She keeps her hands firmly at her sides. What I wouldn’t give to drag her aside and demand answers.
“You must be the playboy that I’ve heard so much about,” she practically sneers at him.
Logan spits his water all over the table, getting a little on Connor, who doesn’t notice. The only thing he’s aware of is Harper. This is not good. Retreat, retreat, I want to shout at everyone. Kohen holds my chair out for me, but I don’t sit. I’m too busy watching the car wreck happening right in front of me.
“And you must be the little fireball I’ve heard a lot about.” He rubs his chin with his thumb and index finger. “Do you go by Elizabeth or Tinkerbell these days?” he asks in a condescending tone.
Elizabeth? Who is he talking about? I stare at Harper, wondering why she would give him a different name. She flexes her hand as if she wants to punch him. Not a common response from the ladies when it comes to Connor. They love his easy personality. Then again, he’s usually nice.
We’re halfway through brunch when I finally can’t take it anymore. Everything has gone smoothly, except that Jax refused to pass Kohen the pepper. I steer all conversation away from Jax and Kohen in an effort to keep the peace. I restrain myself from kicking Jax in the shins. Doesn’t Jax realize that he’s being obvious? Luckily Harper and Connor keep the attention on them. They first made it a point to ignore each other, but now they’re egging each other on. The elephant in the room needs to be addressed, now.
“Okay what the hell is going on? Do you two know each other or something?” I demand.
I’m met with silence. My brother coughs, covering his laugh. He has insider information, I know it. Their silence is all the answer I need, but I push anyways. Patience has never been my thing.
“Well?”
“No,” Harper says at the same time Connor says, “Yes.”
She glares at him, but doesn’t elaborate. I cross my arms over my chest. My brother mouths something to Connor, but I can’t catch what he says. I’m a horrible lip reader. Another few awkward minutes pass in silence before Connor sighs dramatically and clears his throat. Harper looks like she is about to punch him.
Raising his mimosa for a toast Connor says, “This one that you call Tinkerbell, Addie, hit me with her car almost a year ago and I haven’t seen her since. Oh, and she also went by Elizabeth back then.” He tilts his champagne flute towards her then to me. “Thanks for making friends with the enemy.”
I was so not expecting that. I was thinking they slept together and he never called her back. Not this! Everyone speaks at once. I sit speechless, gaping at Harper. This is why I’m the only one who sees what she’s about to do. My mouth drops open.
She pours the entire pitcher of water on Connor’s head. Then, to shock us all, she slaps him across the face. I don’t mean a little girl slap you would expect from someone her size, either. Nope, a bitch slap so powerful everyone in the restaurant winces. It’s eerily quiet. I think everyone is too afraid to speak. I know I am. She leans over and whispers something to Connor that nobody else can hear. His jaw pops in anger.
Plastering the fakest smile I’ve ever seen she says, “Your womanizing friend has greatly exaggerated, as I’m sure he does to get women into his bed every night, even though he can’t really perform as he would like everyone to believe.”
Jax and Logan double over in laughter. The kind that shakes their entire bodies. Kohen seems as uncomfortable as I feel. I opt for a smile because I don’t know what’s about to happen. This can go either way. Harper surprises me yet again by standing and collecting her purse. She embraces me.
“I should say I’m sorry, but we both know I would be lying. I have to go though, I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”
She says goodbye to everyone. Connor cleans himself up with the hand towel our waiter brought him.
“Memorable as always, Evans.”
How does she know his last name? Connor looks way too pleased with himself. Why is he smiling? Something is seriously wrong with him. We watch Harper leave the restaurant. Jax gives Connor the third degree before I can.
“That’s her?” he asks.
“Have you seen her since that night?” my brother asks Connor, who nods at Jax.
Okay, clearly I’m the only one out of the loop. Awesome, my favorite place to be. I point the end of my butter knife at Connor’s face and give him my best you’re-going-to-be-dead-if-you-don’t-answer-me look.
“I swear, Connor, if you don’t tell me what the hell just happened, I will not be held responsible for my actions!”
Connor rolls his eyes. “Oh please, Addie, you’ve never been threatening. Now put the knife down before you hurt yourself.”
Gleaming with pride that I got my way, I set down the butter knife and make a show of folding my hands on the table, like an eager child ready to learn.
Glancing at my brother, Connor answers his earlier question. “Yes, this is the first time I’ve seen her since a year ago. I didn’t even know she lived in New York and she has that southern accent so I assumed she was visiting. She never gave me her last name so it’s not like I could track her down.”
He laughs and looks at me. “She didn’t even give me her real name.”
Okay, I’m as confused as can be. Kohen wears a bored expression. How? I have no idea. I can’t believe Harper left without explaining. I listen intently to the rest of Connor’s story.
“I was leaving work one night when the car in front of me smashed into me out of nowhere, then took off without waiting for the light to turn green.”
I clench my teeth. It’s hard not to be upset that Connor never shared this story. Guess we’re not as close as I thought. I make a mental note to bring this up later and focus on not lashing out. She smashed into someone and took off? That hits too close to home. I shake my head. I have no idea how I didn’t know this. How could I be friends with someone who would flee the scene of an accident?
“I did what any rational person would do when someone hits them and takes off. I followed her. I almost got hit by an oncoming car for speeding through the red light, too.”
Connor pauses to collect himself, I’m sure. I squeeze Kohen’s thigh to avoid launching myself at Connor to demand more information.
“I raced in and out of cars until I found the one that hit me. I followed it for an hour out of the city when it finally pulled up to a gas station. I waited until she was already out of the car and pumping gas before I pulled up. I don’t think she realized I was following her, until she saw me pull up to the pump behind her. She screamed when I opened my door, but stopped when she saw me.”
He pauses again and I can tell he’s thinking of what to say next. I swear, if he’s making this up I am going to gut him like a fish. Something’s telling me he isn’t, though.
“She immediately apologized saying that she thought I was someone else. I could tell that she was still freaking out. She kept glancing around as if she were searching for someone. Then she leaned into her car, grabbed her purse and gave me a wad of cash. A wad of hundreds to be exact.”
I eye him closely, looking for any signs of dishonesty. I can’t find any. She did this, she really took off. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it’s hard after everything I went through, what my family went through.
“Being the gentleman that I am, I didn’t take her money. I offered to buy her coffee so she could explain what was going on, but she refused. I told her I wouldn’t let her go until she at least told me her name. She got in her car, rolled down the window and said, ‘Elizabeth’ before she sped away.”
He regards me. “I know what you’re thinking, Addie, but it’s not the same. Don’t make her out to be the bad guy. She needs you. I don’t know what happened, but she was scared that night. Terrified actually. Frightened enough to back into my car at a stop light. She thought I was somebody else. That’s why I spent the majority of last year looking for a ghost. I needed to make sure she was okay.”