She stretched along the sofa, her T-shirt lifting a little to reveal a sexy strip of skin above her jeans.He ran his fingers an inch under the waistband, watched her pupils flare in response.As much as he looked forward to taking her to bed, he was enjoying this.She fit.In his home, his car, and his life.
“What self-respecting Chicagoan hasn’t?My dad is still mad at the city for all the traffic problems caused by filming that big chase scene under the El.And for all the Sunday mornings they blocked off chunks of downtown.”
Trent went still.Did she realize what she was saying?Was she finally opening up to him?
“Didn’t see a cute country girl like you loving an R & B movie.”He stroked her hair, ignoring the all-important moment John Belushi walks out of prison, all that brilliant light behind him.
“What’s not to love?”She rolled onto her back, looked up at him, and he leaned down to kiss her gently.Her hand slipped around the back of his neck, her fingertips tickled.His lips teased hers, brushed and nipped them.Savored them.
He pulled back and reached for his beer, took a long draw.The need for answers gnawed at him, but dragging them out of her was never going to work.She needed to tell him in her own time.
“There are even tours you can take to go around Chicago and see all the locations used in movies.Used to drive me nuts when I was trying to get to work.My dad’s office was down on…”
Harper stopped abruptly and sat up on the sofa.The color had drained from her face and she was holding her hand against her mouth.She looked down at her lap.He remained quiet, waited to see what else she would share with him.
“I’m from Chicago,” she blurted.For the first time in weeks, Trent could see the panic back in her eyes, and it wounded him to see it there.To think that sharing those details with him would scare her.
“Well, I guessed you were from somewhere north, sweetheart.Jordan or Pippen?”It was the first thing he could think of but he wanted to keep her talking,neededher to keep talking about Chicago to tamp down the frustration that rumbled inside him.
“Jordan, but Reid would always say Scottie Pippen.I like this song,” Harper said, looking over at the television.“What was it called?She caught the… it was a girl’s name… something like that.”
She lay back down on the sofa, rested her head on his lap again, but her body was rigid.
“Katy.It’s ‘She Caught the Katy.’What do you think will happen just because I know you grew up in Chicago?”
“Nothing.Nothing will happen,” she said quietly, but her fingers gave it away.They were flaring in and out again at high speed.He reached for them, calmed them between his.
“I’m sorry, Trent,” she said, finally.
He kissed her hand.“I know, Harper.You can trust me.You gotta know that by now.”
She looked up at him.“Yes, I do,” she said.“I’m just so used to not trusting anyone that it’s hard.”
Trent turned the movie off, pulled Harper onto his lap, and settled into the sofa.“You wanna start, now?”
“What do you want to know?”She asked him guilelessly.
“Everything.”
***
“I was born and raised in Chicago.Just me, Mom, Dad, and Reid,” Harper started.“I was a ninth grade English teacher there.It was my dream job.I love words.I love the structure of language and I love awe-inspiring writing.”Harper closed her eyes and could see herself back in the classroom teaching teenagers, hoping she could convey all of her passion to spark even the most minimal flicker of interest in every kid who came through her classroom door.
“It’s why I’ve loved helping Joanie with her diploma.And helping Drea’s cousin Milo and his family cope with his dyslexia.”
“I knew it,” Trent said, passing her a beer and clinking the top of her bottle with his.“All that objective noun stuff you spouted at the studio that day.Dead giveaway.”His hand was around her waist, his thumb making small circles over her hip bone.
“It was an adjective-noun combination, but that’s not the point.”Harper cracked a weak smile.“My dad, who worked for a financial services company, had always hoped he’d get a lawyer or a doctor, but teaching children was all I ever wanted to do.”She smiled, remembering her dad’s begrudging praise when she won her first award for being an inspirational teacher.
“My brother, Reid, was everything to me.He was my protector.He terrorized me as all older brothers do, of course, but he was my best friend.”
Thinking about Reid made her heart hurt.She hadn’t talked to him since the morning Nathan’s verdict had been read out in court.
“All he ever wanted to do was fix up cars and bikes.Mom and Dad tried everything they could to get him to go to college, but it wasn’t what he wanted.He was a grease monkey through and through.He was brilliant.”There had been so many fights, but Reid had stood firm on his choice.
“I get how that is,” Trent replied.“That feeling of not living up to your parents’, or anyone else’s, expectations.It must have been tough for both of you.”
The tears were threatening to fall, but Harper bit the side of her tongue, hard, to keep them at bay.Taking a deep breath, she shook her head and composed herself.
