by Marie Meyer
“I want you the way you are, no changes. I hear you loud and clear, Harper King.” I press a hand to her heart, feeling it beat a fast and steady.
She kisses the corner of my mouth, tasting her salty tears on my lips. Warm and wonderful.
“I love you, too. Thor.” She presses her hand against my mouth, “I love you.”
And time stands still.
EPILOGUE
Harper
Five months later…
“I’m so glad to have you home.” I sign, sitting between Thor’s sprawled legs on the couch. He pulls me close, wrapping his arms around my waist until my back is pressed to his chest. “That tour was long.” For over two weeks, I’ve had to share him with the world. Tonight, he’s all mine.
Well, maybe not all mine.
Not wanting to miss any opportunity to snuggle, Bobby jumps onto my lap wagging his tail. Thor’s chest rumbles and he brings his hand up to scratch Bobby’s head. Bobby’s tail beats faster and he uses me as a stepladder to get closer to Thor. “I’m not the only one who missed you.”
Thor pushes my hair to the side and rests his chin on my shoulder, giving Bobby better access to lick to his heart’s content. I close my eyes, reveling in the feel of Thor’s laughter. I love it. My whole body shakes and the vibrations from his voice are the best kind of music.
With enough puppy love, Thor falls back against the arm of the couch and Bobby steps off my chest, making circles on my lap until he finds the most comfortable spot to curl into a ball.
I glance down at Thor’s tattooed arms wrapped around my midsection. I love the way he holds me, so protective. With my index finger, I trace one of the many clocks he has inked on his skin. After our short breakup last fall, he finally told me what each clock meant to him—a reminder of all the times his father hurt him. It broke my heart when he told me. He still carries the haunting look of that broken little boy, despite his rough exterior. But, then there’s light in his eyes, too. Hope.
My finger travels to the underside of his left forearm, to his newest tattoo, and the largest clock he has inked on his skin. He calls it “Harper’s clock”, because it reminds him of the moment I became his. Little does he know, but I became his the night we first met. I knew even then that what we shared was special.
I love Thor’s tattoos; they’re the physical manifestation of his resilience, his strength. He took a horrible, dark time in his life and turned it into something beautiful.
Thor pushes my hair to the side again, this time so he can kiss my neck. A smile blooms across my face at the feel of his lips on my skin. I can’t think of a better way to spend an evening. God, I missed him.
Closing my eyes, I give myself over to the sensation—the electric zing that pulses through my veins each time his mouth presses against me takes my breath away. I squeeze his arms, forcing him to hold me tighter. With the whirlwind life the two of us lead now, the need to anchor myself to him is even stronger.
Thor wiggles his hands free from under mine, and I open my eyes. “Today was nice.”
I nod, smiling. “I had fun at your mom’s. Glad I could help her get those pictures on the wall. How long has she been asking you to do that?” Craning my neck around, I give him a quick, playful glare.
“A long time.” He laughs, his chest rumbling against my back. “Hey, cut the rock star some slack.”
“Not to long ago you were an auto mechanic, Mr. Rock Star,” I chide.
The whole “I’m dating a friggin’ rock star” notion got real when he had to give up his job at the lube shop. There just wasn’t enough time in the day for Thor to live in both worlds. And when the interviews, screaming fans, sold-out concerts, and the paychecks started rolling in, I could tell that being a career musician suited him.
Outwardly, Thor’s very modest about the whole professional musician gig, but when he gets up on stage, he burns so bright. He truly loves what he does. And he’s damn good at it.
Every time I see him perform, it’s like Mississippi Lights all over again. The hum of the music combine with the fire in Thor’s eyes when he finds me in the audience, it blows my ever-loving mind.
“I loved working on cars.”
I run my fingers over his, the calluses still thick, but the dark stain of motor oil has long since disappeared. “But you love what you do now, right?” Maybe I’ve read him wrong this whole time. Maybe he doesn’t like the spotlight as much as he lets on.
“I do. Making music is all I’ve ever wanted to do. Cars will just have to be my hobby.”
“Our hobby,” I correct, leaning close and planting a kiss on his fingertips.
“Damn right, Red.” He tightens his arms around me.
We’re quiet for a while when it hits me, how much I love this…how much I love him. It’s the simple moments like this that are the loudest. Our heart beats…our breaths…our bodies aligned so perfectly that everything’s in sync. Every sensation is magnified. In the chaos of our daily lives, we lose this simplicity. But, it’s the promise that after a long day apart, we get to come back together. As long as we have each other, we live each day out loud and to the fullest. The outside world doesn’t matter, only what we have right here in each other’s arms. This is all I want to hear.
And for the first time in seventeen years, I’m not scared to tell him how I feel.
Thor’s been asking me for weeks if I’ll move in with him, and I’ve been putting him off. I’ve always been a planner. Thor wasn’t in my plan, and moving in together was an idea floating around in a whole different galaxy. Hell, I can already see the text messages from my mother, and they aren’t good. Mom’s still coming to terms with the whole “In a band and has tattoos” idea. But, she’s working on it, for me.
Sitting up, I shift my body around. Bobby gives me a dirty look and jumps on the floor. Staring into Thor’s blue eyes, I muster all my strength. “Do you still want to move in together?”
His left eyebrow quirks up. “Yes. Why?”
“I’m ready.”
“Really?” Thor sits up this time, his smile growing by the second. “You’re serious?”
I suck in a deep breath and concentrate on pushing it out, coordinating the flow of air along with the movement of my tongue and lips. “Yes,” I say, the word rising from my throat and coming out of my mouth on a puff of air.
Thor’s eyes widen, shining a magnificent color blue, like two blazing stars. He doesn’t move for almost three heartbeats. “You.” He points at me. “You just spoke. You said, ‘yes.’”
I nod, a huge-ass grin on my face. “Yes.”
“You just said you’d move in with me!” he shouts. His heavy voice resonates inside his body, and I can feel the vibrations. “You said it!” Putting his hands against my cheeks, he shakes his head. “Harper!” Leaning in, he kisses me. Soft and sweet.
“I love you,” he signs. “So goddamn much.”
Not afraid anymore, I kiss him back, hard. “I love you, Thor.” I let the words fall from my lips and onto his.
His arms come around me and he deepens our kiss, taking my words into him.
Our hearts beat together and it’s the loudest thing I’ve ever heard.
Acknowledgments
I can’t believe I’m writing the acknowledgments for my fifth novel. It’s so surreal! Thank you to all my readers who have gotten me to this point. If you weren’t reading, then I wouldn’t have five books on the shelves. Thank you.
To my agent, Louise Fury, your love, kindness, and guidance are invaluable to me. Thank you for believing in me, even when things aren’t going so well. I love having you in my corner! And thank you, Kristin, for your amazing edits. You and Louise always steer my work in the right direction.
Thank you, Megha Parekh, for believing in my work. I couldn’t have had a better editor to work on five books with! Thank you for everything! And to Lexi Smail, for all your guidance, and making the transition of editors seamless; I’m happy to have gotten to work with you!
&
nbsp; To the Forever Yours team, thank you for the beautiful cover art, publicity, and getting my books into the hands of readers. I appreciate all you do for me!
A special thank-you to Meredith Tate, my friend and fount of New England knowledge! If I portrayed New Hampshire incorrectly, I take full responsibility. Meredith shared with me her love of her home state with me and I hope I did it justice. Thanks for your help, Mer, can’t wait to try a cider doughnut one day!
My family. With this book especially, thank you. I know I put a lot on hold to get this book finished. Thank you for supporting me and understanding when Mom had to write. I love you endlessly.
And a final thank-you to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I’m blessed that you have given me the gift of storytelling. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my stories!
Author’s Note
I loved writing Harper’s story. From the first time I envisioned Harper, she was a strong-willed, intelligent, deaf woman. I loved getting to know her. She was a challenging and wonderful character to write. I owe and extra measure of thanks to Kristin Smith for directing me to so many wonderful Deaf resources, so I could bring Harper to life. I studied a lot of American Sign Language (ASL) for this book, read many books with deaf characters, and sought the advice of deaf and hard-of-hearing friends and acquaintances in order to make sure I portrayed Harper accurately and with sensitivity. Any unintentional errors fall solely on my shoulders and are not the fault of those I received information from.
In this story, Harper and other characters use American Sign Language. I love learning new languages, so taking a course in ASL at my local library was right up my ally. I understand that ASL does not translate well to the written word, and for storytelling purposes, the signed dialogue was written as if it were spoken. But, I tried hard to preserve some of the sign language when describing the characters hand movements and facial expressions.
I’m proud of Harper and I hope that you, the reader, are too! I’m glad she and Thor got to tell their unique love story!
Please see the next page for an excerpt from
Marie Meyer’s Long Road Home
Available now!
About the Author
Marie Meyer is a teacher who spends her days in the classroom and her nights writing heartfelt romances. She is a proud mommy and enjoys helping her oldest daughter train for the Special Olympics, making up silly stories with her youngest daughter, and bingeing on weeks of DVR’d television with her husband.
Learn more at:
MarieMeyer.com
Twitter, @MarieMWrites
Facebook.com/MarieMeyerBooks
Also by Marie Meyer
Long Road Home
The Turning Point
Can’t Go Back
Across the Distance
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