Inching her face closer to mine, the breath of her words tickles my lips. “You really want to know?”
Fuck.
This is bad.
Everything inside me knows I should stand up and walk away.
But I can’t.
“It’s why I asked,” I mime.
“Not doing this sooner,” she says, pressing her lips to mine.
Electricity surges up through my stomach, sucking the air from my lungs.
Fuck. She tastes better than chocolate.
Gripping her hip, I roll her closer and slide my tongue past her lips.
I haven’t kissed a girl for over ten years. There’s too much honesty in a kiss. They speak a language more intimate than sex, and this is no exception.
Rocking against each other, we fit like a glove. Everything is effortless. Our moans and tongues dancing to a beat only we can hear, I pull down the shoulder strap of her swimsuit as she slides a hand into my shorts.
“Take me,” she pants into my mouth, pumping and squeezing my rock-hard cock. “I need you inside me.”
Fuck. I need that too.
Pulling at her swimsuit, the desperate eyes of Alice Reeves light my imagination.
“Promise me, Chris,” she pleads from another time and place.
“Youhave to promise me you’ll keep her safe!”
“Stop,” I whisper, grabbing Harper’s wrist. With the resolve I learned in the military, I shuffle away and jump to my feet. “What the hell am I doing here?”
Her right breast half exposed, Harper sits up. “What? Why did you stop again?”
“You know why,” I tell her.
Harper climbs to her feet and pulls at my arm. “It’s because I’m nother, isn’t it? It’s because I don’t look like that Milana woman?”
“No,” I sigh, pinching my nose. “I wasn’t lying out there. You’re worth a million of her.”
“Then prove it!” she begs. “We both want this, Chris. Just finish what you started and stop making me question everything.”
“That wasn’t my intention,” I say, turning to her.
Fuck. She looks so hurt. “This was a mistake. It won’t happen again.”
“You said that before, but?-“
“Imean it this time.”
I try to wipe the tear from her cheek, but she knocks my hand away. “So you’re saying the kiss was a mistake? And the laundry room? And out there in the pool before that mad bitch showed up? And I’m supposed to pretend like all this never happened?”
“Yes. It’s for your own good, Harper. There’s a reason I don’t let people into my life.”
She shakes her head. “Yeah. Because you’re a coward.”
Wow. That stings.
“Please, let’s not fall out over?-“
“You act like some big tough guy!” she shouts. “Beating people up, scaring them. But deep down, you’re nothing but a coward!”
I raise a hand in surrender. “You’re allowed to be mad at me.”
“Don’t tell me what I’mallowed to do,” she screams, pointing at me. “I’m not a child.”
“I know you’re not.”
“Then stop making excuses! You led me on and now you’re getting cold feet. And it’s because I’m not her. At least be a man and admit it.”
“That’s not true.” I tell her.
Harper pushes into my chest and I rest against the wall.
“I think you were right about what you said when we watched the movie the other night. You don’t have a heart. You’re…” She looks at me with so much pain dulling her blue eyes. “You’re a psychopath with no feelings, and I’m done with trying to figure you out.”
Running from the lounge, Harper bolts up the stairs and I flinch when she slams her bedroom door.
“I’m trying to protect you!” I yell into the empty room.
Silence.
Half of me wants to go upstairs and give her what she needs because I need it to.
But the other half cares about her too much to bring her into my world.
“Fuck this,” I hiss, pulling out my phone. I dial Mark’s number and wait for him to pick up. “Hey. Yeah. I’m fine. But something’s come up. You need to come back home. Sooner the better.”
Thoughts of Europe and my old army buddy fill my mind.
“I need to leave town for a while,” I add. “Yeah. London.”
Harper’s dad says he’ll tie up the loose ends on our latest business venture and I end the call.
Then I grab my laptop, slump down to the sofa, and load the travel website.
I have a flight to book.
One way.
TWENTY-FIVE
Harper
Idon’t know what the hell is wrong with me. It’s been three hours since I left Chris in the lounge, but I can’t stop crying.
That kiss has fried my brain.
And it’s not like I haven’t kissed boys before. But Chris Collins is noboy, and that kiss was nonormal kiss. It felt so…right.
Like we’d done it a million times before-not counting my dreams. Thinking about him leaving brings more tears because that kiss felt like coming home after a hard day.
“I can’t catch feelings for my dad’s best friend,” I mumble, pulling at the belt on my pink bathrobe.
As I continue to deny the obvious truth, a soft knock taps against my door.
“Harper?” Chris asks, his rich voice making my bones shudder. “Harper? Are you awake?”
The door handle begins to lower, so I close my eyes.
The thud of his heavy footsteps echoes through my creaky floorboards.
“I know you’re awake.”
“Am not,” I say, staying still. “I’m a sleep talker.”
He snickers. “I come in peace.”
I wish you’d come in me, I think, my eyes bursting open in shock. He’s holding something in his hands. “What’s that?”
“A gift,” he says, pointing at the space beside me. “May I?”
“If you want. Who’s the gift for?”
Chris sits down and props his head against my pillow. “You think I’d come in here with someone else’s gift?”
“Why don’t you break the habit of a lifetime and answer a straight question?”
He nods and sighs. “Fair enough. It’s for you, Harper. Here.”
Taking it from him, I stare down at the sparkly green gift wrap.
“Is this what came earlier?” I ask. “I heard someone knock on the door an hour ago.”
“Yeah,” he says, kicking off his shoes.
He’s wearing the stone-washed jeans I love and a tight blue sports vest.
Why does he look so good in everything?
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.