The Sweetest Things (5 page)

Doubts kept her from speaking about it, too afraid that whatever it was would shatter as soon as it was exposed.

That was the exact reason why she was hiding out in Sweet Treats
.
She’d closed things down early so she could focus on some of the lesser orders, leaving the others for her staff. Baking always calmed her. Although at the moment it wasn’t working the way she needed it to. Konstantine was still in her thoughts. She’d been avoiding him as much as possible over the last few days. The task wasn’t exactly hard with him spending so much time with Owen and his father.

It had been a while since Harper had a man in her space, but something told her it didn’t have anything to do with her self-imposed celibacy. She told that same something to shut the fuck up and mind its own goddamn business because she was not
about to sit and examine why every erogenous zone on her body lit up when Konstantine was near her.

They were
friends.
That was it. She loved him the way she loved Janet. Who, by the way, was staring at her again.

“What? Why are you looking at me?”

“Because I’m trying to understand why you just don’t go
for it.”

Harper rubbed her temples. “I’m not you.”

“Which means what exactly?”

“Debauchery isn’t on my agenda every morning.”

“It’s not on mine either. I save that for Tuesday through Saturday. When Sunday and Monday roll around I avoid the general populace.”

“Or they’re avoiding you
.”

“Why would they do that? I’m wonderful.” She waggled her brows then grabbed a cookie from the cooling sheets. “Besides, you don’t need to be me to make it so Konstantine wants to tattoo your name above his junk and call you mistress.”

“Okay, if this is gonna turn into a story about you and Owen, just please...stop.”

Janet sighed loudly. “Why won’t you just let me guide you...like a mythical being?”

“Because that would make you a succubus.”

“I’m kinda okay with that...”

Harper made her way to where she kept the dessert wines and grabbed a bottle before going for a glass and sitting both in front of the other woman. “Please, for the love of God. Drink.” Harper loved Janet, she really did—couldn’t imagine life without her—but Koz said it best when he’d said her sister-in-law and brother took the word inappropriate as a goddamn challenge.

“Yo! Little sis.”

Speaking of which... Harper looked up in time to see her brother strolling through the doors of her kitchen. Owen stopped suddenly, brown eyes widening as he spotted his wife. “You’re in a kitchen...and nothing’s on fire yet.”

Janet smirked at him before intoning in a voice that she’d use for her beloved dog, “Look who’s
not
interested in having sex tonight!”

He snorted. “As if you could actually hold out.”

Her leer spoke volumes.

Harper took a moment to shudder. “How about the two of you have this conversation somewhere else? Like in China?”

Janet and Owen were college sweethearts. It was a pretty cute story once Harper got past the fact that Janet had been convinced Harper was sleeping with her own brother. The thing of it was, she and Owen were opposites in looks. He looked more like their father, David, with a strong jaw, darker skin, eyes, and hair while she favored their mother, Elena.

On campus at NYU years ago, they often got confused for a couple instead of siblings, which resulted in Janet finally asking bluntly, “Are you fucking Owen Sweet?” after she spotted Harper leaving her brother’s dorm one night. Harper was so startled that, for a moment, she stood there with her mouth hanging open. Janet didn’t move, didn’t blink, at least not until Harper silently pulled her student ID from her back pocket and handed it over.

That just led to Janet’s eyes widening before she softly said, “Oh...well, this is awkward.”

And from the ashes of a socially uncomfortable, borderline talk-show moment, rose a friendship, and a marriage, and more socially uncomfortable, borderline talk-show moments. Like now, when they were giving each other the eyes.

“Okay, stop it or get out.”
Harper demanded.

“Somebody’s grumpy,” Owen sang, swiping a cookie. “How can she be grumpy with all these cookies around?”

“I have no idea.” Janet murmured around a mouthful. “And she has wine, too... Something’s wrong with her.”

“I think I know what it is,” he replied, smirking.

“Owen...” Harper warned.

Then he started singing the Russian national anthem,
loudly.
The worst part? Janet joined in.

“I hate you both.”

Chuckling as he approached her, Harper’s brother threw one arm around her shoulder. “Aww, is having Koz around driving you nutters?”

“Its driving her
something...
” Janet murmured, smirking.

Harper narrowed her eyes on her sister-in-law.

Owen looked at his wife. “Huh?”

“Nothing,” Janet said quickly. “Have another cookie.” She picked it up and stuffed it in his mouth.

Taking a bite, he swung his head between both his sister and her. “What are you not
telling me?” He stared at Harper. “Did Koz do something to piss you off already?”

“Are you asking because you care or because you want to laugh at my expense?”

His blink was slow and innocent. “Because I care, of course.”

From behind him, Janet coughed, but for some reason it sounded distinctly like, “Bullshit!”

“Quiet, mischievous female!” Owen barked.

“Because I do so well deferring to your authority.” And yes, her tone was
completely
sarcastic.

His brows winged. “Do I need to tell Sweets about how obedient you really can be?”

Janet chuckled. “Oh, please do.”

Harper grimaced. “Please don’t.”

“But, there’s candle wax involved and—”

“Oh, fuck this.” Harper snatched off her apron and began walking the cookie trays lining the counters to the refrigerator. Once she was done, she shot a look at the reason why her life was so hard at the moment. “I’m going home. Lock up and don’t fuck in my kitchen.” Without another word, she found the rest of her stuff and got far, far away from them both. The freaks.

***

“You’re horrible.”

Owen made sure his face was completely blank when he looked at his wife. “What are you talking about?”

“You did that on purpose,” Janet accused.

He frowned. “I dunno what you mean.”

Her lips curled, that expression being one of his favorites. The first time she’d seen him naked, she’d had that look on her face. “You do realize you can’t bullshit a bullshitter right?”

“You’re not a bullshitter,” he stated adamantly until she shot him a stare over the rim of her glasses that made him feel like one of her students. “All the time...” Owen completed lamely.

“So you
knew.
That would explain you tormenting her until she decided to go back home...to Koz.
”

He snorted as he reached across the counter to swipe a crumb from the corner of her mouth. “I’ve known since she was tall enough to get to the cookie tin on her own.”

“And you’re okay with it?”

Shrugging, Owen answered honestly. “I don’t call Koz my brother because I think it’s cute and secretly I’m wishing for more sleepovers where we can stay up all night playing Sega.”

Janet grinned, waggling her brows. “I think I’d enjoy that...as long as there were oils involved.”

“You have such a dirty mouth.”

Her laugh was wicked. “Which is why you married me.” Hopping off the stool, she held a hand out. “C’mon, Mr. Sweet, happy hour is around the corner. Mama needs an Irish car bomb and fries.”

He turned toward the smaller fridge that resided in his sister’s kitchen and opened it to dig out the chocolate dip Harper had made.

“Owen.” Janet shook her head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because one, Harper said not to fuck in her kitchen, and when Harper says not to fuck in her kitchen, she means it. Two, that’s unsanitary.” She waved a hand around the space. “I eat out here. And three, you know how I feel about food play.”

His grin was as slow and as lecherous as he wanted it to be. “Who said anything about dipping
you
in the chocolate?”

Janet blinked, then started moving. “Why are we still here? Why are we not in the car on our way home?” She snatched up her jacket, bag, and keys, heading for the door, only stopping to say, “Grab more cookies...and the wine!”

“Ah-ha!”

“Jesus Christ!” Harper dropped the bag of candy bars in her hand, swinging around to face Konstantine, who was standing in the doorway of her kitchen, one finger pointing at her accusingly.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

She looked from her empty hands to the bag on the floor. “I was just...”

“Just what?” Closing the distance between them, he snatched up the bag and shook it in her face the same way he’d done her bra days ago. “Sneaking around with candy? I see the addiction hasn’t ended.”

“I was...” Harper’s eyes suddenly narrowed as she stared at him. “Wait a goddamned minute.” She snatched the bag from him. “This is
my
house. I’m well past grown, and if I wanna sneak around with candy bars, I fucking well can!”

Konstantine’s eyes sparkled as he stared down at her in the low light coming from the overhead near the island. “I was wondering how long it would take you to realize that.”

She started slapping at his head.

Laughing, he gripped her wrists to stop her before picking her up and setting her on the counter. “From the way you’ve been acting, I was starting to wonder if you actually did live here, or if you were just some creepy resident hiding out in the attic, occasionally sneaking out to steal food and use the bathroom.”

Biting her lip, she focused her attention on the candy once again. “I’ve been busy.”

“You’ve been avoiding me.” He took the bag from her hands and opened it. Harper’s gaze was drawn to the way his arms flexed from the simple task. Then she became aware of the fact he wasn’t wearing anything aside from a loose-fitting pair of sweatpants that had slid low on his lean hips, the cut of his pelvic bones quite clear. In a word, Koz was
built.

This was exactly what she’d been trying to stay away from—seeing him half naked. Which was why she’d chosen well after midnight to finally slip out of her room, thinking he’d be on his way to sleep by now after having spent the entire day in conference calls with Ivan. Something she knew about because he’d texted her to tell her how bored he was listening to his father argue back and forth in Japanese.

“The question,” Konstantine continued, breaking a chocolate bar in half and placing one piece between her lips and the other between his own, “is why?” He chewed, and all she could do was follow the movement of his mouth.