Page 31 of Sins of the Father

Her hand trembles, and I put mine over it.

She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.

The car stops, and Ted opens the door. She gets out, and I follow.

“Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I open the door to the lobby and follow her.

“Anytime. I... I had fun...with you.”

She puts her thumb on the security scanner and pushes past the metal rail. I do the same.

“I did, too. Thanks.” She pushes the button for the elevator and we step in.

“Did you need to talk to Quinn or Jamison?”

I push thePfor the Penthouse and punch in the code.

“No. I’m making sure you get inside okay.”

“The door opens into the apartment. I’ve got it from here.”

I stay silent as we move up then blurt out, “Harper.”

She finally meets my gaze, and I curse myself. In her eyes is pain and anger, and I put it there. But I still don’t know what I did.

The elevator doors open, and she smiles, but I can tell it’s forced. “Thanks again. Have a nice night.” She spins and walks down the hall.

Once again, I’ve blown it. All night I stay up, trying to figure out what I did to hurt her, but I am no closer to the answer when morning comes. When I see her the next day, she lights up the room and looks so happy, until she lays eyes on me.

Her face falls and turns red. She quickly spins and grabs Hope, avoiding me at all costs.

I shouldn’t care so much she wants nothing to do with me. She’s leaving in a week. There’s nothing between us that could last. All I would have done is hurt her more. But knowing she now can’t stand to be in the same room as me tugs at my heart. And it’s a feeling I’ve never had before.

5

Harper

What was I thinking?

Stay away from him today.

You shouldn’t have gone drinking with him.

He couldn’t have been that intoxicated. As soon as he realized what was happening, he made it clear he didn’t want any part of you.

You couldn’t keep your husband, and now you can’t even keep a guy interested when you’re grinding on his cock and he’s had a ton of shots.

He’s “Mr. I Have It Together.” You have nothing he would be interested in, except a night of sex.

He’s not even interested in that.

I step into the emerald-green cocktail dress I bought at the thrift store and hope it looks new to everyone else. When I saw it, I thought it might never have been worn before, but my judgment about everything these days seems to be off.

I only have a pair of diamond stud earrings. They were on my lobes when I got my divorce papers, and they’ve stayed put since—every other piece of jewelry I owned, I’ve pawned for cash.

And now you have nothing to show for it.

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