Hard as Stone (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnnon Sisters)

by Sarah O'Rourke

  “Fuck you, Abel. Zeke, what the hell is that jackass talking about now?” Jacob questioned as he nearly pulled the door off another of his cabinets and eyed the contents for freaking cookies.

  “What he’s tryin’ to say is that each of the sisters has a coping mechanism. With Honor, it’s ice cream. Specifically, it’s Rocky Road ice cream. With Faith, it’s cupcakes, preferably with buttercream icing.

  Abel’s chuckle rang through the phone. “Oh, yeah…I’d forgotten the buttercream part. How could I forget that? She almost took Cain’s head off just last week for giving her one with that whipped shit on top of it.”

  “That was a bad night,” Zeke returned slowly.

  “Can we stay the fuck on topic?” Jacob asked, looking at Harmony over his shoulder. Jesus, had she shrank in the time she’d been here with him? She looked too damned tiny laying on his sofa like that.

  “Patience’s saving-grace is tequila. Cuervo Gold,” Abel supplied with surprising alacrity for a man that Patience had vowed just last week was her personal mortal enemy after he’d snickered at her for losing some bet over the Titans game.

  “And Harmony’s is…” Zeke went on.

  “Fuckin’ cookies,” Jacob muttered as he started rifling through boxes. Finally locating a box of open vanilla wafers, he pulled it down. “I’ve got Keebler Vanilla Wafers. That’s it.”

  “Those suck,” Abel scoffed in derision. “You don’t even have any NutterButters? What kind of man doesn’t have NutterButters?

  Jacob grabbed the back of his neck to keep from throwing the phone against the wall. Everyone was suddenly a critic when he was facing down personal crisis. He might owe Abel a debt for having Harmony’s back years ago, but that didn’t mean he also wasn’t gonna owe him a black eye for his inopportune wisecracks.

  “Look, if that’s all you have, I suggest you get them in her hand and step back quickly,” Zeke advised. “Let the sugar do its work. And for God’s sake, don’t take her back to Honor until you manage to stop the waterworks. Jokes aside, if Honor tells me tomorrow to put a bullet in you, I’m not gonna argue. This is your one shot, Stone.”

  “Life is filled with shots, Zeke. Some I’ve missed. Some I’ve thrown away. Some I’ve avoided. But Harmony McKinnon is my shot… my shot at good and clean and pure… my shot in ways you can’t even understand. She’s my last shot at happy. And believe me, I’m takin’ it,” he informed the other man before he hung up on. He could stew on that for a while and leave him the hell alone, Jacob thought as he closed the cabinet, grabbed the cookies and headed for the woman that needed him.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Snagging a box of Kleenex from the old coffee table beside the recliner, Jacob wove his way through the scattered furniture of the great room back to Harmony’s side. Squatting beside her, he lifted a hand to push a tangled, damp strand of blonde hair stuck to her cheek behind her ear. “Hey,” he murmured, staring into her wet blue eyes. In the dim lamplight, they looked almost sapphire and he was momentarily struck silent by the raw beauty staring back at him. Clearing his throat, his lips tilted upward as he whispered, “So, a little bird told me that these might help you right now.” Holding the battered box of vanilla wafers in front of her unfocused gaze, he asked, “Whadaya think, babe? You want these or was Zeke full of shit?”

  Sniffling, Harmony lifted a hand to wipe her nose. “C-cookies?” she asked in a watery voice as she looked at him with hopeful eyes. Reaching for the box, she whispered, “I love cookies.”

  “Well, the box says that’s what these are, but personally I’ve never been a fan,” he replied, relinquishing the wafers and reaching for a tissue to blot her pale cheeks.

  Tearing open the flap with almost desperate fingers, Harmony reached inside, snatched one of the round discs out and crammed it between her lips. Pulling a face, she stared at Jacob with something akin to disgust. “They’re stale,” she whimpered between chomps.

  “Told you I wasn’t a fan of ‘em, darlin’. I ate a couple of cookies when I first moved in here and then shoved the box in the cabinet, babe. You want me to throw ‘em out?” he asked, already reaching to take the box from her.

  Snatching it against her chest, Harmony glared at him. “Mine. Get your own,” she growled, quickly shoving another stale cookie into her mouth and chomping down on it.

  Jacob’s eyebrows lifted as he slowly lifted his hands in surrender and shifted backward. “No problem,” he quickly agreed with a nod. “They’re all yours.” Watching as she shoved one cookie after another between her lips, he tried not to laugh. Evidently, his two new amigos had been on to something with the cookie thing. He could see Harmony slowly calming as she ate her way through the box. He made a mental note to pump both men for any other helpful tidbits regarding all things Harmony as soon as humanly possible.

  “Milk,” he heard her mutter between mouthfuls as she kept her eyes glued to the contents inside the box.

  “Milk?” he repeated, wondering if he’d heard her correctly. He suspected one wrong move might result in a meltdown of epic proportions. Given the fact that she was finally forming coherent words instead of sobbing, he didn’t want to press his luck.

  “Need milk,” she mumbled, continuing to eat her cookies as if they held the key to eternal life.

  “Milk, I can do,” he agreed quickly, relieved she had at least one desire he could immediately supply. Pushing back to his feet, he made the short trip back to the kitchen and poured her a tall glass of milk. Spying the chocolate syrup in his fridge, he looked over his shoulder at where she now sat on her knees in the middle of his couch, steadily shoving wafers into her mouth. “You want chocolate milk, babe?”

  Her eager nod had him reaching for the syrup. As he put the glass in her hand a moment later, he couldn’t help grinning when she looked up at him like she’d just won the lottery. Dropping beside her on the sofa, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and watched with amusement as she guzzled her milk and polished off the last of the cookies. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat when her pink tongue darted out to lick the last of the crumbs off her fingers. His dick hardened instantly as he watched her tongue stroke the pads of her fingers, and he nearly groaned at the unconscious eroticism of the moment.

  He chuckled when she tossed the now-empty box toward the coffee table and collapsed against his arm. Pulling her body against his chest, he rested his chin against the top of her head when her body relaxed against his. “That hit the spot?” he murmured against her temple.

  She nodded slowly against his warm lips. “Yeah.”

  Her voice was husky, but thankfully, it had lost the edge of pain that had formally filled it. “Good, baby. I promise, the next time you’re here, that kitchen will be filled with every form of cookie known to creation,” he vowed softly. He hated the fucking grocery store, but he’d brave it for her.

  “You don’t need to do that, Jake. Don’t you get it? Hasn’t the past hour convinced you that I’m….”

  “Meant to be mine?” he supplied smoothly. “Yeah. It’s definitely solidified that for me, Harmony,” he informed her seriously. Seeing the flash of panic cross her face, he tightened his arm around her, holding her against him. “I told you that nothing you could tell me would change anything for me, and it hasn’t. I still want you every bit as much as when I showed up at your house tonight to pick you up for our date. Actually, if I’m completely honest with you, I want you more.”

  “I can’t make up my mind whether you’re crazy or just plain dumb,” Harmony replied, staring up at him like he’d grown a horn from his forehead. “Did you even listen to me tonight?”

  “I heard every word,” Jacob assured her calmly. “I’m also neither crazy nor dumb. What I am is a man that knows what the hell I want in a woman. I’m also not big on wasting time once I’ve made up my mind and found her.”

  “So to be clear, you want a damaged, neurotic single mother with a history of monumentally poor taste in men,” Harmony scoffed, pressing
her lips together as she stiffened in the circle of his arm. “Yeah, that sounds perfectly sane and supremely intelligent to me,” she mocked under her breath.

  His fingers tilted her chin so he could stare into her eyes. “See, I just heard you spout a bunch of garbage so I’m gonna do you a favor and set you straight, Harmony. I want the beautiful, brave survivor that agreed to have dinner with me tonight even though it was against every instinct she had. I want a woman courageous enough to go face down a fuckin’ monster because he dared put her sister in the crosshairs of danger. I want the mother that even though she’d been abused and terrorized by her shit of an ex-husband had the balls to bring a child into the world on her own and raise that little girl to be the sweetest, most loving little angel I’ve ever met. Jesus, darlin’, why can’t you see it? You’re damn near perfect.”

  “You need to have your eyes checked, Jake. I’m not the paragon that you’re buildin’ me up to be,” Harmony denied warily.

  “No, you’re better,” Jake stated on a growl. “Your only fault as far as I can tell is that you can’t accept an honest compliment. Well, that and your cookie consumption rate kinda scares me, but I don’t judge. Everybody needs a vice.”

  Frowning, Harmony glared at him, her nose wrinkling. “It’s not a vice. It’s a coping mechanism.”

  “Six of one, half dozen of the other, babe,” Jacob chuckled. “Either way, neither of those so-called faults is gonna keep me from claimin’ you.”

  “I’m not undiscovered territory, Jacob,” Harmony retorted sharply. “I’m a woman. And I’m not looking to be claimed. Not by you or anybody else. Go take your flag and plant it someplace else.”

  Leaning forward until his nose grazed hers, Jacob stared into Harmony’s eyes. “Too fuckin’ late. I’m not going anywhere, Harmony, and you aren’t running from this. If it goes bad, then we’ll deal with it, but we’re gonna give this thing between us a chance and see where it goes.”

  Jerking her head back, Harmony’s eyes flashed mutinously as she shook her head. “No, I’m not!” she argued, her strength returning as the sugar worked through her system. “I already told you, Jake, I need…”

  Cupping the back of her neck, Jake cut her off as he pulled her gently, but firmly toward him. “No, Harmony,” he countered. “You need to shut up and listen,” he demanded, enjoying the way her lips parted as her eyes widened. Damn, but she was begging to be kissed. “Baby, I love that you’re stubborn. It turns me right the hell on, but right now, I need you to be quiet and hear me. I already know what you need.”

  “You do, huh?” Harmony growled, ignoring the thrill she got from hearing that seductive rumble tell her that she turned him on. “Well, what’s that, Mr. All-knowing Hot Stuff? Tell me all about what you think I need, Jake,” she goaded, her blue eyes glinting with annoyance.

  She met his gaze, unafraid and completely head-on...and it was hot as hell. Gripping her hips, he shifted her until she straddled his lap, holding her steady when she would have jumped away. “Nuh uh, you wanna hear this, we do it face to face, Pretty Girl, just like this.”

  “Fine!” She all but spat at him, her cheeks flushing as she squirmed in his lap. She could feel her neglected body reacting to the hard bulge nestled between her legs, and she moved restlessly against him. “Say what you need to say so that I can go home!” she ordered through clenched teeth, praying her expression didn’t convey her embarrassment.

  Caressing her lower back through the silk dress she wore, he smiled. “You’re even more gorgeous when you’re mad, darlin’,” he remarked softly, lifting one hand to stroke the back of his fingers against her cheek.

  “I’m not mad, Jake. I bypassed mad and moved right on to gettin’ good and pissed,” Harmony warned grimly, jerking her face away from his gentle hand and narrowing her eyes as she felt his other palm slide against her spine. Sweet Lord, the man was part-octopus. His touch felt wonderful, but she’d be damned if she’d allow him know it. He seemed to know her entirely too well already. He’d certainly done a more than fair job at snaking his way past all her defenses. He’d said all the right word and done all the right things. Hell, he’d even managed to find her cookies. And all of these things only made him more dangerous to her. She had to get out of here. Preferably before she did something incredibly stupid like bury her face in his neck and beg him to help her forget her whole ugly past. “Jake, I need to go,” she begged, looking longingly over his shoulder toward the door.

  “No, you need to stay, babe. Going now would be the coward’s way out. The one thing I know about you, Harmony, is that you are no coward.”

  Licking her dry lips, Harmony drew in a shaky breath before she made herself focus on his darkly handsome face. “You were gonna tell me what I need, Jake,” she reminded him softly. “Tell me so that we can get this thing done between us.”

  “Darlin’, this thing between us isn’t going anywhere. It’s chemistry, baby. I felt it the first time I saw you and it’s only gotten stronger every day since then. I hate to tell you this, but once you have it, there’s no denying it.”

  “Then don’t deny it. Ignore it,” she suggested quickly, her belly quivering as his eyes went molten and hot.

  “Not fuckin’ likely,” he rumbled, tightening his hands on her waist and rocking his hips slightly against her softness. “You feel how hard I am right now? That’s how I get every time I get near you. The last thing I wanna do is ignore it. Hell, even if I wanted to, my dick would never let me. It’d probably never forgive me either.”

  “It’s a physical response, Jake. I’m sure if you concentrated on some other woman…”

  “My dick gets hard for you, Harmony. Only you,” he replied darkly. Fuck, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d looked at another woman the way he looked at her. He didn’t want to eye anybody else. Not when everything she had to offer suited him to a fucking tee.

  “Well, that’s unfortunate. You need to…”

  “Enough,” he growled. Hearing the little sound of exasperation she made, he shook his head. “We were gonna talk about what you need, woman. I already told you want I need.”

  “Jake…”

  “You need a man, Harmony. You and Heaven both do,” he began, pressing one finger to her lips when she would have opened her mouth to give him another earful of nonsense. “And not just any man, either. You need a real man. One that will put you and your girl first in his life. A man that will plant himself between you and anything that threatens your safety every single fuckin’ time. A man that will do whatever it takes to protect your little girl like she’s his little girl because to him there’s really not any fuckin’ difference. A man that will take care of your needs and consider himself the luckiest son of a bitch in the world while he does it. And I’m gonna tell you a secret, darlin’,” he whispered with his face so close to hers that he could feel the quick warm breaths escaping her lips.

  “What?” Harmony breathed against his finger as a tingle built at the base of her spine.

  “You just found that man.”

  “I wasn’t lookin’ for him,” she returned, the admission involuntary. God’s truth, the man was terrifying her with his intensity.

  “Well, baby, Lady Luck shined bright on you then because he was lookin’ for you.”

  “And if I told you to walk away?”

  “Waste your breath if you want to, but I’d rather you used it to kiss me. I’m not goin’ anywhere, Sweetness. Wrap your mind around that and make both our lives a whole lot easier,” he encouraged her seriously.

  “You know, these are big commitments that your throwin’ around on what equates to be our first date,” Harmony pointed out as her heart thumped double time in her chest.

  “I’m a pretty straight forward man when I see something I want, Harmony. I been lookin’ at all the beauty that you are for nearly a month now, baby. I can tell you with complete honesty that I knew thirty seconds after I laid eyes on all that’s you that you were meant to be mine.”
>
  “That’s…that’s insane,” Harmony automatically denied, blinking rapidly as tears came to her eyes. What he said was beautiful, but she’d learned long ago that pretty words were worth about as much as a wooden nickel. They held no real value at all. “You don’t even know me.”

  “I know everything I need to know,” he returned in a deep voice. “I know that I look at your face and feel the hand of God workin’. I hear your voice and know that angels are really here among us. I feel your sweet body against mine and know I can die a happy man if you’re who I get to hold when I leave this world. Don’t tell me that I don’t know you, Harmony. I do.”

  Harmony swallowed, meeting his solemn gaze. Sweet Christ, he believed the words pouring from his lips, she thought desperately. But did she? “I don’t know what you expect me to say here,” she admitted nervously as her fingers found the soft material of his dress shirt and her nails dug into the fabric, clinging for dear life. “I can’t change, Jake. I don’t know how.”

  “The one thing that I don’t ever want you to do is change. Never have, never will. There’s not a single thing about you I’d ever want to alter,” he told her truthfully, rubbing his thumb back and forth against her parted, damp lips. “You go on and guard your heart if you feel like you need to do that, sweetheart. God knows, you’ve been through enough to feel like you must. Just know that when you aren’t looking, I intend to climb over that wall you’ve built around yourself. I’ll scale that fence, Harmony, and I’ll find the woman you’ve been keepin’ locked away inside you for way too long. I’ll find her, and I’ll free her. That’s my promise to you.”

  He pulled her closer to him with every word he spoke until her chest rested against his and his breath gusted over her face, the heat radiating from his body engulfing her. “Jake,” she breathed against his cheek as her hands moved from his chest to grip his broad shoulders.

  Moving his arms slowly to encircle her narrow waist, he held her body against his. “Relax, baby,” he crooned against her ear as he smoothed his hands up and down the elegant curve of her spine. Keeping his touch slow and light, his fingertips mapped the expanse of her back from neck to ass and back again. “I think it’s time for us to have a different kind of conversation – the kind that doesn’t involve either one of us sayin’ a word at all,” he murmured as his lips drew a leisurely path along the line of her jaw.