“It’s short for Sebastian,” I replied with a wheeze.
“Oh.” Her mouth snapped shut.
“Do I like to fish?”I repeated, still snickering.
“Everyone has nicknames,” she shot back, her eyes wide. “How the hell would I know?”
I couldn’t stop laughing. The question was so out of left field.
Then Harper let out a little snicker that quickly turned into her whole body shaking with laughter.
“Knock it off!” she ordered, still laughing. “It was a valid question!”
I just laughed harder. Jesus, she was so unexpected.
With a huff, she rose from the couch and stood in front of me, her hands on her hips.
“Quit it!” Her voice was filled with exasperation, but her expression was anything but annoyed. “Oh my god. I’m out here telling you my secrets, and you’re laughing. Go back to your brooding, I’m going inside.”
Before she could turn away, I reached out to grab her hips to keep her in place.
“That’s not fair,” I replied, controlling my mirth. “I didn’t laugh at your secret. Wait, what was your secret?”
“That I got fired!”
“Why’s that a secret?” I asked curiously. “No, never mind. We’ll get to that later. I wasn’t laughing at that. I was laughing because you asked me if I liked to fish.”
“Everyone calls you Bas!”
“Yes, they do.” I rolled my lips in between my teeth to stop my smile.
“Like a fish. Abass fish.”
“You gotta stop trying to explain it,” I said hoarsely, barely keeping it together.
“It’s not that funny!”
“Baby, it’s fucking hilarious.”
We both froze.
I was a man who used endearments. I called women sweetheart, doll, beautiful, gorgeous. Not all women—but the ones I was close to. I didn’t even really think about it. I’d picked up the habit when I was a funky-looking teenager, and I’d just never stopped.
Harper had to have known that. It wasn’t a secret.
But there was no way in hell I could play off calling herbaby.
I became hyperaware of the round hips under my palms, the little hollow that my thumbs rested in, and where my fingertips were brushing the globes of her ass.
I swallowed hard, trying to find my way out of the hole I’d just fallen into when Harper’s hand left her hip and came forward, her fingers dragging through the hair above my forehead.
Oh, shit. Were we doing this?
She paused, her eyes darting down to mine.
Then both her hands were in my hair, and I was dragging her closer. She stepped in between my knees and tilted my headback, her fingers drifting over the rings in my ears and then down my jaw.
Fuck, she smelled good. Like flowers and something darker. Feminine and warm.
