by Jenna Jacob
“How can they do that?”
“If there’s a guarantee some important person will be reelected and enough money and influence are contributed to that campaign, anything is possible. I bought their silence to protect my sorry ass,” I confessed quietly.
Harmony didn’t say anything. What was there to say? I’d killed my child, my girlfriend, and paid a shitload of money to keep my sins a secret.
“Reed made up some story about me tripping through a plate-glass window at the hospital. After they stitched me up, he drove me home. He assured me that everything…the police reports, coroner’s reports, toxicology, all of it, would never see the light of day. His friends had erased me from the scene of the accident, whipped up some crazy story about Lily borrowing my car, then sealed up every lie and locked them away. But the one thing none of them could erase or magically make disappear was my guilt. Nothing could. So, one day I decided to let cocaine do it for me. I figured since it had helped Lily live a happy, carefree life…maybe it would do the same for me. It didn’t. It destroyed me even more.”
“I’m sorry, Ross. What happened to Lily was horrible. But I don’t understand why you let her ghost continue to torture you. Why are you letting an accident you had no control over keep you from living a happy life?”
“That’s easy… Atonement, princess.”
“For who?” Harmony asked indignantly. “Lily or the baby?”
“Both.”
Harmony scooted off the bed, then, hobbling on her good knee, wedged herself between my legs. Cupping my chin, she lifted my face, forcing me to look at her. The anger flickering in her pretty blue eyes combined with the tears streaming down her face confused the hell out of me.
“Let me get this straight. You’d rather spend your life atoning for a drug addict who wouldn’t stop poisoning her blood and the innocent blood of your unborn child—a child she didn’t have the decency to tell you, the father, she was carrying—rather than spend it blissfully happy?”
“Someone has to,” I bit out.
“Normally, I would say yes. The universe will find a way to balance itself with or without our consent. But in your case, it already has. It balanced itself out the instant your car crashed. Karma, Fate, and the Universe combined and righted the wrongs Lily was inflicting on you and your innocent unborn child.” Harmony pressed her warm lips to mine and whispered, “Please, stop sacrificing yourself for a debt that’s already been paid.”
As her words penetrated my pain, the ugly weight of guilt and despair began slowly lifting.
“You can’t be at peace with life until you’re at peace with yourself. And the only way you’ll ever find closure is to realize you deserve a better life than the one you’re living.”
I absorbed every word she said, but tinges of shame remained.
“I just want to go back in time and change the past.”
“What would happen if you could?”
“Lily and our baby would still be alive.”
“Maybe. Or Lily might have left you and taken your daughter in her fifth, seventh, or ninth month of pregnancy in a different kind of accident, like an overdose.” Harmony’s words sent a chill slithering through me. “The universe spared you as much as it could, but it still left you with plenty of lessons. I’m sure you learned about acceptance in rehab, but you’re refusing to learn the rest.”
“Learn the rest of what?”
“To live and laugh again,” Harmony replied, forgiveness beaming in her blue eyes. “But the biggest lesson of all is to learn to love again. It doesn’t matter who, where, how, or when, but you have to give yourself permission to love again, Ross.”
I brushed the hair from her face, cupped her cheeks, and hovered my lips over hers. “I already have. The how is becoming clearer every day. The where and when were in the restaurant downstairs at breakfast. And the who…that’s simple. It’s you, princess. I’ve fallen madly in love with you.”
“Oh, god,” she whispered.
Happiness and hope lit up her face as I carefully lifted her onto my lap.
Cupping Harmony’s nape, I slanted my lips over hers, drowning her in all the love and passion overflowing inside me. Drinking down her kitten-soft moan, I finally found the peace and serenity I’d lost so long ago.
The room was getting hotter, or maybe our mutual hunger was to blame. Either way, I had to cool things down and give her body time to heal. Gently laying her across the bed, I eased from her lips and trailed soft kisses along her jaw. Then I sat up and drank in the contours of her pretty face, praying that she might be willing to give a fraction of her big, warm heart to a traveling drummer who was finally learning to love again.
“Do you think you might want to try being my real girlfriend for a while?”
“Hmm.” Her brows furrowed as she cocked her head, pondering my question. “What if I’ve been pretending to be your pretend girlfriend all this time, and I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with you?”
My heart nearly leapt from my chest and a wide grin stretched my lips. “Then I’d say when we’re ready, we’ll have a storybook wedding that we can tell all our kids about.”
“On the mountain?”
“Anywhere your heart desires.”
“How many kids?” She grinned.
“As many as you want.”
She cupped my cheek and looked deep into my eyes. “I love you, Ross.”
“I love you, too,” I drawled in a raspy tone and kissed her with every ounce of love that was in my heart.
Our stomachs growled in tandem, and our fervent kiss ended with Harmony consumed by a fit of giggles. I plucked up the phone on the bedside table and called room service. It was still too soon for bacon-wrapped scallops, so I ordered us both a bowl of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, the foods Sylvia’s cook fixed me when I was sick as a kid. As Harmony wiped the happy tears from her face, I placed another call.
“It’s me,” I said when Bodhi answered his phone. “You can put on your pajamas and go to bed. I’ll take good care of your baby girl tonight.”
“Thank god. I knew you could do it, son.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“Thank you for…everything. I’m forever in your debt.”
“Just love my girl with all your might and make her happy. That’s all I need.”
“With pleasure.” I smiled and hung up the phone.
“Was that…Dad?”
“Yep.”
“Oh, that traitor. He called you and told you I was here, didn’t he?”
I arched my brows. “Do you wish he hadn’t?”
“No way. I’m just surprised…but yet, I’m not. He picks up on things the way I do.”
Harmony sat up and stared at me as if she were trying to climb into my mind. A wide grin tugged her lips and she tossed her good arm straight into the air. “Finally.”
“What?”
“Your walls are down…completely gone. I can feel your emotions. Feel… Oh, my god.”
“What?”
“I can feel your love for me. It’s…enormous.”
I flashed her a cocky grin. “Wait till you feel how enormous it is once you’re healed.” A hot blush stained her cheeks. And I couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t worry. When the time comes, I’ll be so damn gentle…make you feel so good.”
“You already do…in every way.”
When she stroked my cheek, I captured her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Would you like to have dinner on the terrace?”
“Oh, yes.” She smiled. “But I need to try and get some clothes on. I can’t stand this stiff hospital gown.”
“I’ll help you.”
“I’m not sure I can trust myself around you if I’m naked,” she whispered.
“Then trust me. I’ll be strong enough for the both of us.” Somehow.
I gently removed the braces on her knee and arm, and as Harmony sat on the edge of the bed, I threaded her feet through her soft cotton pajama bottoms. I was so worried ab
out hurting her, I only lusted after her pretty bare pussy and dusty pink nipples a couple of seconds. Okay, maybe it was minutes, but I didn’t touch her with anything but noble assistance in my heart. She didn’t need me laving, sucking, and pawing all over her. She needed to put on some familiar comfortable clothing, find some normalcy, and rest so she could heal.
Harmony sucked in a hiss as I helped her into the tee with little hearts and arrows on it that matched the pants. After securing both braces again and feeding her a pain pill, I grabbed a pillow and a blanket, then gently picked her up and carried her out to the terrace. As her slender hand gripped my shirt, the demand to protect and keep her safe blazed through me like rocket fuel.
I settled Harmony on the padded chaise, tucked the pillow behind her head, and draped the blanket over her legs. Then I moved a small table and chair alongside her so I could feed her when dinner arrived.
“What happens now?” she asked in a timid tone.
“We wait for room service.” I knew she was asking about the future, but the smart-ass in me couldn’t resist teasing her just a little.
“No, I mean…you’ll be leaving for Chicago soon. Tomorrow, Dad and I are flying back to Kentucky, and—”
“No, you’re not. You’re coming home with me.”
“Excuse me?”
“After your arm heals, you need to start physical therapy. You can’t get that on your mountain.”
“Y-you want me to go to Chicago with you?”
Leaning in, I brushed a soft kiss over her lips, gingerly pressed my forehead to hers, and stared into her shimmering eyes. “Princess, I want you waking up beside me every morning, to spend every day with you by my side and close my eyes each night with your sexy, sated, spent body wrapped in my arms.”
“Ross,” she whispered, eyes filled with hope.
“Come home with me, Harmony. Let me love and take care of you.”
Tears filled her eyes again, happy ones, and with a watery smile, she nodded.
Chapter Nineteen
Harmony
Waking up in Ross’s big arms was the closest to heaven I’d ever been. Closer than standing at the top of my mountain with my arms stretched to the sky.
Eyes closed, I didn’t move a muscle, didn’t want to disturb the serenity I found breathing in his masculine scent and savoring the heat of his warm body. While a part of me longed to stay here sheltered in his arms, another part was anxious for us to leave for Chicago.
Ross knew volumes about me, my life, and my home. Though I wasn’t looking forward to possibly meeting Angie, I was more than curious to see where and how he lived. Okay, so maybe I was a little curious to meet her. I needed to find out why Ross chose to be intimate with Angie instead of the young, eager band bunnies who boldly offered him their bodies.
“The questions rolling around in your sexy head are loud enough to wake the dead.” His voice was deep and thick from sleep. A naughty shiver slid through me.
“Good morning.” I raised my head and smiled up at him.
After he pressed a soft kiss to my lips, his brows furrowed. “Ask. You’re not allowed to keep things from me anymore.”
“Allowed, huh?”
“Allowed.”
“All right. Does Angie live with you?”
“Yes.”
My stomach swirled and a million more questions slammed my skull.
That wasn’t the answer I’d expected or hoped for.
“She’s my housekeeper.”
“And your lover.”
“Ex-lover.”
“How ex? Years? Months?”
“Three days.”
As he watched me with a dissecting stare, my mouth went dry. My heart clutched. My stomach stopped swirling and sailed to my toes, landing like a brick. “Maybe it’s best if I go home with—”
“She’s found someone else. We agreed to part ways before I met you.”
“But she still lives with you. What if things don’t work out between her and…whoever she met?”
“Are you afraid I’ll take her back and toss you to the curb if things don’t work out between her and Thomas?”
“You know the man she’s seeing?”
“No. I haven’t met him yet, but I’m looking forward to it.”
What man wanted to see his ex’s new boyfriend?
Back home we tried to live in a world without stress or strife, but when Celeste broke up with Arlo and started dating Dusty, things had gotten intense. Poor Arlo couldn’t look at his replacement without wanting to beat him to a bloody pulp. For months we kept Arlo far away from the happy couple, until Blossom caught his eye. Arlo finally embraced acceptance…and her. But the whole ugly mess left a sour taste on my tongue and turned me off from wanting to date the few eligible men on the mountain.
“Looking forward to it? Why?”
“To make sure he’s not a douchebag or a player.”
“And if he is?”
“I’ll help Angie find someone else.” Confusion must have been written all over my face, because Ross smiled. “Relax, love. She’s dying to meet you.”
“What?” I gaped. “Y-you told her about me?”
“Damn right I did. I called her from your hospital room to let her know I was okay and to tell her about you. She was ecstatic and made me promise to bring you home.”
Our conversation was getting stranger by the second.
“She wants to meet me?”
“Yes. Angie’s been on my ass for years to start living again. She can’t wait to… How did she put it? Oh, yeah. To finally meet the angel who picked the lock on my self-imposed prison.” He smirked. “She tends to get a little overdramatic sometimes.”
Mind blown, I simply nodded, wondering how awkward coming face-to-face with his ex-lover and Sylvia’s ex-best friend was going to be.
Ross’s cell phone began ringing. He rolled over, snagged it off the nightstand, and glanced at the screen.
“Hey, Bernie.” He smiled. “Yeah, we’re okay. Harmony got it worse than the rest of us, but she’s going to be fine.”
My bladder was screaming for relief. While the two men continued talking, I slowly sat up. Trying to ignore the muscles in my body protesting in pain, I closed my eyes, clenched my jaw, and carefully stood.
Half a heartbeat later, Ross was at my side. He banded a strong arm around my waist and led me to the toilet. Lifting his shoulder, he tucked the phone against his ear and gently tugged the bottoms of my pajamas down. Then, after helping me ease onto the seat, he chivalrously left the room. I managed to pull my pants up, but they hung a bit sideways.
It was eye-opening to realize all the little things I took for granted, like using two hands. Or how opening a simple bar of soap could be an Olympic event I hadn’t trained for. Using my teeth, I finally pried the box open and claimed the gold.
Sending up a silent plea to the goddess Patience, I asked her to help me maintain peace and serenity while learning to navigate my world with one hand. By the time I hobbled out of the bathroom, Ross was still on the phone, but I could tell by the tone of his voice, he wasn’t talking to Bernie anymore.
“I’ll see how she feels and let you know,” Ross stated and hung up.
“Who was that?”
“Burke. He and Sofia, along with those who didn’t already catch a flight home are meeting up for breakfast downstairs in an hour. He didn’t know you’d come back to the hotel.”
“Who left already?”
“Quinn checked out early this morning, to help Ava deal with the cancellation of our tour. Mick, Duke, and Darren flew out late last night. I guess Tori was a hot mess when she found out about the accident. Even hearing his voice didn’t stop her from crying. He couldn’t handle hearing her so distraught. I think the other two just wanted to go back to LA.”
“Poor Tori. I’m sure she’s glad Darren’s home so she can take care of him. Speaking of which, would you mind helping me take a shower and get dressed for breakfast?”
A c
rooked smile tugged his lips. “Are you asking me to get you naked?”
My cheeks caught fire, but I sent him a playful smirk. “Yeah. I just wish it was for something besides a painful shower.”
“You in pain?”
“Oh, yeah. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. But then…we were, right?”
“You don’t need a shower. I could barely fall asleep lying next to you last night because you smelled so good. I vote we get you dressed, get some food in your stomach and a pain pill. Then if you’re feeling up to it, I’ll help you with a shower or tuck you in for a nap.”
“Deal. Oh, can I call Dad and invite him to join us?”
“Burk’s taking care of that as we speak.”
Moving slowly and carefully to keep from jostling my arm, Ross helped me into a pair of yoga pants and an oversized tee. Then he sat behind me on the bed and gently brushed the tangles from my hair. By the time we stopped at Ross’s suite for him to shower, dress, and rebandage some of his wounds, everyone was waiting for us in the private dining room downstairs.
Dad glanced at Ross’s arm possessively banded around my waist and grinned. When I mouthed, thank you to him, he simply winked. Though I’d seen Burk’s and Sofia’s injuries yesterday, all the bruises and bandages that Ozzy, Mia, and Syd were sporting made me realize we were darn lucky to be alive.
“Bodhi has invited all of us to come visit the mountain,” Burk announced excitedly.
“When?” I asked, excited now, too.
“As soon as everyone’s healed up and can make the trip.” Dad grinned.
“I’m dying to see the place,” Ross began. “But I’m taking Harmony back to Chicago so I can set her up with the best orthopedic doctors and physical therapists in the city. As soon as they give their okay, we’ll be ready to make the trip.”
“Is that what you want?” Dad asked with a scowl.
Clearly, he didn’t find Ross’s caveman demeanor intriguing, but I sure did.
“Yes, without a doubt in my mind.”