“You need to stop pushing me,” she grumbles to me.
“I’m not pushing you.”
She rears back. “You’re not? You didn’t send your mom and brothers after me?”
“Technically, I only sent my mom. She called my brothers. I didn’t.”
Did I know she’d call them? Yes. But I didn’t actually connect the calls myself.
“Do not get technical with me, Kai Raider.”
“You asked if I sent my brothers after you. I did not.”
She throws her arms in the air. “This is what I mean. You push, push, push.”
I prowl toward her. “And I’m not sorry. I had to be certain you were okay when you hightailed it out of my house faster than Zane runs to the bathroom after eating beans.”
Her face softens. I have a feeling no one’s made sure Harper is okay for a long time. Her dad loves her – it’s plain to see – but she’s the one caring for him, not the other way around.
Harper needs someone to care for her. I signed up for the job and I don’t plan to quit. Ever.
“I love you, Slugger.”
The hardness disappears from her eyes, and I dare to grasp her hand.
“I’ll wait forever for you if I have to, but I will take care of you in the meantime.”
She bristles. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
She blows out a breath. “It’s awful hard to argue with you when you keep giving me the perfect answers.”
I palm her face. “I’ll always give you the perfect answers. You’re it for me, Harper Poole. The woman I’ve been waiting my whole life for.”
She sniffs. “You’re twenty-four.”
I shrug. “Doesn’t change what I said.”
She swallows, and I brace for a blow. Guessing by the stubborn tilt of her jaw, whatever she wants to say is going to hurt. “What if I don’t love you?”
I was wrong. It doesn’t hurt. It fucking kills. I let her words burn through me. They’re not true. I know it. She knows it. She’s just scared.
I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You care for me, Harper. You can’t deny it.”
“I can if I want to.”
I lean over and whisper into her ear. “Your body doesn’t lie, Slugger.” I kiss the skin below her ear and she moans. “I’ll wait forever for you if I have to.”
She arches her neck to give me more space, and I nibble her skin. She clenches the front of my t-shirt.
“What if I’m never ready?”
“Stop worrying about the future.”
“One of us has to.”
I sigh and retreat a step. I keep my hands on her hips – I can’t stop touching her when she’s near – but I give her the space she obviously needs.
