Page 91 of Nothing to Tell

“Hi, uh, my name is Harper Scott and—”

“She’s with Astrid,” he said.“Hold on, I’ll put you through.”

The line went quiet then beeped.One beep.Another.Roxie?He meant Roxie, right?If Roxie was busy, she didn’t want to interrupt whatever was going on.And Astrid.Who was Astrid?A friend?An employee?Those two probably weren’t mutually exclusive with Roxie.

“Hey!Harper!”

Yes, this was good.This was Roxie.

“Your parents aren’t rich, are they?”

“My parents?”

“They’re just like regular folks, no billions in the bank?”

“No, why?If you need money, I can hit up my guy.I’ve paid him plenty in sex.Hell, what am I saying?I have access to the accounts.No sex required.Let’s clear him out and fly to Tahiti.”

Damn, she wished she was in the mood to enjoy that joke.

“How did you introduce your parents to Zairn?Were they cool?How was Zairn afterward, pissed off?Were you mortified?”

“I don’t really do mortified.Though I guess I did that first day, my dad is so… First time they talked, I wasn’t sleeping with Zairn.It was more… business.Now they talk to each other more than I talk to either of them.God knowswhatthey talk about.Men things?Oh, no, I don’t want them talking about men things.Sport?No.Hobbies?Zairn’s hobby is screwing me, so hopefully not that either.The weather…?”

She exhaled.Yeah, that was her luck.Of course she was the only one with embarrassing parents.

“Fantastic,” she said, flat, frustrated.

“Your folks want to meet Bastian, huh?”

“They want to have dinner this week.And Bastian’s talking about it like it will really happen.”

“Dinner’s not a bad first parent date.Go out though.You don’t want to cook or be stuck at home all night with no escape.Or worse, at Bastian’s place and you can’t get them to leave.”

“Yeah, we’ll go out.

“Bastian will get you a reservation somewhere real impressive.Me and Z can—hey!Wait a second, Harper, honey.The emperor just walked in.”Roxie’s voice got louder.“Yo, Skippy!What do you and my dad talk about?”

“How much we love you.”Quick answer from Zairn there in the background.“What else is there to talk about?”

“Good point,” Roxie said like she totally believed it.

“They’ll say things to him,” she whispered, unable to shake the chills.“My parents will say things to Bastian.”

“He can say things back,” Roxie said.“Want me and Z to come with you?I can single-handedly fill an entire conversation for the duration of a dinner.No problem!I’m great at monologuing.No one else will get a word in.”

“She’s not kidding,” Zairn said, closer, but still in the background.“Who are we joining for dinner?”

“Harper and Bastian.And Harper’s parents.”

“We have the thing downstairs later.”

“It’s not tonight,” Roxie said to Zairn then switched to her.“It’s not tonight, right, Harper?”

“No, and thank you, but no.You don’t have to come.No way.I’m terrified enough of them meeting Bastian, if I was to bring you and Zairn Lomond too…” Her head moved slow as it shook.“I’d never be able to look any of you in the eye again.”

“I’m just a regular Joe, no one cares about me.”That wasn’t her experience.“And Zairn can switch it all off, he does brooding and boring every night at the club, he won’t say a word.”So Roxie wouldn’t shut up and Zairn wouldn’t speak?A match made in heaven.“And don’t think of him as the legend, Z’s just… another guy at the table you’re not sleeping with.”

Her mouth opened because she’d intended to say something.What?She couldn’t remember.No, her lips slowly met again because… how did she—should she… Oh, boy.