One Timer: An Nashville Assassins Novel Read online

  I feel her staring a hole in the side of my face. “Why? I thought y’all slept together again. He was all about it.”

  “He is. I’m not.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because I don’t want to be.”

  “Why?”

  “Are you a parrot? Leave it be. Nothing is going to happen. One and done.”

  “You did him twice. A lot. Like, all night.”

  I flash her a dark look. “I know, and I don’t need that reminder. I just need to forget him.”

  “Wh— I mean, ugh… I don’t understand.”

  I exhale very loudly. “I’m not a one-man woman. Too many dicks, too little time.”

  “Oh, Harper. Come on. It’s me.”

  I still won’t look at her. I am editing a first birthday shoot I did last week. The photos are adorable and way more interesting than this conversation. “Well, since it’s you, you know I don’t want to get involved with someone just for them to hurt me.”

  She lets out a soft noise. Sounds very sympathetic to me, which kind of pisses me off. “I know you didn’t have the greatest luck in high school—”

  Greatest luck? Is she delusional? “You mean every guy I dated cheated on me? Thanks for the reminder, El.”

  I look over at her just as she snaps her lips together. “To be honest, you didn’t really pick good guys.”

  I shrug. “So? I thought I was enough.”

  “You can’t be enough for someone who won’t value your worth.” Elli says the words so confidently. Something I haven’t heard from her in a very long time. I almost scream out in joy, but then I remember what we’re talking about.

  I bring in my brows. “Those are some pretty big claims for someone who says Shea Adler couldn’t be into her.”

  A small smile pulls at her lips. “Maybe I’m opening my eyes, and maybe you should too. I hear Jakob is amazing.”

  He is. I mean, the sexual and cuddling side of him is. I don’t know any other side. “I don’t even know him.”

  “You could try.”

  I shake my head. “Like I said, he’s needy. One of those guys who wants to get married and make babies. I am not that woman.”

  “You could be.”

  I glance back at her. “Please. No one has ever looked at me and thought that.”

  Her eyes are kind. “I do. I always have. Especially when you’re with my nieces and nephews. You’re the life of the party. Always.”

  I look away, shrugging. I’ve never seen that in my future. Hell, let me be honest and say I never thought a man would want me for more than a night.

  Then entered Jakob Titov.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I’ve never in my life seen you scared of something.”

  I scrunch up my face. “Ugh, I made you kill that spider the other day.”

  She laughs. “You know what I mean.”

  I lick my lips since they’re becoming irritably dry. “I don’t know. He makes me nervous.”

  “Scared, you mean.”

  I shake my head. “I’m not scared of some dude. I won’t give anyone the power to hurt me, which is why I’m staying away.”

  “But you want to.”

  “Want to what?”

  “Give him that power.”

  I mean, it wouldn’t be horrible, but I’m not admitting that. “No way.”

  “I know you, Harper Allen, and I think he likes you a lot. I also don’t think he is going anywhere.”

  I side-eye her. “I kicked him out of the apartment and slammed the door in his face.”

  “But he’s called.”

  “So?”

  “And you’ve ignored him?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t think he cares about that.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  She nods toward the front door. “He just got out of the car with a really big bouquet of flowers.”

  I whip my head to the front, and sure as shit, he’s standing in the parking lot. He has a huge bouquet of roses in his hand wrapped in brown paper with a white bow. He has on some really nice-fitting pants and a pressed button-down shirt. His dark hair is brushed to the side, and he’s clean-shaven, unlike the other night. He pushes his sunglasses up into his hair and looks toward the shop. He can’t see us—the windows are tinted—but I can see him.

  And. Wow.

  “You gonna run? He’s coming in.”

  I stand up, fixing the front of my shirt so my breasts look good. I pull up my jeans and jerk my thumb to her office. “Vamoose, you.”

  She laughs as she gets up, heading back to her office just as the door opens and Jakob enters. “Hey, Jakob,” she calls over her shoulder. “Good luck.”

  I’m gonna kill her. I look back at him, and he’s only looking at me. His green eyes burn my skin as he takes me in. He clears his throat. “I’ve been calling you.”

  I press my lips together, tucking my fingers into my back pockets. “Yeah, I’ve been ignoring you. I told you this couldn’t happen.”

  He nods slowly as he closes the distance between us. “I don’t take ‘no’ very well.”

  I love his voice. Breathlessly, I gaze up into his gorgeous eyes. “I am discovering that.”

  “I got these for you,” he says, handing me the over-the-top bouquet. It looked smaller when he was outside. Now that it’s in my hands, I’m sure there are at least five dozen roses. “I’ve thought of you this many times since I bought them, and I don’t care if that’s corny. Shea said I was corny.”

  I grin, puckering my lips as I run my finger along the bow. “Just a bit. But it’s also incredibly sweet of you.” I look up, and he’s dropping his lips to mine. I should push him away, I should dodge his kiss, but I fall into it. He brings his hand up, holding my jaw as our lips move together.

  When he pulls back, he’s only a breath away before he says, “Don’t pucker those lips unless you want to be kissed, kiska.”

  Fucking hell.

  I’m lost in his eyes as I gaze up at him. “Take me to dinner.”

  “Okay.”

  “And this is it. I’m going to see if I like you, and if I don’t, you’ll have to let me go.”

  “Okay.”

  I glare. “You’re not going to let me go.”

  He slowly shakes his head. “Nope, because you’re going to love me.”

  And for the first time, I realize I am actually scared.

  I’m petrified he is right.

  With how hot he looks, I expected him to take me to some fancy restaurant, but instead, we go to a hole-in-the-wall taco place. Don’t get me wrong—it’s the best tacos in Nashville, but I thought only I knew about this place. Even Elli doesn’t like it. She says she feels like they get the tacos off the floor. I don’t care where they get them; they taste like heaven, which is why I ordered ten of them. Plus, they’re small. Like, two make one, so in all reality, I got five. Still a normal and decent amount.

  But I still say, “Don’t judge me. I’m hungry.”

  He grins as he gestures toward me. “I’ll take ten of the same.”

  The waitress nods and walks off. I cross my legs and then uncross them before recrossing them again. I’m flustered, but Jakob sits across from me, cool as a cucumber with a sneaky little look on his face. “What?”

  “You look beautiful. I love your hair like that.”

  I reach up, touching my hair. I have it gelled down in the front and wild in the back. It’s my “I was too lazy to do anything with it” style. “Well, thanks. I basically rolled out of bed this morning. I was up late—” I stop quickly, looking down at the table. I was up late because I kept tossing and turning, thinking of his fine ass.

  “What were you doing, other than ignoring my calls?”

  I look up, a grin pulling at my lips. “Just watching TV.”

  “Should have called me, I would have come over and watched with you.”

  I taunt, “Please, you’d want more.”

  “Really,