Shattered Vows (The Denton Family Legacy Book 2) (4 page)

“You’ve never heard of the Denton name?”

“Nope. Well, apart from it being above the casino last night.”

“You don’t know anything else?”

She crossed her fingers over her heart. “Nothing.”

He paused, staring at her. “You are a different girl.”

“Your brother said as much last night.”

“I know you don’t want to hear it, but I’m a much better choice than Damian.”

“You don’t like your brother?” she asked.

“I like him. I just think he’s a lazy ass who does as little as possible.”

She laughed. “That’s pretty much the definition of lazy.”

“So it is.” He offered his hand. “Care to join me?”

“Can we walk to where we’re eating?”

Abel lowered his hand. “You don’t trust me.”

She took a deep breath. “Do you have a sister?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. How would you feel if a guy not only grabbed her ass on the first meeting, but then proceeded to concern her by constantly staring, and freaking her out? Then, out of the blue send her flowers to an address she didn’t give him. Finally, turn up at her workplace, offering to take her to dinner?”

Harper saw he was struggling to contain his anger at the very thought.

“I’d tell her she was clearly lucky to have a guy so devoted to her.”

“Oh, my God, you are a liar, Abel Denton.” She laughed, watching as he gave in as well.

“You’re right. I do see it from your point. So we’ll walk to the restaurant. It’s only a few minutes’ walk from here.”

“I can take my bag. I’ll catch a cab after we eat.”

“No, not at all. If walking makes you feel safe, then walking is what we will do.”

She tilted her head to the side, looking at him. “I have to say I do think there is certainly more to you than meets the eye, Mr. Denton.”

“Damn, that has me so hard right now.”

Heat filled her cheeks. Being a virgin, it wasn’t often, in fact, ever that she heard that phrase.

“Shit, I’m not a sex maniac or a rapist or anything.”

“This isn’t helping. Don’t worry about it. You were making progress.”

He reached out to take her hand, and this time, she took it. Harper liked how big and comforting his hand was. Glancing down, she felt small, fragile almost. In that second, they were the only two people on the planet, and neither of them could get away, not that she even wanted to.

It was like a connection had struck between them, and no matter what, neither of them was going to leave.

She loved it.

Chapter Four

In the Italian restaurant that they owned, Abel eased out the chair, making sure the maître d’ couldn’t touch his woman. No one was touching Harper but him. Listening to her back at her office, he’d felt this flowing connection with her, and knew that he was going to spend the rest of his life loving her. He just knew it. He wasn’t being cocky; this was his woman. Plain and simple.

“Thank you,” Harper said.

He placed her bag beneath the table and took a seat opposite her. She had removed her jacket, showing off the white crop top shirt she wore beneath. No wonder she wore the jacket at work. The lawyer she worked for would have shit a brick if he saw what she was wearing. James Summers was a damn good lawyer, and the irony was, he represented several of the Dentons’ projects.

“This is a really nice place. I think I should do a search on your name or something.”

“Don’t. Don’t do that.” She didn’t have a clue what the Denton name was, or what they did. He wasn’t ready for her to find out the truth and for it to ruin the progress he’d already made with her.

He wanted her in a way he never wanted any other woman. When he got home last night, he’d climbed in the shower and scrubbed every single inch of his body to wipe the memory of Deidre from his skin.

“Why not?”

“What about a little mystery? That way, you can judge me yourself.”

“I like that. Okay. No internet searches or anything. I can live with being in the dark, providing you’re honest with me.”

“I can be honest.” He hoped so. Tonight he was going to have to talk to his father, maybe even his mother. She was in a bad mood lately, thanks to Landon being an ass in school. All their mother ever asked for was that they kept their heads down, got good grades, and graduated without a problem. Landon was proving to be difficult. What his little brother didn’t know was that if he kept on being difficult, his place within the Denton line wouldn’t be all that comfortable. If their father couldn’t trust him, he wouldn’t be working for Denton, or he’d be on bar duty.

Maddox Denton was a fair man.

You earned your place in the family line. There were no double standards to him. Each one of his sons had to earn the respect of their employees, and to be fair to all.

“I like that. It’s nice to know that you can be.” She smiled at him. “This is a really nice place.”

“You do like Italian, right?”

“Of course. I love it. Who doesn’t love Italian food?”

“Can I marry you?” he asked. This woman was just proving to him that she was exactly right for him.

“Yeah, marriage proposals are a bit weird right now. We’ve known each other a day. Don’t you think you’re rushing it?” She winked at him, clearly thinking he was joking. He wasn’t.

“That’s the fun part, you see.” He leaned forward. “If we get married right now, it means we can learn about each other, and it would be fun.” Abel also wouldn’t have to worry about her running from him when she found out exactly what a Denton was.

“That is crazy.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. You can’t expect people to get married when they don’t know if they’re compatible. What if they don’t like each other? Or they like different things in bed?”

“Arranged marriages still go ahead.”

“Doesn’t mean they’re happy,” Harper said. “When I find the right man, I want it to be because we love, care, and respect each other. Oh, and no lies either. I can’t stand lies.”

Abel sat back. “You won’t marry me, not even for an experiment.”

He’d read in her file that she was struggling about what her future could be. The careers advisor who was monitoring her was at the end of his patience. Harper didn’t know what she wanted to do, and was panicking. He saw it, understood it, and wondered how he could best use this side of her to make her fall in love with him. Damn, this was the hardest he’d ever had to work for a woman, and yet she didn’t even feel the same way.

“An experiment?”

“Yeah, how about you marry me, and we see how it goes?”

“I don’t know if you’re serious or not.”

“I am being serious.”

She sat back. “You’re asking me to marry you?”

“I’m asking you to conduct an experiment.” He was really going to do this. Abel was going to try to get her to marry him so that he had her bound to him in some way.

“This is serious.”

“Deadly serious. You’re a college student.”

“How do you know that?”

“My brother found out from Betty.”

“My friends need to learn to stop talking about me when I’m not there.” She smiled.

“It’s no secret you’re in college. My dad wasn’t best impressed to learn you’d gotten into the casino and were underage.”

“You were talking about me with your dad?”

“Oops, maybe. See, we’re perfect together. My folks already know about you.”

“Mine don’t know about you.”

“Then how about I meet them?”

“You want to meet my family?” she asked.

From the full document he had on her, she had three brothers. She was the only daughter and the youngest one. Kind of reminded him of his sister, Tamsin. He loved his little sister.

“Why not? It’ll be a hoot.”

“I’m not ready to take you back home to Mom and Dad. They wouldn’t let me go back to college.”

“And why is that?” he asked.

This time she leaned forward. Her smile was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

“Because you know that you’re handsome, Mr. Denton, and they would worry about their daughter’s well-being.”

“I’d take care of your well-being.” He reached out, taking hold of her hand, and locked their fingers together.

“You just don’t give up, do you?”

“Never. I never step down from a challenge. If I want something, I believe in going after it no matter what.”

“I find that particularly interesting.”

“Good, it’s supposed to be.” He stroked her hand, going to the tip of her fingers. “If I can’t convince you to marry me today, maybe another day.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe so.”

“So, tomorrow is Sunday, and my family has this huge get-together. My oldest brother is back, and I was wondering if you’d like to come.”

Her eyes went wide.

Abel’s heart pounded. Why was he so nervous when it came to her?

“Dinner with your parents?”

“Yes. It should be fun.”

“You really do like to move fast, don’t you?” She hadn’t moved her hand from beneath his, so he considered that progress.

“I’m thirty-three years old. There’s no other way for me to be. I’ve already missed so much.”

Holding her hand up, she shook her head. “I’m twenty.”

“I’ve missed your first kiss, your first everything. Some other guy claimed that, and I wanted it to be me.”

She frowned. “Are all Denton men this possessive?”

“For the right woman, yes.” He was finding it harder to keep his thoughts to himself. “Will you come to lunch? You’ll see that I’m not a creep.”

Harper sighed. “Okay, I will go to lunch with you.”

“Thank you.” He lifted her hand up, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. It was the first of what he hoped were many to come.

****

Abel still held her bag, and Harper walked beside him as they made their way back to her apartment near the campus. Dinner had been wonderful. She actually liked his company, a lot. Considering he was quirky, she found herself enjoying him.

“You didn’t have to walk with me.”

“I wanted to. Besides, it’ll do me good. In case you didn’t notice, I did eat a lot.”

“A hell of a lot.”

“It’s the second best thing next to my mom’s cooking.”

“Your mom can cook?”

“She’s the best damn cook in the city.”

“Talk about a huge compliment.”

“Can you cook?”

“I like to cook. I don’t know if I’d be considered a good one.” She was the one who cooked in their apartment. Lara got bored and overcooked things. Betty only ever cooked with noodles, and ready-made meals. Her mother was one of the best cooks back home, her chili and cornbread recipe being the bomb in their town.

“Is this where you’re being modest?”

“You’ll have to find out.”

It was getting late, and with every step they took, Harper found herself sad that it was all going to be over soon. Even though he’d come across as a bit of a creep, she actually saw there was a lot more to him than that.

“If I have to find out, that must mean I’m getting a second, or even a third date.”

“Do you count seeing your parents as a date?”

“No. If we were on a date, I wouldn’t have to worry about the family photograph albums being pulled out, and everyone getting a chance to stand and laugh.”

“I didn’t even think about that. Were you a cute kid?”

“I thought I was a cute kid. What about you?”

“I was a chunky kid. Not much has changed.”

“I guess I’ll have to check when I visit your parents.”

“You’re determined to still visit my folks?”

“Yep.” He took hold of her hand, and pulled her close. She didn’t move away, and smiled to herself, loving the closeness he was determined to create between them.

He’s a bit weird.

You’re a bit weird.

Just enjoy it.

You thought he was a creep.

A person can change her mind.

“So, college.”

“Yeah, college. It’s fun, right?” Sarcasm dripped from her voice.

“You’re not liking it.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m not liking it. I just think it’s difficult to make a decision.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“You know, I have to pick an actual major, and I find that really difficult. How do they expect me to pick one path? I wonder if it would just be easier if I dropped out, and make my own path.”

“Is that why you’re working for James Summers?”

“Yeah, pretty much. Back home I worked at the diner, in the florist shop, a supermarket. I even worked with teachers at the local high school to see if there was something I really loved. Of course, nothing really stood out. I’m not afraid of hard work. I love working, but it’s just not … inspiring.”

“What are you hoping to achieve with James?”

“You know my boss?”

“Yep. He did mention a little spitfire who got him to hire her. I didn’t realize that it was you.”

“It was me.” She chuckled. “He didn’t want to hire me, but I promised I’d be good. I’m good at keeping a secret.”

“Unless your friends are there.”

“I love my friends, but they are so nosy. You know we were at the casino last night for them to pick up someone to get over an old boyfriend.”

“What about you?”

“I was there because they wanted me to be. I hate heels though. They hurt my feet.” When she got home last night, she’d kicked them off into the corner of her bedroom, determined to never wear them again.

What about tomorrow?

Damn.

“Your parents’ meal tomorrow, how should I dress?”

“Normally. It’s not a special get-together. We always try to make it so at least one Sunday we’re at home. I go every Sunday ‘cause I’m lazy and don’t want to cook my own food.”

“Oh, okay.”

“It’s not something we’re forced to do.”

“I was more worried about having to wear high heels again. I hate them.” She stuck her lip out.

“I liked your heels last night.”

“Ever tried wearing a pair?” she asked.

“No. That’s a lie. When I was a little kid, I raided my mom’s wardrobe, and wore hers.”

She chuckled. “I imagine everyone had raided their parents’ wardrobe a time or two.”

“You ever done that?”

“Yes. I have. I also saw photos of my three tough brothers doing it.”

“Tough?”

“Yeah, just preparing you if you’re determined to still come see my folks. They’re dangerous, and loud.” She saw her apartment block just up ahead. “That’s me.”

“I’ll walk you to your door.”

“Okay.”

There are firsts in this world.

He didn’t think he was her first. She had to wonder how he would react if he knew the truth. He was her first date, and the first guy to ever bring her flowers. Abel was the first guy to ever make an effort, to seek her out.

She entered the apartment, and Abel followed behind her. Making her way up to her room, she paused. “This is me. I guess you know, seeing as you sent the flowers.”

“I really did send them in good faith.”

“I get that, I do. I was mean, and I shouldn’t have been.”

“I shouldn’t have squeezed your ass, and I hope in time you can forgive me.”