power tools his company was famous for, given the new bandage on his hand, cut in. “That’s one badass car you’re building, too.”

“It’s the coolest car ever made.” Jeremy’s mouth was round with pleasure.

All the Mavericks made approving male noises.

Will and Jeremy had conducted a tour earlier. He’d let Jeremy lead the guys through, pointing out critical components. Will had helped a bit and his friends had done the rest by asking the right questions, which fed Jeremy the answers when he couldn’t find the words he wanted.

“So this is the intake manifold?” Daniel would ask, and Jeremy would nod heartily.

Harper had stayed by the pool during the tour, watching out for Noah, Matt’s kid, who had the same dark hair, blue eyes, and the potential for a frame as tall and broad as his father’s. The boy’s mother was out of the picture, and at five, the little guy had already gone through six nannies. Will would have razzed Matt about the reasons for his quick nanny turnover rate had he not seen how hard it made things on his friend.

Noah was now playing in the paddling pool Will had installed especially for him. A big plastic ball sailed across the pool deck, and Will stopped it with his foot. “Hey, Noah, I think you might have the makings of a quarterback.”

He kicked the ball up and caught it. A few steps from Noah’s pool, he gave it a gentle toss and watched the ball plop in the water when Noah missed it. Wading into the pool, Will scooped up the ball again. “Hold up your hands like this.” Noah threw out his arms in imitation. “Now get ready. I’m gonna throw it. Wait for it, wait for it—” He leaned forward, getting close, and executed a soft underhand shot right into Noah’s hands.

The guys clapped and hooted, especially Matt, who loved his kid to pieces. Harper and Paige clapped, too. Whitney, however, never even glanced up from her phone.

“That was great,” Will said. “Now throw it back to me.”

The ball flew wild again, though Will wasn’t sure exactly how that was possible since he was only two steps away. When the ball rolled over to Harper’s feet, she picked it up and tossed it back to them.

Will caught it, but even as he passed it back to Noah, he was drinking Harper in again. She was special. She was perfect. And she was too good for him.

But Will was hoping that he could forget about that last part if he tried hard enough.

* * *

Will was so good with Noah. Just the way he was with Jeremy. Always praising, complimenting, building up rather than tearing down.

He would make an awesome father someday.

Not that she had any business thinking about him that way, of course. But Harper still felt a lump of emotion well up in her throat. Emotion that grew with every kind thing the Mavericks said to Jeremy at the barbecue and the realization that Will’s closest friends had gone out of their way to make her and Jeremy feel like part of their family.

They were an amazing group. Will, of course, was totally sexy in a pair of black swim trunks. His black T-shirt emphasized his muscles, the width of his shoulders, and his broad chest. She had to repeatedly remind herself not to drool. Honestly, she was glad he was the only one wearing a shirt by the pool, because if he’d taken his off like the rest of the men, she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to control herself around him.
That’s
what he did to her—made her lose control again and again and again.

Noah’s dad, Matt Tremont, was a leading manufacturer of robotics equipment. He was huge with rippling muscles. And he gazed at his son with such adoration. She couldn’t help but wonder where Noah’s mother was.

Sebastian Montgomery was the TV media mogul. She’d expected some smooth-talking salesman, but Sebastian slouched in his chair, legs spread as he watched Noah and Will. “If you’re going to teach Noah, you gotta learn how to throw right,” he called out to Will. He was the tallest of them all, probably six-three, and his sable hair, chocolate-brown eyes, and chiseled features were even more mesmerizing up close than they were on camera. Still, she didn’t think he held a candle to Will.

“If you think you can do better, get over here.” Will held up the ball while Noah squealed for another free throw.

“There isn’t room enough for both of us in that pool,” Sebastian shot back.

“You’re just worried you won’t do any better,” Daniel said. He grinned at Harper and told her, “Sebastian always sucked at sports.”

Daniel Spencer owned a nationwide chain of home improvement stores and produced a TV show on do-it-yourself remodeling. With dark, wavy hair and some really impressive muscles, Daniel was a mountain-man type. Someone had mentioned during the course of the afternoon that he was building his own cabin near Tahoe.

“I didn’t suck,” Sebastian said mildly. “I just figured I might as well let you win at
something
.”

Daniel laughed, taking the ribbing good naturedly. “Still can’t get over that game back in high school where we all piled on you just outside the touchdown zone, can you?”

They called themselves the Mavericks, and they constantly gave each other a hard time. Yet Harper could see the incredibly strong bond between them, along with the way no offense was ever taken. Their connection went right through to the way they all looked after Noah. He wasn’t just Matt’s son, he was precious to all of them, and she had the sense they would each protect him with their lives.

Evan Collins, however, wasn’t quite like the rest. Not that he didn’t belong—he was just as handsome and big and strong as the other Mavericks—but he was quieter and didn’t always join in the banter. Harper wondered if his wife could be the reason. She’d tried to like Whitney, but it wasn’t an easy task. Evan’s wife seemed to wear her sunglasses so she wouldn’t have to waste time actually looking anyone in the eye, and her mouth didn’t seem to be made for smiling. Not even for Noah’s super cute antics.

Of course, just as Harper was thinking uncharitable thoughts about her, Whitney made her presence known. Or maybe it was because she hadn’t been getting the attention she felt she deserved.

Holding up her glass, she waggled it in the air and called out, “Evan, darling, I need another margarita.” She continued texting with one hand.

“I’ll get it,” Jeremy said.

Just as he did at work, if there was something someone needed, her brother jumped to do it. Whitney was the only one who hadn’t said a word to him, so maybe he felt he needed to prove himself to her.

Whitney pulled her sunglasses down to look at Harper over the rims. It was quite possibly the first time the woman had made eye contact with her. “Can he do it?”

Harper tightened her lips for just a second.
Be polite.
“Yes, he’s perfectly capable of pouring you a margarita out of a pitcher.”

“All right then.” Whitney pushed her sunglasses to the bridge of her nose and handed the glass to Jeremy. “Not too much ice,” she said with a false note of sweetness in her tone.

But Harper doubted there was an ounce of sweetness in her. Yet there
had
to be a story as to why Evan Collins was even with this woman.

“I put the pitcher of margaritas in the fridge,” Evan told Jeremy. It wasn’t the first time Whitney had demanded a refresher.

“Thanks, Evan,” Jeremy said in his overloud outdoor voice.

Harper felt Will’s eyes on her and glanced up to see him smiling at her. The rest of the guys had gone quiet. Even Noah had dropped down on his butt in the water. Almost as if Whitney’s voice were a sponge that sucked all the fun out of the air.

Thankfully, conversation resumed as Jeremy skipped to the bar. Sebastian pushed up from his seat and kicked off his deck shoes. He hunkered down at the edge of the kiddie pool and asked Noah, “How about a swim?”

“Yay!” Noah crowed.

Each of the Mavericks had been taking turns throughout the day teaching Noah to swim. He could tread water for at least a minute, and he didn’t panic if his head went under. Harper remembered teaching Jeremy to swim when he was a little boy, and she smiled as Will lifted Noah out of the small pool and secured his water wings.

No question about it, he would make an awesome dad. And if she’d been able to pay attention to anything but Will, his laughter, his smile, then maybe she might have noticed Jeremy returning at a run with Whitney’s cocktail in his hand. She looked over at him just as his foot caught on a flagstone, and the tall glass lurched, splashing the contents all over Whitney.

“Look what you did!” Whitney’s glare skewered Jeremy. “This swimsuit is one of a kind couture!”

“I’m sorry,” Jeremy whispered, clutching the plastic margarita glass to his chest, getting his shirt all wet. He backed away, out of the line of fire.

Whitney turned on Harper. “Sorry isn’t good enough.”

“It was an accident,” Harper said. She wouldn’t humiliate Jeremy by apologizing for a simple accident. Though later, when they were alone, she’d remind him about running with anything in his hand. “I’ll be happy to pay for it if it’s ruined.” Even if it was likely worth more than she made in a month.

“You said he could handle it,” Whitney snapped.

“Whitney, enough!” Evan stepped in between them. “It was an accident. Jeremy didn’t mean any harm. So back off. Now.”

Whitney turned her glare on her husband. Her nostrils flared, and her lips turned ugly with tension. “If my own husband could have bothered to get me a drink, then none of this would have happened.”

Evan stepped forward, his feet right along the edge of a flagstone as if it were a battle line drawn between them. Paige jumped in before either combatant crossed it.

“It’ll wash out, Whit,” she said, in a mediator’s tone. A psychologist, Paige was pleasant and chatty in a let’s-fill-any-awkward-silences kind of way. “I’ve got that book that tells how to get out just about any stain. Although I don’t think margarita mix even stains.”

“Fine,” Whitney snapped. “You can wash it for me.”

“Whitney.” Paige said her sister’s name softly, but firmly. “I think it’s time for us to thank Will for a great barbecue and head home.”

Harper itched to take her down a peg—a hundred pegs would be even better—and she was glad to see Paige stand up to her sister.

Anger lines stretched past the frames of Whitney’s sunglasses. She tossed her cell phone into the bag beside her chair. “Good idea. I can’t wait to clean up and forget about this whole day.” Whitney threw on the see-through flowered cover-up that matched her swimsuit and slipped her feet into high-heeled sandals.

Harper glanced over her shoulder, realizing that Will had climbed out of the pool and was now standing close enough to Jeremy to put his hand on his shoulder. Sebastian stood beside Will, holding Noah in his arms. Daniel and Matt flanked Evan. Battle positions.

Evan didn’t look at all happy about leaving, with a muscle in his jaw jumping as he stared at his wife. But he was clearly too much of a gentleman to send her home without him. Besides, continuing the fight in front of everyone would put a damper on the whole group, and Evan would care about that, too, Harper was sure.

“All right,” Evan said, his voice clipped and tight. “I’ll take you home, Whitney. Paige, are you sure you don’t want to stay?”

“I can drive you home later,” Daniel offered.

But she simply shook her head. For some crazy reason, Harper had the sense that Paige didn’t want to leave Evan alone with his own wife. “Thanks for having me, Will. It was great to meet you, Harper and Jeremy.”