Pretend You're Mine: A Small Town Love Story by Lucy Score

sleeping in one of the spare rooms upstairs. But he liked waking up to Harper plastered against him. He liked knowing she was safe. And feeling those soft curves against him was bringing back to life feelings he thought were long dead. He was playing with fire, but somewhere inside, he didn’t care.
    He heard the creak of the back porch swing and spotted her, shoulders hunched, swinging in the silence of early dawn.
    Luke let himself out onto the back porch. Harper heard his approach and straightened up, swiping a hand over her face.
    “Morning,” he said, testing the waters.
    “Morning.” She said it brightly, but she wouldn’t look at him. “Just getting an early start for my first day on the job.”
    He didn’t say anything. He knew a crying woman when he saw one, which, growing up with Sophie, had been often.
    She jumped up from the swing and tried to step around him. He blocked her and set his coffee down on the railing.
    Harper stepped to the other side and he easily met her. “Harper.” He put his hands on her shoulders, and when she still refused to look up, he nudged her chin with his fingers.
    The tears in her gray eyes overflowed, coursing down her cheeks as soon as she met his gaze.
    “Shit.” He pulled her in and rested his chin on her head.
    “I’m fine,” she mumbled against his bare chest.
    “Uh-huh.” He held her a little tighter.
    “It’s nothing.”
    At least that’s what he thought she said. Her voice was muffled. But she wrapped her arms around his waist.
    “Okay.”
    He held her that way, rubbing gentle circles on her back until he felt her breath get deeper.
    “You know, Harper, if you really don’t want to work for me, you don’t have to.”
    The teasing helped. She leaned back looking up at him with a watery smile.
    “It’s not the job. At least not yet. Who knows what kind of work environment you’ll provide? I was just having a moment, and now it’s over.”
    “A moment?”
    She nodded.
    “And now it’s over? Just like that?”
    Harper nodded again.
    “Don’t you need to talk about something ... or something?”
    “Nope.” She gave him a watery smile.
    “As your fake boyfriend, I should probably know what you’re upset about.”
    Harper laughed. “You’re very sweet and I’m fine. How about some breakfast?” She made a move to step past him, but he stopped her and grasped her wrists. She was clutching a picture in her hand.
    “What’s this?” He took the picture from her and studied it.
    “My parents and me.”
    A miniature cherub, she was wearing a flowered dress perched on a bench between a lean man, whose smile was almost hidden behind his mustache, and a stunning blonde in a blue dress. They were all laughing.
    “You were a pretty cute kid. Where are they now?”
    “They died a long time ago.” Harper took the photo from him.
    “I’m sorry. How long ago?”
    “Nineteen years.”
    “Jesus, Harper. I’m sorry. What happened?”
    “Car accident. Sometimes, I still miss them a lot. Especially after spending time with other people’s families.”
    “I’ve had lots of people cry after spending time with my family.”
    She poked him. “Funny.”
    “So who raised you?”
    “A lot of different people. I was in foster care until I aged out.”
    “Aged out?”
    “Once you hit eighteen, if you haven’t been adopted, you’re officially on your own.”
    “You don’t have any family?”
    “I make my own family.” Harper said it brightly and meant it. “Now, how about I make breakfast? It’s a big day today.”
    She laid a hand on his chest. “Thanks for being nice to me, Luke.” Harper went up on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his cheek and headed into the kitchen.
    ***
    L uke slapped the cover of his tablet shut and tossed it on the seat next to him. He should be focusing on the task at hand. But instead of reviewing the timeline for the Riggs’ addition, he couldn’t stop thinking about Harper.
    He had given her a cursory tour of the