by Jessa York
“Oh, that’s prolly just her phone number. Our teacher did that to Evan when he couldn’t remember his,” Levi countered. Helpful as always.
“Auntie Harper, don’t worry. Alls you need to do is sit down with Mom at the kitchen table. She won’t let you up until you learn it,” Nicki said, picking off the batter from his chicken.
“Mom said she would tie me to the chair if she had to. But our number is easy to remember, and I’m really smart, so it only took one whole day,” Levi added. “My butt got sore from sittin’ so long, but I know it now. Most of the time.” He shrugged, still chewing his fries with an open mouth.
This whole conversation would have been cute, funny even, if a certain crazy caveman weren’t still latched onto my arm with the look of murder in his eyes.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jack ground out through clenched teeth. The boys were still too busy giving lectures about phone numbers and all the times they drew on themselves—and each other—to hear Jack, thank goodness.
I had no answer for Jack, other than to stare at him in fear. I’d never seen that possessive look he was giving me before. On anyone. The man was incensed. The thick vein in his neck was throbbing and his nostrils flared. Yikes.
He pulled me to the oversized kitchen sink and squirted a gallon or two of soap onto my arm and commenced scrubbing, washing, rinsing. Repeat. Whatever writing implement Joe had used, it was on there for life. Slightly faded, but still more than legible.
“Relax, it’ll come off eventually,” I said, attempting to take my arm back. Mr. Caveman was not having it, though.
“Have you memorized it yet? Because I have, and I’m about thirty seconds away from calling the douche who touched you and wrote on you and fuck knows whatever else.” His eyes reached into my soul and I stood there, unable to breathe. Jack was livid at the thought of me being with someone else. He assumed the worst and, boy, was he infuriated.
“Nineteen days. Nineteen days you wouldn’t answer my calls, texts, nothing. And now I see that you’ve moved on? Not even three weeks and you’ve found someone?” he said, his voice low and trembling. The man was trying his best to rein it in, but he was failing miserably.
“First of all, you lied to me. There’s nothing more to discuss,” I hissed, and again tried to take back my arm.
“There’s a fuck of a lot to discuss, and you just cut me right out of your life. No explanation required. How could you do that? Yes, I should have told you, but to just—”
“Daddy, more fries?” Tiny Jack interrupted us, face full of smiles and rainbows.
“One second, honey. Daddy needs to help Harper with her graffiti,” he spouted off, then turned and opened a high cabinet and brought out a bottle of whiskey.
“Here, have some of my fries. I’ve got a bunch,” Nick offered her.
“A bit early in the evening for booze, no? Especially with children around? Geez, Jack,” I snarked and shook my head.
He glared at me, but still didn’t release my arm. With one hand, he unscrewed the bottle and let the cap fall where it may. Then he tilted the bottle over my arm.
“What are you doing?” I gasped as the cool amber liquid splashed onto my arm. Jack said nothing. He just grabbed a towel and wiped gently at the faded numbers until they disappeared. One more rinse and he chucked a fresh towel at me.
His hands on the edge of the sink, he let his head fall. “After everything we went through, you just tossed it. You didn’t even give me a chance to explain.” He lifted his head enough to lock eyes with me, and that hit me. Hard.
“You failed to mention an entire human being with half your DNA. How long did you think you could keep that a secret? And a W-I-F-E?” I countered, still pissed off, but I had to admit something. Witnessing how mad Jack was in person and watching him unravel before me shined a whole new light on the situation.
He was pissed.
Eyes rolled back as he shook his head, he said, “Ex-W-I-F-E. Very, very ex.”
I took a deep breath to calm myself, figuring one of us should remain sane. “Well, how was I supposed to know that?” I said, fists clenched at my side. “She comes waltzing into the restaurant with your mini me calling me your ‘girl of the week.’ What would you think?” I asked, eyebrows raised in question.
Deflated, he ambled over to me and set both his hands on my shoulders. The heat from his skin penetrated my skin as well as my resolve. “I’d think your boyfriend was a spineless D-I-C-K for not telling you. I’d think you deserved better than him treating you like that. I’d think that’s a really C-R-A-P-P-Y thing to do to someone you love.”
My eyes, ears, and heart did a double take. Did he just say what I thought he said? “Did—”
But I was cut off with, “I’m sorry, Harper. From the bottom of my worthless cold heart, I’m sorry. So many times I wished I could go back and…ahhhh. I wished I could go back and not be so afraid of scaring you off. But that’s exactly what I did anyway, frightened you away.”
“Why didn’t you trust me? You should have told me.”
“You said you never wanted K-I-D-S, and I was terrified you’d give up on me, on us, before I even got my foot through the door.” He squeezed my arms.
“Well, you got more than your foot through the door. That’s for sure.” I sighed.
His beautiful deep brown eyes squinted at me. “Yeah,” he said and smiled his sexy-ass grin. “Forgive me?” he asked, rubbing his rough hands up and down my arms. Gently, he lifted my chin with his index finger. “Harper Halle, I am so in love with you, sometimes I can’t see straight. You’ve stolen my heart like no one else, and there’s no way I can get through this life without you. I’ve been a complete basket case since the night you left. Can you forgive me? Please?” he whispered the last part against my lips, and there was no willpower left in me to fight. His words, his touch, his mouth. It was all too much.
My lips met his halfway in a sensual reunion. I felt weightless, like I was floating in his arms that wrapped around me, pulling my more than willing body into his. Eagerly, I put my hands behind his neck to clutch him to me for as long as I could. His tongue entered my mouth and fought with mine, showing me how much he missed me. The kiss wasn’t a kiss so much as a declaration of you’re mine. There was nothing to do but give in. Let me clarify that. There was nothing more that I wanted to do than give in to him.
I breathed in his cologne, and my mind’s memory rejoiced. Instantly, my body relaxed into his, and he groaned, “I missed you so much.” His arms crushed our bodies together as he held me close.
“Me, too,” I murmured against his hard, muscular chest. His heart beat triple time against my cheek.
“Shit,” he said and stopped moving.
“What?” I asked, looking up at his blank face.
“It’s quiet.”
“Okay?” I laughed, not knowing what he was talking about.
“It’s way too quiet. Nothing good happens when these three are quiet. Trust me,” he said while his eyes searched the vicinity for naughty children.
Realization kicked in, and I whispered, “Oh shit.”
“Exactly.”
5
Harper
Turned out, the kids were in the bedroom dressing up in princess dresses, complete with tiaras and wands. Murray would be so proud. We had a quick photo shoot and texted the pictures to him.
Audrey was out of surgery and recovering. Groggy and in pain, she still managed to give her husband a run for his money. The boys did surprisingly well when we told them that Mommy was fine and would be home tomorrow, but they would stay one more night at Jack’s.
I offered to take them back home to give him a break, but all he said was, “No way. You’re staying here.”
While the kids continued their princess dance-a-thon, I stole the boys’ clothes, did some stain removal—that took forever—and then threw them into Jack’s washer. After I closed the machine and set it, I spun around and yelled, “Oh my God, you scared the cr
ap outta me.” Clutching my chest, I attempted to breathe deeply and restart my heart.
Jack stood leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed. He spouted off a ten-digit phone number and stared at me. “What are you doing? I have no idea whose number that is,” I said, still confused.
He recited the number again, stepped into the laundry room, and closed the door behind him. I huffed and crossed my arms. “Now you’re starting to piss me off. What’s your problem?”
“Lover boy. Do I need to give him a call and let him know you’re taken?” Ah, okay. He was talking about Joe.
“How in the world did you even remember that number? Sheesh.” I scoffed at him for taking the time to memorize such a stupid thing.
“He wrote it on my woman’s body. It’s burned into my brain.” Oh, good grief.
“Chill, caveman. Nothing happened. Honest. Riley invited me out, and as I got up to leave, one of the guys at our table decided to write his number on my arm. Completely unwanted.”
“But he still put his hands on you. Did he touch you anywhere else?”
What was he getting at? “No. Oh, well, he did put his hand on my leg.” That just sort of plopped out. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Another big sigh from him before he said, “Come here, Harper.” His voice was bossy and, honestly, it turned me on in a big way. If anyone else had issued that kind of command, I’d have to tell them where to stick it.
I warily moseyed over to him, trying my best to assess his mood. “Did you do anything with him?” he asked, eyebrows up, arms around my waist holding me captive. A willing captive, but still.
“Oh my God, there’s been nobody but you. I swear.” He exhaled into my neck, gently swaying with me. Caressing his shoulders and back, I reiterated, “You broke my heart. I could barely get myself to work. I wasn’t exactly out partying all night, every night. Riley felt sorry for me, so she asked me to go out. But I only went to be with her.”
“Just thinking of you with—” he started, but I cut him off.
“Nobody. I was at home, on my couch. Alone. Missing you. Wishing like hell you were there to hold me while we read together on my crappy couch, in my crappy apartment.”
I could feel his body shake under mine. “Your apartment isn’t crappy. It’s small, but I like it,” he whispered into my ear, his warm breath giving me goose bumps.
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Uh-huh. My place is great, especially compared to yours,” I said sarcastically.
“My place is nice. And cold. And lonely. It doesn’t have you in it,” he said, grabbing my ass and squeezing. “We haven’t known each other for very long, but we definitely know each other well. I want to be wherever you are.” Then he found my lips and crushed his to mine. This man. God, he tasted good. His tongue invaded my mouth in a forceful assault, like he was again trying to show me exactly how much he missed me. Message received. My heart was beating quickly, and his hands on my ass pulled me even closer to his rock-hard erection.
After a few moments, I pushed away. “Who wouldn’t want to live in a huge penthouse apartment?” I asked, wondering why he didn’t like his home.
He sighed, and his hands wandered up my back. “It’s so sterile. There’s no personality. When I come home after a hard day, I want to feel warm and comfortable. My place is the exact opposite of that.”
The man spoke the truth. It was all hard lines and contrast, but it also was a far cry better than where I lived.
“So, you would rather cook in my kitchen than in your chef’s dream kitchen? I doubt it,” I said, giggling just thinking about how awful my minuscule kitchen was compared to his.
“If you’re there? No contest,” he said, leaning forward and kissing me gently. “Look, this place is nothing like the apartment I lived in when I was going to school and working my way up.” Hmm, that surprised me. I always kind of assumed Jack came from money.
There was plenty I wanted to ask him about his life, but we had more pressing matters at hand. “We should get back out there. It’s quiet again.” I nodded toward the door, imagining what those three must be doing now.
“I made popcorn and put on a show. They’re good,” he said against my lips before turning us and pushing my back against the door. I shrieked at his move and then laughed. His dimples emerged as he smiled at me. I missed those. My fingers traced the indents in his handsome face.
“I love these,” I said, and that made him smirk even wider. “I bet they work well on the ladies.” I knew firsthand the effect they had on the female species.
“Only one I care about is standing right in front of me.” And then he groaned into my open mouth as he took complete control of our embrace. His fingers roamed down and lifted my skirt. It didn’t take much. My skirt was pretty short. Then his hot hands found my ass again.
“I don’t even want to think about why you’re wearing a thong because I’m just so fucking thankful you are,” he muttered before lifting me right off the floor. I reached down and palmed his hardness through the thin material of his shorts. He moaned even louder, and then…knock, knock, knock.
“Daddy? We wanna watcha different show.”
Jack
Needless to say, kids tended to put a bit of a damper on your love life. After I put on a different show, the kids settled in with their popcorn and drinks. A few minutes later, the house phone rang, and I bounded up to answer it.
“Thanks, Ed. That would be fantastic,” I said to the best doorman that ever lived, then headed toward the elevator. A moment later, the metal doors swooshed open, and we did our exchange.
“Follow me,” I whispered to Harper, touching her arm as I strode past the couch. All right, maybe I stared at her legs, too. Fuck me. Those legs…
She carefully moved one kid off her lap and put a pillow behind another one’s head. Seeing her interact with the kids, with my kid especially, nearly made my heart explode. I couldn’t help but get my hopes up. The woman hadn’t left. Yet. Her amazing, heart-shaped ass was still in my apartment, even after meeting my daughter.
Part of me expected her to bolt when she showed up and saw the unholy mess the place was in. But instead, she took it all in stride and hunkered down to help.
And she forgave me. I’d wanted to go out on the balcony and shout it to the fabulous people of Santa Lena, but I restrained myself.
My cock jumped when I felt her behind me. She tapped my shoulder and said, “What’s in there? It smells delicious.” You know what smelled delicious? Her. Her hair, her skin, her… “Jack? What’s in the bag?” she repeated because all I could think about right now was how much I needed to carry her up to my room, throw her onto my bed, and do nasty, nasty things to her all night long. Instead, I’ve got the Cock-blocking Gang in my living room watching a movie about cartoon fish in space. Fuck.
“I asked the restaurant to send over some food for us,” I said, unpacking the goods onto the counter.
“Why? We have perfectly good chicken strips and fries,” she said as she tipped the pan, making the cold, dried-out lumps of mass production slide around.
“Very funny.” I glared at the extremely sexy smartass in my kitchen. “For your information, those boys refused to eat anything I gave them. Nothing. Zero.” It wasn’t funny at the time, but watching Harper’s face light up and giggle made me see the brighter side. “Oh, and the manager at my neighborhood grocery store strongly encouraged us to find somewhere else to shop next time.” That got me a head toss and a huge roaring laugh.
“What did they do?” she asked, eyes wide open in anticipation.
“You don’t want to know, but Audrey should enroll them in rock climbing classes. Natural talent and all.” I unpacked the takeout boxes one at a time.
“No,” she said, mouth open, waiting. Wonderful. Now my fucking cock was hard. I snagged some cutlery and talked him down.
“Actually, they could probably teach the classes,” I said blankly. Harper shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Luckily, we got out of th
ere with some food they would actually eat, so it wasn’t a total loss. However, I’m not looking forward to driving ten extra minutes every time I need groceries.”
“You can come with me to Pat’s,” she tumbled out. From the look on her face, she was just as surprised as I was.
“I love going to Pat’s with you. Let’s just never bring the boys with us.” I smiled and raked the scallops onto our plates. Wes did a great job on these—even the grill marks were spot-on.
“Deal,” she said and grinned at me. “Those two are a handful, I’ll give you that. And taking them out anywhere deserves some kind of medal or Nobel Prize.”
“Sit.” I pulled out a chair and then sat beside her.
“Ohhh, yeahhh,” she mumbled over the steaming scallop in her mouth. Thank God I was sitting because hearing her say that brought back a lot of memories. A lot of really, really good memories of her lying on her back, spread eagle while I...
“Better than cold chicken fingers and fries?” I asked, trying my best to get my mind off her moaning.
“Much. I still can’t believe you allowed processed food in this house. The man who threw my container of margarine away,” she said and shook her head. “And all of my frozen toaster foods.”
“The toaster is to toast with…”
“Not to cook in, yeah, yeah. I remember,” she repeated my mantra that I had tried my best to teach her. The woman loved her toaster.
“You know I missed you,” I said, staring directly into her eyes. She nodded and gave me a sad smile. “I missed you, and I missed this.” I motioned with my fork between us. “Our conversations, our back and forth. You making the shittiest days seem worth it, just because I got to come back home to you. Even if all I had the energy to do was crawl into bed and hold you for a few hours until it was time to start a whole new day.”
