Page 77 of The Attraction

Cherie: Because you both look like you just found out that Santa’s not real and that what you have been believing in is all a farce. Tell me I’m wrong.

Harper: You’re not. See you Tuesday.

Forrest slides onto the seat next to me and lets the driver know we are ready to head back to the apartment. Wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close has become his go-to whenever we are sitting near each other.

“You okay?” His two simple words nearly undo me, but I hold strong and lie through my teeth.

“Yes, just tired. Big weekend. But thank you. It’s a birthday I’ll never forget,” I reply softly, looking down while I lay my head on his shoulder.

He doesn’t reply, and we ride through the city in silence.

And in my head, I know the real reason I won’t ever forget this day.

It’s as simple as he broke my heart by loving me.

And stupidly, I let him.

ChapterSeventeen

FORREST

She’s about to run, and I know I’m not going to be able to stop her.

I can feel it in my bones.

The moment the word love was voiced, I could see her unraveling, and as much as I tried to stop her, that wall in her eyes reappeared. The one I’ve worked so hard to destroy, but just a simple word and it starts to return.

I tried to explain to her who we are together in the way I know she understands, with hard and heavy sex, the kind that a one-night stand gives you. I tried to hold back my emotion, but I don’t think it made any difference.

The truth is Felisha’s right.

I’ve fallen in love with Harper.

I know it, and Harper does too.

What Harper doesn’t realize is that she may think she can walk away from me and that I’ll let her go. But she’s wrong.

I haven’t waited all my life to finally feel like this only to let her slip through my fingers that easily, just because she is scared. She can put distance between us, and I’ll let her do that initially, but just like she likes to tell people when she talks about us, it’ll be temporary.

I told her that I would walk away if she needed me to, but it doesn’t mean I won’t keep coming back. Because I’m not giving up on her, and I’m certainly not leaving her unprotected while this lunatic is out there.

Watching her walk down the hallway in the apartment after telling me she is off to shower, I start messaging the guys and tell them to be prepared that she is about to run from me. I’ve never been this open with my friends, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Flynn and I discuss moving her things to his place during the day tomorrow once she makes her decision in the morning. To be honest, she has already made her decision, she is just trying to work out how to tell me, or if she does at all. It could be a case of coming home to an empty guest room and a note on the kitchen counter. A small percentage of me wants to think I’m wrong, that she’ll stay, but deep down, I know I’m not.

Rem will assign a couple of permanent bodyguards with her no matter where she is. She can complain all she likes, but that is the choice she is making by leaving. He will coordinate with Sandon on that and make sure both the Kentwall and Darcy teams are working as one on this detail. I want everything prepared and ready to go.

While Nic tries to keep me calm, telling me that I need to give her the space to come back to me, it’s not really helping. This man is talking from experience with Tori who left him not long after they met, and luckily, it was short-lived. But this time with Harper, it’s different. Harper is in danger and has so much trauma that she’s trying to work through that leaving her to her own thoughts is not what she needs. And no one truly understands that but me.

She has no idea that every time something got hard, I distracted her. The cute names were perfect and just the simple act of making her do something fun, to step out of her comfort zone without realizing it. But the nighttimes are going to be the problem. Who is going to be there to hold her, to take away the fear? Make her feel safe and chase away the darkness?

I have one last night to convince her to stay, so I need to do this the right way. Whatever that is.

After showering where I do some of my best thinking, I approach her bedroom door, just wearing a loose pair of sleep pants hanging low on my hips and no shirt. I’m not ashamed to admit I’m going to use everything in my arsenal to remind her why we are good together. Even if she just wants my body, I can work with that.

Knocking gently, I hear her shuffling toward the door.

As she opens it, I can see her eyes are a little puffy, and I don’t doubt she has been crying in the shower.

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