“What do you mean? It was my stupidity that put me on the road.”
“That may be, but would have you crashed into the tree if Tyler hadn’t been in the middle of the road?” Surprise went through Harper and Josh must have seen it on her face. “He came to the hospital after you were brought in and told us what he’d done. If Ben hadn’t intervened I would have killed him. And I brought you into his orbit. He blames me for his sister’s death and that blame put you at risk. It’s going to be a long time before I forgive myself for bringing danger to you.”
Harper was quiet for a moment. She wouldn't let him blame himself for what had happened. “It’s not your fault you didn’t know that he was going to do what he did. In a way, I feel sorry for him. It’s hard to lose someone you love and is all too easy to cast blame and lash out as a result.”
“If you say so.” It didn’t appear that Josh was going to be forgiving his friend any time soon and Harper found that she didn’t want to talk about Tyler. She’d confessed her love for him but she couldn't help but notice that he had said the words in return.
“I know I screwed up and I hope that we can move past it. Do you think you might be able to grow to love me?”
His brow pulled together and he looked confused for a minute. “Grow to love you? What are you talking about? Harper, do you not know how I feel about you?”
When he put it like that, she had a pretty good idea, but still it would be nice to hear him say the words. “Well, you haven’t exactly come out and said it.”
He moved word and brushed a lock of hair that had fallen across her cheek away from her face. With a slow gentleness that made her feel like the most cherished woman in the world, he leaned forward and brushed his mouth against her.
“I am deeply in love with you. I want you, I need you and I don’t want to go through my life without you.”
Tears pricked at the edges of Harpers’ eyes. “I want that too. I can’t promise that I won’t get scared, but I want to try. I want us to have a life together.”
“I do too. And if you get scared, just hold on to me and know that I love you.”
Epilogue
Three weeks after Harper’s accident, Josh drove his car into Boston. Harper was in the passenger seat and although she tried to hide it, he could tell she’d been tense throughout most of the drive from Lenox to Boston. He was certain that it was going to take some time for her to get over the accident, and to relax while she was in the car.
He reached over and put a soothing hand on her leg. She smiled at him as she clasped it. He turned his attention back to the road as he followed Harper’s directions on how to get to her condo. Once he got there, he took the parking pass she handed him and pressed onto the slot on the tower at the entrance of the parking garage that was beneath her building. The gate raised and he drove smoothly inside.
He parked the car, she undid her belt and moved stiffly out of the car. She stood there with her hand braced on the roof for a minute.
“Are you okay?” He came over to her and put his arms around her shoulders. He pressed his lips to the top of her head.
“I’ll be fine in a minute. I just need to get my sea legs. The ride was a little more nerve-wracking than I expected, but we’re here, safe and sound.” She gave him a soft smile as she raised on her toes and pressed her lips against his cheek. “Can you get our stuff and I’ll show you my place?”
He left her side and got their bags out of the back of his car. Harper had only the bag that she’d brought with her to Lenox, and he hadn’t packed a lot either. This was supposed to be a trial run of life together in Boston, and if it was successful he would arrange to get the rest of his things.
They went up the elevator until they got to the floor Harper’s condo was on. As they went inside, Josh tried to imagine himself living here. It was definitely a lot smaller than Shadowbrook, but it was a place he and Harper could have all to themselves.
She gave him a quick tour of the condo, and they left their bags in the bedroom to be unpacked later. they came back to the kitchen and Harper looked at him with a smile.
“If you’re hungry, I’m afraid that I don’t have anything to eat in the house. I cleaned it all out when I left for Lenox. We can go get something if you want.”
Now that they were here, he didn't feel like going back out again. He knew that the drive here had taken its toll on Harper and he didn’t want to subject her to another car ride again.
“Why don't we just order something in.”
“Okay.” Harper pulled a selection of take out menus and they ordered some food from a Chinese restaurant that Harper said was very good. They went into the living room to wait for their food and Josh pulled Harper down beside him as he sat on the couch. Even though they’d been beside each other in the car, even the short distance between their two seats seemed to be too much. He found that since she'd gotten out of the hospital he hadn't liked having her too far from him.
“Are you sure about this?” She leaned her head against his shoulder and he didn’t pretend that he didn't know what he was talking about. Now that they were here in Boston, now that it was real and not something they were saying might happen, he knew that she didn’t want him to regret making the decision to come back here with her.
“I won’t lie and say that I wish things were different at Shadowbrook. It has been my home for my entire life, but things are different now. I couldn’t stay there anymore.” Tyler was a big reason for that.
He’d approached Josh when Harper had gotten out of the hospital, when it had been clear that she was going to be okay. He’d tried to apologize, but Josh didn’t want to hear it. The only thing he felt when he looked at his former best friend was a deep anger at what he’d almost done to Harper. And he’d known then that he could not stay at Shadowbrook. The tension inside him where Tyler was concerned, was too deep and too strong for it not to blow up at some point. And that would be helpful to no one.
“Do you think you will ever be able to forgive him?” Harper stroked her hand down his face. It struck Josh how perceptive she was. it was like all she had to do was look at him to know what was on his mind.
“You were hurt because of what he did. You could have died and been lost to me forever. that’s something that I am having a hard time forgiving and forgetting.” He stroked his hand her hair and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“Are you sure that you won’t miss Lenox? You grew up there. It’s a big part of you.”
“I will miss my Ben but Lenox isn't that far away. And if I’m honest, I’m a little excited to be out of a small town and into a much bigger city. For a lot of my life I’ve felt like something was missing. There was a restlessness inside me to get out of the town I was born in and explore more of the world. And with the way things are with the pack right now, you have to admit that we couldn’t stay in Lenox.”
Ben had stepped down as Alpha, and things were uneasy within the pack. Josh could hardly believe that his brother had walked away from his responsibilities to the pack, but he understood why he’d done it. Lana was his life, and he couldn’t live it without her. And things had become clear within the pack that they were not going to accept her or the baby. The pack’s behavior had forced his brother's hand and he had made the only choice he could. He’d put his woman and his baby first.
Derek had stepped up to the plate to run the pack until an Alpha was chosen. Josh wished him luck with that, but he was glad that his brother hadn’t forced him to step into his shoes. Being Alpha of the pack was not something that Josh ever wanted. He had what he wanted, which was a relationship with the woman he loved, and he would not give Harper up for anything in the world.
“I suppose. We couldn't exactly stay in the apartment with Ben and Lana.” The buzzer rang and Harper got up to go answer it. As Josh watched her walk away, he felt deep in his bones that this was the right move for them.
While they were waiting for Harper to recover and while they were making th
eir plans for the future, they’d stayed at the apartment with Ben and Lana. The solution was only ever going to be temporary, as Lana’s tiny baby bump had proclaimed. Soon his brother’s growing family would make the apartment much too cramped for all of them. And it seemed foolish for them to try to find somewhere in Lenox to live when Harper already had a job and a condo in Boston.
With his experience as a firefighter, he could find work in a major city like Boston. And he had to admit that he wanted all his love for Harper to grow, away from the prying eyes of Lenox and the pack.
Harper came back and set the food on the coffee table. She looked at him with a smile on her face, and it hit like a sledgehammer to the gut just how much he loved her. There were times when she looked at him that he couldn't believe that he’d been lucky enough to find her.
A frown crossed her face as he continued to stare at her. She patted her hair and then raised an eyebrow at him.
“Is something wrong?”
He stood up and took both of her hands in his. He kissed the back of each one in turn. “There is nothing wrong. In fact everything is right. I love you more than I have loved anyone in my life and I’m so happy that we are starting our new life together.”
“Are you sure you can be happy here?”
He loved that she was concerned that he couldn't make a go of living in Boston. “How many times do I have to tell you that you are what makes me happy. It doesn't matter where I live as long as it’s with you.”
He leaned down and kissed her deeply. As she clung to him, the hunger he’d had for the food they had ordered was soon overtaken by a hunger of a different sort.
She gave a startled gasp as he scooped her up in his arms and walked with her toward the bedroom.
“But what about the food.”
“Let it get cold. We’ll eat it later.” And as she carried her into the bedroom they would not share he knew that they would eat much, much later.
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Craved By The Alpha Wolf (Firefighter Wolves Shifters Book 2) Page 12