Will had surprised her, though, hadn’t he? All those weeks ago, she’d assumed he would be just a rich man in a fast car, only a slight step up from the father of the teenage boy who’d run Jeremy down. But that wasn’t Will at all.
Was it possible that his friends would surprise her, too?
Maybe it was the beautiful night. Maybe it was the beautiful sex. Maybe it was how exhausting it was to keep holding up those heavy walls all the time.
Or maybe it was the way Will looked at her with such hope, as if her attending his party was the most important thing in the world.
Whatever the reason, she suddenly smiled and said, “A Memorial Day barbecue sounds great. I can’t wait to meet the rest of your friends.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Will couldn’t stop staring at Harper as she chatted out by the pool with Evan’s wife, Whitney, and Whitney’s sister Paige. Harper was gorgeous in her bathing suit and matching wrap skirt, but trumping even his need for her was his pleasure at having her there with him and his closest friends.
He wished Evan could feel the same way about his own wife, although that was near impossible when Whitney had been engrossed in her cell phone the entire time she’d been at the barbecue. She had looks that turned most men stupid and as far as Will could tell, she’d been exploiting that her entire life. Her sister, Paige, on the other hand, was the sweet girl next door, the opposite of Whitney in every way, except for the auburn hair. It was hard to believe the two women had been raised by the same parents.
His pulse rate jumped when Harper came to join his conversation with the guys. Well, mostly with Jeremy, who held center stage. Will had to hand it to Harper’s brother—he definitely wasn’t shy.
“I deliver all the mail.” Jeremy mimed pushing the cart. “I stack everyone’s mail in order of where they sit on my route. I pass out supplies on my way, too, like pens and Post-its and binder clips and stuff. And I haven’t gotten any of the deliveries wrong, have I, Will?”
“You’ve nailed them all.”
“And when there’s a big meeting,” Jeremy added with a grin, “I make the coffee and go down to the bagel shop. I get a bunch of different bagels and the stuff for the bagels. Like cream cheese.”
Harper had been a little worried when she’d first heard about that duty, afraid Jeremy would be in charge of money and have to account for discrepancies. But she’d ended up agreeing that more responsibility was good for her brother, and so far, Jeremy hadn’t had any trouble with it.
“Those are really important tasks,” Matt said with a seriousness that made Jeremy beam.
Will had known that his friends would see the same things in Jeremy that he did—including his enthusiasm and perpetually upbeat attitude.
“With all those bagels, no wonder Will here is getting fat.” Sebastian pushed up his sunglasses and looked at Will’s waistline.
“Up yours.” Will thwapped his towel at him.
Sebastian fended it off and gave him the finger behind his hand so Jeremy wouldn’t notice.
“Will’s not fat,” Jeremy said. “Every day when I get to work, he’s just coming out of the gym. We’ve got machines in the office that anyone can use. It’s so cool. I lifted weights there yesterday after lunch.”
Will liked Jeremy’s use of the word we. It meant Jeremy felt like he’d become a part of the place. Which was exactly what Will had hoped for.
Daniel, who had clearly been playing with the power tools his company was famous for, given the new bandage on his hand, cut in. “That’s one badass car you’re building, too.”
“It’s the coolest car ever made.” Jeremy’s mouth was round with pleasure.
All the Mavericks made approving male noises.
Will and Jeremy had conducted a tour earlier. He’d let Jeremy lead the guys through, pointing out critical components. Will had helped a bit and his friends had done the rest by asking the right questions, which fed Jeremy the answers when he couldn’t find the words he wanted.
“So this is the intake manifold?” Daniel would ask, and Jeremy would nod heartily.
Harper had stayed by the pool during the tour, watching out for Noah, Matt’s kid, who had the same dark hair, blue eyes, and the potential for a frame as tall and broad as his father’s. The boy’s mother was out of the picture, and at five, the little guy had already gone through six nannies. Will would have razzed Matt about the reasons for his quick nanny turnover rate had he not seen how hard it made things on his friend.
Noah was now playing in the paddling pool Will had installed especially for him. A big plastic ball sailed across the pool deck, and Will stopped it with his foot. “Hey, Noah, I think you might have the makings of a quarterback.”