“I feel silly for wanting things to go back to the way they were, JoJo. I’m a grown ass woman with a son.”
“Any grown ass woman would love to have two handsome and marginally wealthy doctors vying for her time and attention. I just want to make sure you don’t forget that at the end of the day, I’mhim.”
“Oh, wow.” She giggled, which was what I wanted. I needed her to loosen up.
“I plan to please you in every way possible because you please me, Harper.”
“I just don’t want any unnecessary drama. I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime. My son doesn’t deserve that.”
“We will work out the part about your son. I’ve never had an issue with practicing discretion, but I want to be in his life.”
“Jase feels the same. He wants to put him on his basketball team.”
“It wouldn’t hurt him to have some positive male influence in his life. I’m not trying to be his daddy. I just want to help lighten your load, Harper.”
“I get that,” she whispered.
“Let’s try to get some sleep, because I need to get up early to go home and shower before we take him to basketball practice.”
“I didn’t say I was letting him join.”
“It was a group decision. You were outvoted.”
“Y’all have to let me figure this out on my own, JoJo.”
“No. I’m not letting you do anything on your own. You already knew that. Now get some sleep,” I said, leaning forward and kissing her nose.
It was only seven in the morning when I dragged myself from under Harper’s warm body and tucked her in with a goodbye kiss. I knew it would be hard to leave her, but it was something I had to do. I didn’t know what time her son would be home, and we had never discussed how things would work. I knew how protective she was of him. I could only respect that.
Plus, I needed to get myself together for the day. I gave her one final look before heading out. I didn’t want to wake her, because I didn’t know if I could stomach the regret in her eyes in the light of day. Harper had been avoiding me for eight long years. I knew the feelings that made her wouldn’t just fade overnight. I would have to be careful with her. This had to work.
The other reason I left so early was because I wanted to be discreet. Not that I was ashamed of Harper by a long shot, but I knew how nosy people were in a small town. I wanted to preserve her privacy and dignity as long as possible. Surprisingly, there was a work crew standing right in her driveway as I walked out of the house.
“Good morning, Doctor St. John.” One of them greeted me when they noticed me.
“Good morning.”
“I see what you meant about this driveway. It’s a wreck, but I think we can knock this out in a day.”
“Good.” I nodded as I continued to trek through the damp grass to my car.
I had no idea what he was talking about, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that he thought I was Jase. Even with my glasses and his longer hair, there were people around who couldn’t tell us apart. That was neither here nor there. That bastard had hired someone to repave Harper’s driveway. I wanted to kick myself for not thinking of it first. The whole reason I parked in the road was because of the driveway. I should have figured his ass was up to something.
When I made it to my car, I opened my delivery app and ordered breakfast from my favorite spot and made sure to change the delivery address to Harper’s. I made sure to order enough food for Cameron and her mom if they decided to visit. I wasn’t sure about anything at this point. Harper was the only thing in the world that could still make me nervous. Once the order was confirmed, I pulled out and drove home. The further I got away from Harper, the more my anxiety spiked.
“She’s not going anywhere,” I muttered as I turned the radio on to drown out my thoughts.
My grandparents’ house was on the outskirts of Lulaville, so it took about twenty minutes for me to get there from Harper’s.Jase and I had been living there for a few years now. I had to admit I loved it way more than I thought I would.
For a couple of years, he and I worked as doctors without borders and traveled the world doing surgeries. I learned more in those few years than I did the entire time I was in school. It felt good to settle somewhere. Now that Harper had come back to me, I knew I had made the right decision when I decided to put down roots.
“Fuck you just getting home?” Jase asked, confronting me from the kitchen counter as soon as I walked through the door.
“I didn’t know I had a curfew.”
“I started to egg your ugly ass car when I saw it parked in front of Harper’s house, but I know your ass was in there begging all night. I didn’t want to add insult to injury.”
“I thought you had surgery this morning.”
