They had talked that night before his flight. And a desperate hope had bloomed in her chest.
“I got on that bus and realized that if you weren’t there when I came home I’d go back to the same existence. And I don’t want to just exist anymore. Baby, I know it’s a lot to ask. Six months is a long time to wait, but I want you there,” he told her.
Her eyes swam in tears as she nodded silently. “Luke, if there’s anyone worth waiting six months for, it’s you.”
“Back at you, baby.”
So she stayed. She canceled her interview in Fremont and unpacked her boxes and bags. And her first night alone in his house, she went stark raving mad.
Knowing that it would be six long months before she felt Luke’s hard body raging over her, or caught a quick glimpse of that dimple, fed her desperation to find a distraction.
But what?
Since moving to Benevolence her entire focus had been on Luke. Luke’s incredible body, Luke’s home, Luke’s work. Luke’s really incredible body.
That first night, she lay awake in the center of the bed wearing one of his t-shirts and stared at the ceiling until dawn. For the first time in her life, she had stability, she had a future. She just didn’t know what to do with it.
She did her best to stay busy.
Harper took up knitting. Until she pierced her knuckle with the knitting needle and bled all over the silky ivory yarn that wasn’t looking anything like the pattern anyway. Scrapbooking was next. Until she realized she had nothing to scrapbook. There were only so many silly stickers and borders you could stick to a page without any actual photos.
Finally, Sophie took pity on her and offered up a weekly shift at Remo’s to get Harper out of the house on Friday nights. Sophie bartended while Harper called on her college experience and waited tables. The tips were good, and it was the perfect way to get to know the residents of Benevolence. Sooner or later, everyone showed up at Remo’s for dinner, for drinks, for conversation.
Of course, most of the customers knew her name before they even met her.
Small towns.
Luke was not thrilled when she told him in their first video chat.
“No, Harper. Absolutely not,” he said, his tone clipped.
“Are you using your captain voice on me right now?” she asked him in disbelief.
The look he leveled at her through the computer had her grinning. He took a deep breath and tried another tack. “What I meant to say is I really don’t like the idea of you closing on a Friday night by yourself. It’s too late, and what if there’s trouble? Who’s going to help you?” She could see the frustration on his face.
“Luke, you don’t need to worry about this.”
“I hate not being around to protect you.”
“It’s not your job to protect me.”
“Yes. It is. And I take it very seriously. So if something happens to you I’m going to be fucking pissed.”
“I love you. That’s the reason I’m doing this. I miss you so much it hurts to breathe. Sometimes I can’t fall asleep because all I can do is feel this hole in my heart. This shift will help me keep my mind off of missing you.”
He sighed. “Baby, I miss you, too. Every time I wake up and you’re not in my arms it’s like a knife in the gut. But I need you to be safe. Promise me, Harper, that you’ll take every precaution.”
She crossed her heart. “I promise. Ty got Sophie and I pepper spray, and we carpool to our shift. Besides, Luke, everyone knows who we belong to.”
Harper dropped off the beers and a diet soda and raced back to the server station to order for Reece and Dana at the pool table.
She made another lap before circling back to the bar and spotting a familiar face.
Gloria was perched on a barstool sipping a glass of wine.
“Hey, Gloria,” Harper waved to her friend. “It’s nice to see you out and about!”
A delicate blush tinged her cheeks. “I’m celebrating my first paycheck from Blooms.”
