He pulled me close, wrapping his arm around my back. “I want you bad, Harper,” he said in a husky tone that sent shivers down my spine.
And in that moment, I believed him, mess and all.
I wondered if I should tell him that I’d figured out who his girlfriend had been, but if he wanted me to know, he would have told me. No need to lay it out. Her identity didn’t change anything.
We headed upstairs and showered together, then climbed into bed, no sex involved. As I drifted off, it hit me that this was more intimate than if we’d gone three rounds. Moments like this were the foundation of a relationship.
And, at least for now, I let myself want one with him.
Chapter 13
When I woke the next morning, James was still asleep. I lay in bed with him for about ten minutes, going over what had happened in the exercise room, feeling like I’d hallucinated it in an exercise-induced delirium.
But it had been real.
He was real. What we had was real.
I was self-aware enough to realize that I had trouble believing he could care about me because my parents had discarded me so easily. When we finished this case, I needed to find a therapist to help work through this. Otherwise, I’d forever be questioning James’s feelings for me.
Presuming we had a future. But he talked like we did.
One day at a time. Just like dealing with my need for a drink.
One day at a time.
I grew restless and started to slide out of bed.
“Are you runnin’ off again?” he teased from behind me.
“If you call getting up to pee running off, then yes.” I got up and headed to the bathroom, completely naked. I didn’t need to look behind me to know he was watching.
After I peed and brushed my teeth, I grabbed one of the plush hotel robes hanging on a hook and walked out to see him sitting up in bed, shirtless. I knew he wasn’t wearing anything under the sheets either.
“I’m about to order room service,” he said. “What are you in the mood for?”
“Coffee. Copious amounts of coffee,” I said, walking over to the window. The way I’d behaved last night looked different in the daylight, and I was utterly embarrassed. I’d never been needy. Ever. And James was the last person I wanted to be needy with.
“What about food?”
“Whatever you’re getting.”
I heard him place a call for a double order of pancakes, bacon, eggs, orange juice, along with a carafe of coffee with creamer.
“How’s your head today?” I asked, still not looking at him.
“It’s still attached to my body, so I consider that a win,” he said dryly.
I turned to look at him.
He tilted his head slightly. “There you are.”
“Sorry about last night.”
“Runnin’ off? You should be.” But his grin let me know he wasn’t pissed. “About the rest… the only way this open shit will work is if we’re honest about all of it.”
I wanted to ask if he’d learned that from her too, but was smart enough to bite my tongue.
“I told you I have a therapist,” he said as though reading my mind. “The past month or so we’ve been discussing relationships.”
