Page 54 of Fake It Till We Fall
“Thank you.” She lifted her eyes to meet mine. “But?”
“What about everything else? Is there anything missing?” My voice was low, but steady. I knew I was pushing her, but I couldn’t stop myself.
Something unspoken flickered in her eyes. “Maybe,” she said softly.
I set my glass down and leaned closer to her. “What about Willa? She seems happy to have you home.”
Her face softened. “She is. More than I could have expected,” she said. “I mean, of course, I knew she always wanted me to come home, but…it was so special to have her fly out to see me, too. I got to show her the world.”
“You sure did.” The pride in her eyes was clear. “But there’s no place like home, right?”
“You’re not wrong,” she agreed. “Maybe I shouldn’t have stayed away so long.”
“Why did you?”
I was almost afraid of the answer, but Harper only shrugged. “It was easier that way. I guess selfishly it was easier to pretend that Grandma wasn’t getting older and things were changing here, if I didn’t see it for myself.”
“And now?”
“It’s hard to see,” she admitted. “But I’m glad I did. If I hadn’t come home, I wouldn’t have been able to hire Kevin and set things up so Grandma doesn’t have to work so hard.”
I swallowed back what I really wanted to say. That she wouldn’t have to work at all…if Harper stayed.
“And us?”
Her jaw fell open.
“The pretending,” I clarified. “Is it worth it? Do you think she’s buying it?”
“Oh.” She swallowed hard. “I think so,” she said after a moment. “She wants to. And if it’s her last… Well, I appreciate you playing along, Grayson. I know that lying probably isn’t the best thing, but honestly, I just want Grandma to be happy. She deserves it. And this seems like just a small thing I can do. Even if it isn’t exactlyright.” She blinked back a tear.
I couldn’t help it; I reached for her then and brushed a strand of hair back from her face. My hand lingered, my fingers tracing the curve of her jaw. “Of course,” I said roughly. “I hope you know I’d do anything for you, Harper. I always have and I always will.”
She swallowed hard. For a moment, I thought maybe I’d gone too far. But at the same time, I didn’t care. I was tired of pretending.
Before she could say anything, I leaned in, slow enough to give her the chance to stop me.
She didn’t.
The first brush of her lips was soft, tentative. But the second, when she let out a breath and leaned into me, that wasn’t tentative at all.
It was everything I’d been holding back. Everything I hadn’t let myself admit until that very moment.
And God help me, it was everything I’d been missing for the last fifteen years.
Harper
It might have beenthe wine, or the way the firelight painted him in a warm glow, but when Grayson kissed me, I didn’t stop him.
There was no one watching. No one we needed to pretend for.
This was for us.
And if I were honest with myself, something I’d been actively tryingnotto do, I’d been waiting forthiskiss from the moment I’d seen him again.
Probably longer.
I opened to him, my lips parting as his tongue slid against mine, slow and deliberate, stealing the breath from my lungs. Heat coiled low in my belly, spreading through me until I was trembling in his arms.
