Harvey.
Eyes blazing, chest heaving, he steps in to me. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Fine," I rasp, beyond grateful he showed up when he did. That asshole had me cornered and out of options.
"Want me to break his face?" Harvey turns and glares at him. He looks positively murderous. But I don't want a fight or any trouble.
"I just want to get out of here."
"Okay, baby. Okay." Harvey takes a step toward the motherfucker who's bracing a hand on the wall, still reeling from the impact. "If I ever see you near my man again, I'll do more than just break your face. You understand?"
He grunts, his ugly head jerking in a short nod.
Harvey whisks me out of the men's room. It's not until we're back at the house that I finally begin to relax.
"I feel bad for ruining everyone's night," I mutter despondently as Zak hands me a cup of warm tea. "Thank you."
"You have nothing to apologize for. Stellan, Bailey, and Duke completely understood. Bailey's already texted to make sure wegot home safely, and he asked me to remind you that if you need ANYTHING at all, to let them know. He capitalizedanything."
I take a sip of chamomile and let the warmth seep into me. "Think we've made some good new friends with them."
"Yeah, they're awesome," Zak agrees.
My eyes flick over to Harvey who's been silently brooding, stomping back and forth in the living room ever since we got back.
"And how are you?" I ask him.
He stops walking and runs a hand through his messy hair that falls down to his shoulders. "Horrible. I feel like I let you down."
"What are you talking about? Yousavedme."
"You told me people have had bad reactions in the past, and what do I do? I insist we go out. This is all on me."
"It absolutely isn't," Zak jumps in before I can. "We all agreed to go out, and we can't let the possibility of someone saying or doing something wildly inappropriate stop us from living our lives. If we do that, the bad guys win."
Harvey doesn't say anything, his jaw clenched so tight it's pulsing.
"I agree. Please don't blame yourself. I owe you big-time."
"You don't owe me anything." He crosses the room in three giant strides. "I can't explain what I felt when I walked in and saw him pinning you against the wall." His warm breath fans across my face, his eyes searing into me. "I-I've realized something. This isn't some summer fling for me. You…you bothmean so much to me."
"You mean a lot to us, too. Right, Zak?"
"Right." Zak joins us.
"I…we…we're falling for you, Harvey," I say, cradling his bearded jaw in my hand. "Big time."
The sixty-four-million-dollar question I'm sure we're all thinking is…where do we go from here?
EPILOGUE
Three months later…
Harvey
"Congratulations. This place is officially yours." The agent drops the keys into Jack's palm with a smile.
"Thanks." Jack beams and kisses Zak then me.
