Scarlett moves over to my side, sitting on the opposite side to Teagan. She runs her fingers gently down the side of my face. “I’m sorry about the restaurant.”
“It can be rebuilt,” I say with a shrug, though I’m still completely gutted and angry over it.
“True, and I can’t wait to tackle that with you. I mean, if you want my help.” She smiles hopefully at me, and I grin back at her in return.
I did resist calling Scarlett my friend, but she’s never resisted being mine. I’m lucky to have her.
“I wouldn’t dream of doing it without you,” I tell her.
She squeals in delight. “Yes! This is going to be so much fun!” She then skips over to Cynthia, planting a big celebratory kiss on her lips, which results in Sasha and Ava giving them wolf whistles and teasing them mercilessly.
“Nix,” Teagan mutters, gaining my attention, while the others continue with their loud jesting.
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she says, reaching down to give my hand a squeeze.
“Thanks.”
“I’m really protective of Harvey,” she continues.
I barely hold in my retort of no shit.
“He’s very special to me, and I was afraid you would end up hurting him. But I’m so happy he found you. I’m so grateful for all you have done for him, and I really wish you guys the best for your future together. I know it’s early days, but Harvey is clearly smitten with you.”
I grin at her, feeling incredibly smitten toward Harvey, too. “I like him, and I promise to never intentionally hurt him.”
“I know.” She pauses. “You know, he came to see me a couple days before New Year’s. He was freaking out over how close you guys were getting. He was worried he was pushing things too fast with you, worried he would make a mistake. You know what I told him?”
“No,” I murmur, never aware that Harvey even had these worries.
“I told him that love doesn’t have to be complicated, and that he was the one making it so. That was just a bit of revenge since he made it all sound so simple when Joey and I were starting to get together. Then I told him that I approve of you. I knew you had trouble surrounding you, I knew Harvey would be in danger just from being with you, but I also know that love is a risk. And I think for Harvey, you are worth it.”
Touched by this, I shift my hand under hers so I can squeeze it tightly. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you for being the perfect unicorn.”
I laugh at this, and then we both turn to watch as Ava and Sasha continue to embarrass the hell out of Cynthia. Scarlett is eating their words up and glowing.
I’m not sure I have ever seen her embarrassed before.
***
Later that afternoon, I sit impatiently in a wheelchair by the front doors, waiting to see Conner. I can’t believe he’s picking me up. I mean, I can believe it because this is Sasha we are talking about, but still.
I shake my head, watching the snow lightly fall outside. It’s almost mesmerizing, and I begin to lose myself, until I catch a familiar face approaching.
“Hey,” Conner greets as the electric doors open to admit him in. He gives me a warm smile while he rubs his hands together, his cheeks flushed from the freezing air outside. “Sasha asked if I could give you a lift home.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” I mutter, hoping she hasn’t misled him into thinking this is more than just an incredibly nice favor.
“Don’t be. I got a sweet pair of heels out of it, so I don’t mind.”
“Can’t you just buy your own shoes?” I ask, bracing for the cold as he moves behind me and begins wheeling us forward.
“I can, and I do. But there’s something hilarious about seeing Sasha’s reaction when I put a pair of her heels on and pull it off. She gets super annoyed and whines that it reminds her of an ex-boyfriend.” He laughs.
I can’t even muster up enough annoyance to be mad. Conner seems like a nice guy, and even if Sasha is delusional if she thinks she can make Harvey insecure and jealous over Conner giving me a lift home, I can’t deny the guy is at least nice to look at.
“So, you decided to risk your life in the middle of a snowstorm to take me home?”
“It’s not that bad.”
I eye the falling snow, definitely having seen worse. I still worry that Sasha has promised him something I will never be able to deliver.
“Look, just so we have things straight here. I’m not interested in something happening between us. I mean, I know Sasha has probably—”
“Don’t sweat it,” Conner rushes to assure me, moving me to the side to let in some folks rushing inside.
The cold, arctic wind circling around us is enough to make my balls decide to go into hiding. I huddle into the warm scarf Mom bought me and clench my hands that are tightly wrapped in warm gloves.
“I didn’t tell Sasha this, but you’re not my type. I can already tell you’re not dominating. I like a man who will push all my buttons, you know?”
I nod. Harvey knows how to push all my buttons.
“Friends, though?” he asks, helping me stand up then dropping an extra coat I never noticed he had over my shoulders.
“Sure.”
Thankfully, it doesn’t take long to get to his SUV, and when we make it inside, he cranks up the heat.
I drop my prescriptions on my lap and consider upping getting some painkillers to the top on my to-do list. Right up there with restocking my fridge and hoping my sad, pathetic apartment doesn’t feel smaller than it really is.
How long will Harvey be doing whatever it is he’s doing?
I half-expected to be spending my time at his apartment, but that’s presumptuous. I may seriously like Harvey, and he may be willing to acknowledge that he likes me, but that doesn’t mean we have to continue at the warp speed we have been travelling.
My father is no longer an issue now, the life and death stakes have hopefully gone away, so now we can go to a normal relationship progression.
I think.
I hope.
Shit, what if Harvey is freaking out like the girls insinuated? What if he’s having second thoughts?
Along the drive, with me in part freak-out mode, Conner chats easily about his brother, who he is sure can help me out with any city council approval, and then also about his own aspirations for becoming an event planner. He hopes to use his many followers to help him transition into this next stage of his career. I even secure a promise from him to help me with the relaunch of my restaurant. As far as having friends in the right places, Conner is definitely one to have.
Once we reach my apartment building, he helps me up into my place, and then I listen to similar grumblings about the lack of security and how freezing the halls are.
I regret the fact I’m going to be stuck in an apartment with crap heating. Just another reason I need to find new digs.
“Seriously, you live here?” Conner gasps as we approach my door.
“Yeah.”
“You choose to live here?” he confirms.
“I’ve already heard all this before.”
“Obviously not enough since you haven’t moved.”
I open my front door, and before I can turn around to thank him for picking me up and hoping to avoid a critique of my apartment furniture, I realize my place isn’t empty.
Harvey is leaning against my kitchen counter, his arms crossed and his narrowed gaze on me. He doesn’t seem pleased. Then again, I’m still in shock that he’s here in the first place.
I’m also lost in just how hot Harvey looks, wearing his signature leather jacket, a creased white shirt, and jeans that would look better on my bedroom floor.
“Man, your couch is crap,” Conner gasps, sneaking past me to do exactly what I hoped he wouldn’t have the chance to do.
I can’t pull my eyes away from Harvey, though, to make him leave.
“You have nothing on your walls. They’re bare!” Conner gasps, his eyes mov
ing from one gaffe to another. “Is that an antenna on top of your TV? How old is that thing?”
“Get out,” Harvey snaps at Conner, his sharp tone finally snapping me out of my shock.
“Harvey, you can’t break into my apartment and demand whoever I am with to leave,” I say sternly, despite the fact I was just thinking I wanted Conner gone, too.
He did give me a ride home, so being rude is a shit way to say thank you.
“Yes, I can. Get out,” he growls at Conner, who I finally turn to face, only to find him eyeing Harvey a little too eagerly for my liking.
“Now that man is my type,” Conner says on a sigh.
I decide that maybe it’s time for Conner to leave, especially if he’s going to keep eye-fucking Harvey.
“I’m sorry about him. Thank you for the lift and the other stuff we talked about,” I say, heavily implying he should leave.
“No worries. I’ll get your number off Sasha, and we’ll chat more once things settle down and you’ve spoken to your stepdad.”
I nod, still not sure I want to ask Marty for money, mainly because that seems a little pushy, and I don’t want any strain to come down on Mom and his relationship. I will need to bring it up with her first to get her opinion.
Apparently not happy with what is being said, or maybe it’s just the slow progression of Conner’s exit, Harvey steps beside me, swinging his arm over my shoulders.
I glance up to see him glowering at Conner.
I manage to catch Conner’s grin, plus a wink directed my way, before he closes the door behind himself.
Harvey marches over to lock it, and then he watches through the peephole until Conner presumably leaves.
“He was just giving me a lift home,” I say on an eye roll while shrugging out of my jacket. Then I pull off the warm scarf and gloves, throwing them onto my kitchen table.
“Scarlett told me she would do that.”
“Yeah, well, Sasha was there with her, and next thing I knew, Conner was arranged. It isn’t a big deal.” I fear I am enjoying this jealous side of Harvey a little too much.
“I’ve been seeing photos of you and that asshole for weeks,” he unhappily points out.
“Okay, fine. That still doesn’t make this a big deal. He has already assured me I am not his type,” I tell him, hoping to make him feel better.
“I don’t give a shit what his type is. I only care what your type is.”
“And we’ve established it’s definitely you.” I grin at him, reaching out when he’s close enough and grabbing ahold of his jacket to pull him to me, stealing a kiss. “How come you’re here? I thought you had something you needed to do,” I ask when he rests his forehead against mine, his arms wrapped around me.
“I did, and now it’s done,” he states cryptically.
“Okay …? And then you decided to break into my apartment because …?”
“Your apartment is shit, Nix,” he unnecessarily points out.
“I’ve noticed.”
“If I’m expected to spend half my time here, I needed some shit.” He nods at the kitchen where I notice a bunch of empty shopping bags sitting on my counter.
Excitement zaps through me that he mentioned spending half his time here, since it insinuates he expects to spend at the very least, most of our time together.
I carefully walk over to the counter, opening up cupboards and finding them all filled to the edge with food. My fridge is also stocked full of fresh produce, and the freezer has a bunch of frozen meals inside.
“Wow, thanks,” I mutter, not sure I have ever had this much food in my apartment before. Am I throwing a dinner party for a dozen friends I don’t know about?
“I also got you a welcome home present.” Harvey indicates to my bedroom, not revealing any clues on his face as to what it might be. From his expression, it could be anything from a bomb to a strip-o-gram.
I hesitantly walk into my bedroom to discover nothing looks different upon first glance. There certainly isn’t a wrapped present waiting for me.
I glance around, not spotting a thing out of place, until I sit down on my bed, finally noticing there is only one cover on it.
“Where did all my blankets go?”
“I put them on the couch. You really need more closet space in this apartment.”
“Okay, why did you do that? It’s freezing in here,” I say this out of habit, but then I have to admit it doesn’t feel that cold in here.
I glance around, wondering why, and spot the small portable heater on the floor.
“Are you cold? I can turn this back on,” he rushes to say, shifting away from leaning on my doorframe to let himself inside my room. “I just had it on earlier to take the chill out of the air.”
“No, I’m okay.” I keep staring at the small heater like it’s going to open up and explain what the hell is going on here.
“There’s more. Hop into bed.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice,” I say with a wink. However, my body is sore enough that I have to move slowly as I untuck the blankets and pull them away.
The first thing I notice is the bed sheets are flannel.
“This shit is warm,” Harvey explains. “And”—he leans down and lifts a control—“this here is an electric blanket. Put it on when you have your shower, and by the time you get into bed, it’ll be warm.”
I want to bring up horror stories about fires being started with these things, or how much my electricity bill is going to suck, but I take one look at his anxious features and swallow back down those complaints.
“This is great. Thank you, Harvey,” I begin carefully, sitting back down on the mattress and getting a little jolt when I realize the bed is warm.
“Oh, I just heated up the water bottle, too, in case you wanted to use that instead,” he says, perhaps noticing my surprise.
I laugh when I see the penis hot water bottle nestled lower down the bed. I almost forgotten I had them.
“Harvey, what is all this? You didn’t need to do anything like this for me,” I say, worried over why he’s suddenly bestowing me gifts.
He moves to sit next to me, placing his hand gently over mine in the space between us. “I missed you.”
He sounds so sincere, but I’m not sure I understand.
“It’s barely been a few hours since you left the hospital,” I counter, though I missed him, too.
“I know, but after what happened, I realized something.”
He doesn’t elaborate, and I don’t have the patience to wait him out.
“What did you realize?”
“I like you a lot, Nix. I want to take you out on dates without worrying about that asshole calling you away. I want to slowly start seducing you and actually get to follow through without drama or a phone call popping up. I want a lazy day where I can keep you in bed all day, and not have to worry about what is happening outside my apartment walls while we enjoy each other’s bodies. I want you, Nix.”
I try to take all this in and understand what he is saying.
“So, you want a relationship with me?” I confirm, my voice giddy as it sinks in that this conversation is really happening.
“Yes,” he states, staring right into my eyes, a huge grin on his face and so much hope in his eyes that there is no denying what he just said.
“You do realize, once I get the restaurant back up and running, I won’t have time for proper dates, and I definitely won’t have any lazy days in my future. There is also an incredibly good chance that we’ll have to have quickie sex whenever we can fit it in, and my life will be full of restaurant drama,” I point out, holding my breath as I wait for his reaction.
I’m not trying to scare him away, but I need to know where he stands with this now, before I do something stupid, like let myself fall head-over-heels for him and then have him break my heart later when the restaurant is back up and running.
“Then we’ll have to get as many of those dates and sexy times in before your life is overru
n again.”
I take a deep breath, trying to think this through and not let my excitement take over too soon. “Will you care when I become distracted, or stressed, or am so exhausted I barely get out a hello before I pass out?”
“I don’t know. I can’t really answer that now. But maybe I can help give you a reason to not work so much by the time it comes to it?”
I think this over, knowing the hours I was putting in aren’t feasible forever. Even if I didn’t have someone at home being neglected, I would have burned out eventually.
Scarlett has been pushing for more responsibility. Maybe, if things work out and she is still available, I can give her more work and take some time off for myself.
“You know, my job isn’t exactly conventional, either,” he points out. “There will be times when I have to leave on short notice, times when I’m stuck out all night, and you already know I come with nosy coworkers who apparently talk to you about babies nonstop.”
I laugh, loving that he comes with his crazy friends.
“Then I guess it’s settled,” I say, twisting my hand under his so I can intertwine our fingers.
“It is?”
“Yep. While the restaurant is being built, we have as much hot sex as we can, we go on dates, and we see where things go. Then, once the restaurant is up and running, you can kick my ass if I get too consumed by it.”
“I like the sound of that,” he growls, stoking the inside of my wrist with his thumb.
“So, we’re boyfriends?” I confirm, not sure I have ever wanted a man to be my boyfriend as much as I want Harvey to be mine. It’s a little lame to be so forward with this, but with Harvey, it feels like a badge of honor to have.
“Hell yes.” He grins, leaning over to kiss me.
I sigh just from the touch of his lips, already missing this far more than I should.
His scent shouldn’t feel so comforting, his taste so familiar, his touch so electrifying. Nevertheless, Harvey always feels so right to me.
I Broke Into His Office (Love at First Crime Book 4) Page 30