Page 37 of Bittersweet

“Brett, please.”

“Please, what? There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be close to you. We’ve been taking things slow, like you wanted.” He stepped closer but didn’t touch her this time. “It’s been eight months, Harper.”

She swallowed hard. Maybe she had been kidding herself, thinking they could stay the way they were indefinitely. Up until that moment, their relationship had felt safe and enough for her. But it obviously wasn’t enough for him.

“Think about it, okay?” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Call me when you get home.”

She nodded toward the cookies. “I’ll be here for a while, I think.”

“I’ll be up.”

She gave him a weak smile as the timer on the oven went off.

Brett walked to the door. “Goodnight, ladies.”

“Night,” Savannah and Ginny replied in unison.

He gave them a wave and walked out the door.

Harper removed the cookie sheets from the oven and laid them on the countertop with a sigh. She hadn’t realized how tense her entire body was until that moment.

Savannah cleared her throat, and Harper looked over at her.

“I caught a little of that. What’s gotten into him tonight?”

“I think he wants us to … do it.”

Savannah’s forehead crinkled as her eyes widened.

“You haven’t done it yet? After eight months?” Ginny looked shocked.

“I’m not doing that before I’m married.”

“Does he know that?” Savannah asked.

“I guess the subject hasn’t come up.”

Savannah let out a surprised laugh. “How could it not have come up?”

“Well, he’s been very sweet about the whole thing. He’s never pushed me to do anything. And honestly, he’s so busy with work most weeks that there haven’t been many times when we’ve been alone together like that.”

“What do you guys do together then?” Ginny leaned her elbows on the counter and rested her chin on one of her fists. Sections of her ginger curls had fallen from the ponytail she usually wore around the shop.

“Dating isn’t only about sex, Virginia.”

Ginny wrinkled her freckled nose at the use of her full name. “I’m not saying it is.”

“We talk and eat and watch movies and, yes, we kiss. It just hasn’t moved past mild into anything more … passionate. And I guess I haven’t let us be alone very much because I didn’t want to go there with him.”

“Because of Logan?” Of course, Savannah would bring him up.

“Of course not!”

Savannah and Ginny both rolled their eyes.

Harper knew she was a little too quick to deny it, and as usual, Savannah was spot on. But it wasn’t only about Logan. Harper had decided long ago that she would not be careless with her virginity, that she would hold onto it until she found the right guy. In the beginning, it wasn’t about waiting until marriage, but she eventually came to realize that if she gave that much of herself to someone, it had to be for life. It had to be within a lifelong commitment. It couldn’t be anything less for her.

“What do you want, Harper?” Savannah searched her eyes. “Or should I say, who?”

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