Shane
I would admit that not calling Harper had been a mistake. Finding Natalie in my apartment the way she had probably was the nail in the coffin. But I had thought that Harper trusted me more than that. I’d been so caught up in everything else going on with us that I only assumed that she had complete faith in my feelings for her.
I had never been more wrong in my life.
She hadn’t trusted me at all. Harper didn’t have a shred of faith in me. That knowledge hurt worse than anything ever had before.
After telling her about how crazy the last few days had been for me, she just sat there with her head bowed, and I continued to pace. I wanted to go running, needed the burn of a long hard run to clear my head and ease some of the pain that clenched my heart. Instead, I just watched the woman that owned me, body and soul, tear me apart with her continued silence.
“I’m sorry I hit you,” she whispered so softly that I nearly missed it.
I stopped mid-step and turned to face her fully. “Why couldn’t you have given me two minutes, Harper?”
A shaky sigh escaped her, and she scrubbed a hand over her still damp face. “Because I was sure that you had tossed me aside. That you didn’t want me anymore. One look at Natalie getting in the shower, and I knew that you finally opened your eyes and saw the truth.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m not beautiful enough to be with you.”
Her words were like a stab to the heart, and I fell to my knees in front of her. This time the pain was more intense, more breath-stealing. Because I realized that Harper probably did have some faith in me, but she had absolutely none in herself. I had thought I had set her fears to rest and was sure that I had given her back her self-worth that her mother and stepsister had stolen from her.
And maybe I had for the most part. But there was still a little piece that would always question her hold over me. “What can I do to make you see what I see, Harper? How can I prove to you that you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen?”
She bit her trembling lip, and I was gutted as a few tears fell down her pale cheeks. “When I’m with you I feel like the most beautiful thing in the world. When you hold me I feel sexy and loved… And I really did trust you, Shane. I do trust you. But… I don’t… I’m scared that you’ll open your eyes one day and wonder why you are with me. I’m terrified that someone with real beauty will catch your eye and…”
My hand covering her mouth stopped the words that were like poison arrows to my heart. “That’s never going to happen. There isn’t any way that anyone, beautiful or not, will ever be able to catch my eye. Simply because I can’t look at another woman. All I see is you, Harper. All I want and will ever want is you. And I will never—never, do you hear me?—wonder why I’m with you because I already know the answer.”
I pulled her down onto the carpeted floor in front of me. “I’m with you because there is no one in the world like you. No other girl could ever hold my attention the way you do. You are so smart and so fun to be with. You are quiet and feisty all at the same time, which is completely adorable and incredibly hot. And your beauty, Harper, it goes soul deep.”
I cupped her face, wiping away falling tears as they landed on her cheeks with my thumbs. “Maybe one day you will see all of those things. But until you do, I’ll just have to remind you every day. I will have to make sure that you are always in my arms so you never doubt again for even a minute that you are sexy and loved, and completely—irrevocably—mine.”
A sob escaped her and she threw her arms around my neck. Her lips tasted of her tears as she sought my mouth in a kiss that was healing for both of us. “Don’t cry, beautiful. It kills me to hear those little sobs,” I whispered when I pulled back a little.
“I’m sorry!” She buried her tear soaked face in my shirt. “So, so sorry. I love you. I love you, Shane.”
I let out a long, relieved sigh. “When you said you hated me…” I broke off, my throat choking with tears. Those three words were still echoing through my head, making my gut twist in pain.
“I didn’t mean it. I was just so upset.” Tear dampened lips kissed over my face. “I could never hate you, even if I really wanted to. Why do you think it hurt so much for me to come home to this? It was ripping me apart, and I attacked before you could defend yourself.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I know. It still hurt though, baby. Thinking that I was about to lose you, that ripped me apart.”
Tears poured from her eyes faster. “Can you forgive me?”
“I already have.”
Harper
I woke with a headache, but Shane’s comforting arms were wrapped around me from behind. We had spent the entire night just lying in his bed, holding onto each other and talking. We had fallen asleep in each other’s arms in the early hours of the morning, and I had rested peacefully for the first time in days.
Shane groaned in his sleep and then blinked his eyes open when he felt me moving. His eyes were bloodshot, his face still a little pale, and I felt guilt eat at me once more for putting him through the disaster of yesterday. With a sad smile, I brushed a tender kiss over his lips. “I love you.”
“I love you too, beautiful.”
“Listen… I have to talk to you about something.” It was something that should have been discussed the night before, while we were still pouring our very heart and soul out, but I hadn’t wanted to argue again.
His eyes narrowed. “What now?”
“I know that you got me the job with Rock America. I know that you had Emmie take a look at my portfolio and ask to send work my way.” At the time my boss had let those little facts slip out, I’d still been upset because Shane hadn’t called me back while I was in Miami. I was livid and it had been one of the reasons I called Emmie.
Shane grimaced. “I just asked her to make a few phone calls. To ask them to look over your work and see if they could possibly be interested. That’s all, Harper. The fact that they ended up giving you a full-time position is all on you. You showed them how talented you are.”
I sighed. “Yeah, Emmie made me see that when I called her. I just wanted to say… Thank you, Shane. For helping me. For loving me… But mostly for not giving up on me yesterday when it would have been easier to just tell me to go to hell.”
“Telling you to go to hell would have just sent me there too, baby.” He pulled me against him, tucking my head under his chin. “One day you’ll realize that I can’t live without you, and that’s the day I’m going to put a ring on your finger.”
My heart stuttered in my chest, making it hard to breathe for a moment. And then I was on top of him, kissing him anywhere I could reach. “Don’t give up if it takes longer than expected,” I begged as I kissed across his hard stomach.
Rough fingers tangled in my hair. “Never going to happen.”
When I reached the fly on his jeans, I carefully released him and took him into my mouth without bothering to push the material off his hips. He shouted my name, his fingers tightening in my hair. “Fuck! That feels so good.”
The taste of his desire exploded on my tongue, and I moaned at getting a fix for my biggest addiction. I took him deep, not even gagging as I swallowed the head of his dick. I could feel his release nearing as I stroked his shaft and sucked on the tip.
He moved so fast I was still licking the taste of him from my lips when he tore my skirt off and ripped my panties in his urgency to become one with me. The first thrust made me see stars. It felt so good to have him inside of me. “I love you, Shane!” I cried as my orgasm rushed to consume me.