14. Harper

14

HARPER

I couldn't stop looking at the gorgeous ring on my finger. Whether or not it meant anything, it was still the most beautiful piece of jewelry that had ever been on my hand. When my mom passed, Oliver had said that I should take her wedding ring and keep it, but it didn't feel right. That was special to my parents, and she should be buried wearing the ring my father gave her.

Still, I was very much aware that this meant nothing to Edu. He was doing me a favor and I had to remember that. It didn't matter how many times I dreamed of him actually proposing and sliding this ring on my finger. It wasn't real. But as we approached my grandparents, I realized there was a fatal flaw in our plan— something I had thought of earlier, but it slipped my mind the moment he put the ring on my finger.

"Edu." I grabbed his arm, halting him from going any further. "We have a problem."

"Just one?" he asked, his eyes shining with amusement.

"I don't know anything about you other than the fact that you never want to get married. And I hate to point this out, but that will not be useful when we talk to my grandparents. "

His brows furrowed in thought. "Well, giving you a rundown right now won't exactly be useful."

"I have a very good memory."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Fine. I hate eighties music. Don't ever bring it up. I served in the Marines for eight years before getting out, and I've been here ever since. My parents are divorced and I don't speak with either of them. I love meat and guns, and I absolutely despise men who don't know how to be men. Is that enough?"

I cringed, but nodded. "I can work with that. Should I tell you a little about me?"

"I guess if we're going to get through this, telling me about your daydreams isn't going to be enough."

"Um…well, I clearly don't have a set path in life. I've actually gone to school for most of my life. I wanted to be a Supreme Court justice, but that went by the wayside. It was too boring. And then I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I couldn't stand the thought of working with animals who were dying. I'm fluent in three languages. I can play chess with the best of them, and…" I hesitated on the last one. "I can burp the entire alphabet."

The last one threw him for a loop. "Seriously?"

I shrugged. "My brother used to take me to parties with him."

He nodded almost in approval. "And the languages…"

"English, obviously, French, and Latin."

"Nobody speaks Latin."

"No, but I found it interesting. When I was little, I wanted to be an archaeologist."

"And a Supreme Court justice," he added.

"Well, in my mind, I was going to be the first female on the bench. When I found out there already was one, I was crushed."

"You…you didn't just find out last year, did you?"

I punched him in the shoulder, holding back my grin. "No."

"And since you're not going to be a justice or a veterinarian, any plans for now?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Can't figure it out. Maybe I'll join the circus."

"I think they have pretty high standards. "

I raised my eyebrows at him. "I can also stand on my tiptoes while I drink an entire beer."

"Oh, well…why wouldn't they hire you?"

"Exactly my thoughts," I grinned, feeling slightly more at ease now that I knew a little more about him. "So, shall we get this over with, Pookie?"

"You're going to have to stop calling me that."

"Whatever you say, Pookie." I grinned and followed him over to my grandparents, who were steeped in conversation with Fox.

Oliver walked over, eyeing my new fiancé as if this was a real thing and they were actually going to be brothers. "Hey, Edu," he said loudly. "Good to see you again, man."

He held out his hand and Edu reciprocated. "Good to see you, too…" He narrowed his eyes at my brother and I leaned up to whisper Oliver's name. "Seriously? Oliver? Doesn't that sound like a cat's name?" he hissed.

I punched him in the shoulder again. "Shut it."

"You know, domestic violence is no laughing matter. I don't mind calling my friend down at the police station and filing a formal complaint."

"I'm half the size of you," I pointed out. "I think that would only earn you a wedgie or two from your friends. Maybe even a swirly."

"Do people still give swirlies?"

"If I was able to, I know I'd give one to my boss."

"Well, he's a douche," Edu agreed.

"Are you sure you two only know each other from the checkout line?" my brother asked, looking between the two of us with a strange expression on his face.

"Of course," I said.

"We've met a whole…three times."

"Four," I corrected. "I was at the bar."

"Right, four."

Oliver looked at me, then at Edu. "And…you don't like her."

"Not enough to marry her."

"But you daydream about him."

"A girl is allowed a fantasy or two," I said, hiding just how much I actually liked Edu. He'd made it perfectly clear that he would not marry me or anyone else. That was probably why he was so at ease right now. But that didn't mean I couldn't fantasize about the day I would walk down the aisle toward him—imaginary or not.

"Do you realize how fucked up this is?" Oliver hissed.

"Keep your voice down," I reprimanded. "It's for one day."

"That's not what Gram is going to think."

"I'll make up some excuse why we broke up. It's not the end of the world."

"You're the worst liar ever!" he snapped. "There's no way she'll believe you."

Edu was starting to look worried and I had to find a way to reassure him that everything would be fine. "It's true. I am a terrible liar, so whatever happens, we'll have to act it out or something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. You'll cheat on me or something."

He looked offended by that. "I may not ever want to get married, but I would never cheat on someone if I was committed to them."

"Fine," I huffed. "Then…I say you got shot and the stress of the job was too much for me. That's realistic enough, right?"

He looked positively disgruntled by my suggestion. "Whatever."

"I'm sorry, do you find it offensive that you might get shot?"

"No, that's very much a real possibility. But why am I the douchebag in all these scenarios?"

"Well, obviously, I can't have it be my fault that we broke up. Gram would never let me live it down."

"And then she'd be surrounded by those creepy dolls," Oliver shuddered.

"Fine, I'll be the jerk. I can play that part quite well."

"Just not yet," I said, grabbing his shirt. "Today has to go off without a hitch."

Just as he opened his mouth, I saw Gram and Grandpa approaching and put a smile on my face. "Hey! I'm glad you could make it. Let me introduce you to Edu, my fiancé. Edu, these are my grandparents. Gram and Grandpa."

"Um…nice to see you again, and meet you…Grandpa. "

The man looked at Edu like he was an idiot. I suppose I should have used a name for introductions, but it slipped my mind. I never referred to Grandpa as anything other than that.

"It's Chuck," Grandpa muttered.

Edu laughed. "Like Chuck Norris? I'd better watch out."

Grandpa narrowed his eyes at Edu. "You think you're a funny man?"

Edu straightened immediately, his smile slipping. "Uh…no."

"No, what?"

"No, sir," Edu barked.

Grandpa stepped right into Edu's space, his eyes gleaming with the need to control someone. I probably should have mentioned to Edu that Grandpa was also former military. A colonel in the Army, to be precise. Barking orders was what he lived for. I actually felt a little bad for Edu.

"So…" Grandpa said, walking around Edu, checking him out like he would one of his soldiers. "You think you're good enough for my Harper, do you?"

"Sir—"

"I didn't ask for an answer."

"No, sir."

"You're not still active military?"

"No, sir."

"And you think being a bodyguard is a good job to keep my Harper safe?" He stopped right in front of Edu, staring him down.

"There's no one better suited to care for your granddaughter, sir!"

"Are you saying I'm not capable of taking care of my family?" Grandpa snapped.

"No, sir. I just…"

"Just what?"

I could see Edu sweating as he stood there like a good soldier, not looking Grandpa in the eye, but straight ahead.

"Soldier, if you have something to say, you'd better get to it!"

"Whoa!" Fox laughed, jumping in to save the day. He wrapped his arm around Grandpa's shoulder, tugging him away from Edu. "Sir, that was totally amazing. I was never one for authority. They sort of kicked me out of the SEALs, but it all turned out right in the end."

He continued to blather on as he tugged Grandpa further away. I turned to Edu, biting my lip as I waited for him to unleash his anger on me. Instead, his shoulders slumped and he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Fuck, I haven't felt like I wanted to puke like that since I was in boot."

"Yeah, I should have mentioned he was a colonel in the army."

"Maybe that would have been a good idea," he said sarcastically.

"But the worst is over," I said cheerfully. "And they're old. They won't stay for long, so then this will all be over. Which I'm sure you'll be glad of."

He bent over suddenly, resting his hands on his knees as he took deep breaths. Man, he was really taking this whole thing hard. I rubbed his back, hoping to soothe him while trying not to laugh.

"It's okay, Pookie. Everything will be fine. Just take deep breaths."

"Stop calling me Pookie," he muttered.

"Harper?" my grandma called out, looking at Edu in concern. "Is everything alright?"

"Uh…yeah, everything's fine," I smiled.

"Then why does that man look like he's about to pass out?"

Luckily, one of Edu's friends stepped up and answered for me. "We've just recently had a loss in our OPS family. It's hitting some of us harder than others."

She looked at him curiously. "And you are?"

"Brock, ma'am. It's very nice to meet you."

"And you. I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. Was it on a job?"

"Yes, ma'am."

His words were very sincere, and I found myself looking a little closer at Edu, wondering if any of this played into his reaction to tricking my grandparents or getting married. Edu stood up, his eyes focused once again as he looked at my grandmother.

"Oh, honey, he doesn't look so good. You should stay with him tonight. "

My jaw dropped open in shock. Was she suggesting I stay the night with Edu? "Uh…"

"That's really not necessary, ma'am. I'll be fine."

"Nonsense. You're practically family, and when family is hurting, you look out for one another. Besides, we're having such a good time, I think we'll stay a while longer to get to know everyone. We'll stay at Harper and Oliver's house. You two can have some privacy."

I couldn't believe my ears. Either Gram was testing us or she really wanted me to find a man and assumed the only way to make that happen was to force us into the situation.

"Uh…but I have work in the morning."

"If you wake up at his house or yours, you still have to get up. Why are you trying to get out of taking care of your fiancé?"

The chastising look she shot me made it clear there was no wiggle room on the subject. One way or another, I was staying with Edu tonight. Which I really didn't mind, except I hardly thought he was going to invite me into his bed and give me a night I'd never remember. He'd already made it clear that I was way too crazy for him. And one thing I knew for certain, men didn't encourage crazy.

"I'm not," I chuckled. "I just…didn't realize you would be okay with me staying at a man's house before I'm married."

"Harper, I'm old enough to realize that kids do things differently than when I was your age. Now, as long as he treats you with respect, I see no reason why you can't go home with him and take care of him during this trying time."

Well, shit. That really didn't leave me much choice. So, I grinned at her and took Edu's hand. "Perfect."