Harper sat with her arms crossed, stewing in bad memories and hurt feelings. Austin remained hidden, doing mysterious things to the car. Five minutes passed, then ten. He went to the trunk to pull out the toolbox Eli had made her stash there, along with blankets and a candle to melt snow in case she got stranded somewhere alone.
Now she actually was stranded, but she wasn’t alone.
She got out of the car and stomped over to Austin, intent on making him as miserable as she was.
“How’s it going, Fonzie?”
He glanced up at her, the wrench in his hand on something big and important looking.
“Fonzie? That’s your go-to mechanic reference?”
She shrugged. “I forgot you don’t like Happy Days.” She hadn’t forgotten, she’d wanted to irk him.
But he wasn’t irked, he was intense. He moved around the engine like he’d done it a thousand times, pulling things out to check and make adjustments.
It would be easier to hate him if he weren’t so freaking hot.
But she didn’t hate him. Yes, he’d hurt her, but she’d never stopped loving him, not really. How could she? Look where he was. He was in the middle of the woods when he should be at his job. A job he’d wanted so badly, he’d defied his parents and chosen film school over medical school. A job she had apparently pushed him toward even more when she’d blurted out all the feelings in her heart four years ago.
Austin stood up and wiped his hands on the rag he’d slung over his shoulder at some point. “You wanna give it a try?”
Harper’s head whipped up. “What, us?”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “The car.”
Duh. Harper hid her rapidly heating cheeks behind her hair and practically ran to the door and threw herself in. She took a deep breath before turning the key. It would work, they’d go back to the inn, Audrey would be there, and she’d never have to talk to Austin again.
The engine turned once, then died.
Austin actually jumped back at the scream that ripped out of Harper’s throat.
“Are you okay?” He yanked the door open and put his arms on her shoulders. “Did I mess something up?”
“Yes. No.” Tears sprang to the corners of her eyes. “I just want this to be over.”
He kept his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. “So we’ll go back to the inn. I’ll get a rideshare.” The tightness in her chest loosened a bit at the calm smile on his face. Austin would fix this. He could fix anything.
Just not her broken heart, unfortunately.
Austin’s smile quickly disappeared when he looked down at his phone. “Uh, do you have a signal?”
With a pounding heart, she reached into her bag. She knew without even looking that there would be no bars. This far up in the mountain, she should have thought of it. It was spotty at best on a good day. But she hadn’t been thinking during the drive up here. All her focus had been on Audrey. She’d been counting on Austin to take care of the details, just like always.
Except he hadn’t thought of that either, and why should he? After all, she’d been insisting all day that this was her town, her mountain.
And just then, her mountain decided it was time for a summer thunderstorm.
Austin ran to the other side of the car and jumped in. “I’m sure it’ll be over soon. Then we can walk down to the highway.”
Harper shook her head. “This late in the day, it’ll last for hours.”
“Then we can’t stay in the car all night. We’ll freeze.”
“I know it’s not sunny California, but fifty degrees is still above freezing. We’ll be fine.”
Austin pressed his fingers to his temples. “We should head back to the cabin. Maybe there’s a radio or something.”
“I don’t remember seeing one, do you?”
“No, but what good does it do to stay cramped here in this car? Harper, just listen to me, for once, please.”
“All I’ve been doing all day is listen to you!” She turned to face him, her face hot. “We wasted time at the inn looking for her when I told you she wasn’t there, and it was you who spotted the picture of the cabin and dragged us up here. You can’t plan your way out of everything. Sometimes things just go badly, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
One look at Austin’s wounded expression, and she knew she’d gone too far. She was taking everything out on him, when all he’d been doing all day was trying to help her. He’d only be in her life another few days, and then she could go back to her quiet, Austin-free existence. There was no need to make the guy cry just so she could feel better for a few minutes.
As hard as it was, Harper swallowed her pride and said quietly, “But maybe we should go to the cabin until we can come up with a plan. Together.”
Austin was beyond thrilled that Harper agreed to his plan. He was not about to risk their safety sitting inside a cramped car, no matter how well she claimed to know these mountains. But now that they were inside the cabin, he was faced with uninterrupted alone time with Harper and wasn’t sure if he was terrified or elated.
They were both soaking wet, of course, after trekking up the side of the mountain. Harper dropped her wet shoes and bag in the middle of the floor, then, without a word, she rushed into the bathroom off the kitchen. Minutes later, Austin heard the sound of water running.
Oh man. A hot shower would have been amazing, but he knew the day had been really hard for Harper and was happy to give her all the time she needed. Though, if she was still the shower hog she’d been in college, it was safe to assume she’d be a while.
He took off his wet shirt, wrung it out in the kitchen sink and draped it over the back of one of the dining room chairs. His pants were trickier. He couldn’t exactly do the same as his shirt, so he used a towel to dry them off the best he could before cleaning up the small mess they’d made coming in. There were little pools of water everywhere, and Harper’s shoes were not just wet, but muddy. He placed hers next to where he’d put his just inside the door as soon as he’d walked in.
He found cleaning supplies in the kitchen and got to work mopping the floor. Once he got started, it made sense to just keep going. If they’d be here all night, it might as well be clean and comfortable.
Cleaning the cabin was soothing. Nothing else today seemed to be going to plan, but at least he could control this. Looking around the shining kitchen and dust-free living room lowered his pulse at least fifty beats per minute. He’d just finished making the bed in one of the bedrooms and was fluffing the pillows when he heard the bathroom door open. Good, he’d need to clean that too.
“Austin?” Harper’s voice cracked.
He rushed out, his bare feet skidding a bit on the freshly mopped floor. “I’m here. I didn’t go anywhere.”
Her shoulders dropped, and she smiled. Then her eyes went wide, and with a sudden rush of heat to his face, he realized he was still shirtless.
“Let me get you a blanket,” he said and turned his fiery hot face away from her. She had put her wet clothes back on. “That couldn’t have been easy to go from a hot shower back into those.”
“Thanks,” she said when he handed her a blanket. “So what’s the plan?”
His stomach clenched. Plan, yes, a plan. That was his job, not mopping floors. They’d need food and a way to contact someone, and something to do all night besides stare at each other and exchange awkward small talk.
But it was hard to think of anything other than curling up next to Harper in front of the fireplace. “Let’s build a fire.”
She raised an eyebrow. “With what?”
“I’m sure they keep some firewood around here somewhere.”
And with that he was off again, putting the distance between them that he needed to be able to focus. He stuck his head out the back door, but all he could see were sheets of rain. Even though he’d already checked it when he had been searching for a blanket and cleaning supplies, he looked in the bedroom.
The more places
he searched and came up empty, the faster his heart thumped. Maybe he could use sheets? He didn’t know Eli beyond what he’d seen during filming, but Austin was sure he’d understand if they needed to burn sheets to stay warm, right?
No, he was being crazy. Austin was not going to start a fire with stuff he found in the linen closet.
When he walked back into the living room, not entirely ready to admit that he couldn’t find any wood, he pulled up short. Harper was sitting in front of the fireplace, her gray eyes fixed on the flames that were happily burning brightly.
“Where did you find firewood?”
She looked up at him, the light reflecting off her still-damp golden waves. “On the front porch.”
He could have kicked himself. Of course it would be in the one place he hadn’t looked.
“I guess you don’t need me, do you?” He gave a weak chuckle, but his heart burned at the thought. She really didn’t need him. She’d done amazing things, just like he always knew she would. And she’d done them all without him around. Without him organizing her business the way he’d done with her study schedule, or planning her days, the way he’d made sure she had enough in the fridge to eat on weekends when he went away.
“Don’t say that,” she said, so softly he wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. But his heart nearly burst anyway. “Come sit by the fire, you’re shivering.”
He wanted to tell her it wasn’t from the cold, but instead he grabbed another blanket from the couch and sat down on the other end of the fireplace. He was at least five feet away from her—much further than when they’d been cooped up in the car together—but he was hyper aware of every single little movement she made. She swept her wet hair off her neck and leaned a little closer to the fire.
“Careful.” He reached out but pulled back when she rolled her eyes.
“I lit it myself, I think I know enough to not set my hair on fire.”
“Of course you do.” He pulled up his knees to wrap the blanket around his entire body. From inside his little fort he felt a little less bare—and a little bit braver. “You can do everything now. You don’t need me to plan your life like I used to.”
“I didn’t mind that,” she said, and the quirk of her lips sent his heart racing.
He scooted back from the fire a bit, not needing its heat nearly as much as he had just a moment before.
“It made things easy for me. I didn’t have to worry about anything.”
“And now you worry about everything?” That was what Austin did. He’d hate to see her having to deal with the same anxiety as he did every day.
“Not always. There’s just a lot on my plate right now.”
Austin knew that full well. He could see the way Harper carried the guilt of Audrey leaving, even though it wasn’t her fault. Had she done the same when he’d left?
Austin was afraid to know the answer, but he knew this was his chance to talk to Harper about what had happened. His heart raced, and he searched for the perfect words to finally apologize.
She stood up. “I think I’m going to try to find something dry to wear. Maybe lay down for a little bit.”
Do it now, before she leaves. Before you lose your chance.
He stood up next to her and the blanket slid from his shoulders. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
A beat passed, then another. He cracked open an eye to peek at her reaction. She was staring into the fire, her bottom lip between her teeth. “For what?”
She wasn’t going to make this easy, was she? But that was Harper. He actually smiled a little at being able to see this glimpse of the girl he left behind. It gave him the courage to continue. “For leaving.”
She inhaled sharply, and she started twisting the ends of her hair. “It’s fine. I don’t really think about it anymore.”
“Liar.”
She turned her steely gray gaze to him.
“You always play with your hair when you lie.”
She dropped her hand. “I used to. You don’t know me anymore. You left, remember? And then didn’t bother to call or contact me for four years.”
“And I have regretted it every day since then, but I just didn’t know how to say it.”
“You just did. You’re sorry. See, all better now. Now, let me go look for those clothes.”
“But it’s not all better.” He reached out and gently grabbed her arm. “I never stopped thinking about you, even when I wanted to. I tried so hard to get over you—”
“Get over me?” Harper shook her arm from his grip.
He took a deep breath. This was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be. “When you told me how you felt that day, it was like a thousand lightbulbs went off at once. I realized why I was never happy with the girls I dated. It was because I was in love with my best friend. I think I still am.”
She took a step back. “In love with me? You sure had a funny way of showing it.”
“Harper, you completely caught me off guard. I needed time to think about how to respond, but by the time I’d figured out a plan—”
Harper huffed and crossed her arms. Her glare was hotter than the flames at his back. “I wasn’t asking for a plan, Austin. I was baring my soul in hopes that you felt the same way. Then you left.”
He shook his head. “I know.”
“That proved it for me. You didn’t care about me the way I thought you did. I was humiliated and heartbroken.”
“And I’m sorry.”
“You already said that.”
Austin put his hands out. The fire seemed unbearably hot now, and he really wished he’d found a shirt before diving into this. “I don’t know what else to say. What else to do. I’ve spent the last four years kicking myself for thinking a plan was what I needed instead of just holding you tight and never letting go. When I saw you on the first day of filming, I thought that maybe here’s my chance to make things right.”
“But you ignored me. Just like you’ve done for the last few years.”
Austin took a step toward Harper. “Would you have given me the time of day if I tried to talk to you on that first day?”
A corner of her mouth lifted. “No, probably not.”
“Exactly. I wasn’t sure if it would be better to leave you alone or try to explain myself. I didn’t want to make another mistake, so I waited until it was obvious what I should do.”
Harper lifted an eyebrow. “And?”
“And being stranded in a cabin in the middle of nowhere seems like a pretty clear sign to me.”
Harper stared at Austin for a moment longer. Then, for the second time in his life, she did something that completely caught him off guard. She burst into laughter.
He blinked a few times. They’d just been arguing, and now she was laughing. Had he finally broken her?
He frowned. “It’s not that funny.”
“Oh, come on. It’s pretty funny. We’ve gone four years without a single word to each other, and now we’re literally forced to talk. Maybe this really is your sign.” She laughed again.
He still didn’t see what was so hilarious.
“And now you tell me you’ve been in love with me all this time, and it was just one giant misunderstanding? Okay.”
His heart dropped into his stomach. She didn't believe him. Austin racked his brain as he tried to think of the words to prove to her that he was telling the truth. But words felt inadequate. He looked up at Harper. Her laughter had died down, but the smile still lingered on her face.
He knew what he needed to do. It was what he should have done when Harper first confessed her feelings at graduation. Austin took a step toward her, his heart a jackhammer in his chest. Even after walking through the rain and taking a shower, the smell of cinnamon engulfed his senses.
When he was standing just in front of her, he lifted his hand and caressed her cheek. The smile on her face fell, and her eyes went to his. They were searching for something, but Austin didn't wait to find out if she f
ound what she was looking for. He was afraid if he waited and let his thoughts take over, he’d never do it. He knew he wouldn’t do it.
So he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.
Harper stiffened at the contact, and Austin instantly knew he’d gone to far. He started to pull away, endless apologies on his lips, when Harper reached out and grabbed his shoulders. Instead of pushing him away, she pulled him closer.
And kissed him back.
Austin’s heart threatened to burst from his chest as his free hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her even closer. He kissed her like a starving man, and the lingering taste of vanilla on her lips was everything he needed to live.
Harper was everything he needed. This kiss was better than anything he could have dreamed up in the years they spent apart. He never wanted it to end. And for a long time, it didn't.
Eventually, the two of them pulled apart from each other. The sound of their breathing drowned out the cracking of the fire that still roared beside them. The light from the flames illuminated her skin and hair with a golden glow.
“You’re so beautiful.” His hand still lingered on her cheek as he took her in. He never wanted to forget this moment. With any luck, it was the first of many kisses that would be shared between them.
She stared up at him, her eyes searching just as they had before.
“I’ve missed you so much.” He leaned down to give her another small kiss.
But Harper pulled back and shook her head. “I can’t do this.”
Then she ran into the bedroom and locked the door behind her.
Twelve
5 Days Until Dream Wedding
Beneath the blanket in the only bedroom in the cabin, Harper considered her options.
She could stay here forever, mortified and alone.
Or she could go back out and explain to the one guy she’d dreamed about kissing almost every night in college why she’d run away once he’d actually kissed her.
The Bridesmaid & The Ex (Wedding Games Book 2) Page 8