HAPPY PANTS CAFE (THE HAPPY PANTS SERIES) Read Online Free PDF Page B

had been her neighbor when she was nine. Big whoop. Okay, their relationship would set the foundation for all relationships to follow for the next nineteen years, but everyone’s first crush and first broken heart played that role. Harper really didn’t have any hang-ups on the matter.
    Then why do you feel like you’re nine again, swooning for the boy who got away? She didn’t know, but it was odd to say the least.
    “So, Austin.” She poked the walk button. “What do you think is up with that café?”
    He shrugged. “Honestly, nothing. Although…” He paused and scratched his unshaven chin. Unfortunately, that was a huge turn-on for Harper. The bristly sound of stubble being scratched reminded her of a man’s rough jaw and how good those jaws felt when rubbed lightly across that delicate spot just above her collarbone.
    Oh. Stop that.
    “Christina said it was bad luck to say anything,” he continued, “so I know she’s hiding something.”
    “Hmm. Interesting.”
    He made a another little shrug. “I’m sure it’s some superstitious bride thing.”
    Harper thought about that for a moment. He could be right. The women at the wedding had said that the café was the place to meet a man. Then there were the pictures of happy couples plastered all over that wall inside.
    Austin opened the door for Harper to the homey-looking little wine bar, and they were immediately seated at a small table next to the window. The place, decorated with empty Chianti bottles and salamis suspended from the ceiling, had a wine-tasting counter in the back and a gourmet deli attached through a doorway. The smell of chocolates and freshly baked bread immediately permeated her nose. Harper wondered what it would take to convert her apartment to look like this. My own personal wine, salami, cheese, and chocolate cave. Interior design à la Harper.
    Austin sat across from her and perused the menu. “So,” he said, without lifting his gaze, “why are you so interested in the café?”
    Should she tell him the truth? If she said there was nothing interesting about it, he’d know she was lying. Otherwise, why would she be there? But if she told him everything, he’d never go home.
    Harper cleared her throat. “Well, after the wedding-slash-tabloid incident, I had to promise my editor something special.”
    Austin glanced up from the menu, and Harper noted that even sitting, she still felt so tiny compared to him. Probably because she was always looking up and he was always looking down.
    “I thought you were embellishing about the tabloid thing,” he said.
    He hadn’t seen her moment of fame-shame? Lucky her on two counts! Because he would have then realized she’d just lied about her name (the headline had read Reporter Harper Branton Shows Her Stuff ), and he would have seen “her stuff” or at least a bubble over her stuff, which left much to the imagination. Oh, the horror.
    Harper tried to be cool about it. “It was just a stupid blurb—not much to see—but my editor says she’ll can my ass if I don’t have a hot story on her desk in one week.” It was Friday, so that left this weekend plus a few extra days to come up with a good story before she needed to write the article.
    Gazing at the menu, he nodded. “I see. So what’s your next step?”
    “Sorry?”
    “Well, obviously, you saw there’s nothing worth reporting, which means you’ll be fired. What do you plan to do?” He looked up at her with those stunning gold eyes with green little speckles.
    “Um.” Harper blinked, trying to focus her thoughts on the conversation versus lusty thoughts of this vision of masculine perfection who kept accidentally rubbing kneecaps with her under the table.
    I think I just had a knee-gasm.
    She wiped her brow and cleared her throat. “I really hadn’t thought about it yet. In all honesty, I’m hoping she didn’t mean it.” That job was everything to her.
    “You work for Zel, right?”
    “You know her?”
    He