The way her body fit against his perfectly, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, was so incredibly good it scared him.Lowering his head until his chin rested on hers, he appreciated every curve and line pressed against him.Her scent reminded him of summer air, vanilla, and strawberries.Fresh, clean, and mouthwatering.He felt her warmth against his chest, absorbed the slow and steady rise and fall of her breath.Christ, songs had been written about this very moment—and wasn’t he getting all poetic and shit?
She still hadn’t moved.Maybe he should just let go, but he really didn’t want this moment to end.Then he felt it.The smallest movement from Harper as just one of her fingers gently threaded through the belt loop of his jeans.
The small gesture of trust almost brought him to his knees.He swallowed hard as his hand slowly drifted up and down her back.The heat from that single finger meant more than the most passionate embrace.When she sighed and sank against him, he sent up a prayer of thanks to whoever might be out in the universe listening.
Her dark waterfall of hair was soft under his cheek as he pulled her closer, clenching his jaw and swallowing hard.Why did she affect him so much?His feelings were running wild, but was it just empathy for what she’d been through, or was it something more?Determined to keep his shit together, he swallowed hard.She had no clue how much that one finger on his belt had him churned up inside.Now was not the time to pussy out, so he tried hard to cool his emotions.Harper trusted him with the most significant part of her.How on earth was he going to live up to that responsibility?How was he going to prove to her that her faith in him was justified and that her courage wasn’t wasted?
Wasn’t this what his own tattoo was all about?It was part of him.Fortitude or courage being one of the four cardinal virtues shown inParadisoin theDivine Comedy.The ability to confront fear and intimidation.And yet what did he know about it?She was the one standing in his studio sharing the toughest parts of her life with a stranger.
“I don’t want to move.”The whispered words drew him from his thoughts.
“So don’t.”He pressed a soft kiss into her hair.
“No one has hugged me in a very long time,” she said, pulling away to study him with those soulful eyes.“Thank you.”
“Any time.Tattoos and hugs.I’m great at them both.Just don’t tell the guys out there or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
He tried to sort through his feelings for Harper, shaking his head to clear it.The idea of doing her ink excited him as an artist.As a man, he appreciated the way she’d fit in his arms.And shit, didn’t it make him want to pound on his chest that she’d come to him for help.But if all he felt was compassion for the victim she’d once been, then he shouldn’t be holding her like this, no matter how perfect it felt.
***
Five hours later, as he nursed a shot of whiskey, he still couldn’t get Harper out of his head.The whiskey burned as it slid down Trent’s throat, a necessary evil to ward off the chills from drawing up Harper’s back.He had felt her distress every time she flinched, every time he’d heard her counting her breaths to ten.
When she’d finally sat up, the red rims of her eyes had given away the tears that had fallen while she’d lain there.It had ripped his gut apart that he couldn’t make it all better.
He’d wanted to cradle her close, soothe away her tears, and feel that same sweeping rightness he’d felt before with her in his arms.Instead, he’d held back and watched her walk away from the studio.From him.
Trent cradled the glass in his hand.Holding Harper in his arms had felt like heaven.For so long, after Yasmin, the idea of a permanent relationship had felt like hell.He’d worshipped her from the day she’d walked into Junior’s on her twenty-first birthday for her first tattoo, but despite his best efforts during their two years together, he’d never been enough for her.Hadn’t earned enough, hadn’t been famous enough, hadn’t known the right people.Last he’d heard she was shacking up with some bit-part rapper from the local scene.As for him, he’d gotten into having girls interchangeably and often.He was honest with them, always, about the short-term nature of their relationships.But in the three days since he’d met Harper, he hadn’t thought of anyone else.
“That was something else,” Cujo said, as he walked into the office, poured himself a shot, and swallowed half of it down.“You know the story?”
“Not really.Just that it happened a few years back and she’s been hiding it ever since.I don’t want to push too hard.”Not that he didn’t want to know.It was gnawing away at his gut.
“Who the hell would do that to another human being?That’s some messed-up stuff.”Cujo’s visible shiver summed it up.
“It’s going to be a tough one.Booked it over five or six sessions of a few hours each and we’ll see how we go.”Knocking back another couple of fingers of the golden liquid, he squeezed his eyes closed and let his head fall back on the sofa to avoid thinking about just how tough the first appointment was going to be for her.
“Who do you think did it?”
“No idea.Can’t stand even thinking about it.”
“There’s something about her, isn’t there?”Cujo asked.Trent opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at his friend.“For you, I mean.Something’s got to you.”
“Thanks, Oprah.”
“Oh come on, dude.I’ve known you long enough.I can tell.You’re different around her.”
Trent sighed.There was no point denying it.He refilled his glass and knocked it back.He just didn’t know what he was going to do about it.
***
Crap.Eddie was home.Harper dropped her keys in the colorful fish-shaped ceramic dish that sat on the corner of her tiny kitchen counter.Picking up her broom from its narrow slot beside the fridge, she knocked on the ceiling like someone in an old TV sitcom.
The volume dropped.“Sorry, Harp!”came a bellow.
“Thanks, Eddie,” she yelled toward the ceiling.
Her cupboards and fridge revealed some leftover spaghetti sauce and a dire need to go grocery shopping.Harper made a shopping list while the spaghetti cooked.Maybe she could persuade Drea to drive her.Highly possible if she threw in a free meal.
