Page 29 of Shattered
For a few seconds, I allowed myself to get lost in her eyes and all the hesitancy swimming in their green depths. I leaned in and ran my nose along her cheek, stopping at her ear. "Sugar," I breathed out. "You have no idea how desperately I wanted to stay. Just know that you weren't the one who chased me away, it was my own demons."
And then, because I just couldn't help myself, I pressed my lips to her skin and trailed them to her waiting mouth. I was quickly reminded of how easy it was for me to get lost in all things Harper. As I twirled my tongue around hers, tasting her, savoring her, the whole world fell away.
We were both so utterly sucked into the moment that neither of us heard my brother enter the kitchen. I was alerted to his presence when I felt a tap on my shoulder. But even then, we didn't break apart like two naughty teenagers.
"Uh…" Chase sounded extremely amused, and I just knew what tonight's dinner conversation was going to be about. I couldn't bring myself to care though. "I know you two are wrapped up in your own little bubble but I'm hungry and I definitely did not order a show with my lunch."
For the first time since I'd met Harper, I saw something that resembled embarrassment flash in her eyes when I put a few inches between our mouths. "You're just jealous," I told Chase without breaking eye contact with Harper.
I gave her one more quick kiss and with a promise to call her later, I walked out of the clinic feeling about ten feet tall.
Friday night dinners at my parents' place were always something to look forward to. Daisy Jackson knew how to keep her boys happy by feeding them good food. As I made my way down the long drive that led to the old-school farmhouse I grew up in, I was reminded of how much I missed the ranch.
Orange and pink seeped through the clouds as the sun sat low in the sky. The grass seemed greener and the birds chirpier. That also might've had something to do with Harper. When I reached the house, I noticed that my dad was already enjoying a beer on the porch. I also noticed that my brothers weren't there yet which gave me some time to chat with Pop.
After parking my bike behind my dad's pick-up I made my way to the house. My momma was most definitely going to kill me for not going in to greet her first.
"Hey Pop," I grabbed a beer from the cooler next to dad's chair and sank down opposite him. "How's life?"
My dad leaned closer and tapped his can against mine. "It's good, son." After taking a swig he settled back in his chair and gave me a knowing smile. "Probably not as good as yours."
I should have known! "He told you, didn't he?"
My dad let out a wheezy laugh that ended in a cough. "Chase phoned your momma this afternoon. Told her he caught you sucking that girl's face off." Pop started laughing again and I couldn't help but join in.
"So are you gonna bring her around to meet your momma and I? Or are you planning on hiding her forever?"
"I'll bring her eventually, Pop. Right now we're taking things slow. I don't want to overwhelm her and scare her away, ya know?"
The truth was I couldn't wait to introduce Harper to my parents. I just knew that they would be as crazy about her and Flynn as I was. A cloud of dust signaled one of my brothers' arrival and I chose that time to duck inside the house and greet my momma.
It was no surprise that I found her in the kitchen furiously stirring some delicious concoction.
"Logan, my boy," she cooed when she spotted me. Promptly dropping her spoon and spreading her arms wide. I wasted no time; momma's hugs were the best even if I had to bend down to get them.
"You have news?" Expectation burned in her eyes.
Cupping my mom's elderly face in my palms, I dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Not just yet, Momma. But soon."
My mom reached up and patted my hands on her face. "I just want you to be happy." I got the feeling that she wanted to say something more but we were interrupted when both my brothers came barging into the kitchen.
"This is the second time today I find you kissing a woman, you need help man."
When my mom laughed and turned around to check on the food again, I, very discreetly, flipped Chase the bird.
"The second time?" This coming from Eli with whom I was still plenty pissed at. "When was the first?"
"You won't believe-" As Chase recounted the story of how he found me and Harper kissing, I studied Eli. His entire body stiffened with irritation and for the life of me, I couldn't understand why.
I knew he had a reason for being angry all the damn time but why he had such a strong dislike for Harper I didn't know.
I didn't like it and I was going to tell him as much.
"What's your problem, man?" Annoyance had me stomping toward my brother with no regard to the fact that we had an audience. "First you make that shit remark last night and now you're pulling up your nose as if you're better than her. You're not!"
Not caring that I'd just yelled at him, Eli casually folded his arms in front of him and propped his shoulder against the wall. "My problem, brother," he said using the same tone he used whenever he was disciplining Molly. "Is simply this: That woman is hiding something. Did you know that there is no record of a Flynn Evans born to a Harper Evans?"
"You're screwed up in the head, you know that?" My voice was booming through my mom's kitchen but I couldn't help myself.
