“The company wrapped it. My hands weren’t designed for wrapping,” he adds.
They feel great wrapped around me.
“It’s because you’re a man,” I say, shaking the square gift. “What is it?”
“A backward shirt,” he jokes.
Wow. That reminds me of the first night he came into my life and eventhatmakes me emotional. My period must be due.
“Just open it and find out,” he says.
Carefully peeling away the wrapping from behind, I pull it away and throw a hand to my mouth.
“Do you like it?” he asks.
Tears roll into my fingers as I stare down at the picnic field I painted when I was nine.
“I…I threw this out?” I mumble, rubbing my thumb over my most cherished memory. “And that horrible Christina wrote
Skank all over it in black ink. Is this a replica?”
“Nope. That’s the original. Found it in the garden the morning after the party. I know it means a lot to you, so I made some calls and had someone restore it.”
That’s the sweetest, kindest thing anyone has ever done for me.
And stuff like this is why Chris Collins is such a colossal headfuck.
“Thank you,” I say, sliding from the bed.
I couldn’t bring myself to take down the hook, so I hang it back where it belongs.
“Perfect,” he says as I lie back down on the bed. “Your mother loved that painting.”
“Were you close?” I ask. “You and my mom?”
Chris bites his lip and turns away.
That’s a weird reaction. Why would he…
Milana’s comments from earlier zoom into my head, and I sit bolt upright.
“Oh my God!” I gasp. “Was she telling the truth?”
“What? Who?”
“Milana said you had an affair with my mother! And you put flowers on her grave. I know it was you!” Chris smirks when I throw a hand to my mouth. “Oh God. Please tell me you’re not my biological dad?”
“Wow!” He bursts out laughing and points at my bookshelf. “I think you’ve read one too many novels.”
Calming himself when he sees my wide eyes, he shakes his head.
“No, Harper. Alice Reeves was a beautiful woman, but I wasnot sleeping with her.”
I frown. “And the biological dad thing?”
Chris smirks. “I’ll wait…”
“Oh.” My cheeks radiate heat. “Could’ve been artificial insemination or something.”
“Seriously. Less books. I most definitely didn’t loan my sperm to your infertile father.” His grimace makes me giggle. “There’s a sentence I never thought I’d say. Hideous.”
“I think it’s more horrific,” I say, shuffling up the bed next to him. “And heinous. Tell me about her.”
“Your mom?”
I roll my eyes. “No, Beyoncé.”
“She was sarcastic. Like you.” I relax into the pillow as he gazes at my painting and smiles. “After your dad started making more money with the nightclubs, he spoiled your mom. Diamond necklaces, designer handbags, fancy cars. She had it all.”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “I remember. He tried to buy me off too. Probably trying to make up for the lack of attention he gave us.”
I expect Chris to defend his best friend, but he doesn’t. I’m also amazed he’s listening to me. Every guy I’ve dated seemed to just wait for their turn to speak. Not that Chris and I are dating. That’ll never happen. He’s made that perfectly clear.
“Money and love are two very different things.”
“Yeah,” Chris agrees. “But with all that expensive stuff she owned, you know what was the most valuable thing she ever had?”
I shrug. “If you’re going to sayme then I’ll give you a ‘Mr. Cheesy’ award.”
“Close,” he says, pointing at the painting. “We all went out to this fancy Italian restaurant once. Your mom told everyone about that painting. She carried photos around. She loved you so much, Harper.”
“I know,” I say, drying my cheek. “Who’d you go to the Italian meal with?”
What the hell? I never planned to ask that question. But that just happens around this guy. I’m not in control of anything when Chris Collins is near.
“Some girl,” he replies. “Forget her name.”
“That figures.”
Chris exhales. “Exactly. That’s why I stopped myself earlier. It’s not you, Harper. You’re…” I watch him as he bites his lip. “It’s not you. It’sme. Everything I touch turns to shit eventually. And I intend to keep that promise I made to your mother.”
“What?” I gasp. “You mention this ‘promise’ every time something almost happens between us. But I thought you meant my dad?” He shakes his head. “What promise did you make to her?”
“To keep you safe,” he whispers, his eyes flickering to my lips. “And people around me are never safe, Harper.”
“Why would my mom ask you that?”
“It’s getting late,” he says. “Let’s call it a?-“
“Please.” I grab his forearm. “I need to know.”
Like he’s tired of keeping everything inside, he sighs and nods.
“I don’t know what you’d call it. Women’s intuition or something. She was worried that something might happen to her and your dad. And she made me promise I’d always look after you. Keep you safe. Three weeks later, she…”
His jaw twitches.
“You know what happened,” he mumbles.
“But you disappeared for five years?”
Chris rolls his head to me. “Did I?”
“What?” I gasp.
He looks so torn as he stares into my eyes.
“Remember your trip to a music festival on your eighteenth birthday?” he asks.
Still holding his forearm, I nod.
“And remember the scumbag pothead who tried to get into your tent?”
“Yes!” I say, so confused. “Maria and I were freaking out so bad. He’d been sleazing over us all day. Wouldn’t leave us alone. We even heard him outside our tent. We were thinking about going home the next day, but he just disappeared. Even his tent had gone.”
Chris raises his eyebrows, and I throw a hand to my mouth.
“That wasyou?”
“Yup,” he says. “Wasn’t always me directly, but I always made sure you were safe. Except for that Bryan scumbag. That prick slipped through the net. Took my eye off the ball when you started college.”
I’m rarely lost for words, but I have no idea what to say. I’ve often felt like I had some kind of guardian angel looking over.
Never in a million years did I think it was Chris Collins. Squeezing his forearm like I don’t want to let him go, my eyes fall to the scorpion tattoo wrapped around his bicep.
“And that’s why nothing can happen between us,” he says, tapping at the black ink.
“Why? What does that mean?”
He grinds his teeth like he wished this was different.
“You ever heard the scorpion and the frog fable?” he asks.
“No. I’m too old for bedtime stories.”
Chris doesn’t match my smile. His dark eyes gloss with tears as he tells the story, and I lose myself in their mysterious depth.
“There was a snake on one side of a river,” he says. “And on the other side were a frog and a scorpion. The scorpion asked the frog for a piggyback across the river. And because the snake was scared of the scorpion, the frog would be safe. Everyone wins.”
“Can’t scorpions swim?” I ask.
Chris sighs. “Not the point, Harper. It’s a story, not a zoology lesson.”
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.