“Uh-oh.I don’t think I like the sound of that.”Harper raised an eyebrow at him.
He took her hand and led her toward the studio before pulling her in front of him, her back to his chest.It was the safest position to avoid a kick in the nuts and the best position to block a fast escape.
He felt Harper’s quick intake of breath as she turned to face him with a hand over her mouth.
“What did you do?”she said through her fingers.
“Happy birthday, sweetheart.”He pushed her through the door as everyone inside shouted, “Surprise!”
***
“Don’t jump when I do this, Harp, or you’ll give me a complex.”Cujo bumped himself up, sitting next to her on the tattoo bed on which she was currently taking five.
Harper was turning to ask exactly what “this” was when Cujo’s arm slid around her shoulders, bringing her against him in a friendly hug as he kissed the top of her head.
“Happy birthday, Harp.”Harper felt Cujo relax when she didn’t jump.It didn’t feel so strange now to have someone touch her.It was more reassuring and less controlling.Sighing, she leaned against him.
The party was in full swing.Harper was uncertain exactly how many drinks she’d consumed, but she was definitely getting close to her limit.Just about everyone she knew was here.Joanie and the guys from the coffee shop, Drea and Celine, and Frankie and a couple of guys from the gym.Even Eddie, who was in deep discussion with Eric, his T-shirt sleeve pulled up over his shoulder, gesturing over his bicep.
Trent and Drea, heads huddled together, were laughing at a picture on Pixie’s phone.
“I never in a million years expected this, you know.He said we were going to a restaurant.”Did she just slur?Oh my God.She really had drunk enough.Putting the cup of rum and pineapple juice she was drinking behind her, she turned to face Cujo.
“Why not?You do things like this for someone you love.”
Harper sat stunned for a few moments.Did Trent really love her?She’d known for a while now just how much she was in love with him, to the point of knowing she’d only leave him if she had to so he’d be safe.She just hadn’t said those three incredibly powerful words aloud.
Cujo looked at her curiously.“What?Don’t look at me like you don’t know it.He’s half gone, even if he hasn’t had the balls to tell you yet.”
“I love him too,” she whispered, knowing her drunken admission was being said to the wrong person but unable to stop it.Harper grasped around behind her.Where the heck had that drink gone?
“You guys are like mac ‘n’ cheese.”
“Mac ‘n’ cheese?”
“Yeah,” Cujo replied.“They both taste good on their own, you know.But together they are the best comfort food ever.There isn’t a person on the planet who doesn’t appreciate mac ‘n’ cheese.”
She wanted to blow him off, deliver some witty comeback about lactose- and wheat-intolerant people strongly disagreeing with the sentiment, but what he’d said had shaken her foundation.
She smiled.Maybe that was it.There was more than just the immediate heat of passion, that deep burning lust that drew her to him like a moth to a flame.There was a soul-deep comfort in letting yourself fall and trusting that your “someone special” would catch you.
She watched Trent, who was laughing hard at something Drea had just said before he looked over to her, catching her eye.Raising a brow at her, he tilted his head toward Cujo.For fun, she leaned in tight against Cujo, who laughed and wrapped his arms around her.
He landed a loud kiss with a smack on her temple as Trent walked over to them.
“What have I told you about hitting on my girl, Cuj?”
“Hey, if you ignore a great piece of ass like this at a party, then shame on you.”Cujo bounced down off the bed.“Personally, I’d hold onto this one really tight.”
Trent squinted at her.“If I’m not mistaken, Ms.Connelly, you are very drunk.”He handed her the bottle of water he was holding.
Harper pursed her lips, trying to focus on the one Trent in front of her, as opposed to the two other Trents in her peripheral vision.“I think you might be right.”
Harper leaned forward and grabbed his belt loops, pulling him into the space between her legs.
Moving her lips next to his ear, she kissed his lobe gently.“Wanna know a secret, Mr.Andrews?”
Trent didn’t move.“Always, Ms.Connelly.”
