I pulled her down onto the carpeted floor in front of me. “I’m with you because there is no one in the world like you. No other girl could ever hold my attention the way you do. You are so smart and so fun to be with. You are quiet and feisty all at the same time, which is completely adorable and incredibly hot. And your beauty, Harper, it goes soul deep.”

I cupped her face, wiping away falling tears as they landed on her cheeks with my thumbs. “Maybe one day you will see all of those things. But until you do, I’ll just have to remind you every day. I will have to make sure that you are always in my arms so you never doubt again for even a minute that you are sexy and loved, and completely—irrevocably—mine.”

A sob escaped her and she threw her arms around my neck. Her lips tasted of her tears as she sought my mouth in a kiss that was healing for both of us. “Don’t cry, beautiful. It kills me to hear those little sobs,” I whispered when I pulled back a little.

“I’m sorry!” She buried her tear soaked face in my shirt. “So, so sorry. I love you. I love you, Shane.”

I let out a long, relieved sigh. “When you said you hated me…” I broke off, my throat choking with tears. Those three words were still echoing through my head, making my gut twist in pain.

“I didn’t mean it. I was just so upset.” Tear dampened lips kissed over my face. “I could never hate you, even if I really wanted to. Why do you think it hurt so much for me to come home to this? It was ripping me apart, and I attacked before you could defend yourself.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know. It still hurt though, baby. Thinking that I was about to lose you, that ripped me apart.”

Tears poured from her eyes faster. “Can you forgive me?”

“I already have.”

Harper

I woke with a headache, but Shane’s comforting arms were wrapped around me from behind. We had spent the entire night just lying in his bed, holding onto each other and talking. We had fallen asleep in each other’s arms in the early hours of the morning, and I had rested peacefully for the first time in days.

Shane groaned in his sleep and then blinked his eyes open when he felt me moving. His eyes were bloodshot, his face still a little pale, and I felt guilt eat at me once more for putting him through the disaster of yesterday. With a sad smile, I brushed a tender kiss over his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too, beautiful.”

“Listen… I have to talk to you about something.” It was something that should have been discussed the night before, while we were still pouring our very heart and soul out, but I hadn’t wanted to argue again.

His eyes narrowed. “What now?”

“I know that you got me the job with Rock America . I know that you had Emmie take a look at my portfolio and ask to send work my way.” At the time my boss had let those little facts slip out, I’d still been upset because Shane hadn’t called me back while I was in Miami. I was livid and it had been one of the reasons I called Emmie.

Shane grimaced. “I just asked her to make a few phone calls. To ask them to look over your work and see if they could possibly be interested. That’s all, Harper. The fact that they ended up giving you a full-time position is all on you. You showed them how talented you are.”

I sighed. “Yeah, Emmie made me see that when I called her. I just wanted to say… Thank you, Shane. For helping me. For loving me… But mostly for not giving up on me yesterday when it would have been easier to just tell me to go to hell.”

“Telling you to go to hell would have just sent me there too, baby.” He pulled me against him, tucking my head under his chin. “One day you’ll realize that I can’t live without you, and that’s the day I’m going to put a ring on your finger.”

My heart stuttered in my chest, making it hard to breathe for a moment. And then I was on top of him, kissing him anywhere I could reach. “Don’t give up if it takes longer than expected,” I begged as I kissed across his hard stomach.

Rough fingers tangled in my hair. “Never going to happen.”

When I reached the fly on his jeans, I carefully released him and took him into my mouth without bothering to push the material off his hips. He shouted my name, his fingers tightening in my hair. “Fuck! That feels so good.”

The taste of his desire exploded on my tongue, and I moaned at getting a fix for my biggest addiction. I took him deep, not even gagging as I swallowed the head of his dick. I could feel his release nearing as I stroked his shaft and sucked on the tip.

He moved so fast I was still licking the taste of him from my lips when he tore my skirt off and ripped my panties in his urgency to become one with me. The first thrust made me see stars. It felt so good to have him inside of me. “I love you, Shane!” I cried as my orgasm rushed to consume me.

“Love you, baby.”

--

It was a while before we left the bedroom.

I showered and tossed on my robe over my bra and panties and headed into the kitchen for a strong cup of coffee. Shane was already there throwing together a late lunch for us. His sister sat at the island watching him while he moved around humming.

My cheeks heated when Natalie turned to look at me as I entered the room. I bit my lip, knowing that I owed the girl an apology for acting so stupid the day before. “Hi, Natalie.”

The girl grinned. “Hey, Harper.”

“Look, I’m sorry about yesterday…”

Natalie raised a hand, cutting me off mid sentence. “No, don’t. You don’t have to apologize to me. I would have definitely reacted the same way if it had been me in your shoes.”

“Natalie is going to be staying a few more weeks, baby.” Shane placed a cup of coffee down in front of me, along with a plate of sandwiches and some baked chips. “She’s thinking of staying in New York.”

“That’s good. You can get to know your brothers better.”

“Actually, I had a crazy idea…” Shane grasped my hand, giving it a tight squeeze. “What if…you moved in here full time and Natalie took your room at Dallas and Linc’s.”

“I…” I saw the light in his eyes and knew that he was asking for something that he wasn’t sure he could put into words. This was the first step, the step he needed me to take to get us on the road to our future. I smiled up at him. “We can talk to Dallas and Linc about it. But as long as she can pay her third of the rent, there isn’t going to be a problem.”