by Livia Grant
The knock on the window next to her startled her. Sure enough, when she turned, it was Gavin leaning down to peer inside the car. The fucker had the gall to smile at her .
A new pain pierced her already damaged heart. Turning, she pinned her best friend with an incredulous glare. Never in a million years would she have expected Vivian to betray her too, delivering her right back into the lion's den .
"Don't look at me like that ."
"Like what? Like you're the enemy ?"
"Yes," she whispered .
"Too late. Shame on me for being fooled by men I'd never met before, but this? You bringing me here… delivering me right back into my nightmare? How could you, Viv ?"
"I trust him ."
"Who, Gavin? You've never fucking met him ."
"No. Colton ."
"You've never met him either ."
"You're right. I haven't, but… I can't explain it. I think he's different ."
"You are certifiable," Harper accused .
The knocking on the window continued with Gavin trying to coax her out, his voice muffled by the window. "Please, Harper. We need you to come inside for just a few minutes ."
She returned her attention to the producer. It was easier to scream at him than her best friend. "Screw you! I'm not so stupid that I'll fall for the same thing twice. I'm not coming in just so you can record more damaging material on me ."
"We took all of the hidden cameras out of the entire estate. The only unmanned cameras now are in the garage and security cameras monitoring the perimeter of the house and stables ."
"Thanks, but it's a bit too late for me now, isn't it? Don't suppose you erased the hours of damning footage you have on me already, did you ?"
He looked conflicted and ended up answering with a noncommittal, "Come inside and we'll talk about the next steps ."
"Next steps? Let me see, I think the next steps should be you going to hell and Vivian driving me back to the city ."
"If you want to leave, that is totally your prerogative. At least come in and get your paycheck. I didn't know where to mail it ."
"That's bullshit. You could have direct deposited it ."
He was flustered. "Please, Harper ."
A ball of apprehension grew in her tummy at the possibility that Colton might still be on the property. Would she get to see him? Talk to him? Did she even want to ?
She looked at her friend for answers. "Colton is here, isn't he? That's why you brought me here?" Her voice quavered as she fought down tears .
Viv nodded, trying to comfort her by brushing her hand. "I talked to him briefly on the phone. I think you should hear him out ."
Her mind raced, imagining all the things that could go wrong to make her feel worse instead of better. "But what if he hurts me even more ?"
"Then at least you'll get closure. You're stuck in limbo, kiddo. Go in. Get answers to your questions. Scream at him. Slap his face. Do something. Anything that will help you move on ."
Her mind raced for long seconds until she asked, "Will you come with me ?"
Viv's smile reassured her. "Of course. If either of them tries to hurt you again, you'll have your wingman. I'll kick 'em in the balls ."
Harper couldn't help but giggle at the vision of Gavin and Colton doubled over in excruciating pain .
She must be brain damaged. That was the only explanation for her hand reaching to the door lock and flicking the switch that allowed Gavin to open the door next to her. Bitter winter air blew into the interior .
When he reached his hand in, she slapped it away, unwilling to allow him to help her in any way. She'd only taken a few steps from the car when she stopped dead in her tracks .
The house looked so different .
Gone were the fall decorations, replaced with lit Christmas trees welcoming her from the front porch. The landscape and gardens were decorated with twinkling lights in red, green and white. Most remarkably, the mansion was lit up, peeks of interior holiday decorations could be seen from most of the oversized windows .
"Wow."
Gavin seemed to know where her thoughts had gone. "The new owner has already been investing in the property ."
"New owner? Oh no. I hope the Finnegans aren't going to get evicted ."
"Not a chance. They're going to be busier than ever. I can arrange for you to see them tonight if you'd like. They ask about you every day ."
"I'd love to see them, but I think it will just make me feel worse. Let's just get my check, and then I should be on my way ."
His face fell, but he didn't argue. "If you say so ."
Gavin pushed the huge front door open to expose the grand foyer. It had always been a gorgeous home, but tonight, it looked like a she'd fallen into fairytale. The house could be featured in a millionaire home decor magazine. Where before the furnishings had been elegant in their simplicity, the house now looked truly lived in .
With apprehension, she looked up the grand staircase, half expecting the women who'd lived there for the show to be peering down at her, their claws sharpened .
"Please tell me the contestants aren't here any more ."
Gavin was behind her, but he didn't answer. She turned, pinning him with an expectant glare .
"They all left just a few hours after you did," he admitted .
"What? That doesn't make any sense. I had to leave so the show could go on without me messing things up ."
"No." He paused as if he were picking his words carefully. "You had to leave because Colton refused to let you be used as a pawn to get higher ratings ."
She scoffed. "Like I'd get higher ratings than him with Maya and the rest of the girls ."
Gavin laughed at her assertion. "Oh, Harper, you and Colton would have been the hottest show of the season ."
His use of past tense was not lost on her. "Would have been?" she asked hopefully .
"I think you should ask Colton to explain the rest ."
"I thought I was just coming in to get my paycheck ."
"You are." He smiled, apologetically. "Colton has it in the dining room. He's waiting for you there ."
The tricky bastard. She didn't miss the conspiratorial smiles Gavin and Vivian were sharing .
Could it be true? Colton was just two rooms away? It suddenly hit her. She glanced down at her sorry state of dress. She'd worn clothes to cut down a Christmas tree, never expecting to see Colton King .
Viv must have read her mind. Her friend stepped closer and talked softly, "He only cares about you. He won't care about what you're wearing ."
"The least you could have done if you were gonna trick me into coming here is to make me put on a bit more makeup, some lipstick and a bra ."
"I'd only kiss the lipstick off, and not having on a bra will save us time later ."
It was his voice. So rich and sexy. It sent a jolt through every cell in her body, telling her it was time to wake up and live again .
Her back was to him. She smiled at Viv before retorting, "Still pretty damn sure of yourself I see ."
"Are you kidding me? I've never been so nervous in my entire life, and that includes my last at bat in game six of the World Series. We were down one and there were two outs. I was behind on the count and …"
Harper spun around, watching in awe as he nervously rambled on and on. She barely heard what he said, focusing on his non-verbal cues instead .
His anxiety was precious to her. Men like Colton King were always in control. They took what they wanted. The fact that he looked pale, like he might faint at any moment as he looked at her hopefu
lly, humbled her .
She stepped closer, invading his personal space for a change. She lifted her fingers to his lips to shush his skittish rant. He fell silent, looking at her with wide eyes .
"I have questions. Lots of questions. And I need answers. And believe me, Colton James King,"—she paused to smile sweetly, letting him piece together that she had done more research on him while they'd been apart—"if I don't like what I hear, I'm outta here ."
He took a calming breath before answering. "I'd expect nothing less," he conceded, looking slightly more relaxed. "We have a meal laid out in the dining room. I know you haven't had supper yet. I'd really like it if you'd stay. We can talk over a dinner someone else prepared for you this time ."
"And what about the hidden cameras?" She wanted to hear it from him, not Gavin, that they had been removed .
"Gone. All of them, although…" He looked nervous again. He reached out to place his hands on her two biceps, looking so serious. "I know you aren't going to understand, but I'm still going to ask you to trust me. There are two cameramen in the dining room waiting for us." When she tried to pull away, he held her tighter. "Please, I know it doesn't make sense to you, but I promise, I'll answer all of your questions, and if at the end of the night you want them to erase the footage, they will. No questions asked. You are in complete control ."
"How can that be? I signed that stupid contract, never in a million years thinking I'd end up on even thirty seconds of the show ."
"I know that. That's why I bought your contract. Well, to be clear, I bought them all ."
"What does that mean, bought them all ?"
"It means I control what will be seen, if anything. In essence, I bought out ESPN as the financier of the production ."
Gavin grumbled behind her, "The asshole is my boss on the project ."
Colton's grin lit up his face. "And don't forget it ."
The producer retorted, "I could still press charges you know ."
"And I could still fire your ass ."
Harper broke in. "Will you two stop it?" she prodded .
Her mind raced at his revelation. She had absolutely no idea how much that would have cost Colt, but it had to be millions .
"Why would you do that ?"
He pinned her with a heated stare. "It was the only way I could ensure confidentiality for you—for us. Not to mention, it was the only way I could force the women to leave right away ."
"Wait. You spent millions trying to protect your playboy reputation ?"
"No, Harper, I spent millions trying to bury it. Come sit. I'll tell you everything ."
Colton held out his hand like an olive branch. More than anything she wanted to believe what he was saying, but she was so afraid of being taken on another emotional rollercoaster. In the end, she placed her hand in his and let him lead her through the first floor and into the enormous dining room where so many of the meals she'd labored over had been served .
Fresh cut flowers were everywhere. Soft music played. Candles flickered. It was the most romantic scene she'd ever been part of. But there were only two place settings at the head of the table. She glanced around, expecting to find Gavin and Vivian, but found two cameramen in respective corners, a discrete distance away instead .
Her anxiety went through the roof. Fight or flight instincts had her trying to escape to the kitchen, but Colton hugged her, pulling her against his body so he could whisper against her ear. "Just give me a few minutes, and then I promise, I'll send them away, and they'll never come back ."
She pulled back far enough so she could look into his expressive eyes. They told a complicated story. She saw desire and lust, but there was so much more there. His anxiety was back in spades, almost overshadowing the tenderness she found most surprising. It made her feel loved, which was crazy since the four-letter-word had never been used by either of them .
Harper allowed herself to be led to the table where Colton acted the gentleman, pulling out her chair for her to take a seat. Only when she was seated did she notice a small box on the charger plate of the place setting. It looked conspicuously like a jewelry box .
Colton took his seat at the head of the table before reaching to his right to pull an already chilling bottle of champagne from the ice bucket next to him. She tried to calm her fluttering nerves as she watched the handsome man she'd learned she never wanted to live without pour her bubbly, praying she wasn't making an even bigger mistake by trusting him again .
Colt lifted his flute glass when he finished, prompting her to ask her first question. "What are we celebrating ?"
He lowered his glass, realizing she wasn't going to just gloss over the hard Q&A session that stood between them and their happily-ever-after .
"For starters, I'm celebrating that you're sitting here with me. I wasn't a hundred percent sure Vivian believed me when we spoke, and even if she did, I was equally uncertain if you'd come back here under any circumstances ."
"For the record, she lied to me. I didn't know I was coming here until I woke up in front of the house ."
He grinned, unapologetically. "What you're saying, then, is that I owe her one ."
"Oh, you owe her way more than that. I almost packed up and drove home to Illinois more than once since I left here. She talked me out of it every single time ."
"Why did you stay in New York ?"
Wasn't she supposed to be asking all the hard questions? How did he sneak one in ?
She found it hard to look him in the eyes as she admitted, "I don't want to go home feeling like a failure. I've been so confused, not understanding what happened. More importantly, I didn't want to always wonder if I'd done all I could before giving up ."
"Are you talking about professionally or personally ?"
She forced herself to look up at him as she whispered, "Both ."
Colt exhaled the breath she suspected he'd been holding while waiting for her answer .
A nervous smile played at the corner of his kissable mouth as he encouraged her. "Then I think it's time you open the box. It should help you answer all of your questions ."
As excited as the possibility of opening the box to find an engagement ring made her, she prayed that was not what was inside. It was too fast. While on some sub-conscious level she felt like she'd known Colton their entire lives, her brain knew the score. He was a playboy who'd never settled down for a year, let alone a lifetime .
He let her sit staring at the box for over a minute before he added a soft plea, "Please, Harper. Trust me ."
There it was again. Trust. He wanted it from her, and God did she want to give it, but she'd been hurt so much already. Could she risk more ?
She reached out to pick up the small velvet box, pulling it back to hold it in her hand. She glanced up nervously to see he looked like she felt. Scattered .
The tight hinge on the box made it hard to open. She had to work at it, finally prying it open to expose a nice and normal looking key ring. A gold charm of a horse, a second charm of a baseball, and a third of a gold fork dangled from the ring, yet no keys were in sight .
Harper looked up, confused, yet still relieved that he hadn't jumped the gun to jewelry. "I don't understand ."
Colton shuffled in his chair to reach into the pocket of his slacks, pulling out three absolutely normal looking keys, placing them in a row on the tablecloth between them. She noticed his fingers were trembling as he picked up the key closest to him and held it out to her. Reflexively, she took the small piece of metal and held it in her lap, not sure if she wanted to ask what it opened .
When her curiosity couldn't stand it anymore, she glanced up to see him smiling as he answered her unasked question. "
;It's a key to the front door of this house. I bought the entire property, and I want to make it my off-season home. Correction, I'd like to make it our off-season home ."
"You bought the house? You did all of this decorating? Oh, please tell me you're going to keep Charlie and Cecelia on. They've lived here almost twenty-five years ."
Harper had rambled on, so surprised at his first admission that it took her some time to catch up to what he had really asked her. That was when her tongue got tied as her questions turned more personal .
"You want me to… a key to the house… your off-season …"
Colton's grin was sinful as he corrected her. "No, baby, I said our off-season ."
Her hands trembled in her lap, the feel of the key electrifying her as tears pooled, making the room swim before her .
"Move in with me. Let's get to know each other better before I need to leave for spring training in February ."
Harper knew it was a great offer, but his addition of an expiration date certainly put a damper of reality on his offer. Still, it solved the problem of going too fast. Symbolically, she answered him by attaching the key to the key ring .
He was grinning by the time she looked back up at him .
"That was the key for the house." He then picked up the second key and handed it to her, only explaining what it would open after she held it in her hand. "This is a key for my loft in Manhattan. You'll need it when we move back to the city when the season starts ."
Tears streamed unchecked down her cheeks as she allowed the relief to wash over her that he hadn't really put an expiration on their relationship before it had really begun. This key represented a longer future together, time to explore what they really had. She couldn't wait another minute, pushing back from the table, and throwing herself into his waiting arms .
Colton navigated her body into his lap as he captured her lips in a heated kiss, hugging her to him so hard she felt squished. Only when she remembered they were being filmed did she try to pull out of the kiss, snuggling close as they held each other silently, enjoying being connected again .