Ghostly Issues (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 2) (6 page)

“How else did she know who died? She couldn’t see who was on the ground. The merry-go-round was in the way. Besides, I thought you believed her?”

“I
do
believe her,” Jared said. “I just don’t want to grovel.”

“Well, you’re going to have to get over it,” Mel said. “We need her to try and talk to Derek’s ghost. Right now he’s the only one who knows what happened in that park last night.”

“I guess that means I need to buy some flowers.”

“Don’t forget the candy,” Mel instructed. “You need to make sure you cover all of your bases.”

“Thanks for the tip.”

“Don’t mention it,” Mel said. “While you’re doing that, I’m going to go and see if I can find any of the kids who usually hang out at the park. Someone has to have seen something.”

“For now, that’s all we can do,” Jared agreed. “Just for curiosity’s sake, how do I look?”

Mel scowled. “I don’t care how you look. I’m not going to go out with you.”

“Yes, but would you forgive me if you were a woman?”

“Son, you’re starting to freak me out,” Mel said. “There’s such a thing as being too close.”

Jared sighed. “I’d settle for being just close enough to touch her right now.”

“You’ve got it bad.”

“What was your first clue?”

“That morose look on your face when she stormed off,” Mel replied, not missing a beat. “Now, come on. I need to start asking questions and you need to go and beg a certain blonde for forgiveness. I hate to say it, but she’s looking to be our best shot at getting ahead on this one.”

“You never told me how I look,” Jared prodded.

“You’re a hunk of burning love.”

Jared made a face. “I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”

“Well, I think I handled that well,” Harper announced, striding into the GHI office and dramatically throwing herself in her desk chair. They’d taken the roundabout way back – stopping in the local diner for lunch and a gossip session to see if anyone knew anything about the hoopla at the park – and now they could finally talk about the real afternoon excitement. “That looked cool, right?”

“That looked way cool,” Zander agreed, offering her an enthusiastic thumbs-up. “When you twirled, your hair flew at just the right level. You added that little twitch into your step, too. That was impressive. He had no idea what happened to him.”

“Who had no idea what happened to him?” Molly asked, her fork halfway to her mouth as she ate a salad at the corner table. “I thought you guys were getting ice cream and making up. How did you manage to find drama between here and the ice cream shop?”

“We
did
make up,” Zander announced. “We’re back to being BFFs and acting as a united front. That’s why we’re being extremely dramatic in tandem instead of using it as a weapon against each other.”

“I don’t think we’re being
that
dramatic,” Harper countered.

“Yes, because that little twirl you did wasn’t straight out of
General Hospital
,” Zander countered. “We were dramatic, Harp. It’s a good thing in this case.”

“Why are you being dramatic?” Eric asked, wiping his hands on a napkin as he finished his sandwich in the spot across from Molly. “Why do I think we’re missing huge pieces of the story?”

“Because they haven’t told a story yet,” Molly supplied, causing Eric to roll his eyes.

“Well, for starters, there was a body in the park,” Zander said, launching into his tale. “We got there after the police, but the victim is Derek Thompson. He’s a local teenager and Harper saw his ghost. It’s too soon to tell if he was murdered or accidentally died, though, so we’re going to have to wait until Harper can talk to the ghost to find out more information on that.”

“Derek Thompson,” Molly mused. “That name sounds familiar for some reason.”

“He’s the son of Scott and Kim Thompson,” Zander explained. “They’re euchre buddies with Uncle Mel. You met them at that barbecue he had last fall.”

“Oh, no,” Molly said, her excitement diminishing. “I remember them. They seemed sweet … and the mother couldn’t stop bragging about her son. That’s horrible.”

“It is,” Zander agreed.

“I don’t understand how that leads to you and Harper being dramatic,” Eric prodded. “Was there a scene at the … um … scene?”

Molly smirked at the play on words, a momentary flash of adoration flitting across her face before she sobered.

“Jared is back in town,” Zander announced. “He took one look at Harper and said ‘hi’ like an imbecile, and then she did this really awesome turnaround and flounced away. The only thing that would’ve made it better is if her hair was long enough to whip him in the face.”

Eric frowned. “Jared is back? I hope you told him where to stick it, Harper. He doesn’t deserve you after what he did.”

“I just told you she didn’t speak to him,” Zander replied, narrowing his eyes. “She left him speechless. It was the perfect reintroduction.”

“I like Jared,” Molly said. “He’s really handsome and sweet. I think he has a reason for not calling. I don’t think we should hate him until we know he’s a douchebag.”

“I already know he’s a douchebag,” Eric said. “ Only a douchebag wouldn’t bother to call for ten days.”

The sound of someone knocking on the front door of the office caused everyone to turn, finding Jared standing in the open doorway Harper and Zander forgot to close as they returned. “Is the office still open for douchebags?” Jared asked, tightening his grip on the bouquet of roses he held.

Eric’s cheeks colored as Jared fixed him with a challenging look. “I don’t think we were expecting you,” Eric said, recovering quickly. “If you need to meet with someone, I guess I can clear some time.”

Jared rolled his eyes until they landed on Harper. “I’m here to see her.”

“I don’t think she wants to see you,” Eric said.

“Shh,” Zander commanded, moving closer to Jared and lifting the bouquet so he could study it. “This is an interesting choice. What made you go with purple roses?”

“I didn’t like the red ones because they looked like they were about to die,” Jared replied, never moving his eyes from Harper’s face. “They had pink ones, but I was told those mean friendship and I’m not feeling very friendly.”

“Good choice,” Zander said. “Harper’s not a fan of pink unless it’s really bright and on shoes. What’s in that box you’re carrying?” Zander zeroed in on Jared’s other hand, where he clutched a velvet heart-shaped box.

Jared handed the candy over. “It’s caramel. Make sure you save some of that for Harper.”

“No promises,” Zander said, tearing open the box. “Okay, Harp, I approve of his gifts. You may go outside and speak to him, but don’t forget what I told you about the proper bribe for me when you’re out there.”

Jared wrenched his eyes away from Harper and watched Zander pop a chocolate heart into his mouth. “Why am I bribing you? I’m here to bribe her.”

“I’m the way to her heart.”

“Whatever,” Jared muttered, turning back to Harper. “Can we talk outside?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Eric answered for Harper, causing her to make a face. “She’s decided that you’re out of her life.”

“No one asked you,” Jared shot back. “I’m here to talk to Harper and I’m not leaving until I do. Now, if I have to do it in front of all of you, I will. It’s going to be unpleasant, though, and if any of you say one thing I don’t like I’m going to arrest you.”

“On what charge?” Zander challenged.

“Annoying me,” Jared replied, not missing a beat.

Harper sighed. “Fine. We can go outside to talk. I don’t think this is going to end how you think it’s going to end, though.”

“Way to be strong, Harp,” Zander said. “Do not give in until he cooks us both dinner and buys an expensive bottle of wine to make up for his gross negligence in the boyfriend department.”

Harper’s cheeks colored as she got to her feet, causing her to avert her eyes. “He wasn’t my boyfriend.”

Jared studied her a moment, frustrated. He didn’t know what annoyed him more: having to grovel in front of people, having to pretend he didn’t notice the way Eric’s predatory eyes moved up and down Harper’s lithe body, or the way Harper refused to refer to him as her boyfriend. Actually, all three of those things bothered him.

“No, I
am
her boyfriend,” Jared said, taking himself by surprise with his fortitude. “We’re just having a … misunderstanding.”

Harper scowled and moved toward the front door, grumbling as she walked. “Misunderstanding my ass,” she muttered. “Ten days without one call is not a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding is accidentally forgetting to call at lunchtime when you say you’re going to and not remembering until it’s almost time for dinner. It’s not forgetting a person existed for ten days straight.”

Jared followed her, the inclination to shake her and kiss her warring for supremacy. He’d almost forgotten how cute she was. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. He cast a look over his shoulder and focused on Zander as he reached to shut the door behind them. “I’ll be taking her home after this,” he said. “Whatever dinner thing you have planned, I’ll handle when this Derek Thompson case is solved.”

“I want steak and red-skinned potatoes.”

“Fine,” Jared said. “You’d better be on my side when she starts complaining about me. I have a feeling this isn’t going to be over as fast as I would like.”

“I’m always on your side,” Zander replied.

“Don’t eat all of that candy,” Jared warned. “It was expensive and she should get at least once piece.”

“Oh, she’s been mainlining candy since you forgot she existed,” Zander said. “I’m sure she’ll survive.”

Jared scowled and slammed the office door as he left, cringing when Harper swiveled and placed her hands on her hips.

“What do you want?”

Jared knew he was supposed to be cowering in fear and begging, but there was something so appealing about Harper and her simple blue jeans and T-shirt that he was momentarily lost in thought. “What?”

“God, you forgot about me when you were standing across from me,” Harper snapped, shaking her head.

“I did not forget about you,” Jared argued. “I … made a mistake.”

“Oh, wow, thanks for the news flash,” Harper deadpanned. “I’ll alert the media.”

Jared ran his tongue over his teeth. “You have a right to be angry.”

“Thank you for your permission.”

Jared rubbed his hand over the top of his hair, completely dumbfounded how to handle this situation. Mel was right when he said he had no idea what he was doing. Jared was at a loss. He knew he wanted to make things better. He just didn’t know how.

For lack of anything better to do, Jared extended the flowers so Harper could take them. “I know you’re supposed to get red in a situation like this, but I didn’t like the look of the red ones,” he said. “The purple reminded me of you for some reason.”

Harper took the flowers, her eyes widening as she looked them over. “You must have spent a fortune on these.”

“I had no idea flowers were so expensive. You’re the first person I’ve ever bought them for.”

“How did you know purple was my favorite color? Did Zander tell you?” Harper asked, her blue eyes sharp as they studied his face.

“No. I honestly … for some reason those were the ones I liked so I went with my gut,” Jared replied. “I … .” He broke off, conflicted.

Harper waited.

“I’m sorry,” Jared said, gritting the words out. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Harper’s cheeks flooded, burning as shame washed over her. “You didn’t hurt me. I … that’s ridiculous. Who said you hurt me? I didn’t say that.”

Jared pursed his lips. “It’s obvious I hurt you,” he said. “I didn’t mean to. I … don’t have an excuse except I wanted you to call me. When you didn’t, I felt like an idiot and it was too late to call you without looking like an ass. I figured we would just catch up when I got back.”

“Huh. Well … I guess we’re caught up,” Harper said, making to move back into the office. “Have a nice day.”

“Don’t walk away from me,” Jared ordered, softening his voice when he caught sight of the murderous look on her face. “I really am sorry. This is the last thing I wanted.”

“What did you want?”

“I wanted a chance to go on a date with you before I got called out of town and screwed everything up.”

Jared’s answer was honest and earnest, and despite her best intentions, Harper felt her resolve melting. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It
does
matter.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Harper argued. “I thought … it doesn’t matter what I thought.” She regrouped. “I’m glad your mother is doing better. I’m sorry you had to come home to a murder. I … thank you for the flowers.”

Jared knit his eyebrows together. “Is that it?”

“That’s it. You may go.”

“Not bloody likely.” Jared grabbed the front of Harper’s shirt, taking her by surprise, and planted a scorching kiss on her lips.

She thought about fighting him, but her body wouldn’t let her. She leaned into the kiss, causing him to pull her flush against his chest. Neither one of them made a move to come up for air, instead losing themselves in each other and ten days of building anticipation.

“OH, MAN!”
Eric made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. “I can’t believe she fell for flowers and chocolate.”

“I told you,” Zander said, smirking as he popped another caramel heart into his mouth. “They’re an attractive couple. I can’t wait to see him with his shirt off.”

Molly giggled, stepping between Eric and Zander and watching Harper and Jared make out on the sidewalk in front of the office. “Do you think they’re officially back on?”

Zander shook his head. “I’ve got twenty bucks that says Jared assumes everything is peachy and Harper punishes him for another twenty-four hours.”

Eric looked hopeful. “Maybe she’ll realize he’s a bad kisser and dump him right now.”

Molly rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t look like a bad kisser.”

“He’s not a bad kisser,” Zander said. “Harper told me she saw stars when he finally kissed her.”

“Ugh.” Eric looked as if he wanted to throw up.

“They’re cute,” Zander said, smiling fondly at his best friend. “Too bad it’s going to be at least one more day of drama before they’re officially lovey-dovey again.”

“I think it’s going to be fun,” Molly said. “Harper deserves to have her heart flip. She’s waited a long time for someone like Jared to come along.”

“I just hope he cooks me a good dinner,” Zander said. “The only way I’m officially getting back on his side is if he wows me with a delicious steak.”

“This sucks,” Eric muttered.

“Get over it,” Zander instructed. “They fit together. I like him. He makes her smile. She deserves everything he’s going to bring to her life.”