Part 12 (2/2)

Harper I waited until the door was closed behind Emmie and then started counting. Slowly I reached one hundred and grabbed my purse.

Tonight had been a disaster!

All I wanted was to go home and hide under my covers. I felt like I was eleven years old all over again, wanting to hide from my mother and stepsister and the disdain I knew they felt for me. I had no idea why my mother hated me so much that she felt she had to constantly beat me down with her mean, vile words. Ariana was different. I knew all her reasons for hating me, and I hated her right back. Even if at one point in our lives I had hoped that we could be friends.

I was thankful that the bathrooms were close to an exit that most of the servers used as their entrance to work. I rushed outside and down the little alley to the street, my arm already raised to flag down a cab. A small part of me felt like I was being devious, sneaking out on Shane the way I was without so much as a goodbye, but I didn't think I could handle seeing him right then.

All day I had been on cloud nine. Half in love with a guy that treated me like I was the only thing that mattered to him. A job that I had only ever dreamed about waiting for me to step up and grasp with both hands. Now... Now I felt like a kicked puppy, that same feeling that I was always left with after seeing my mother. Only this time it was intensified by a thousand because Shane had set me up for that pain.

From the moment I had seen Monica and Ariana sitting at our table I had shut down and completely tuned Shane out. I was aware when he spoke, when he so much as moved beside me. But what he said had been lost in my numb mind. He had broken something inside me that I hadn't even known was so fragile, something I hadn't even been aware I had given him.

Trust. I had trusted him wholeheartedly.

And he had tricked me into meeting with my mother and stepsister tonight. For what gain? I was clueless to the answer. I knew that it wasn't because he wanted to meet the semi-famous model, Ariana Calloway. Shane had met his fair share of models much more beautiful and more popular than my stepsister.

The taxi stopped at a red light. Swallowing hard around the dry lump in my throat, I pulled my cellphone from my bag and called Dallas. It rang five times before going to voicemail. Figuring she was already at the club waiting to celebrate my new job, I just left a message telling her I wasn't going to meet her and Linc. I had a headache and was heading home to sleep it off.

It wasn't exactly a lie. My head was pounding. Turning off my phone, I threw it into my purse.

Traffic was h.e.l.l. It took twice as long to get home as it had to get to the restaurant in the town car earlier that evening. When the cab finally stopped in front of my building, I tossed the driver all the cash I had in my purse. It must have been enough, plus a decent tip, because he didn't argue when I stepped out and headed toward the front door.

Curtis, the night doorman greeted me, but all I could manage was a weak smile as I stepped into the thankfully waiting elevator. It only took a few moments to get to the twelfth floor, but my head was really starting to ache so it felt longer. When the elevator stopped, I stepped out, my attention on getting my keys from my purse.

”I'm sorry!”

My head snapped up at Shane's voice and I stopped. It hurt to look at him, but I did. His dinner jacket was gone, his once white s.h.i.+rt soaked in his sweat. He was panting and I knew that he must have run all the way from the restaurant. A glance at his once perfect Italian shoes told me that he had scuffed them up to the point of ruin after running that distance in them.

I couldn't find the words or even the will to yell at him. I was equal parts hurt and in awe. What had been the point of tonight? To see if I was breakable? If that was the case, then the answer was a definite yes.

Strong, sweat dampened arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me into his hot body. He tucked my head under his chin, and I pressed against him. His heart was racing as fast as a champion race horse in my ear. Those strong arms actually trembled as he tightened them around me.

”I'm so sorry.”

Still, I didn't speak. My vocal cords felt paralyzed, so I just let him hold me for a while longer.

I wasn't sure how long we stood there like that, but Shane finally stepped back and took my keys from me. I felt cold, lost, and alone those few seconds he was gone from me. He opened the door to the apartment and turned back to me. I saw the gla.s.siness in those blue-gray eyes as he lifted me like I was a fragile gla.s.s doll and carried me inside.

My eyes had been dry all evening, but now as he gently carried me into my apartment and then to my bedroom, I felt my eyes fill with scalding tears. A broken sob escaped me and I felt him tense.

Tenderly, Shane placed me on my bed. I watched through my tears as he tore his s.h.i.+rt off and then came back to me. His eyes were bright and it shocked me when I saw a tear escape. It rolled down his cheek and fell, landing on my own cheek.

”I'm sorry, beautiful,” he whispered.

”Wh-why?” I finally got out in a hoa.r.s.e voice.

”Why what, baby?”

”Why did you do that?” The question exploded from me. ”What did you have to prove?”

He closed his eyes, shaking his dark head. ”I don't even know any more. It all kind of clicked into place when I talked to your stepsister this morning. No matter how many times I tell you that you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, you never believe me. I realized that Ariana and your mom must be behind all of that.” He sucked in a shaky breath and another tear escaped his eyes. ”I thought I could make you face your demons and prove to you that no matter what you will always be breathtaking to me.”

Shane swallowed hard and broke my heart a little more as the tears began to fall faster. ”But all I proved to you was that I'm a d.i.c.k.”

With trembling fingers I wiped his tears away. I couldn't disagree with him. Tonight had not been good for us. But for just a moment, a really small moment, I had done something I never had before. I had stood up to my mother. Crazy enough, she and Ariana were the only two people in the world I cowered to. They had this insane power to make me feel weak.

And tonight, I had stood my ground-for about five seconds-but still I knew it was Shane standing beside me that gave me even that little bit of courage. It had also shown me something that scared the living h.e.l.l out of me.

Monica and Ariana no longer had the power to destroy me.

Because Shane now held all of that precious power in his big, calloused hands.

Chapter 16.

Shane When I realized that Harper had left the restaurant, I knew I was on the very edge of losing her. Terrified didn't even begin to describe how scared I was. I left Emmie and Nik still sitting at the table for four and rushed outside.

When I didn't see her on the streets, I wasted no time calling Dallas in a desperate hope that Harper had went in search of her friends. Getting the other girl's voicemail had made my fear rise a few levels, and I just started running. Ten blocks later I was tossing my jacket at some homeless guy I had seen in a side alley because it was slowing me down.

The streets of New York were always crowded, but tonight they had been especially so. I had to push through the ma.s.ses that slowed me down, not caring that I left people cursing at my back. By the time I got to Harper's apartment and questioned the night doorman, she still hadn't returned.

I was thankful that Lana had put me on her list of approved guests. The guy didn't stop me when I stepped onto the elevator. I was determined to see Harper tonight, even if I had to camp out in front of her door all night.

Now, as I stared down at the beautiful creature lying beside me on her bed, I realized something I should have already known. I could tell her I loved her a million times, but that would probably never register as the truth for her. I needed to show her, prove to her as well as say the words... And after tonight I was sure that I had only proved the complete opposite.

Blinking back my tears, I brushed a soft kiss over her forehead. I felt her tremble ever so slightly and knew that despite the disaster that tonight had been, she still wanted me just as much as I wanted her. ”Can I make love to you?” I whispered, praying that she wouldn't push me away.

I watched as she swallowed hard, but after only the smallest of hesitations, she nodded. Some of the pressure around my heart eased, and I felt like I could take a deep breath for the first time that evening. I didn't give her time to think about her decision; I simply set out to prove to her how much I loved her with the one thing I knew I couldn't get wrong.

Just as tenderly as I had kissed her, I undressed her.

I brushed another kiss over her forehead, still tenderly but with all the love I felt weighing down on me. I inhaled the scent of her shampoo and was intoxicated by that delicate scent that reminded me of Harper. My lips trailed across her cheek to her jaw, lower to her neck, and over her collar bone.

I didn't go near her lips, refused to get too close to those sensitive b.r.e.a.s.t.s of hers. Right then all I wanted was to show her that I wors.h.i.+ped her body. If I let myself explore her hot mouth, or even those beautiful t.i.ts of hers, I would be just as lost as she would be. And this wasn't about losing our heads. This was about loving Harper.

I kissed across her right shoulder and down her arm, delighting in the little goose b.u.mps that popped up on her sweet smelling skin. While my lips left no place untended, my fingers were busy tracing every feminine line of Harper: down her hips, her outer thighs, and over her calves to her ankles. Her skin was smooth, perfect. I loved the feel of it under my rough hands.

I grasped her feet with both hands, ma.s.saging the arches until she groaned with pleasure. Slowly, I kissed my way down her body until I reached her tiny feet. My tongue licked over the little ball at her ankle, making her jerk in pleasure that neither of us knew was possible. Her toes curled in my hands, and I knew that she was aching for something only I could give her.

I took my time. There was no rush as I kissed my way back up her legs. When I reached her knees, I urged her thighs apart. She spread willingly for me, like a flower blooming in the morning sun. My breath was trapped in my lungs as I looked down at the gorgeous woman before me.

This girl was my destiny. Now I just had to prove it to her.

Her thighs were like silk. They quivered with need under my fingertips, making my d.i.c.k strain against the fly of my dress pants. I ached for her on a level that was nearly terrifying, but this wasn't about me and my needs. This was for Harper.

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