by MJ Summers
“Come here,” he said, taking her hands in his and pulling her inside with him. “I’m sorry that I upset you. You were having such a wonderful day, being happy for your friends, and I killed the moment.”
“Slaughtered it. Which was kind of a shitty thing to do. But I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have gotten all personal and insulting. And I definitely shouldn’t have said this means nothing. It was horrible of me and it’s not true. I just got so angry because it felt like you were accusing me of wanting to push you into marriage when really there’s nothing further from my mind.”
“You’re right. I was definitely implying that. But you have to admit, you got very defensive about the whole thing pretty fast, which means I must have touched a nerve.”
Harper pressed her lips together for a second. “I know I did. But that doesn’t mean I want to get married. Couldn’t it just mean that I really disagree with you?”
“I guess it could. But was that really all it was?”
Pulling her hands away, she leaned against the wall to distance herself from him. “I think maybe we should break up. Or whatever you call it when you’re not officially in a relationship with someone but you should definitely stop sleeping together.”
Evan folded his arms across his chest, his jaw set tightly. “Over one argument?”
Harper stared down at her feet. “It’s not that. I think we may have been fooling ourselves about being able to do this without getting too involved. I’ve been thinking about how everyone around us has trouble accepting what we’re doing here. It’s because they might be right. We are heading down a dangerous road, and I think we should stop before it’s too late.”
“No.”
Harper’s head snapped up. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”
His voice was crisp as he answered. “I mean no. We tried that when you first came to town. We tried to stay away from each other and it was useless. So, no. We’re not going to stop.” He took a couple of steps to reclaim the space between them, lifting his hands to her face and kissing her mouth. “I know you’re only here for a little while and then you need to go back to your real life, and I won’t try to stop you. But as long as you’re here, I can’t just pretend I don’t want you. And I’m not going to pretend that this doesn’t matter. This matters. Whatever this is. You matter. And I’m going to be with you. I’m going to get you naked and kiss every part of that gorgeous body of yours and feel your legs wrapped around me as often as humanly possible until it’s time for you to go. I’ll take whatever I can get.”
Harper swallowed hard, looking like he’d just shredded the long list of reasons she’d come up with for them to break up. “When you put it that way . . .” she answered, her voice thick with desire.
Evan lowered his mouth over hers again, giving her a long, deep, passionate kiss. Harper’s lips parted, and he accepted the invitation, sliding his tongue in to search for hers. He ran his hands over her neck and shoulders, then down her sides. When he reached her waist, he tugged her shirt up and over her head, tossing it onto the floor. His fingertips skimmed the outline of her lacy ivory bra as he gazed down at her with adoration. Harper frantically unbuttoned his shirt, then ran her hands over his smooth skin as he yanked his shirt off. Evan’s hands were immediately on her back, undoing her bra so she could slide the straps off her arms and let it fall to the floor. His mouth hovered over her left breast, his tongue reaching it first, swirling over her nipple. Pleased at the results he was getting, he moved to the right. She moaned, arching her back against the wall, wishing she had done away with her jeans by now.
As if reading her mind, Evan picked her up by her bottom and carried her over to the pool table, his mouth never leaving hers. He set her down, giving himself access to easily undo her jeans and pull them off, along with her panties. Harper leaned her arms on the table and lifted her hips in cooperation.
“On the pool table?” she asked, surprised. “Won’t this wreck the felt?”
“Totally worth it,” he said, tugging his pants down and off. Lining himself up with the table, he pulled her to him, bringing their bodies together where they most wanted to connect. Kissing her hard, letting his tongue find hers, he pressed himself into her sex for a deliciously long moment. Giving her a look of greedy anticipation as he pulled away, Evan dropped to his knees in front of her. Parting her legs with his hands, he gently held her thighs as he let his tongue dip into her already wet core. Moaning at the taste, he licked her slowly, over and over, with long drags before plunging his tongue into her. “I love how you taste. I could never get enough of it.”
Harper’s back arched involuntarily, begging him to go deeper. Harder. Faster. Her fingers gripped the edge of the table as she lowered her bottom and lifted her legs over his shoulders. Gliding her hands along her tummy and up to her breasts, she caressed herself as they surrendered to this moment. They were back in their own world again, where no one else existed and time had no meaning. There was no past, no fear of tomorrow. There was only tonight.
Evan slid his hands from her thighs to her centre now, parting her with his thumbs, making room for his tongue to delve in as far as possible. Rubbing, licking, rolling his tongue over and over until he could feel her tense around him and heard her cry out with the pleasure he was giving her. That sound—those moans—had somehow become that which he craved endlessly. When her body finally relaxed and she released him, he stood, skimming his large hands over the silk of her skin. Up from her thighs to her neck, then back down again. He gazed at Harper, her breasts rising and falling as her breathing slowed, her cheeks flushed, her waves of beautiful hair resting on the felt of the table. He revelled in the pleasure of what he saw and what he felt as his fingertips moved over her. She was his and he would let nothing stand in the way of this. She was worth the risk.
Harper reached for him, interlacing her hands in his, pulling him down to her, kissing his lips. He pressed his thick length against her sex as he felt himself throb with pleasure and desire. He needed this. They needed this. He watched her as he lifted his hips toward her, his body tensing with excitement as he moved over her. His eyes met hers and he heard her breath hitch as he gazed back at her with the full intensity of his need. He entered her slowly, ever so slowly, each inch bringing new intensity. He filled her completely, touching every nerve in her body as he pulled her up so that she was sitting, their chests meeting as their mouths joined. Pivoting back and forth, harder and harder each time, he thrust himself into her as if his very life depended on it. He kept his eyes on hers as they became one tangled mess of emotion, longing and passion. And now, clutching each other as they came undone, they were one.
Twenty-Five
“You outdid yourself, Harper. Seriously.” Megan had forced herself to wait four days to look at the wedding pictures, so that she could do it when both Harper and Luc were there. The three crowded around her computer, scrolling through the shots for the second time. Megan’s hands moved at lightning speed as she selected the best ones, depositing them into a folder of shots to be edited.
“Thank you, Harper. You did a wonderful job,” Luc remarked, leaning toward the screen to examine each photo closely. “I guess it makes sense that you would have an eye for it, but you really seem to know how to work the camera as well. Have you had any formal training?”
“Never any classes or anything. I was a photographer’s assistant for two years while I worked my way up. A couple of the photographers were excellent teachers.”
“Well, you’re quite talented.” Luc said. “That one of Elliott kissing Amelie’s foot is perfection. I want to frame that one.”
Megan glanced up at him. “Definitely. It just captures the spirit of the day. Pure joy.”
“Oh, it was. Elliott was just one big grin all afternoon,” Harper said.
Megan turned to her friend. “Say, you wouldn’t want to do this professionally, would you?”
“You mean like start my own business and try to compete with you?” Harpe
r teased.
“No,” Megan laughed. “I mean like come work with me. You know how I’ve been struggling to keep up since Amelie was born. With your eye for setting up shots and your knack for getting people’s best angles, I think we could do well together. Really well. I mean, look at this one—you captured exactly how Luc and I feel about each other, right there. You chose the perfect moment to take the shot. The lighting, the way you zoomed in and blurred out the background. It’s as good as any photo I’ve ever taken, and I’ve been at this for years.”
Megan was interrupted by Amelie waking from her nap. Luc kissed his new wife on the shoulder. “I’ll go. You two talk business,” he said as he started toward the stairs. “But first, let me say I think it’s a terrific idea. You two would complement each other so well, and with Harper on board, there would be an entirely new way to market your services.”
Megan wore a thoughtful expression as she watched Luc walk away. “He’s right. You could do consults for brides who are having trouble picking out their wedding dresses. You could blog on my website about it. It could be huge, actually.”
Harper sat back in her chair, staring at the screen. “That sounds like a lot of fun. That I could do, but I don’t know about the photography part of it. You’ve been doing so well on your own. What if you send me to cover an event and I botch it? I’d ruin your reputation, and this really is a word-of-mouth business.”
“I just can’t see that happening. Listen, we could take it slow. I’m not accepting that many jobs right now. Neither of us can throw ourselves into this full-on right now anyway. Why not come with me to a few jobs here and there if you can? I can give you my old Nikon to play with for a while you think about it.”
“What if I break it? No, no, I couldn’t.”
“You won’t break it. And if something does happen, we either fix it or replace it. It’s not the end of the world.” Megan crossed the room and plunked a bag down in front of her. “Harper, you and I both have the same work ethic. Besides, it’ll give you something to do when Craig is with your dad. And Luc’s right—having a former art director from Style as a partner would be a huge boost. Do you know how many brides and new moms will want you?”
Harper shook her head.
“All of them.”
Twenty-Six
Over the course of the next week, Harper settled back into her routine as Roy’s caregiver. She would make him breakfast and take him to his lengthy physical therapy appointment every morning. She would read in the waiting room or run a few errands. When they returned home, she’d make lunch, then practise with Megan’s camera or work on the Fashion Forward website while Roy napped in his recliner to recover from his morning’s work. After he woke, they would play a few games of cards in the kitchen while supper was cooking. Each day, she noticed her dad growing stronger and happier. He was doing well enough that she started to spend her nights at Evan’s. If Roy got into any trouble, he could call and she’d be there in minutes. The easy pace of the days started to become more comfortable for Harper. Her contempt for Boulder itself lessened as she drove through the gridlock-free streets or found herself with time to sip some tea and enjoy the autumn splendour surrounding her.
“How’d it go with that reporter this morning?” Roy asked as he and his daughter seated themselves at a booth. They’d picked CJ’s Deli for lunch after Roy’s psychologist appointment.
“It was good. It should give the organization the extra publicity we need. Two of the clients had agreed to come back and share success stories, which was wonderful. The reporter focused mainly on them, which I think is the important part.”
“I can’t wait to read the article. It’s such an impressive thing you’re doing.”
“I think I get more out of it than the clients, actually.” Harper set aside her menu. “Hey, how was your appointment?”
“Good,” he answered with a nod. “We talked about your mom again. Actually, Dr. Chan told me I shouldn’t refer to her as your mom, but as Petra. She said that when I link her to you and your brothers as your mother, it somehow makes you feel responsible for her actions.”
“Fascinating.” Harper’s voice was devoid of enthusiasm as she flagged down the server for a coffee. Maybe if she only half listened she would only half feel the emotions associated with the dreaded topic.
“We talked about you. She figures that it must have been tough for you, especially since you look so much like your mom, er, Petra.”
“Hmm.” Harper held out her mug to the waitress. “Thank you.”
“Anyway, all these appointments got me thinking. I haven’t ever explained what happened between Petra and me. You and your brothers deserve an explanation. You’re all scared that the same thing is going to happen to you, but it really won’t.”
Harper stirred some cream into her coffee, mesmerized by the swirl of white in the dark liquid. “Are we? It’s actually highly unlikely that I’m going to fall in love with a high school student and leave the husband and children I don’t have. I’m surprisingly unconcerned about that.”
“No need to get snippy, kid. I’m trying to tell you something you need to know.” Roy levelled her with his dad glare. “Now, as I was saying, your mom’s and my situation was totally different from anything you’ll ever find yourself in. First of all, we were teenagers when we got married. Petra’s parents were incredibly strict. She knew better than to get out of line in that house. My shrink says because she grew up in such a stifling environment, she hadn’t rebelled yet or figured out who she was. Unfortunately, when she finally did, there was a lot of collateral damage. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, but—”
“Good,” he cut her off. “Backing up a bit, when she got pregnant with Wes, we took off together to Montana to get married. She needed to put some distance between herself and her parents. Turns out I didn’t understand her much better than they did. We never did relate well. I just figured we’d stick it out and make it work because that’s what you do when you have a family.” Staring down into his own mug, he shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe it wasn’t as bad for me as it was for her. I liked my work; I went out once in a while with the guys to blow off some steam. There were lots of other stay-at-home moms on our street that she spent time with. I made decent money, we were getting by, and I wasn’t mean to her or anything, but I didn’t really listen to her either. There wasn’t a lot in common. And she was always sort of restless, even after she went back to school to become a drama teacher.”
Harper sat, fully attuned to her dad’s words now, realizing she didn’t know the first thing about her parents as young people.
“Every year, she seemed to grow more dissatisfied. You probably remember we fought a lot. What you may not know is that she and my boss started a relationship just before we moved here.”
“I knew that. Everyone knew that.”
“Oh. Here I thought we’d managed to cover that up the whole time.” Roy shook his head. “Shows how much I know. So then you probably figured out that was why we moved here. I couldn’t keep working for a man I wanted to murder with my bare hands, and your Uncle Jim was able to get me on at Park Construction here. Petra apologized, said it wouldn’t happen again. Said she’d be happy here. We tried to make it work for a while but, well, you know how that turned out.”
“Why didn’t you leave her after the first time?” Harper wrinkled up her nose.
“Because of you kids. You have to remember, twenty years ago men didn’t have the same custody rights they do now. And I didn’t want to be one of those dads who saw you only every other weekend. I didn’t want to leave you with your mother either. To me, she just never seemed all that involved with you kids.”
“No, she really wasn’t, was she?” Harper shook her head.
“She’s the one who missed out. My point in telling you all this is to show you that you’re not in any way in the same situation we were. You’re not a teenager. You didn’t grow up under the same circumstan
ces as your mom. You’re a successful, stable, generally well-adjusted adult, and you’re capable of having a successful, stable, well-adjusted relationship. You just have to find a man who understands you better than I did your mom. A man who’s going to really listen when you have something to say and who’ll support you when you want to live your dreams.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s not that simple. First of all, you say it as though that man even exists—”
“What about Evan? He doesn’t fit that description?”
Harper shook her head in exasperation. “Evan has no intention of ever getting into a permanent relationship, so it wouldn’t really matter if he did fit your magic formula for husband material.”
“Then what are you doing with him?”
Harper felt her heart constrict at his words. Their relationship was becoming more difficult for her to justify, even to herself, but she had her lines memorized. “To be honest, I’m not interested in anything permanent either, so it’s kind of a perfect scenario for me. We’re just enjoying some time together before I go back to New York. Which brings me to my ‘second of all.’ I may be capable of a relationship, but that doesn’t mean I should be dumb enough to trust that someone else will be. When Mom left, I learned that the only person I could rely on was me. That little nugget of wisdom got hammered home pretty hard.”
Roy looked closely at his daughter. “What about the lessons I was there to teach you?” He tapped the table with his index finger as he spoke. “I was there for you every day. I stayed. I chose you and your brothers. And I’m still here for the three of you. Shouldn’t you have learned something about love from that too?”
* * *
That night, Harper sat on the edge of the bed, watching Evan as he shaved in front of the bathroom sink, wearing only his boxer briefs. She watched as he cleared the steam from the mirror, his muscles flexing as he moved. Her dad’s words floated though her head in spite of her attempts to push them away. What if she’d been wrong all this time? What if she could rely on someone else? Other people did it. And it worked out for them.
