Page 74 of Wishing Hearts

“I’m not goin’ anywhere,” I fire back.

But Harrison chuckles a bit at my affronted expression and shakes his head. He leans close, his cheek against mine as he hugs me. “I want you to stay tonight.”

My heart lifts and swells. Bursts, nearly. “Then I’ll stay.”

“Okay,” he says.

“Okay.”

He takes a step back. “Hope you’re ready, though.”

“Ready for what?” I ask, curious about that twinkle in his eye.

He heads toward the hall. “Bad cops are known for roughin’ folks up.”

I stare as Harrison disappears from sight, my mouth open and my cock swelling against the front of my now too-tight jeans.

“You promise?” I call out.

Harrison chuckles, the sound throaty and amused, before the back door shuts and cuts off the sound.

“Good grief,” I mutter, pressing down on my cock. “I think I might’ve met my match.”

Chapter 21

Harrison

“What if Grandpa fell?” Winnie asks, her voice small as she worries her lightweight comforter between her fingertips. “What if he needed to go to the hospital?”

“Grandma would bring him,” I answer, tucking her sheets more firmly around her body. Her bedroom is already dark, the star-shaped night-light adding a soft glow to the room.

“But what if she couldn’t? What if you had to?” she presses.

“Then I’d wake you up and bring you with me,” I say gently, used to this game of Winnie running through hypotheticals at night when she’s particularly stressed.

“What if there was an emergency at your work?” she counters.

“At this time of night?”

“What if?”

“Then I would wake you up and bring you with me,” I say again. “Winnie, there is nothing on this earth that would cause me to leave you here alone when you’re still so young. Or before you’re ready to be left alone. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right down the hall all night.”

She nods, even as her throat works.

I’m well accustomed to this. The nighttime struggle. But it doesn’t make it any easier.

“Pumpkin,” I say gently, brushing her blonde hair back.

“I’m scared to be alone,” she cuts in, and my heart breaks right down the center.

“I know,” I reply softly. “But you’re not alone.”

“She left me, though.”

Fuck. Fuck.

I tuck Winnie’s hair behind her ear, giving my fingers something to do while I get my emotions under control.

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