“In a few minutes. I’m going to shower,” he called back. They were planning to work on the car they were restoring. Tobias couldn’t wait until, one day, he had enough saved to open his own automotive shop. His share of the profits on the old Buick, and any other cars he and Uriah restored in the future, would go toward that.

Uriah nodded to show he’d heard. “I’ll be in the garage waiting for you.”

Tobias had just gotten out of the shower when he heard a knock at the door. Assuming it was Uriah getting impatient, he threw on a pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt, a castoff of Maddox’s, and opened up without checking the peephole. “I’m almost ready—” he started. But when he saw Harper standing there instead of Uriah, the rest of the sentence died on his lips.

She looked nervous, but as beautiful as ever. She was wearing the gold bracelet he’d given her. That caught his eye right away.

“I texted you last night,” she said before he could offer any sort of greeting.

He felt instantly uncomfortable. He’d tossed and turned for two hours after that text had come in, trying to decide how to respond, and had ultimately decided not to say anything. If he remained in contact with Harper he’d never get over her. “Yeah. I saw that. I’m sorry. I haven’t had a chance to get back to you.”

“Do you mind if I come in?”

He hesitated. He didn’t want to be rude, but he wasn’t ready to be friends. He needed to continue to try to block her from his mind, not start interacting with her again. “Actually, Uriah’s waiting for me in the garage, so…maybe we can talk on the phone once you get back to Denver.” Or never, he thought, but he didn’t add that. “When will you be leaving?”

“Are you that eager for me to go?” she asked.

It was difficult to look at her without softening. No one had ever affected him quite like she did. “Isn’t Axel pressing you to get on the road?” Or was her ex now so confident he’d decimated the competition that he was no longer worried?

“I’m not going back to him, Tobias.”

Tobias’s breath caught in his throat. She was available—but not for someone like him, he reminded himself. “I’m sorry to hear you and he are still struggling.”

Her eyebrows knit. “Are you?”

“I’m doing my best here, Harper,” he said. “What else am I supposed to say?”

“Tobias, I’m so sorry—”

He lifted a hand to stop her. “You’ve already apologized.”

Her chest lifted as she drew a deep breath. “You’re not making this easy on me, are you?”

“Making what easy? I don’t understand what you’re doing here.”