The Deputy's Unexpected Family. Patricia Johns
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Название: The Deputy's Unexpected Family
Автор: Patricia Johns
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
isbn: 9781474085557
isbn:
Harper hesitated, then sighed. What other option did she have? At least there wasn’t an audience for this meeting. She headed toward the closed door Bryce indicated, and looked back to get his confirmation it was the right room. Then she tapped on the door and pushed it open.
Gabe wasn’t alone in the room as expected, and Harper stopped short. There was a woman with him, and Gabe was leaning on the edge of a counter, facing her. His warm gaze was locked on her face, and he was laughing softly about something. The woman—Harper recognized her as an officer, but she wasn’t in uniform—was staring at him adoringly.
Yeah—not much had changed around here. Harper felt a rise of anger that she couldn’t quite explain. What should it matter to her if he was flirting around town again?
“Sorry to interrupt,” Harper said curtly, and both Gabe and the woman turned toward her.
“Not at all,” she said. “My shift is over anyway. I’d better get home.” The woman rose to her feet and leaned in, kissing Gabe on the cheek. “You’re one in a million, Gabe. You know that, right?”
“Of course,” Gabe said with a playful shrug. “But it’s nice to hear all the same.”
“You...” The woman shook her head. “Good night. I’m going home.”
“Good night, Tammy.”
Tammy nodded to Harper as she headed out of the room, and Harper stared at Gabe in mild disgust. It didn’t take him long to work the field, did it? She didn’t know why this bothered her so much—because she was being proven right, after all—but it did.
“What are you doing here?” Gabe asked, and Harper raised an eyebrow. He frowned. “What?”
“Same old Gabe Banks,” she said, wishing she sounded a little less bitter than she did.
“That?” He hooked a thumb toward the half-open door. “First of all, you don’t have a right to question anything I do. Second, don’t judge a situation before you know what’s going on.”
“I’m not asking,” Harper replied. “You’re right. Not my business.”
Gabe eyed her for a moment, then sighed. “I should have come back into the store.”
“Yes, you should have.” But coming here had been a mistake. She could feel it already. These were his stomping grounds, not hers, and she’d probably see more than she wanted to. Gabe might be Zoey’s dad, but he wasn’t anything more to Harper, so she’d better start appreciating those boundaries now.
“I was around, you know,” he said. “I didn’t just leave you there without police supervision.”
“That would have been nice to know,” she said.
“I’m sorry if you felt...unsafe.” His voice lowered. “I was there. I’m not proud of how I handled that, and I think I owe you an apology.”
There was his charm again—but charm wasn’t going to be enough here.
“It’s okay. I get that I dropped a bomb on you. I came by tonight because I was worried.” She glanced in the direction Tammy had left. “Although I probably shouldn’t have bothered.”
A humored smile tickled his lips. “I’m a big boy now, Harper.”
“Actually, I was more worried about Zoey,” she retorted. “Obviously, you can fend for yourself. You always have.”
Gabe ignored the inference and sighed. “Did you tell Zoey about me? I’d assumed you wouldn’t—not yet, at least.”
“No, no, I haven’t told her,” Harper replied. “But this does concern her, doesn’t it? You’re her father, and if you don’t want to be in her life, I can live with that.” In some selfish part of her heart, she might even be hoping for it, she realized. “But I need to know where you stand on all of this.”
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