Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

T he month of SEPTEMBER

“Hey Harper?—”

Her pulse quickening at the familiar baritone behind her, Harper turned with her arms full of groceries and beamed at her favorite guy in the world as he strode across Motham Quay toward her.

“Guess what, someone’s finally claimed the sandals.”

“You’re kidding me.” She pouted. “If they were still in lost property by the end of the month, they’d have been mine.”

Noah caught up with her, a little disheveled from the wind, his thick, shaggy hair blowing around his handsome face. It was a sunny day, but Autumn was in the air and a chill breeze blew in from the sea.

It wouldn’t be long until winter came calling and another year had passed. Harper stifled a sigh. She’d be twenty-nine this year. Time was marching on, and still she and Noah seemed to be firmly embedded in the friend-zone.

She cocked her head. “So, who’d they belong to?”

“A wealthy orc claimed them. His girlfriend left them in Wyatt’s boat after a trip to Orc Island months ago.”

Harper rolled her eyes. “I always knew he’d nicked them.”

“Yeah, well… enough said... The orc came to my boat to find me. Nice guy, very grateful, said they were her absolute favorites.” Harper could understand why. “I apologized for Wyatt, naturally, and then,” Noah grinned, “the orc said I seemed a decent, honest guy and gave me…” He held up a wad of bank notes. “These.”

“Oh Noah, that’s wonderful. What will you do with it?”

“I was thinking of a slap-up meal. Tonight. Wanna join me?”

Harper couldn’t keep a daft smile from spreading across her face. “Really? But you’re going away tomorrow, can you spare the time?”

“I’m pretty much ready. All I need to do is pack a bag and hop on the trawler first thing. I thought we could go somewhere a bit flashier than the tavern.”

“Oh, ah…” She felt suddenly panicked; she didn’t have anything remotely posh to wear.

Noah’s brows furrowed. “You don’t want to?”

“I do, but I don’t have anything fancy to wear.”

“There’s no need to frock up. You always look great.” He cast a quick glance down her body, taking in her work t-shirt with its Sweet Clams insignia and her old jeans. When he looked up, she thought maybe he was blushing slightly, though it was hard to tell—Noah’s complexion was always tan from being out in the elements. “Can I take your silence as a yes?”

Harper nodded, still ninny-grinning. “Guess I deserve something for giving up those sandals. Shall I come across to your boat after work?”

Noah’s boat was moored at the end of the quay, same place it always was. Harper kept tabs on when he got home from a day out fishing, feeling somehow safer, more secure when she knew he was home.

“Sure thing.” Noah smiled and Harper’s heart did its usual little flip. He had the best smile, the sexiest mouth. He’d kissed her on the cheek dozens of times, his beard soft and tickling her skin. Tonight though, she hoped that mouth would claim hers in a kiss that was anything but platonic. She hoped that big selkie tongue would slide into her mouth, and draw out the whimpers that up until now had only passed her lips at night, with the vibrator buzzing between her legs.

Harper squeezed her thighs together, watching Noah as he strolled back toward his boat. Broad shoulders, a firm, tight ass, and that muscular selkie tail swinging out of the slit in the back of his fisherman’s pants was a sight to see. Oh yeah, she knew everything about him off by heart. Well, almost everything. One major detail yet to come—she hoped.

With a happy sigh, she turned and hurried the other way, to Sweet Clams.

She put her bag of groceries in the kitchen, and her boss Mal glanced up from prepping fish as she walked in.

“Could, I—um, possibly leave early today, Mal?” Harper asked, trying to sound casual as she unloaded celery, leeks, and carrots from her bag.

The big bear shifter waggled his bushy brows. “Any particular reason?”

Harper got out a chopping board. “Just a dinner invite.”

“From a certain selkie I saw you chatting to out there?”

Harper gave him a sideways glance. “Noah asked me to go out to dinner, yes.”

Mal snorted. “It’s like watching grass grow, waiting for you two to get your act together.”

“I haven’t a clue what you’re on about.” Harper arched her brows at him and he grinned as he expertly filleted a large mackerel. She’d never told anyone except her friend Luna about her long-term crush on Noah, but she guessed Mal had put two and two together. He was like a father figure to her; she’d worked here since she was seventeen, and he’d always kept an eye out for her welfare. And her happiness. Bless the big old grizzly. Now he just winked and shook his head as Harper, humming to herself, started cooking today’s pot of chowder.

Was Noah planning to ask her to be his girl, she wondered, as she chopped the vegetables. And if he didn’t, would she dare to make a move? She guessed she could have said something before, but hey, she’d given out enough interested vibes, surely.

But then again, maybe not.

Harper frowned as she stirred a big knob of butter into the pot. Coming from a family where her mom and dad were always either at each other’s throats or frosting each other out, she envied folks who could say what they felt openly with no mixed messages.

But now… finally , this felt like an opportunity to let him know where she stood. Just the two of them over a cozy candlelit dinner.

And if Noah turned her down, said he didn’t feel the same way, well, tomorrow he would be off to sea for two months. That would give her time to get over him.

Yeah, who are you kidding, girl.

Flipping her blonde hair over her shoulders, she made the soup on automatic pilot, the way she’d done countless times in her twelve years working at the café, her mind busy with fantasies of kissing Noah tonight.

Really kissing Noah.

Noah glanced in the cracked mirror in his tiny cabin and gave his reflection a slightly embarrassed smirk.

“You’ll do.” He nodded. Yeah, he guessed he spruced up okay. Instead of the t-shirt, jeans and oil skins he pretty much lived in, he’d bought a new shirt, cotton shot through with daisy moth silk thread in a shade of dark blue. He’d paired it with navy pants, designed for larger species with just the right size slot in the back for his tail. He hadn’t been able to stretch his finances to new shoes, but he’d scrubbed his old boots until they shone.

He’d washed his hair and trimmed the loose whiskers around his jaw. He allowed himself to admire his abs and pecs before he buttoned up the shirt. Hauling in nets six days a week did things for your physique that no gym would ever achieve. Yeah, his body was okay. His legs were powerful corded muscle, and his tail was well shaped with a thick short pelt. He’d oiled it with a special selkie conditioner that made it shine.

As for his cock… well, he reckoned that was a reasonable specimen too.

No denying it. He was nervous. But he was prepared. One way or another, he had to fess up tonight. Because the thought of being out at sea for two months not knowing where they stood with each other, was unbearable.

Noah took the piece of paper out of his pocket and read through his messy handwriting. He grimaced, knowing it was full of spelling errors. He could never write Harper a love letter because his dyslexia would make it unreadable. But he could rehearse his lines. Memorize them. He read it through extra slowly—his head had a habit of jumbling words, especially when he was nervous—and then repeated the words back to his reflection.

Harper, when I first saw you three years ago your beauty took my breath away…

And then I learned that beauty went all the way into your soul…

Urgh. Way too sappy and sentimental. If he was Harper, he’d put his fingers down his throat and barf. He’d spent hours writing this little speech, and as well as the misspelt words, there were crossings out all over the page.

In exasperation, he screwed it up and threw it into the trash can.

Why couldn’t he just drop all the rehearsal, take her in his arms at the end of the evening and say, “Wanna be my girl?”

Noah sighed. Sometimes it felt like he and Harper were jinxed. Like some mean little witch had put a spell on them that said, “You will never be together.”

And as usual, it was his good-for-nothing brother that had messed things up again. If it wasn’t for Wyatt, he wouldn’t be taking this fishing job.

Wyatt had got into serious trouble over stealing a phone that had, in turn, got Luna, Harper’s best friend, into a lot of trouble with the Krakens around here. And then only three weeks later he’d dressed up in a wolf costume and tried to rob the Motham Central Bank. Somehow, Wyatt had got a sympathetic magistrate who gave him a suspended sentence and ordered him to undertake a rehabilitation program. The problem was, the municipal programs were woefully inadequate. The re-offending rate was high. Their mom was worried sick, and Noah didn’t want the stress to make her fibromyalgia flare up. So he’d investigated private programs with good outcomes. There were two. And they both cost coin. More coin than he had as a single-selkie-operated fishing business.

The only way to pay for the damn thing was to take a job with a sea serpent who ran a fleet of trawlers out of Motham, catching the giant tuna in the deep-sea waters. It paid well. Enough for him to fund the live-in rehabilitation program for Wyatt and have a bit of coin spare.

To buy Harper something beautiful.

A ring.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, you dumb seal.

But he couldn’t help it, his heart thrummed with hope for what might be the start of something wonderful tonight.

Noah glanced up at the old clock on his cabin wall.

He had another half hour to kill before Harper arrived, and already his palms were sweaty.

Maybe he’d go up on deck and calm himself with a wee dram of whisky and gaze at the horizon. Scenting the salty air always soothed his soul. And by the look of the slice of sky he could see from his galley porthole, the sunset was amazing tonight.

As he was rummaging in his food cupboard for the whisky bottle, he heard a light thump—the sound of a person jumping on deck. Next came the pad of footsteps, and a knock on his cabin door.

Harper. Already.

Beaming from ear to ear, Noah flung the door open.

His jaw dropped.

“Dina!”

His ex, beautiful as ever, an exotic mix of selkie and fae, with her thick black hair and wide green eyes, stood on the doorstep. He’d last seen her three months ago, and had been trying to put the events of that night behind him ever since.

But now… typical Dina, she had to turn up at exactly the wrong moment.

“Hello Noah,” she said with a trembly, wide-eyed smile. “Can I come in?”

Oh here goes, thought Noah, Dina wants something. Already his mind was scrambling, trying to work out how to get her out before Harper arrived. “Not great timing Dina, I’m sorry. I’m about to go out to dinner.”

“Noah, I really need to talk to you,” she pleaded.

Noah didn’t want to engage in conversation with his ex, but she looked upset. Really upset. He hated when anyone was upset. And Dina, well, she had meant something to him once. He wasn’t callous. He just had to hear her out and get her to leave before Harper arrived.

“Okay come in, but I’ve really only got five minutes.” He stepped aside and Dina swept past him and sank down on the bench seat in his galley. And then, to his utter horror, she burst into tears.

Panicked, Noah glanced at the clock. This wasn’t going to be over in five minutes, was it? “What’s happened, Dina?” he asked, trying not to sound exasperated.

Dina’s face crumpled and tears gushed from her eyes, sending her mascara running in dark rivulets down her cheeks.

“Oh Noah,” she sobbed. “ I—I’m pregnant.”

Mal said to a rather distracted Harper, “Okay you can piss off now. you’re driving me nuts hopping around the place like a marsh fly. Go find that bloody selkie of yours.”

Harper muttered her usual, “we’re just friends” line, and Mal rolled his eyes and shooed her away with a flourish of his filleting knife. With a giggle, Harper scampered upstairs to get showered and changed. Ten minutes later she was hurrying across Motham Quay, wearing a simple flowered cotton frock, under which she was sporting a very nice g-string and a tiny lace bra.

Which made her body hum with every step she took closer to Noah.

It was dusk now; wharf workers were making their way home. A few did a double-take when they saw her.

“Hey there Harper.” Tom, a friendly minotaur, grinned. “Looking good.”

Brianna, his orc companion, gave a low wolf whistle. “Where you off to all dressed up like a fae princess? Got yourself a hot date?”

“Nah, just Noah.”

They both nodded. Everyone was used to seeing Harper and Noah hanging out together. If anyone made a comment at the café, she’d pass it off with a “phttt, nice guy. Wouldn’t date another selkie.” She always made sure she didn’t catch Mal’s eye when she said it. Folks seemed to believe her, or maybe they were just too hungry from working the docks to be interested in anything but the creamy chowder she was serving up.

But maybe after tonight… maybe she’d be able to drop the act. Sing from the rooftops that she loved Noah Shortwater.

Making her way around to the far jetty, she navigated the uneven cobbles in her summer sandals. She was just about to step onto the gangplank when the warm, deep rumble of Noah’s voice stopped her. And then another voice, this one whiny and high-pitched, made her blood freeze in her veins.

Dina…

What the hell?

Harper scampered away and ducked down behind a bin on the other side of the jetty. Hiding in the lengthening shadows, she watched as Noah accompanied Dina to the edge of the deck. And then… hell, he… he hugged her.

Those muscular arms that Harper had earmarked as hers, went around Dina’s waist, and just like that, Dina’s head plopped onto Noah’s shoulder. Harper watched, horrified, as her hand landed on his bicep and curled around it like she freakin’ owned him.

“Oh, Noah, I’m so sorry for everything…"

It seemed to Harper that Noah held Dina closer. Was he going to kiss her? Oh gods, please no. Unable to watch, Harper squeezed her eyes tight shut. When she dared open them again, Noah was helping Dina carefully across the gang plank, like she was made of porcelain or something.

If either of them looked across the jetty now, they’d see her crouched here like a hob goblin. And to top it all off, the bin stank of rotting fish entrails. When she finally dared peep out from behind it, Dina was sashaying away, flicking her dark hair over her shoulders, her heels tapping a retreat on the cobblestones.

Harper pressed a trembling hand to her mouth to curb the nausea riding up her throat. After another minute, she stood up and wobbled to the end of the jetty, desperately trying to calm her heart rate as the sea air mixed with her unshed tears. She couldn’t confront Noah now, she’d probably rant and rave and, goddess, she had no right to. They weren’t dating. Noah had every right to hug whoever he wanted…

Except not Dina. Anyone but Dina.

She stood there for a good ten minutes, staring at the stars gradually pricking the sky above her head, and tried to ignore the prickles at the back of her eyelids. This was supposed to be her and Noah’s night. She’d dreamed of this moment for so long. And now, she couldn’t get rid of the image of Dina’s head snuggled against Noah’s broad chest. The place where Harper’s head was supposed to be snuggled tonight.

A sharp stab of betrayal nearly winded her. Even if there was a logical explanation, it still cut like a knife. Noah had clearly initiated that hug… there was no denying it. And you could tell by the tone of their voices that they’d been having a very intimate exchange. Whatever they’d been discussing was serious, emotional.

Oh gods, what if they were getting back together…

But if they were, why would he have asked Harper out to dinner? Unless Dina had turned up unexpectedly… but then, he hadn’t been acting like he didn’t want her there. If anything, the reverse. He’d been solicitous, affectionate even toward her.

By now Harper’s thoughts were ping ponging around her skull so hard it was making her head hurt. She rubbed at her brows to ease the tension. Really, there was only one solution. She had to confront Noah, give him a chance to explain himself.

And if she didn’t like what she heard… well, too bad.

At least he’d be gone until December… She’d put on her big girl pants, and date the good-looking satyr who’d asked her out not once, but twice now.

Yep, she’d be totally over him by Christmas.

With that, head held high, Harper walked determinedly back to Noah’s boat.

He was still standing on the small deck when she got there, his back silhouetted against the darkening sky as she picked her way carefully across the gangplank.

“H-hi,” she called out as she hopped onto the deck.

He turned, and his smile in the light from the hanging lantern looked genuine; he seemed so happy to see her. Surely this had to be real.

“Hey Harps.”

“What’ve you been doing?”

“Just having a drink, watching the moon rise, thinking how I’ll miss this view…” Harper held her breath. “… and waiting for you to arrive.” His eyes swept down her body. “You look beautiful.”

Any other time, her heart would have leaped at his husky tone, the warmth in his gaze.

Right now, she wanted to slap him across his handsome, bearded face. She managed to say casually, “Nothing else?”

“Just cleaning the boat up.”

“Still got a bit to do by the look of things,” she said, trying to sound normal as she cast a glance around the messy deck.

“Ah, yeah.” He ruffled his hair with a big hand. “Can’t think how one small boat can get so filled up with all my shit.”

“No visitors or anything?”

He hesitated. Harper said nothing, just stood gripping her purse, pretending an interest in the messy deck. She felt him glance at her. Sensed it dawning on him. Finally, he said, “Ah. You saw Dina, leave, right?”

Harper thought she might snap from the sudden tension in the space between them.

“Would you have told me… if I hadn’t mentioned it?”

Noah paused, his big shoulders slumped. “I—no, probably not.”

Harper just stared at him in disbelief.

“She came by unexpectedly,” he explained, not meeting her eyes. “I haven’t seen her in months.”

“Must have been a nice surprise then.”

“Not really.”

“So you normally hug people when it’s not nice to see them, do you?” She heard herself bark a hysterical little laugh. “I’ll remember that next time you give me a hug. That it means you’re not happy to see me.”

His face contorted. “Harps, please don’t be like that. There was nothing in it.”

Yeah, sure. You’re lying through your selkie teeth.

“So, why did she come by, then?” Harper ran her fingers over her purse.

Noah gave a big sigh. “I’m sorry Harps, I just— can’t tell you why, not right now.”

Was she hearing him correctly? “Can’t or won’t?”

“I—it’s just, I promised her… I wouldn’t… tell anyone.”

“Big secret, huh?”

“Kind of. I’m just trying to process what she told me, to be honest.”

Oh gods, this was feeling for all the world like a bad dream. No, worse, a nightmare. She had never felt so horribly awkward with Noah before. Every word he uttered was like a dart aimed at her heart. Well, fucking bullseye. She felt stupid, humiliated, belittled. He was going to get back with Dina, she was sure of it now. All she could do was try to leave with her dignity intact.

“It’s fine, Noah, it’s none of my business anyway. Just pretend I never asked,” she said through stiff lips.

“It’s not that I won’t tell you eventually.”

“Whatever. Whenever.”

“Harps.” He stepped closer, his expression pleading. “Can’t we just go out to dinner, not talk about this, have a good time? Just you and me.”

Harper dug her fingernails into her purse until she was sure the material would rip. “Uh-huh,” she grunted.

He glanced at her, his brows ruffling. “We’re okay, yeah?”

“Sure.”

He looked relieved. “Maybe we should get going, then. Our reservation is for seven.”

What a typical fucking male. Brush it all under the carpet. She’d thought Noah was bigger than that. “You know what, Noah, I think I might pass on dinner.”

Noah looked at her closely. “You’re mad at me.”

Something in Harper snapped. “Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you? You’re just a friend, Noah, that’s all. In fact, Dina being here was a blessing really, because it’s made it easy to start the conversation I was planning to have with you tonight.”

“Go on.”

“Okayyyy, well, here goes.” Harper barreled on like a bull in the proverbial china shop. “I’ve been kinda worried you might think I have a thing for you and, um, for the record, I don’t. Okay?”

Noah blinked. “Right. Okay. That’s erm, a bit… blunt.”

“Yeah, well, there’s been a few rumors going around and I thought, best to nip them in the bud,” she chirped like a sparrow on crack.

“I see.”

Harper refused to acknowledge the tension in his face, the muscle ticking in his jaw. “Wow, that feels so much better, getting that out in the open.” She let out a huge sigh of relief, just to ram the point home. “Honestly Noah, I’ve been so worried about how to put this. Kinda awkward, you know—you don’t want to assume your friend has the hots for you.”

“Gods, no,” Noah said grimly. “I agree.”

“Great. So that’s cleared that up then.”

“Sure has.”

“And just saying, if you want to date Dina again, go right ahead. No need to worry about my feelings in that regard.”

“Harps, I don’t want to—” Harper cut him off as she twirled on her heels. “So you won’t mind if we take a rain check on dinner, then. I’m brewing a headache, and you look like you’ve got heaps to do. I’ll leave you to finish clearing up the boat. Have a great trip, won’t you.”

“Thanks,” he said, his voice as stilted as hers. “Have a good couple of months yourself. Maybe see you when I get back.”

“Maybe.”

Harper felt Noah’s gaze boring into her as she picked her way through the boxes and coiled ropes on the deck.

As she teetered over the narrow gangplank, he didn’t come and help her across.

The way he’d helped Dina.

And that almost broke her heart.