Page 25 of Laying it Bare on the Run

She stared at me for a long moment before gifting me with her beautiful smile. I was receiving more and more of them and I loved it. It was going to take her a long time to deal with her grief – I mean fuck did she get dealt an extremely heavy blow – but I wanted to be a part of what helped her through it and to help her heal. I also wanted a relationship with her and hoped I could convince her of the same.

“I know it’s probably still hot outside but do you mind if we head outside again? I have been hiding out of the sun and in the dark for so long I really crave it.” A solemn expression altered her features and a faraway gaze dimmed her blue eyes. “If it’s too warm for you I can head out by myself. I should be fine.”

“I actually don’t mind the heat that much. And if sun is what you crave, sun is what you’ll get.”

She crawled off of me and the two of us walked to my back door and on outside. The humid heat slapped us as soon as we stepped onto my deck, the sweat already pooling on my shirt and jeans. But when Harper paused at the top of my steps, her face turned up to the sun, and a look of pure pleasure lighting up her already beautiful features, the heat barely mattered.

Grabbing my hand, she led me down to the creek. When she plopped down along the edge, I sat down beside her. “I hope I don’t ruin your sister’s pants.”

“She’s not going to want them back. She’s probably forgotten about them. And I was planning on washing a load of clothes tonight after you shower. It will be fine.”

She leaned to the side, resting her head against my upper arm. “It’s so peaceful here. I’m glad I came home with you for many reasons. But when the monsters stop chasing me, I have to find a good therapist to talk to though. When I’m with you, I do get some relief from the grief crushing my chest but I don’t know how to fully deal with it. To live with it.”

I twisted to the side and took her face in my hands. “You’re not . . .” The thought frightened me beyond belief and my heart squeezed painfully in my chest.

“No.” She shook her head, a sad smile crawling across her lips. “I want to witness revenge for my family. I want to see him pay. I can’t do that if I’m not around.”

I released a huge sigh of relief before kissing her forehead. “I’ll help you get that closure.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and tugged her close. We’d figure out a way to bring him down. And I was almost one hundred percent certain Kurt was a key to finding Waik. I just needed to be the first one with the successful track down. I didn’t want Waik getting a chance to come here; I wanted to go after him. That way we’d be on the offensive instead of the defensive. But if luck didn’t go my way and he reached Oklahoma, no way in hell was he getting anywhere near my girl. We sat out at the creek for almost two hours, just taking in the fresh air, sunshine, and serenity of nature. Occasionally, Harper would dip her fingers into the water but mostly she just sat snuggled against my side.

“Can I help you make dinner? I’m trying not to let it bother me that I’m free loading, so if I’m helping it makes me feel better.” She nudged my shoulder with hers.

I twisted to face her. “You aren’t free loading if you are my guest. And besides, I want you to help me make dinner because I like doing things with you, not for a payment for my taking care of you. When you are more comfortable being out in public, I want to take you out on dates. I want to have a relationship with you. Would you be interested in dating me? Would it be something you’d be willing to give a try?” I shot her what I hoped was a charming smile.

I could almost see the thoughts tumbling about her head, like a gymnastics team hyped up on Red Bull and Fun Dip. “What if things didn’t work out and grew awkward?” She shrugged her shoulders. “Although, I guess I could always just move on if we didn’t work out. I’ve gotten pretty used to that and good at it. I don’t want you to think I’m using you for a safe place to stay. But my emotions are still all over the place. I haven’t figured out how to sort through them yet.”

I pressed a quick kiss to her lips to calm her mind. “Hey. I didn’t mean to get you all riled up. I just wanted you to know where I stand. I can wait until you are ready to talk about or consider starting something with me. I personally don’t think we have to worry about things not working out between us.” I gave her a wink. “And on the off chance things don’t, I believe both of us are mature enough not to let it turn disastrous. You’re pretty amazing, Harper.”

That got me another one of her award winning smiles. “I think I can handle starting something with you. I mean after all, we are sharing a bed now.” Her eyes twinkled with amusement, the earlier sorrow drifting from her face.

I waggled my eyebrows at her. “You make a good point. We’re doing things a little out of order but who says we have to follow the norm? Let’s do it our way.” Standing up, I reached down and tugged her to me before leading her to my deck.

Once inside, we walked to the kitchen to start dinner.

But then a thought occurred to me. “Can you eat seafood? I was planning on making shrimp tonight but I can make something else if you can’t eat it.”

“Shrimp is fine. It actually sounds really good. Oh my gosh, I’m just thankful and happy it’s a hot meal that didn’t belong to someone else or . . . never mind. TMI I’m sure. Why is it so easy to tell you things? Things that are really embarrassing.” She shrugged. “Actually I got over my embarrassment a while ago but still why is it I just blab shit out around you?” She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes.

“I like that you are carefree with me. And if we’re going to work on this relationship thing, we should be able to talk to each other about stuff. I don’t think less of you for what you’ve gone through. On the contrary, I think very highly of you. I’m impressed with how you’ve survived. You’re one brave tough woman, Harper.”

Rising up on her tiptoes, she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “What can I help with?”

After pulling the shrimp out of the freezer, I retrieved a strainer from the drawer under my bar and handed it to her. “Run cool water over the shrimp until they’re thaw enough to rip the tails off. I’ll get the pan ready to sauté them in.” I left her at the sink, grabbed the pan out of the same drawer my strainer was in and set it on the stove. After I dropped some pads of butter into the pan to melt, I added some garlic and other spices.

About five minutes later, Harper finished with the shrimp. “How do we get this over there without dripping fishy water all over your floor?” She wrinkled her nose.

“We don’t. I’ll bring the pan over.” I carried the pan over to the sink as she shook the shrimp in the strainer, draining the excess water from them.

Then she tossed the contents of the strainer into my pan and I returned to the stove. While I sautéed the shrimp, she steamed the broccoli, and boiled water for the rice. When the food was ready, I grabbed dishes and silverware and the two of us sat down at the bar.

“This is delicious. Yum.” Harper said around a mouthful. “You are going . . .” She shook her head slightly. “You’re really good in the kitchen. I’m impressed with your skills.”

I had an inkling of what she had been about to say and was glad she had changed her mind. I wanted to be the one who cooked for her and with her. I didn’t want anyone else. And I didn’t want to think about her finding someone else in the future. I wanted to be her present and future. But she was still reeling from everything that had happened in her life and taking in a lot and for right now she wasn’t ready to breach that subject.

“Well, I enjoy it and am glad I can share it with you. And we have cookies for dessert.”

“I almost forgot about those. I don’t know how. They were so good, how could they not be memorable? I can blame it on being distracted.”

“Well, I’d rather you be thinking about me not my cookies.”

---