“It’s impossible to keep my hands off you, Harper. But for both our sakes, I have to,” He stood, turned walked away from her, with his heart in his throat.
“Is this because of Olivia?” Harper said.
Breathing resolutely through his nose and easing out a slow breath, he shook his head. “Goodnight, Harper.”
It took every ounce of his strength to walk back inside, up the curved staircase to his side of the house and shut his bedroom door.
CHAPTER ELEVEN - HARPER
Heleft.
Stunned, Harper wiped furiously at the tears in her eyes. Maybe it was time for her to do something else. He didn’t want her, he would never want her, and being here was too painful.
“Hey love, didn’t expect to see you here.”
At the familiar warm tone, Harper peeked out from her hands, seeing Ares with his suit jacket open, his dress shirt untucked and unbuttoned, revealing a smooth chest. His curly hair was in disarray. His eyes looked puffy and red.
“I didn’t expect you to be here. What happened?” Harper smiled at him.
Ares strolled over to her, lifted the unused fork from the plate, dipped it into the slice of cake that was on Xander’s plate, and closed his eyes as he popped it into his mouth.
“Heaven help me, that woman can bake,” Ares said when he swallowed. “I had a date.”
“And it didn’t work out?”
“Oh, I was enjoying myself a lot. She’s a musician.” Ares held up four fingers and Harper giggled.
“Four cats?”
“Yep, I got out of there as soon as I could. How was the ballet?”
Harper shook her head, rubbing her eyes. “That’s my favourite piece, and it was so nice to be out with him and I thought something would happen, but it didn’t.”
“Ah, Harper, he cares about you a lot.”
“I know, but I’m never going to be more to him than the scared girl he rescued. Ares, it hurts so much. He doesn’t even notice me.”
Ares reached out an arm and brought her close to his side. “He does. My brother loves you. He’s too stubborn to admit how he feels about you.”
Harper shook her head, but her heart leapt. No one was closer to Xander than Ares, and if he thought Xander had feelings for her, maybe there was hope.
“I should change, get to bed. I have to hire an assistant and I’m meeting with Gardenia, early tomorrow.”
“You could go, or you could hang out with me in the movie room and we can eat a bunch of snacks and finish this glorious cake,” Ares said. “We haven’t had a hangout night in a while.”
Ironically, it had been Ares, with his groomed looks and his light-coloured business suits, who scared Harper. That first night Xander had brought her here, she would yell every time he got close to her, even if she just saw him walk by. The poor man had avoided the first floor entirely for a good month. It was Xander, with his big shoulders and his dark, cool vibe who had made her feel safe. Xander, who slept outside the guest bedroom door, who held her when she woke drenched in sweat from a nightmare. Xander, who brought her to all the doctor and psychologist appointments, even though he hated going out and could have had someone else do it. He was her protector, and maybe it was selfish of her to long for anything more.
“Okay, but no trilogies,” she said.
“Let’s get this cake in,” Ares replied.
Picking up the plates and utensils, Harper followed Ares back into the kitchen. He took down a bag of microwave popcorn and handed it to her.
“It’s just a button.” Harper grinned and slid open the panel that concealed their microwave.
“It tastes better when you do it,” Ares said, his brown eyes crinkling.
Shaking her head, Harper put the bag of popcorn in the microwave and took out a bowl.
