Chapter 3 Hard But Worth It

• Harper
• Okay. You can do this. I throw my shoulders back and walk on Scott’s arm, exuding confidence. At least, I think I’m exuding confidence. I’ve never been anybody’s fake date before.
• “You don’t have to smile like that. Your face will break in half,” he whispers to me, his arm shaking with repressed laughter.
• Okay, so, not so confident then. I’m a little embarrassed, but I think my smile’s genuine now. “I don’t want to screw this up for you,” I confess.
• “If you do, you can make it up to me by letting me buy you dinner sometime,” he murmurs back.
• My spirits perk up at that possibility. I mean, the chemistry between us is undeniable. “How about, if I screw up, I buy you dinner, and if I knock it out of the park, you can buy me dinner?”
• Scott engulfs my hand with his warm, rough palm. “Works for me.”
• When we enter the church, a gray-haired woman in a floral dress spots us and rushes over. “Scott! Thank heavens. I was almost afraid you’d miss the wedding!”
• “Mom, I’m still fifteen minutes early,” he replies with a chuckle.
• “Yes, well, you’re just lucky the family pictures are after the service, young man,” she says, shaking her finger at him. Then she spots me. “Oh my, is this her?”
• He lets go of my hand to slide his arm around my waist, tucking me into his side. “This is her.”
• “Oh, my dear, you are lovely.” His mother takes my hands in hers. “Scott’s been awfully secretive about you. He says you’ve been dating for months, but does he introduce you to his mother? Hmph. He hasn’t even told us your name!”
• “Harper,” I say, giving him the side-eye. It’d have been nice to be prepared for this scenario but I smile anyway. “It’s my fault. I didn’t want to meet the family until we were sure things were serious.” Take that, Scott Bauer!
• He has a coughing fit.
• “Oh, dear, you’re not getting sick, are you?” His mother puts her hand to his forehead, though it requires the diminutive woman to go all the way up on her tip-toes.
• “I’m fine, Mom. Wrong tube, that’s all,” he says.
• “Well, take a lozenge just the same. It has Vitamin C.” She fishes in her clutch and pulls out a cough drop.
• He takes it and starts to put it in his pocket, but she clucks her tongue at him. “It’s not going to do a lot of good in there.”
• “Here,” I chime in, taking the lozenge from him. “Let me help.” I unwrap it and pop it between his surprised lips.
• His mother beams. “What a sweet girl you are. Please, call me Marjory.”
• “Marjory, it’s such a pleasure to meet you,” I respond. “Seeing what a nice person you are now, I wish I’d asked him to introduce us sooner!”
• She blushes. “You’re such a dear. All right, let’s get ourselves seated.”
• One of the two ushers shows us to a pew on the bride’s side. As we sit down, Scott begins to crunch down on the lozenge.
• His mother rolls her eyes. “Scott, dearest, what good is it going to do if you don’t suck on it?” She dives into her purse again.
• “Yes, honey, what good is it going to do if you don’t suck on it?” I ask innocently.
• He chokes for real this time.
• The man next to Marjory, who I assume is Scott’s father, reaches over and pounds him on the back. “Swallow, then breathe, son.”
• Scott’s eyes are streaming, but he manages a nod.
• Marjory comes up with another lozenge. “Here you are, dearest. This time, suck on it. It doesn’t work unless you suck on it until it’s done.”
• A thousand dirty thoughts cross my mind, and I’m sure all of them are reflecting in my eyes as Scott takes the new lozenge. He ends his last cough on a gulp, then pops the lozenge in his mouth.
• “Remember,” I tease in his ear. “You have to suck on it until it’s ‘done.’”
• “I am so getting you back for this,” he murmurs, the lozenge clicking against his teeth.
• “I’m looking forward to it.” I grin.
• The music starts, and we put our friendly war aside. For now.
• I expected the ceremony would be beautiful. I didn’t expect to get teary-eyed at the I do’s, but hell, I’m an artist. Sometimes things just affect me.
• “Oh, my dear, here you go,” Marjory says between her own sobs, handing me a tissue.
• I dab my eyes. Scott squeezes my hand, giving me the most tender look. At least he doesn’t think I’m hamming it up. I like that he knows I’m being sincere.
• After the bride and groom kiss and make their way down the aisle, we all start filtering out, passing through the receiving line. I get to Scott’s cousin Janet, the bride, and she stops me, gripping my hand. “You’re Scott’s girlfriend, aren’t you?”
• “Yes,” I reply, nervously watching the guests build up behind me. “I’m Harper.”
• “I’m Janet. Well, you probably know that already. I love your dress,” she says, looking me up and down. “You are so pretty!”
• “Not as pretty as you. You look amazing,” I gush back. A bride should always be the prettiest one around on her wedding day.
• She smiles, making her look positively radiant. “It took hours. But I think I turned out all right. You’ve been dating Scott for a few months, right?”
• The line has become a traffic jam behind me. “Yeah, a few months. Um… shouldn’t you be greeting the other guests? I don’t want to be a bother.”
• “Pfft. They can wait. It’s my wedding day.” She winks at me. “Scott never told me what you do. Are you a student? You look awfully young. Scott is thirty-one, you know?”
• “Uh, I’m older than I look. Twenty-five,” I reply. “I have a Master’s degree and everything. I’m an artist. Mostly, I work in oil paint.”
• Janet squeals. “That is so cool!”
• “Janet,” Scott interjects. “You really do have to greet the other guests before they start to mutiny.”
• She huffs at him but finally lets go of my hand. “We’ll talk later,” she promises me.
• “Sure, sounds great.” I let Scott hustle me along through the rest of the line and out to his pick-up.
• “My family really likes you.” He smiles at me.
• “Yeah, thanks for the heads up,” I snort.
• He blushes. “Sorry. I forgot to tell you.”
• “Big thing to miss.” I give him an evil smile. “Did you suck on it until it was ‘done’?”
• “Oh, baby,” he purrs back as he starts the truck. “I’m just getting started.” He winks at me, and my stomach tightens into a ball of fire.
• Oh my.
• * * *
• Scott
• I’ve never been as bold in my life as I am with Harper. That lozenge banter was something I don’t know whether to thank or curse my mother for because, not only am I thinking about things I could be sucking on instead of a lozenge, but I’m thinking about things Harper could be sucking on as well. Fuck, there is nothing I’d like better than tangling my hand in that ocean of rose gold waves while she bobs up and down on my dick.
• “Problem again?” Harper asks innocently as we pull into the parking lot for the Wexford at Emerald Greens Golf Course.
• I look down at the bulge in my pants and shrug, trying to be nonchalant. “Guess so.”
• “I guess I’m leaving you in the truck then,” she teases, starting to open her door.
• I reach across her to close it. The scent of lilacs tickles my nose and does not help my situation one bit. “You really want to go in there without me? My family will be all over you.”
• Harper taps her chin as though she’s considering it.
• “Please,” I beg. “Don’t leave me here like this.”
• “I won’t. I was just kidding,” she replies. She looks down at my bulge again.
• “Harper, that’s not helping.” I sigh.
• “Sorry.” She looks out the window as the other guests get out of their cars and head into the venue. “We can’t stay out here forever. Can’t you think of granny panties or something?”
• “Even if you were wearing granny panties, I’d still want you,” I murmur, knowing I’m being too forward but not able to stop myself.
• She smiles at me, which only makes the situation worse. Then she starts fumbling in her purse.
• “Please don’t be going for a lozenge,” I groan.
• “I’m not.” Instead, Harper pulls out a sealed packet of tissues.
• I raise an eyebrow. “What’s that for? Are you afraid the reception’s going to get to you too?”
• “It probably will,” she replies. “But that’s not what I’m pulling them out for.” She peels open the packet and pulls out three tissues.
• “What are you…?” I ask, then trail off. “Harper, if you’re thinking of helping me out, you have to know, you really don’t have to do that.”
• She flashes me a coy smile. “I know I don’t have to, and I don’t want you to think I’m some sort of a slut who usually does shit like this on the first date. But you and I have a connection, don’t we?” She sets the tissues aside.
• I nod, unable to speak at the moment as her tongue darts out and wets her bottom lip.
• “Well, then, Scott, if you’re willing, I’m happy to help you out.”
• “Okay…” I manage to verbalize. My eyes just about bugging out of my head as Harper reaches over and unzips my pants.
• “Damn, this problem is bigger than I thought,” she mumbles, fishing my dick out of my boxers.
• I can’t breathe. “Shit!”
• Harper grips my cock and starts stroking it from base to tip. At first, I manage to take a look around the parking lot, noting we’re secluded, but then, I can’t concentrate on anything else at all. This girl is amazing, and I really want to kiss her while she strokes my cock, but I also don’t want to interfere.
• “Oh… God… Harper…” I moan, my head arching back against the headrest.
• “Come on, baby. Give it to me,” she murmurs, sliding her hand faster and harder up and down my shaft.
• I grab the tissue from the console just in time to keep my pants and her dress from getting cum-stained. “Fuuuuuck.”
• She releases my dick. “There. Problem solved.”
• I’m still panting and seeing sparks at the edge of my vision. “Holy fuck.”
• “Ready to go in now?” she asks.
• I swallow hard. “Just give me a minute. Some sexy lady just had her hand on my dick.”
• “Wonder who that could have been?” She grins.
• Once I’m calm and have put myself back together, we’re able to trickle in with the last of the guests into the Wexford.
• “There you are!” Janet pounces on us the minute we’re inside. “I’ve been wanting to do the bouquet toss.”
• “Before dinner?” I ask, confused.
• “The caterer went to the wrong venue, so we’re making it up as we go until they get here,” Janet confides.
• “Oh. Sorry to hear that,” I reply.
• Janet shrugs. “Weddings, am I right?” She waves Harper over to the gaggle of other women waiting for the bouquet toss. “One… two…” she calls with her back turned.
• I know it’s a setup the second Janet yells, “THREE!” and the women all part to the sides. Except a very confused Harper who is left holding the bouquet.
• “Oh, how wonderful!” Janet squeals as though this is a surprise. “Now, if only Scott could catch the garter.”
• I sigh inwardly as Conner, Janet’s husband, winks at me. I’m definitely going to be catching the garter, whether I want to or not. But then, everyone thinks Harper and I have been dating for a few months. They think this is a cute way to get us ‘thinking about the future.’
• Before I know it, garter banded around my arm, I’m dancing with Harper, the bouquet clutched between our joined hands.
• “I thought the bride and groom were supposed to have the first dance,” Harper whispers to me as “Love Me Tender” plays over the DJ’s loudspeakers.
• “Janet is nothing if not unconventional and a hopeless romantic,” I reply. Tired of the hard stems between our hands, I twirl us past a nearby table and drop the bouquet onto it. “For that matter, they may have danced before we even came inside.”
• “That’s true.” She gives me a nefarious grin. Then, to my surprise, Harper lays her head on my shoulder. “Thanks for putting the flowers down. That thing was getting uncomfortable.”
• “I’d hate for you to be uncomfortable.” I smile down at her. “Though, I do have a question.”
• She looks up. “What question?”
• “How would you feel about staying at my place tonight?” I ask. Or rather blurt. I grimace. Smooth, Scott. Real smooth.
• Harper regards me with an unreadable expression on her face. Then she grins. “Well, I don’t think either of us have sucked on it until it’s ‘done’ yet.”
• I bark out a laugh. “Is that a yes?”
• She goes up on her toes and presses those perfect pink lips against mine. I gasp and press her to open, which she does. When we finally come up for air, she murmurs, “What do you think?”