Harper nodded at her, but Lauren could see the grin threatening to break out on her face. Lauren threw her head back in the same nod and made her way over.
“Hey.”
“Hey. I ordered us some pizza, it should be here soon.”
“What kind?” Lauren said with narrowed eyes.
“Double pepperoni, of course.”
“Good, that was a test,” Lauren said.
“Did I pass?”
“Yep. You remembered my favorite,” Lauren said. She slid her hand across the table and took Harper’s hand. Her skin was warm and soft and unbelievably comforting. They stared at one another. Lauren wondered if she could ever get used to how beautiful Harper was.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call more over the last month. I didn’t want to tell you I was coming unless I was sure it was going to work out,” Harper explained.
Lauren shrugged. She felt so giddy that she already couldn’t remember how miserable and lonely she’d been. “It was worth it for the surprise. How long are you staying for?”
At that moment, the waiter arrived with the pizza and they stopped talking. Harper was watching Lauren’s face.
“Where are you staying?” Lauren asked, looking around them to see if Harper had luggage with her. “I hope you haven’t booked a hotel. You’re staying at my place, of course?”
Harper raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re a little fast, Ms. Langham. We’ve only been dating a while. It’s far too soon for me to move in.”
“Move in?” Lauren said, grinning. Harper was obviously as over the moon that they were together as she was, judging by the look on her face, but she wasn’t making a lot of sense.
“I’ll put you out of your misery. You remember me telling you about my uncle? I’ve gotten my old job back. I’m staying with him. I’m living here.”
Lauren picked up a slice of pizza so she would have something to do with her shaking hands. The world had righted itself so suddenly that it made a lump rise in her throat. She had no idea how to react to the best piece of news she had ever heard in her life. Her happiness was too big for laughter or smiles, because she felt completely overcome.
Harper followed her lead and picked up a piece of pizza as well. “I hope you know I don’t have big expectations of you or anything. There’s no pressure. I was going to move here for work anyway.”
“Try again, Harper.”
“Try again?”
It was one of the first times Lauren could remember seeing Harper look fearful, so she smiled at her. “Yeah. Tell me again.”
Harper nodded. She put down her pizza slice and grabbed both of Lauren’s hands. “Lauren, I want to be with you. Do you still want that?”
“Sure, I guess,” Lauren said, then laughed.
“Oh, you’re horrible. You set me up,” Harper replied.
“I did.” They laughed, releasing the tension. Then Lauren leaned across and put her hand on the side of Harper’s face. “I’m sorry. Yes, I do. Very much.”
They ate quietly for a moment. Harper picked up another slice. Lauren watched with satisfaction as cheese stretched out and snapped off in a string. “I can’t believe I can come here whenever I want. With you.”
Lauren leaned her chin on her hand. “I feel like I’ve figured out a big secret.”
“What type of secret?” Harper asked her.
“I don’t know. The secret to happiness. That I don’t need much to be happy. Just hanging out with you and having a good meal is more than enough for me.”
“I know something else that would make me happy. Let’s go back to your place,” Harper said, wiping her greasy hands on a napkin and tossing it down on the table.
Lauren threw her head back and laughed. “You’re right, what are we even still doing here?”
They linked arms and quickly made their way there, their feet barely touching the ground. While they went, Harper caught Lauren up on the relocation, explaining how her father had made it so much easier for her to go.
“I could get used to having a father-in-law like him,” said Lauren. “We should go and visit him. I’d like to see him again.”
“Well, he’ll be even fonder of you when he finds out you’re going to make sure I visit.”
When they got to Lauren’s apartment building, Lauren paused to talk to the doorman. “Eddie, this is Harper. You don’t need to buzz me when she comes over, you can just let her right up.”
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” he said.
Lauren led her to the elevator and they stepped inside. Harper turned to her, and put her hands on Lauren’s waist. “Alone at last.”
Harper leaned forward and kissed her, feeling Lauren’s fingers on her neck.
They broke apart and lay on their backs.
“I don’t know how I went for so long without doing that,” Harper said.
“Me neither,” Lauren said, still catching her breath.
Harper rolled over and kissed Lauren’s neck. “I like your place by the way. It’s very you.”
“I’m glad to hear it, especially because I’m planning on asking you to move in at an appropriate time. Or we can pick out a different place together. Whatever we want.”
Harper smiled at her, nodding. “Let’s see what’s right when we get there.”
Harper let herself into the apartment. It never ceased to thrill her just a little bit when Eddie or one of the other guys would wave her through, and then she’d slide her own key into the lock. Lauren had given it to her soon after she arrived in New York.
As she opened the door, she could smell that Lauren was cooking. She came over to Lauren’s at least a few times a week for dinner, though they went out almost as often as they ate at home. Lauren had a million places that she wanted to introduce her to.
Lauren kept cheerfully saying that she was happily unemployed, though it wasn’t quite accurate. There was one project in pre-production that she wasn’t all that happy about because she had signed on before she had changed representation, but she was writing again. She had given Harper a couple of scripts to read and sought her opinion, to help her to decide on her next movie. From Harper’s perspective, it seemed like things were going pretty well.
Harper slipped off her heels in the entry hall and pulled her blouse out from the waistband of her skirt. She rubbed her stocking-clad heel for a moment. She still wasn’t used to having to dress in corporate attire for her job. There was little else to complain about, because she loved the work. It surprised her how quickly she had slipped back into it. Taking all that time off hadn’t been great for her career, but she was starting to think that it would not be so long before it would be like it hadn’t happened.
“Hey,” she said. As usual, Lauren was listening to loud music and hadn’t heard her come in.
“Oh, hey. My big important law lady, come here,” Lauren said, and kissed her hello. Harper decided that maybe the clothes weren’t so bad when they got that sort of reaction.
Harper took over stirring one of the pots on the stovetop when Lauren asked her to.
“Your dad called me just now,” Lauren said. “I want to show you something.”
Harper watched Lauren opened up a magazine. It looked like a glossy fashion rag, which was strange considering she had never seen her dad read anything that wasn’t about cars or fishing.
“You’re kidding. My dad called you about something in one of those magazines?”
“Well, he’s dating isn’t he? Maybe he saw one at a special friend’s house,” Lauren pointed out as she flipped through the pages. She held up the open magazine so Harper could see.
Harper gasped when she took in the fact that it was the two of them in the picture. It was fairly benign—they were just walking alongside one another on the street, but Lauren had an arm slung around her shoulder. It could be any morning, any day.
“Oh my God, how did they get that?”
“Long lenses,” Lauren explained. “It’s all over the Internet too, of course.�
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Harper turned off the hot plate so they could concentrate. She took the magazine from Lauren’s hands and had a closer look at the article. “Lauren Langham Out and About with Gal Pal? Why is this news?”
“Saying ‘gal pal’ is them saying that they know we’re probably together but they don’t want to get sued,” Lauren explained.
Harper put her hands over her mouth. “Oh wow, I see. Are you okay?”
Lauren put her arms around her. “I had a brief moment of freaking out, but I’m fine. I knew this might be coming. But you know what? Some people will get it and some people will never believe it for a second or just think we really are friends. Does it bother you? I know you didn’t sign up for this. I hope it doesn’t cause any problems at your work.”
They hugged tightly and Harper scoffed. “I totally signed up for it. If it doesn’t bother you then it doesn’t bother me.”
They finished cooking and took their bowls out into the living room. They often ate like this, stretched out on the floor with music playing and Chester running around them begging for scraps.
When they were like this, it was difficult for Lauren to remember how she could have felt any differently, how she could have ever been so frightened. With Harper at her side, backing her up, nothing felt threatening. Her heart was so open and free that it made all the stuff she used to worry about insignificant.
What the world thought of her didn’t matter at all. The world was in this room, and it was full of only love.
Bella Books, Inc.
Women. Books. Even Better Together.
P.O. Box 10543
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Phone: 800-729-4992
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No More Pretending Page 18
