by J. H. Croix
“Harper?”
I wanted to reach for her hand again, but I didn’t want to startle her as I already had. Her eyes flicked to me again. The blue had gone darker, but she held still. “I’m not sure what’s up, but I think we should go,” I finally said.
She nodded jerkily, but didn’t move. So I reached for her hand, and this time she let me curl mine over hers. I don’t know how long she’d been cold, but right now, her hand was freezing. Stanley was still staring at the man gradually closing the distance between us. I’d seen him running before and thought nothing of it. Whatever he was to Harper, it wasn’t good. “Stanley, come on,” I said softly as I turned and led Harper away.
The next few minutes were quiet. I didn’t even notice the birds calling and squirrels chattering as we made our way back through the trees to the park entrance. I’d walked here, but I didn’t know how Harper had arrived, nor did I know where she lived, but I wasn’t leaving her side until she was home again. We reached the entrance, and I glanced down. Her skin was pale and her eyes shuttered. Stanley was as close as he could get to her on the other side without melding his body to hers.
After a moment, Harper looked up. “Did you walk here or drive?” I asked.
“I walked,” she said, her voice low and quiet.
“Okay, where to?”
She looked confused. “I’m walking you home,” I explained.
She started to shake her head, but I shook mine in return. “This isn’t up for debate. You don’t have to tell me what’s got you so upset, but there’s no bloody way I’m leaving you here with that look on your face. I’ll walk you right to your door and you can slam it in my face, but I’m not letting you walk alone.”
She swallowed and then nodded. “I live just a few blocks that way,” she said pointing the same direction I’d walk to return to my flat. This area of Seattle was residential with a mix of homes and flats.
“Perfect. You must live a few blocks from me then. Shall we?”
At her small nod, I commenced to walk again, her hand still in mine. Her hand was finally starting to absorb heat from mine, which relieved me. I kept batting away thoughts about what may have put the stark fear in her gaze, but I didn’t want to think about that now. I only wanted to make sure she got home. I pondered if I should offer to make her tea and almost laughed aloud. I was a true blue British boy. Tea was a daily part of my life and had been as long as I could recall. I drank coffee as well, but not much could beat a bad day the way a good cup of tea could.
I realized I hadn’t been paying much attention to how fast I was walking. I tended to move quickly no matter the circumstance. I glanced to Harper, about to slow down, but she was keeping pace easily even if she still looked half-stunned. We crossed another street, and Harper slowed. My flat was another two blocks away. “It’s here,” she said, pointing up to an older home, clearly renovated into smaller flats. Flowers were blooming in abundance in boxes hung on windowsills and railings.
“I’ll walk you in.”
Her eyes gave little away, but she looked the tiniest bit relieved and nodded. After she keyed in a combination at the main entrance, which led into a massive foyer, we made out way up two flights of stairs that hugged the curved wall. I released her hand on the way up and stood beside her while she pulled her keys out of her jacket. They fell to the floor in a clatter. It appeared that each floor held a single flat with Harper’s door the only one up here on the top floor.
“Dammit,” she said in a whisper, promptly dropping them again when she tried to fit the key in the lock.
“Let me,” I said, reaching down and scooping up the keys.
She was quiet while I slid the key into the lock. I felt entirely out of place and like I was probably pushing into places I shouldn’t go, but I didn’t feel right leaving just now. Despite the fact I didn’t know Harper particularly well, she was important to Olivia who had essentially become the center of my best mate’s universe. By extension of that, she mattered to me, even setting aside the draw I felt for her. I needed to make sure she was okay before I left her, and she’d been anything but since she’d laid eyes on that man in the park.
When the door opened, I held it and gestured Harper through, stepping just beyond the threshold myself. Stanley stood beside Harper, his eyes on her as if he was trying to ascertain her status. She stopped after several steps and hugged her arms around her waist, a visible shiver running through her. That’s it. I was making tea.
“How about I make you some tea?” I asked.
Her eyes swung to mine, almost incredulous. “Tea?”
“Yes, tea. You’re shivering, and I don’t know what happened back there or who that man was, but it upset you. I’m British if you missed that detail, and us Brits happen to think tea makes everything better. At the least, it should warm you up a bit.”
She stared at me for a beat and then smiled, just the smallest smile. “Okay. That would be nice,” she said softly. For the first time since we’d seen that man, she seemed to relax a bit.
Her flat was on the small side. We’d entered into what must be the living room, which had a window taking up the entire side facing the street and offering a view of Puget Sound in the distance. Light fell in a shaft from the sun rising up above the water. The hardwood floor gleamed under the sun. A cream colored circular rug sat in the center of the room with a sectional couch surrounding it. A television was mounted on the wall above a small fireplace. The kitchen was to the side with an island demarcating the space from the living room. A door leading to a bathroom and another to what I presumed to be her bedroom were at the back.
She gestured to the kitchen. “By all means, make some tea.”
It wasn’t hard to figure out what was where, what with a tea kettle on her stove. With that and water, all we had to do was wait. It occurred to me I hadn’t asked about the most important part. “I’m assuming you actually have some tea,” I said, glancing to Harper who’d followed me around the island and was presently leaning against the counter. The lines of tension had eased on her face, and she finally looked back to herself. She grinned. “I do. Right over there,” she said, pointing to a cabinet behind me.
I started to open it and then paused. “Is it okay if…?”
“Of course it’s okay. If it wasn’t okay, I’d have shooed you out already,” she said with another grin.
I liked Harper grinning, liked it quite a lot.
Harper
Alex Gordon, soccer star and sex symbol wrapped up in a body so yummy, he made me want to lick him all over, was standing in the kitchen in my new apartment making me tea. The incongruity of it made me almost laugh aloud, but I bit it back because he was being so sweet about the whole thing. He turned back to the cabinet and started rummaging through the tea boxes in there, eventually pulling out a box of, you guessed it, English breakfast tea. It was morning, and he was British. It made such perfect sense, I finally started laughing when he turned around with the box in hand.
Alex arched a brow, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Something funny?” he asked, appearing slightly confused at my laughter.
If he was confused, well so was I, but I wasn’t in the mood to ponder it. I had no sense of how much time had passed since I’d seen the man from many nightmares jogging our way in the park this morning, but thanks to Alex I’d managed to swat those feelings away. The relief was so great, it made me giddy. Well, that and the fact that Alex was here. Alex was so handsome, it bordered on ridiculous. He had brown hair that verged on curly and was often rumpled as it was now. Gorgeous honey brown eyes were paired with that hair. Beyond the fact he had a body that was all muscle and nothing else, the chiseled features of his face with classic cheekbones and a straight blade of a nose combined together to make him pure eye candy. To make matters worse, he appeared oblivious to his devastating effect on women and tended to be aloof and quiet.
I’d met Alex in passing through Olivia and her fiancée Liam. Olivia was one of my
closest friends and had fallen hard for Liam Reed who happened to play for the Seattle Stars along with Alex and two other British soccer players. Alex was famous for his unshakable nerves under pressure as the goalkeeper, and thus far this season, he’d yet to let a goal from an opposing team into the net. I’d previously paid little attention to the international fervor over soccer, but Olivia had begun bringing me to games with her occasionally, so I had an idea of how compelling Alex was.
I hadn’t let myself think much about how swoon-worthy he was, but right here, right now with him in my kitchen, it was hard to ignore. His presence up close was intense, yet comforting at once. He exuded a quiet power. Just now, I started to laugh again when I realized he was patiently waiting for me to answer. I pointed to the mugs I’d set on the counter, and he shook his head slightly as he stepped past me to drop tea bags in them. He turned and leaned his hips into the corner of the counter, just a foot or so away from me.
I sobered when it occurred to me I must seem half crazy to him. He happened to have been with me at an incredibly inopportune time there in the park. I didn’t want him to think I needed protecting, although I was quite relieved he had been there and had guided me out of the park. With Stanley on one side and Alex on the other, I’d numbly made my way home. Alex’s kind gesture of making tea snapped me out of where I’d gone inside. It was so funny to see this big, strong, powerful man offer to make tea.
I caught his eyes, like warm honey, and flutters swirled in my belly. I managed to take a breath. I felt strange—hyperaware and restless. The awful truth behind why I’d gotten so scared this morning made me want to prove it had no effect on me anymore. We stared at each other, Alex’s gaze coasting over me. He wasn’t particularly easy to read, but I sensed an answering desire in him. My hands were curled on the edge of the counter, and I realized I was gripping it. I eased my grip and pushed away, my body humming and my mind driven to wipe out everything threatening to take over.
I stepped right in front of Alex, the heat of his body emanating. Getting close to him was like being beside a livewire—energy and power vibrated from him. His breath hissed when I stepped even closer. There was a part of me that thought I was completely out of my mind and perhaps I was. But dammit, I wasn’t going to keep letting my life be ruled by one ugly incident. Alex was here and had magically turned my morning around. I wasn’t letting this chance slide by.
With my pulse thundering in my ears and heat streaking through me, I slid a hand up Alex’s arm. Oh wow. Just touching his arm was all kinds of amazing. He didn’t move as I stroked over his muscles, savoring their feel of their strength and subtle power. His skin was warm to the touch and sleek. I didn’t stop and coasted up over his t-shirt to curl around his neck. Thought fled, and I moved on instinct. His mouth was delectable with generous lips and a dimple just under his bottom lip. I curled my hand around his neck and pulled him toward me.
He stopped, maybe an inch away from me. “Harper?”
“Hm?”
“What are you doing?”
Excellent question, one that had layers of answers. The immediate one was all I considered. “Kissing you,” I replied.
His honey brown gaze locked with mine, searching. I don’t know what he saw there, but I could see the beat of his pulse in his neck, and his breath was shallow. Impatient, I yanked him to me. The moment our mouths collided, it was as if I’d been shocked. A hot jolt scored through me. He froze, and then looped his arms around me, pulling me up against him. Oh, this was perfect. Being held against his hard, hot body was heaven. He slid a palm up my back and curled it around my neck. Our kiss went from a stunning point of contact to a deep dive into pure deliciousness. I’d have guessed Alex to be a patient man, which made him an incredible kisser. He didn’t rush and he didn’t go all caveman and stuff his tongue down my throat. Oh no. He was slow and devastating with soft kisses, sweeps of his tongue against mine and nibbles on my bottom lip. All of it leading up to a kiss so melting, I truly would have collapsed had he not been holding me.
He drew back and tucked his head into the curve of my neck. I was relieved because I didn’t know if I could bear to look at him just now. I’d meant to kiss him as some sort of bold move, as much for myself as anyone, to show I couldn’t be cowed by the past. I hadn’t known kissing Alex would be, well…a heady, encompassing madness that made me feel more alive than I’d ever felt. Eventually he lifted his head and eased his hold. I hadn’t realized my feet had actually been off the ground until he slowly let me slide down his body. I could feel the ridge of his arousal against me, and my body’s answering clench.
When my feet were on the ground again, I took a deep breath and stepped back. His eyes were waiting for me when I looked up. “What was that about?” he asked.
Excellent question. Right now, I wasn’t so sure. “I wanted to kiss you,” I finally said. A perfectly true answer, but it didn’t capture everything I felt, certainly not the way I felt now.
He nodded just as the tea kettle whistled. The sound snapped the moment. Alex turned off the burner and poured tea. I slipped onto a stool by the counter and gestured for him to join me.
Coming Soon!
To Win Her
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Brit Boys Sports Romance
The Play
To Win Her
Diamond Creek Alaska Novels
When Love Comes
Follow Love
Love Unbroken
Love Untamed
Tumble Into Love
Christmas Nights
Last Frontier Lodge Novels
Christmas on the Last Frontier
Love at Last
Just This Once
Falling Fast
Stay With Me
When We Fall
Hold Me Close
Crazy For You
Catamount Lion Shifters
Protected Mate
Chosen Mate
Fated Mate
Destined Mate
A Catamount Christmas
Ghost Cat Shifters
The Lion Within
Lion Lost & Found
Acknowledgments
To my hubby for fearless feedback on sports. To friends, near and far, who inspire me with every story because without friends life wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. Many thanks to my editor for never being afraid to be ruthless with me. Clarise Tan at CT Cover Creations blew me away with this cover - huge bow to her for her vision and creativity! To Croix’s Crew, the most awesome group of readers a girl could ask for - thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your support! xoxo
About the Author
Bestselling author J. H. Croix lives in a small town in the historical farmlands of Maine with her husband and two spoiled dogs. Croix writes sexy contemporary romance and steamy paranormal shifter romance with strong independent women and rugged alpha men who aren't afraid to show some emotion. Her love for quirky small-towns and the characters that inhabit them shines through in her writing. Take a walk on the wild side of romance with her bestselling novels!
Places you can find me:
jhcroix.com
[email protected]
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