by Blake, Remy
My eyes scan above the horizon. “I see stars, but I don’t know what it looks like, so I’m not sure.”
“The Big Dipper is shaped like a bowl and a handle. Three stars in a row make up the handle and four stars make up the bowl. And saying bowl is deceiving because it’s an odd square instead of being round.”
“Wait. Is that it?” I question, excitedly pointing.
“Yes, it is.”
“Wow. That’s so cool. Tell me more. I like you teaching me.”
He presses a kiss to my temple. “I like this too. The last two stars of the handle are called the pointers. Their names are Dubhe and Merak. The third star on the handle, closest to the bowl, is the brightest and that one is called Alioth. Am I boring you yet?”
“Are you kidding? This is awesome. I can’t believe you know this stuff. How do you remember it all?”
“I told you I considered being an astronomer. I studied the stars for more than one summer and Gramps bought me a telescope. We spent endless hours out here looking through it.”
“Sounds like you made some great memories with your Gramps.”
“We did. We still are making memories. He’s one of my favorite people.”
“I’d like to hear more about the stars, if you’re not sick of telling me.”
“Not at all. Okay, let’s see.” He points. “The tip of the handle is called Alkaid. It means ‘the leader’ and as the third brightest star in Ursa Major, it’s six times bigger than the sun.”
“That’s crazy because the sun seems so much bigger.”
“I know. There’s a lot of folklore that centers around the Big Dipper. Some Native Americans thought the bowl was a bear and the stars of the handle were three warriors chasing it.”
“I like that.”
“Where you live affects what the Big Dipper is. In China and Japan, it’s a ladle. In Finland it’s a salmon net.”
“Are you sure you want to be an attorney?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I could see you teaching astronomy. All the girls would be signing up for Professor McAdam’s class.”
He laughs. “Maybe if I can’t pass the bar exam. It can be my fall-back career.”
“Do you still have your telescope?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll see if I can dig it up while we’re here. I’d love to show you what the stars look like through the lens. It’s amazing what you can see.” He wraps his arms around me tighter and rubs his face on the top of my head. “I’m sorry if I got carried away and information dumped on you.”
“Not at all. I liked hearing about the constellations.” My fingertips trace over the masculine shape of his fingers. “And you should know by now how much I like it when you get carried away.”
20
Connor
Talk about giving me the perfect segue to some romance. Harper’s words are all the encouragement I need. Sitting up, I slip from behind her and rise to my feet. I drop the blanket on the lounger and pull Harper to her feet. Once she’s standing in front of me, I scoop her into my arms.
She lets out a squeal of surprise. “What’s this all about?”
“I just feel like carrying you to my bed. Never say romance is dead.” She deserves the best and that means romance and sweet gestures. It means going the extra mile. After spending the last few weeks together, I know that I want to give her anything and everything she needs and wants. Nothing is too much.
“After tonight, I know romance isn’t dead. At least, not with us.” She smiles. I negotiate our way back inside and trek up to my room. I nudge the light switch on with my shoulder before I lay her down on my bed and pause to drink in her beauty. In her jeans and oversized hoodie, she’s as sexy to me as when I see her in the skirts and blouses that make up her work attire.
I tug my own hoodie over my head and take my t-shirt along with it. I slip my sneakers and socks off and settle on the bed between her legs. Removing each of her sneakers, I throw them over my shoulder. She giggles as they thud against the floor. She removes her socks before I take hold of her hands, pulling her up to a seated position. I carefully remove her sweatshirt. I’ve barely dropped it on the floor when she’s pulling her t-shirt off, leaving her in a lacy green bra and jeans.
My hands land on her shoulders driving her back to the pillow as I come down on top of her. The lace of her bra scrapes against my chest as I take her lips with mine. My hands slide down her arms and slip between us to undo her jeans. Our kiss is punctuated with moans and sighs as our tongues sensually dance. Gripping her jeans, I slowly peel them down over her hips. She wiggles, assisting me. When they’re gone, I draw back from her sweet lips to take in her alluring form, under me on my childhood bed.
“Christ you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” I cup her cheeks and stare down into her chocolate irises. There are so many things I want to say to her. So many things that I’m feeling for the first time in my life. My chest is heavy with emotion and I don’t know what to do about it. So I do the only thing I know how to. I connect our lips again and let my kiss show her everything I’m afraid to say.
* * *
Harper places a kiss on my cheek and cuddles into my chest. “Good morning.” She sighs contentedly. And after the night we had, she better be content.
“Mm, it’s a great morning.” Harper doesn’t usually stay over at my place. Spending last night together and waking up with her in my arms is the best way to start the holiday. “Happy Thanksgiving, Harper.”
“Happy Thanksgiving, Junior.”
I growl at her nickname for me, but I don’t mind. Aside from my grandmother, she’s the only one who can get away with it. I pull her closer to me. “I’m glad we’re celebrating together.”
“What are we having for dinner?” she asks.
“Something on the grill. Chicken is the closest thing to turkey that we have.”
“That works for me. I’m just happy to be here. The meal doesn’t matter.”
“We’ll find something good to cook and it will be your favorite Thanksgiving yet.” I know she misses her family, but I’m going to do my best to make sure she enjoys her day.
“Is there anything special you want to do today? We can take a walk, or go for a bike ride.”
“You have bikes?”
“Yep. All different sizes too.”
“Can we go for a bike ride around the island? I want to see as much as I can and get some exercise.” I laugh.
“What’s funny about that?”
“This island isn’t even one and a half miles long. I’m not sure how much exercise that will get you, but on a good note, you can see everything there is to see in a relatively short time.”
She whips back the covers and jumps out of bed.
“Where are you going?”
“To shower. I’m excited to sightsee.”
I stare at her naked body as she walks to the bathroom. There’s no better sight to see than that ass.
* * *
We leisurely pedal our bikes. Harper’s riding the red one that my mother used to ride in her younger days.
“This place is the definition of what should be on a postcard. I’ve never been to a place like this before. It’s so quaint. I want to stay forever.”
I smile because being here always makes me feel the same way. “I love being here too. It’s hard to return to the city after experiencing the peace being here brings.”
“I feel it too. It’s like another world.”
“With not much more than a thousand people in population, St. Michael’s could fit into my neighborhood in Georgetown,” I state. “I’m going to show you the Hooper Strait Lighthouse. I think you’ll find it interesting.”
“I’ve never seen a lighthouse before.”
We pedal along and come to the harbor. “Take this next right.” We turn into the u-shaped drive that leads to the square, white building.
“Oh, this is adorable,” Harper coos. Her excitement is obvious.
&n
bsp; “Because it’s a holiday, we can’t go inside and see the maritime exhibits. But we can come back this weekend if you want to.”
“Can we walk on the wraparound deck?”
“Sure, let’s park over here.” I jerk my head toward the sidewalk. “No one’s around so our bikes should be fine here.”
We climb the stairs and slowly amble along the deck, enjoying the beautiful scenery. Harper pulls out her phone, taking pics of everything.
“Wait till my family sees this. It’s a great reminder of a bygone era.”
“This was originally built in eighteen hundred-seventy-nine to light the way for boats traveling through the shallow and dangerous shoals of Hooper Strait. It’s called a ‘screwpile’ lighthouse because of the special iron pilings it’s built on. I won’t bore you with the details of what exactly that means.” I smile. “Stars are one thing, but do you really want to hear about screw-tipped iron pilings?”
“I’m sure you could make it sound fascinating, but I’m more interested in taking pictures.” She spins in every direction capturing it all with her phone.
Reaching in my pocket, I tug my phone out. Catching hold of Harper, I pull her into the crook of my arm with the Chesapeake as the backdrop and take a few selfies of us. “Are you smiling?” I glance down at her and continue to take pics even as I move in for a kiss. Her cold lips are sweet and I get lost in them for longer than I intended. Raising my head, I find her beaming.
“Thank you for bringing me here this weekend. This is just what I needed.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, and thank you for saying yes when I asked. If you hadn’t, I’d have stayed home and spent the holiday weekend alone. And you would’ve had Chinese food.”
“Chinese food is never a bad thing, but sitting home alone and being homesick would’ve sucked.”
“It’s getting late and we need to figure out our dinner situation. Let’s head back to the house. We can take a ride again tomorrow, if you’d like.”
“Sounds good to me.”
* * *
When we reach the house there’s a shiny, new Mercedes sedan with Virginia plates in the driveway.
“Whose car is that?” Harper questions with panic in her tone as we ride the bikes into the garage. “Is it your parents?”
I smile. “No. Don’t worry. It’s just my grandparents’ car.” We park in one of the two empty garage bays and climb off.
Harper grabs my arm, looking completely panicked. “Connor. What are you going to tell them? You can say I’m a friend from school. Oh God.” She rubs a hand over her forehead. “I probably look too old to be a student. I know. You can say I’m the sister of a friend.”
“Harper, calm down. I’m going to introduce you and that’s all. I’m an adult and I don’t need to explain who you are. My grandparents are the best. You have nothing to worry about.”
“If you say so.” She sounds skeptical and I laugh.
“You’ll see.”
Entering the house through the garage, we immediately smell something mouth-watering. We look at each other.
“I hope that smell means they brought dinner because I’m starving.” My stomach growls as if to prove it and we both laugh.
We hear nails tapping on the wooden floor before we notice Tank charging at us.
“Tankman. How’s my boy doing?” I squat down and take all the kisses he has for me. I give him a few also. I’ve missed him, but I knew he was in great hands when I left him with my grandparents. Look who’s here, buddy.”
Harper sits on the floor. Tank climbs into her lap, showering her face with kisses while she laughs. The sound and the sight of my girl and my dog together warms my heart.
I take Harper’s hand, helping her to her feet. When she hangs back, I squeeze her hand. “It’s going to be fine.” She has nothing to worry about. Gram and Gramps will love her and they’d never tell anyone about us. They’ve had my back so many times when I’ve needed them to. It’s not even a concern.
“Hey, look who’s here,” Gramps calls out before he sees us.
“Surprise,” Gram says as we walk into the kitchen. She covers her mouth when she sees Harper. “We thought you were alone. We didn’t mean to intrude.”
“You’re not intruding at all. Besides, this is your house. Gram and Gramps, I’d like you to meet Harper Martínez.”
They both step forward with smiles on their faces. Harper looks a little stunned at their warm greetings. Especially when they both hug her. Gramps gives me a wink over her shoulder when they embrace. Tank mills between us all looking for any attention we can spare. Bending down, I scratch his head and smile. My favorite people are all in this room right now. It’s funny how quickly Harper has moved to that list.
What am I going to do when she decides she’s had enough of the college guy? How will I handle her moving on to someone her own age and starting a life with them? My stomach sinks at the thought.
“What’s wrong, Junior?” Gram asks.
Harper giggles. “You call him Junior?”
Gram nods. “I do, sometimes.”
“I bet he doesn’t get annoyed when you say it.” Harper elbows me in the side.
“That’s because you say it in a condescending way.” I poke her in her side and she laughs.
Gramps claps his hands together snapping our attention his way. “I hope you guys are hungry. We ordered dinner from Michael’s Inn and there’s enough to feed a small army. We were just setting it all out when you guys came in. Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
“I’m ready,” I announce. “You guys are a godsend. On the way back from our bike ride we were trying to figure out what we were going to cook. I can guarantee whatever we made wouldn’t have tasted as good as this is going to.” I lead Harper to the dining room table in the next room and pull her chair back for her. She smiles over her shoulder and thanks me.
“Gram, what can I do?”
“Not a thing. We’ve already got it all under control.”
Glancing around at the feast spread out on the long table, I can see they do. It might take us a week to eat all this. We settle in and begin to eat. The only sound breaking the silence is happy murmurs and groans because everything is so delicious. Tank nudges my leg and I point for him to get away from the table.
“How was Tank for you guys? Has he been good?”
“He’s been wonderful,” Gram answers.
“Why didn’t you bring him with us? I wouldn’t have minded,” Harper mentions.
“I know you wouldn’t have, but he’s still a puppy and sometimes he eats furniture. It’s bad enough when he eats mine, but I didn’t want him unsupervised here while we’re out.”
“So, how did you two meet?” Gram asks, taking us both by surprise.
Harper chokes on her food and I whack her on the back until she stops. My hand rubs soothing circles to calm her.
“We met at school,” I explain.
“Are you a student also?” Gram directs her question to Harper.
Harper shakes her head. “No, I’m a professor there.”
“Oh dear. You don’t look old enough to be one. How old are you?”
“Thirty-two.”
“That’s still rather young to be a professor at a prestigious school like King University.”
“Thank you. I think I got lucky.” She downplays how awesome she actually is.
“No way. Don’t let Harper fool you. Not only is she a professor there, but she runs the Languages Department.”
“Aren’t you taking Spanish? Does that mean she’s your professor?” Gramps questions and I shoot him daggers. Harper’s already feeling under the microscope, she doesn’t need him to make her more self-conscious.
“Yes, to both of those questions.” I’ll just let that settle in and see what he has to say.
It only takes Gram a few seconds before she catches on. “Oh dear. Harper is your professor?”
“Yes, ma’am. She sure is. And the hottest prof
essor I’ve ever had.”
Harper opens her eyes wide, raising her brows. “Stop it,” she whispers.
“How does that work exactly?” Gram asks.
I laugh. “It works fine. We keep it a secret and it’s not a problem.”
“But you still have the rest of the school year to get through. How will you continue to be together for that long without anyone noticing?” Gram wonders.
“We’re taking it one day at a time,” Harper replies.
I’m disappointed she didn’t say we’re going to make it work, no matter what. But why would she? I’ve never given her a reason to think that I’m falling for more than her body. And she’s never given me a reason to think she’s after more than good sex and fun.
“I hope it works out for you. There’s a lot on the line for both of you,” Gram replies, as if we need the reminder.
The rest of the meal is eaten in silence, but I know we’re all thinking about the conversation we had. I can only hope it’s not something that will scare Harper away.
“Connor,” Gramps comes into the kitchen calling my name. “Where’s Harper?”
“She’s in the bathroom.”
“Good. I want to talk to you.”
“I figured this was coming.”
“What kind of grandfather would I be if I didn’t bring up the fact that Harper is your professor? What are you doing son?”
“I know I made a joke about her being the hottest teacher I’ve ever had, but it’s much more than that, Gramps. I really care about her. And I think she feels the same.”
“Well, I’m happy that you’ve found someone to care about, but the two of you are playing a dangerous game. I hope this doesn’t all blow up in your faces.”
“I hope so too.”
You better think long and hard on whether she’s worth the risk of losing it all.”
“I already know the answer to that, Gramps. Yes, she is.”
21
Harper