Stealing Harper (17 page)

Harper stopped walking suddenly, and an odd expression crossed her face. My brow scrunched momentarily until the expression vanished, and I held my hand out to her. “Come here babe!” As soon as she was close enough, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her soundly before turning her toward Trish. “Harper, this is Trish. Trish, this is my beautiful Harper.”

“Chase,” Jeff called from behind me, and I turned to face him. “Guy just called in wanting a finger tat. Can you fit him in before your other appointment comes in?”

“Yeah, when will he be here?”

“He’s already on his way, just a few minutes. Hey, Harper.” He smiled and took her from me to wrap her in a big hug.

“Do I see my baby mama?” Brian boomed as he walked out of the back, and I laughed as he hugged her close and kissed her cheek. I knew I didn’t have to worry about Princess and Brian. She loved him and Marissa, but she responded to him the same way she responded to Brad. And besides, as soon as Brian released her, she sank right back into my arms.

“Where have you been?” Brian asked, and pouted miserably. “You’re keeping my son away from me now?”

“Never,” she teased. “Why else would we be here?”

“ ’Sup, little BJ.”

“Uh . . .” Harper cocked her head to the side. “BJ?”

“Yeah, Brian Jr., that’s what we’re naming him.”

Fucking hell.
Harper, Jeff, and I all started cracking up. “Did you already ask Marissa? I’m pretty sure she doesn’t need another Brian to take care of,” I teased as I pulled Princess into my arms and pressed my lips to her neck, my hands trailing across her stomach.
Mine.

Brian and Jeff started arguing over who got our next kid, and I loved how Harper interacted with my friends. She was so relaxed with these guys, and to be honest, I’d been worried about that. I knew she loved my work, but loving what I do and being all right with the guys I worked with are two completely different things. So to have them all instantly accept each other was a huge relief.

The call-in walked into the shop, and I gave Harper one more kiss before going over to talk to him. Tattoo was simple and would take no time at all, he just wanted his wife’s initials on his ring finger. I turned to look at Princess talking to Trish and smiled to myself, knowing that she was already tattooed on me. I wanted to tell her, but it had just never come up, and though she knew I’d been in love with her all this time, I had no clue how she would react if she knew I’d drawn that up so soon after meeting her.

After giving the guy the call-in a book of different fonts, I walked back over to where the girls were talking, and Trish smiled wide at me. “Hey buddy, great girl you’ve got here!”

“Yeah, isn’t she? You gonna stay and watch, babe?”

Harper turned and after a brief look at me, looked down to the ground. “No. I need to go meet Bree. I’ll see you at home.”

“All right, let me walk you out.” As soon as we were outside and next to her SUV I pulled her into my arms again. “Thanks for coming, they’ve all missed you.”

Nodding twice, she started searching through her purse.

What the hell?
“You okay?”

“Not really. No.” She sighed heavily and finally looked up at me. “I don’t like Trish.”

“What? Trish is awesome.” I swear her and her girlfriend should switch places, she acted just like Brian, and if she didn’t look like a Suicide Girl, I would swear she
was
a guy. “Why don’t you like her?”

“It might have been the fact that she refused to return my greeting,
or
that she let me know she was going to “take care” of you while I’m not around.”

I laughed and squeezed my arms tighter. This was just another thing I loved about Harper. She didn’t bullshit the way some girls did. If she was mad, she let you know. And while I didn’t like that she was uncomfortable, I’m not gonna lie. It felt real good knowing she was jealous. “Aw, Princess, she’s just joking with you. You don’t have anything to worry about. She’s gay.”

“I promise you, she isn’t.”

“Yeah she is; she told me yesterday.”

“Okay, Chase. I really do have to go, I love you. See you when you get home.”

Kissing her soft lips, I pulled away slightly to catch her gaze. She still look worried when I brought one hand up to cup her cheek. “Cheer up baby, I love you, too.”

I watched her pull away and walked back into the shop. Catching the call-in’s attention, I took him back to my station, where Trish was still sitting.

“Dude.” She smiled and jerked her head toward the door. “Your girl is head over heels in love with you.”

The corners of my mouth tilted up.
Feeling was definitely mutual.
“I’m a lucky man.”

“I’d say, even pregnant, she’s fucking hot.”

Brian, Jeff, and the call-in all grunted agreement, and I glared at them before teasing Trish. “You got your own girl, so stay away from mine.”

She shrugged and jumped off my counter to go help people who were done looking through art on the wall, and I gestured for the call-in to sit in the chair. “Let’s do this.”

Chapter Thirteen

P
ULLING MY VIBRATING
cell out of my pocket, I checked the messages and saw there was a text from Trish. I suppressed a groan and silently prayed shit wasn’t hitting the fan at the shop. This was my first night off since Princess and I had gone to the bed-and-breakfast well over a week ago. And I wanted nothing more than to finish hanging out with my family and take her to bed.

Trish:
Hey buddy . . . gf is working graveyard 2nite. Wanna come over 4 dinner when I get off?

“Are you kidding? Of course we did! That lady was hilarious, there was no way we weren’t giving her money.” Standing up from the table, Breanna started showing us a dance this homeless lady had been doing earlier when she was out with Konrad. I laughed and tapped out a quick text back to Trish.

Can’t, sorry. Spending time with Princess

“Chase, you should go find that woman,” Dad said on a laugh. “She would probably teach you to dance for a few bucks.”

I snorted. “At least I don’t look like a dying fish when I dance.” I glanced at him meaningfully, and he started laughing at the same time Harper gasped loudly and gripped my arm.

“You okay?” I turned to look at her, and she was looking straight down. Looking at her line of sight, I couldn’t see anything wrong and looked at my parents, who seemed just as confused as I was.

“Say something, Chase.”

The hell?
I leaned closer to her, trying to look into her eyes, “Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

Harper started laughing and glanced at me quickly before looking straight down again, “He’s kicking! He’s kicking whenever you talk!”

Oh my God.
My knees hit the ground, and I pushed my way in between Harper’s legs while letting my hands cover her rounding stomach. My heart was racing, and I had to take two deep breaths before leaning in close, my nose almost touching her belly. “You kicking Mom?” I kept my voice low, and said slowly, “C’mon, Gummy Bear, Daddy wants to feel you kick, too. I love you so much—” A light nudge hit my hand, and my head shot back to look at my princess. “Oh my God!” Bringing my head back to her belly I swear I fell in love with our son even more while I continued to talk to him. Each time, I was rewarded with a soft nudge, and I couldn’t help but laugh shakily at how amazing it was.

Mom, Dad, and Breanna all took turns feeling GB kick, all while I spoke softly to him. Once Bree was done, I went back to kneeling in front of Harper, but I didn’t feel him kick again.

“I think he rolled over,” Harper whispered, and I stood up, pulling her with me to capture her lips with mine. “That was incredible!” She laughed against my mouth, and I smiled.

“My thoughts exactly.” Without looking back at my family, I grabbed her hand and started towing her toward the stairs. “ ’Night, everyone.”

Harper giggled and turned to wave. “Good night!”

They all called out good nights, but I didn’t slow down for anything. As soon as we were in my room, I shut the door and locked it before pushing Harper up against it. “Babe—” I growled against her mouth, and she leaned away, running her thumb over my lips.

“I know, Chase. I love you, too, so much.”

“That was amazing. Thank you, Harper. Thank you for our son, thank you for loving me.”

“Always,” she whispered, and brought her mouth back to mine, our lips moving against each other slowly.

Lifting her shirt over her head, I dropped it next to us and immediately went for her bra. Her hands started undressing me as I pulled down her tight workout pants. She had just gotten the button on my jeans undone and was going for my fly when I removed her hands and turned us, walking her back toward the bed. After laying us down, I made a trail from her lips to her ear. “Let me love you tonight, Princess.”

Without waiting for a response, I kissed and sucked my way down her body, lifting her legs so her feet were planted on the bed, and her knees were bent. Trailing my fingers along her wet folds, she sucked in air and whispered my name. Hearing Harper say my name that way—seeing the way her head would fall back and body would arch off the bed when I ran my tongue over her heat, and feeling as her body tightened and shuddered around me as she came—was perfection to me. And that perfection was mine.

“
C
OME ON,
G
UMMY
B
EAR,
you gotta wake up for Daddy. Kick for me, buddy.”

Harper laughed softly, and her hands went into my hair. “I’m telling you, babe, he’s asleep. He’s not gonna wake up.”

“You’ll wake up for Daddy, won’t you? You don’t want me to go to the party; you want to kick the crap out of Mom’s belly while I talk to you, don’t you?”

Still nothing.

I sighed and ran my nose back and forth across Harper’s stomach. Graduation was on Sunday, so the guys at my house were throwing one last Friday night party . . . and I didn’t want to go. I’d started working a lot more back when Harper and Brandon were dating, so I hadn’t even been to a party in who knows how long; and it just didn’t interest me anymore. Besides, Princess wasn’t going, so if she wasn’t going, I definitely didn’t want to go. She’d been pushing me out the door, saying I needed a good weekend with my friends, and, as a last attempt, I told her that if I could get GB to kick for me, I didn’t have to go. But five minutes of talking to her swollen stomach, and he hadn’t so much as rolled over.

Harper tugged on my hair gently, and I reluctantly stood up. “Go to the party, Chase. Have fun.”

I grumbled, but cupped her cheeks and kissed her soundly. “I’ll be back later tonight.”

“Just have fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Shaking my head, I kissed her forehead and unlocked my truck. “I need you in my arms when I fall asleep tonight, Princess. I’ll text you when I’m on my way back here.”

Ignoring the urge to turn my truck back around to go be with her, I reasoned that at least I could grab the solitaire engagement ring I’d bought Harper last week. I had everything planned to propose after graduation on Sunday, and it felt like the next day and a half would drag by. Princess was always saying she didn’t need to be married just because she was pregnant. But what she wasn’t getting is that I couldn’t wait to marry her. I wanted to be with her forever and didn’t see the point in waiting to start my life with her.

I’d just gotten done showing Sarah and Brad the engagement ring before stowing it away in my desk and locking my room back up when my phone started chiming.
Trish.
I sighed and opened up the texts. Almost every night over the last two weeks, she’d tried to get me to come hang out at her apartment either after work or for the night when she wasn’t working. She said her girlfriend was always working graveyard shifts, and Trish was cool and all—but I knew Harper still couldn’t stand her, so I’d continued to say no. You’d think after two weeks of that she’d get the hint. Apparently not.

Trish:
U should come keep me company. I’ll make you dinner

Can’t. Sorry

Trish:
:( u gonna make me spend another night alone?

Where’s your girlfriend? Graveyard shift again?

Trish:
. . . yep

Sorry dude. Having a party at my place. Catch you Monday

Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I made my way through the house toward the kitchen. Drew and some girl I’d never seen were doing shots, and I grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, working hard not to shake my head at everything happening in the house. I couldn’t remember how I’d ever found these entertaining. But I was already counting down the minutes until I could go back to my parents’ house. I’d already been here for almost five hours, and I figured if I gave it another hour, Princess wouldn’t think I’d missed out on anything because she wasn’t here.

Brandon walked past me to grab a beer out of the fridge, and I tensed when he came back to hop on the counter next to me. We hadn’t talked in almost a month, but when he didn’t immediately try to hit me, I started to relax a bit.

“What’s going on?”

“Not much,” he said gruffly, and took a long drink. “Think I’m gonna go hide in my room soon. These just aren’t as fun as they used to be.”

“Agreed. I’ll be going to my parents’ in a bit. You going back to Arizona as soon as the year’s over?”

“Nah. Mom bought a house in Carlsbad, she and Jeremy move here in a week.”

“Huh.” My eyebrows shot up. “That’s good then.”

He nodded, and we fell back into an awkward silence. A couple times he’d start to say something before stopping himself. And just as I was about to tell him to spit it out, he shakily asked, “How’s uh—how’re Harper and the baby?”

My chest tightened, and guilt ate away at me. Every time I thought of them, I couldn’t help but smile—a fact Brian, Jeff, and Trish teased me about relentlessly. But with Brandon, I just had the need to apologize. “They’re really good. Look man, I’m—”

“Don’t apologize.” He drained his beer and hopped off the counter, turning slightly to look at me. “I—I hate what you did. To be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever get over it, but I . . .” He trailed off and took a deep breath before looking me in the eye. “I forgive you. I know you love her, and I know she loved us both. All I want is for her to be happy. And if she’s happy with you, then that’s all I need.”

I stared at him for a long time, trying to figure out exactly what to say. But nothing seemed right. When he started to turn away, I called out, “Thank you, brother. That means a lot.”

With a hard nod, he turned and made his way toward the hall his room was on. I was still sitting there dumbfounded when someone gently punched my arm. Looking to my right, I saw Trish, and my head jerked back, “Hey, dude.”

“Cool that I’m here? Didn’t feel like being alone while Erin was gone tonight.”

“Yeah, sure. Parties are always open to anyone.”

She looked around before asking, “Where’s Harper?”

“At my parents’. She didn’t think she should be here since she’s pregnant. Sorry, I know you just got here, but I wanna get back to her so I’m gonna leave in an hour or so. Can I get you a drink, though?”

“Nah, I’m good. Can I just have a sip of your water?”

I handed it over without a word and turned when loud cheers came from the dining room.
Keg stands. Seriously? Can’t they do that shit outside?
Trish handed my water back to me, and I took a long drink.

“So hey”—she nudged my arm—“I was wanting another tat. You gonna do this one, too?”

“Sure, sure. What are you wanting?”

“Some lyrics from a song, right under my left boob.”

Aw hell. Harper’s gonna flip.
“Uh, all right. We’ll see.” I drained my water and showed her the empty bottle. “I’m gonna get another one, you sure you don’t want one?”

She eyed the empty bottle, and her eyes flashed over to mine. “Yeah sure, I guess I’m thirstier than I realized.”

“Y
OU SKANK!
H
E’S
having a baby!”

I worked at opening my eyes, but my lids felt heavy. Too heavy. And my head was pounding like I had a wicked hangover.
What the hell? I didn’t even drink last night. Did I?

“Can you please give us some time alone?” a husky, feminine voice asked.

“Get out of his bed! Konrad, let me go, I’m gonna kill her! Chase, you asshole, wake the fuck up!”

The fuck?
I felt something tighten around my waist. Harper? Still trying to force my eyes open, I turned and had barely cracked them open when I saw her.

Not Harper.

Holy shit.

My eyes widened, and I scrambled away from Trish, my head pounding in protest, and I grabbed it as Bree started screaming again. “What the fuck is going on?” I yelled, and forced my eyes open again to look around. I was in my bed, in my house. Konrad looked like he wanted to kill me as he held a bucking Breanna to his chest.

“Chase, make them leave please.” Trish moaned and wrapped an arm around my waist, and I pushed her away.

“
What the fuck are you doing in my bed
?” I looked around wildly. “Where’s Harper? Oh my God, what the hell happened?” I groaned and gripped my head again as I struggled to get out from under the comforter and off the bed. I tripped out of the comforter and landed hard on the floor; when I looked down, I saw I was only in my boxers. Glancing up as Trish rushed out of the bed and over to me, I saw she was wearing my favorite shirt and underwear. Nothing else.

Oh God, no. No, no, no.

“Baby, are you all right?” Trish asked as she squatted in front of me. Her arm reached out toward me, and I smacked it away.

“The fuck, Trish! What are you doing in my bed? Why are you wearing my shirt?”

“I’ll kill you, you evil bitch!” Bree screeched and bucked harder against Konrad.

It felt like my skull was being split and I groaned as I tried to hold it together, like that would somehow stop the pain. “Harper, oh God, Harper. What happened? What did I do?”

I tried to remember going to bed with Trish . . . I tried to remember going to bed period.
I can’t remember anything past
—another shooting pain went through my head as I tried to stand—
Shit, I can’t even remember my last solid memory of last night!

“Chase—” Trish reached out for me when I stumbled into my desk, and again I smacked her arms away.

“Do. Not. Touch me.” I glared at her, and my breathing became rougher. How could I have done something like this to Princess? “What. The hell. Happened?” When she didn’t respond right away, I yelled, “Why the fuck were you in my bed?”

“How can you do this to me, Chase? You’re going to pretend like I mean nothing to you just because your sister caught us?”

I turned to see my sister sobbing; Konrad’s nostrils were flaring as he held her tight and continued to shoot daggers my way.

“You bitch!” Breanna cried, and wiped angrily at her eyes as she looked back up at Trish. “Tell him the truth!
Tell him!
”

My eyes widened, and I turned to Trish while still cradling my head and trying to steady my breathing, so I wouldn’t vomit everywhere. “What, Trish? What’s the truth?”