Redeemed Book 2: A Military Stepbrother Romance (14 page)

Finally, tentatively, I lowered my menu, seeing Harrison’s eyes just over the top as it moved downward. He was looking at the menu two, but he flicked his eyes toward me when mine became visible.

“What are you having?” He asked.

“What else?” I was trying to inject a little levity of the situation. Let’s see if it worked.

Harrison closed his menu and grimaced. “I should’ve known. Is there a lamb and beef shawarma within 100 miles that you haven’t tried?”

Guess it wasn’t going to work at all. “Well, I haven’t tried this one yet.”

The waiter came, and we ordered. Harrison got hummus appetizer, and a mixed seafood and chicken combo grill plate. We ordered a couple drinks as well. Harrison handed our menus to the waiter, and we settled back into our silence.

Both of us seemed intent on investigating the walls more than each other, and to the other people in the restaurant, it must have looked strange for two people not to say a word to each other. Little did they know, that for Harrison and I this was par for the course.

At the same time, though, this didn’t make any sense. The last time Harrison and I had had a conversation, he was reaming me out for trying to help him with the police. He seemed pretty intent on me staying away from him after that, so this whole dinner in a different town thing seemed out of turn.

“What are we doing here?”

“Were having dinner. What does it look like?”

“Don’t be coy with me. We could have dinner anywhere. We could have dinner at home, for that matter.”

“I wanted to get out of the house, and it’s been a while since I had Mediterranean food.”

“Harrison,” I said, trying to keep my voice is even as possible, resting my hands on the red tablecloth. “You’re dancing around the subject.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Where we are having dinner isn’t the point.”

“Sometimes I wish you just get to the point a little quicker.”

He could be so infuriating sometimes. I was the one who took forever to get to the point? I was the one who danced around things? Come on, who was he kidding?

I had to give him a little credit, though. It did take guts to be able to say that with a straight face, the way he was acting. As much as I was mad at him, it made me like him a little bit more.

I stared at Harrison, trying to impose as much of my will on him as I could, without jumping across the table at him. “The point, my dear stepbrother, is that out of nowhere, we are having dinner together. That word, that last word, together, is the important one.” Harrison flinched, but his eyes never left mine. “The point is that we, meaning you and I, are not in the habit of eating together.”

I didn’t know how I could make that any clearer.

“Yeah,” he said, smiling ruefully for the first time, looking almost a little embarrassed that I had called them out like that in a public place. I kept my voice low, though, and no one was looking at us. “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk about tonight.”

I sat back in my chair, ready to hear what he had to say. “And you brought me here, far away from home, to talk about it?”

“Yeah, being at home, or at some place in Summitville just didn’t seem right to me tonight.”

Just then, the waiter came by with our drinks, and Harrison and I both took deep breaths, as if we were each individually happy for a break in the tension. And, it was nice to get a little booze into the system as well, especially if we were in a talk about heavy things. We paused for a few minutes, to sip our drinks, and enjoy the feeling of the cool liquid in the warm restaurant.

“I didn’t like the way things left off between us.”

I set my drink down and folded my arms over my breasts, looking indignant. “That’s a funny way of apologizing to me, Harrison.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I’m getting to that. I just was under a lot of stress at that moment, and I said the wrong thing, and then I just went with it after that.”

“I was just trying to help.”

“I know, I know.” He leaned forward, resting his head in his hands, his elbows on the table. “I know you were just trying to help. I think that’s what set me off in the first place.” He smiled a little bit. “Well, that and the police showing up at the house.”

It was funny the Harrison could make light of something that had been so traumatic for me. Of course, it wasn’t the first time the police had come to the house looking for him over the years. I let it slide. “You had a funny way of thanking me for helping out.”

Harrison shifted in his seat, like it was uncomfortable for him to talk about things that were so personal. “I’ve never been able to ask for help for anything, Laurel. It’s just not who I am. I’ve never been that kind of guy.”

“Harrison, that’s no way to live. We are not meant to be hedgehogs or porcupines.”

“I know, I know, I just can’t seem to get that through my head. I always want to go it alone, do my own thing, push through my problems myself. I have thought about it more than you think.”

I softened. “Well, that’s good at least. I didn’t get the impression you’d thought about it at all.”

“Well, it doesn’t help that I get angry whenever I’m cornered. It’s the same way as when I was a kid. Whenever I see something I don’t like, or something doesn’t go my way, my first instinct is to get mad.” He held up his hand, and then closed it. “This,” he said looking at is closed fist, “has been able to solve most of the problems in my life.”

“Is that really true, though? Is that really the right way to fix things when they don’t go your way?”

Harrison put his hand down, resting it back on the table, looking down at it. “I don’t know anymore.” He thrust his head back, eyes focused on the ceiling, moving downward, downward, until he rested them back on me. “And I don’t know what to do about you.”

“What you mean? There’s nothing for you to do about me. You made that very clear after we got home from the police station.”

Harrison’s eyes widen like he was in shock, like he couldn’t believe what I just said. “Do you think that my feelings towards you have changed at all?”

Now was my turn to be shocked. “Think about what you just said, Harrison, and think about how you’ve acted towards me over the last week. How else am I supposed to think? You’ve given me nothing to work with? I’ve barely heard from you since I brought you back home.”

Harrison looked like he was about to say something, and even started a couple times, before closing his mouth, and looking down at his hands again. “You, you’re right.” His head drooped a little bit, like he was hanging in shame, even then he could barely do so. Shame was not a look that existed for a man like Harrison. “I just understand how I’m supposed to deal with loving you the way I do.”

“It shouldn’t be that difficult, Harrison. Just stop running away from it, and it’ll work itself out. But if you keep on trying to hide from it, nothing will ever happen, nothing more than what already has.”

“I’ve just, I’ve just,” he started, before finding the right words and the will to say it, “I’ve just never felt like this about anyone else before.”

“I think it’s safe to say that neither have I.”

The way Harrison looked at me at that moment, after I finish saying that, made my heart melts. He looked like a lost boy who had just found the way home. He looked like a man stranded in the desert for days, finally realizing that the maria she’d been chasing was real all along. If the table hadn’t been in the way, and the people around us disappeared in that moment, we would’ve jumped on each other right then and there.

“All I’m asking, Harrison, is for you to let me in. Things aren’t always easy, and I know that. But I also know that trying to go it alone all the time doesn’t work. Sometimes, you just have to let someone in. Just so they can help.” I knew it was starting to cry, and I brushed my hands over my eyes trying to clear away the tears before they formed. “It’s taken me a long time to realize, but now that I have, it’s made everything so much easier.”

Harris looked away for the first time in a few minutes, but he was almost fearful to meet my gaze all of a sudden. I took a hasty sip of my drink trying to find anything to do to keep from putting him on the spot like I felt I was doing.

“All I can say, is that I will try, Laurel,” Harrison said when he finally looked back at me. “I want to try, I want to be the man you want me to be, but I’m just not sure if I can Be that man.”

With impeccable timing, that moment the waiter brought our food, and we were able to be quiet for a few minutes and just enjoy the food. I had always loved the spices and flavors of Mediterranean food, and tonight’s meal was no exception – it was nearly perfect. Of course, the way the conversation had gone might have had something to do with it as well.

Harrison sat on the other side of the table, and looked to be enjoying his food as well. We made a little bit a Smalltalk along the way, both of us avoiding heavy subject of before, but both of us clearly knowing that the conversation was not entirely over yet.

The waiter came by and asked if we wanted to refill on our drinks, but both Harrison and I declined. The first drink it taken the edge off, and made the previous conversation much much easier, but both of us wanted to keep a level head.

When we were both done, Harrison and I listed are napkins from our stomachs and placed them on the table, grinning at each other. We held that pose for longer than normal, both comfortable in the moment, until Harrison looked down and frowned for a moment before looking back at me. “I really do need to apologize for what I did after the police station. That wasn’t fair to you, and I feel even worse that it’s taken me so long to actually apologize.”

Before I spoke in response, I tried to take a mental picture of Harrison’s face, so that I could think about it and figure out just how much he meant what he said. That had always been the problem with him and I, and I wasn’t about to automatically believe anymore.

He seemed sincere, though. Harrison looked genuinely wounded by the way he acted toward me, and I found myself wanting to forgive him right away, Despite what he had done, and despite all the anguish it had caused the over the last few days.

“I really should make this tougher on you,” I said trying not to smile and failing, “but it just so happens that I really really want to believe you. So I’m going to give you another chance.” I held up my finger, wagging it from side to side. “But don’t screw it up this time. Next time I will forgive you so easily.”

Harrison’s grin was a mile wide, and it was all I could do to keep but swooning at how sexyHe looked. “I will do whatever I can to make sure that there isn’t a next time.” He picked up his napkin and wiped his face would, clearly happy with how things gone.

I was thrilled to, because as much as I wanted to hide it or suppress it, I really hadn’t felt this way about anyone before Harrison. There was something he did to me, some way he made me feel, that put me over the moon in such a way that I couldn’t describe it, and that I wanted more of it all the time.

The trouble was, that while my desire was consistent, Harrison was not. I had to guard myself, as much as I wanted to throw myself at him, and believe him, and take him at his word, there were so many things that were able to get in his way, in our way, that I had to make sure that I look after myself first, just in case the monsters outside managed to break in.

The waiter came by with the bill, after asking us if we wanted any dessert, which we both declined, and Harrison made a big show of paying the bill. He seemed so proud of himself, and I let him have his moment.

After the bill was paid Harrison nodded towards the door, and I nodded back, smiling. It was time to go. We got up and went to the front, getting our coats off the coat rack, Harrison helping me with mine, before putting his on. After saying goodbye to the maître d’, Harrison open the door and we stepped out into the night, Harrison quickly enveloping eye hand with his.

We shared a knowing smile at each other, and started walking back toward the car. It felt strange walking down the street with Harrison holding my hand, feeling the strength of his hand enclosed around mine, but it was more than that. No one knew us here, and it felt good to be out in public and not worry about anyone recognizing us.

We had taken longer and the restaurant than I thought, and by the time we walked out, they were few other people still on the street. If it only gotten a little colder, but we took our time going back to the car, stopping at different storefronts along the way to do a little window shopping.

I stopped at one, pausing in front of a clothing store, and see their new collection in the window. I always wondered about these small little fashion boutiques, how they managed to stay open, with so few people coming in and buying their clothing. It seemed to me that just making their monthly rent would take all the sales that they had, and no one wanted to run a business that wasn’t making any profit.

I was admiring address in the window, and wondering what it would look like on me when I looked down at my hand and realized that Harrison was no longer holding it. And he wasn’t the next to me anymore. He must’ve kept walking.

I turned away from the window to call him back; I wanted him to see the dress, and I wanted to get his opinion on it.When I turned to face him, he was about 20 feet in front of me, and then I understood what had changed.

Harrison was standing in front of a group of men.

One of them was Steve.

Chapter 22 - The Confrontation

What were Steve and his buddies doing here? How did they find us? This couldn’t be a coincidence.

I wanted to scream, I knew that my mouth and fallen open, but no sound came out when I tried to say something. All I could do was slowly step toward Harrison, wanting to be close to him, but not wanting to disturb the delicate balance of the staring contest going on between Harrison and Steve.

Harrison squared up; his face grim. I knew he was tense, and I felt a rush of fear pass through me. I knew that I wasn’t in much danger, not with Harrison around. What really worried me was what Harrison might do to these guys.