Harper was as excited to join the book club as she was to see so many of her good friends married and partnered off. Emery met Dean at the gate, while Drake and Rick headed straight to Serena and Desiree. Violet went to Andre with a loving expression. It was strange and wonderful to see this softer side of Violet as Andre pulled her into his arms. He whispered something that made Violet blush, a sight Harper would have bet money she’d never see.
Drake patted Hadley on the head, then leaned down to kiss Serena. “Hey there, Supergirl.” Serena pulled him down to the chair beside her and climbed into his lap.
“How was your run?” Desiree asked Rick after receiving a tender kiss on her lips.
Rick raked a hand through his dark hair and said, “Great, but the best part is always coming home to you.”
“Does anyone else ever wish you could push fast-forward through all this lovey-dovey stuff?” Chloe teased.
“Uh-huh,” Daphne said. “It makes me remember what I don’t have.”
“Never give up.” Gavin squeezed Harper’s shoulder.
Rick came toward Harper and said, “Our resident celebrity has returned! It’s great to see you. Get up here and give us a hug.”
She smiled as she pushed to her feet. “It’s good to be back.”
“The girls thought you’d left them for good,” Dean’s deep voice boomed as he came up behind her.
The guys were all athletic, but Dean was massive, like Harper’s brother Brock. All powerful, hard edges. She didn’t know Dean quite as well as she knew the others, but in the short time she’d spent with him, she’d learned that beneath his bearded, brick exterior, like Brock, he was kind, careful, and patient.
Dean and Rick crushed Harper between them in a sweaty hug that made everyone laugh and Harper groan.
“Bet you missed us,” Rick said as he took a seat beside Desiree.
Harper sat beside Gavin and said, “You, yes. Your sweat? Not so much.”
“Careful, you two,” Violet said. “She’s with Gavin now, and I doubt he likes the idea of a Harper manwich.”
“The girls said you two left together the other night,” Dean said.
Gavin grinned, and Harper didn’t know how to respond, because it was true. They had left together.
“Andre, this is our friend Harper,” Violet said. “The one I told you about who’s been on the West Coast getting famous.”
Harper’s stomach sank at the thought of letting down her friends, but she knew Gavin was right when he’d reminded her they’d always been there for her and they loved her no matter what her career status was.
“Ah, the elusive Harper exists after all.” Andre flashed a friendly grin. “How did you like LA?”
Gavin nodded encouragingly, and she said, “Actually, despite what I told some of you the other night, it wasn’t all that great. I was embarrassed to tell you the truth, but my show was canceled. After months of rewrites and hard work, it didn’t get picked up, my agent dumped me, and I had some awful dating experiences.”
“Oh, no,” Desiree said. “I’m so sorry.”
“Why were you embarrassed?” Serena asked. “It’s not like it’s your fault.”
“It felt like it was my fault. If the writing were better, maybe it would have gotten picked up.”
Emery pointed her fork at Harper and said, “That’s crap. My brothers work in the entertainment industry. That kind of thing happens all the time, and it usually has nothing to do with the writer. But think of it this way: Now you have more experience. You’ve been there. You made it! Even if the show wasn’t picked up, you sold the pilot! That’s a really big deal. But the best news is, now we’ve got you back.” She blew Harper a kiss.
Relief swept through Harper. Harper had met Emery’s three brothers when they’d visited a few summers ago. She wasn’t sure what her brother Austin did for a living, but she knew Ethan ran one of the most successful television movie channels and Alec ran an entertainment magazine.
“I’m sorry your show wasn’t picked up,” Violet said. “But you also mentioned something about bad dating experiences. Does someone need his LA ass kicked? Because Andre and I are here for the summer. We can take a quick trip out West to put a guy or two in their places if need be.”
Andre draped an arm over Violet’s shoulder and said, “Have I told you lately how much I adore when your claws come out to protect your friends?”
“Nobody needs to be beat up,” Harper said, and she was pretty sure if they did, Gavin would be happy to do it. “Although the guy I sat next to on the plane might disagree. The poor guy was just trying to be nice, and it was like I’d taken bitch pills that morning. I was so angry and anxious, I chewed him out. It was pretty ugly.”
“He’s a guy. You probably made his day,” Serena said.
“He did give me his number,” Harper said, noticing a slightly jealous look in Gavin’s eyes. “He said if I ever decide to write, to give him a call.”
“Maybe he likes bitchy women. What are you going to do now?” Chloe asked.
“For now I’ll be writing articles for the newspaper and trying to find my next muse.” Harper looked at Gavin and mouthed, Thank you. He was good at pushing her in ways she never thought she needed. He did it casually, with a slight nod and a satisfied look in his eyes, as he was now.
Violet eyed the two of them and said, “Looks like you might have already found him.”
Yeah, I think I might have.
“I’m sure you’ll find your groove again,” Serena said. “For what it’s worth, I’m really glad you’re back and that you and Gavin are hanging out together.”
“Oh my gosh, you guys!” Emery set her phone on the table and said, “I just got a text from my brother Ethan. He invited us out on his yacht to watch the fireworks for the Fourth. No pressure or anything, but if you want to go, he’ll be at the Provincetown Pier and the yacht leaves at six o’clock.”
“The Fourth is weeks away, but we’ll go, right, Drake?” Serena said.
Drake nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
“I still can’t believe my brother owns a yacht,” Emery said as she snagged a piece of Dean’s pastry.
“That’s what happens when you’re Showtime’s biggest competitor,” Gavin said. “The guy’s come a long way from our little hometown. I think it sounds great. What do you say, Harp?”
“Sounds fun. I’m slated to write an article about the Provincetown parade for the newspaper, so I’ll already be there.”
As the girls made plans for the holiday, Gavin leaned closer to Harper and said, “Then so will I.”
Chapter Seven
GAVIN SHOWED UP Sunday on a shiny black motorcycle, wearing jeans, black boots, and a look that said he’d missed Harper almost as much as the scorching-hot kiss he’d given her did. It wasn’t even a French kiss, just a firm press of his lips as he held her in the circle of his arms. Before they’d met, she hadn’t known it was possible for a kiss or an embrace to send tingles from her head to her toes, but ever since they’d agreed to take things slowly, the intensity of her desires had magnified.
From the moment he’d arrived, Gavin had made himself at home, flipping through her notebooks, reading old scripts she’d taken to LA in case the inspiration to finish them hit while she was there. He’d read some of them aloud, which was embarrassing, but it had been an excellent lesson in revision practices. Hearing someone else read her work made it easier for her to spot the flaws. He’d joked about some of her lines, and at one point they had tears in their eyes from laughter. It wasn’t just her sexual desires that were intensifying. Her emotions toward Gavin as a trusted, admired friend were deepening. She was even feeling different about herself. Now, after hours of unpacking, as they tossed cardboard boxes into the recycle bins at the other end of her development, she was thinking about that hello kiss, wanting so much more.
“Did you ever think unpacking would be so much fun?” Gavin asked.
He took her hand and they headed back towa
rd her cottage, the gravel crunching beneath their feet. The first thing he’d asked her when he’d arrived, after the kiss and before letting her out of his arms, was how her visit with her parents had gone. He’d held her until she’d answered, like he’d wanted to make sure he was there for her in case it had gone badly. She told him that her visit had gone well, and his relief had shown in his eyes. He was genuine in his affections. Everything he did helped her let down her guard. She was pretty sure that with Gavin she didn’t need to be guarded at all.
“What I think,” she said as they passed her neighbor’s cottage, “is that you make everything better.”
He put his arm around her and kissed her temple. “Glad to hear it’s mutual. I like your community, by the way. It’s cute.”
“I like it, too.” She even liked living a hop, skip, and a beat from transient renters. There were always new people to chat with and kids playing in the yards, as they were now. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the casualness of her lifestyle when she’d been in LA. There, her days had been rushed and stressed. Gavin made her forget her worries about what might come next or where her career was headed enough to remember how much she enjoyed life.
She looked up at his handsome face and said, “Every time I’m with you we laugh.”
“See, Harp? You wasted all that time in LA trying to fit in with people who weren’t your tribe, when you could have been here getting to know the newest member.”
“You were wrong about yourself, Mr. Wheeler. You are quite a wordsmith.” And she really liked the way he used those words. He pushed just enough to make her want to be closer. She looked down at her side pressed against his and realized it’d already become natural for him to hold her.
“Think of all the time we have to make up for,” he said as they came to her yard.
His gaze moved to the gardens she’d cultivated over the years. “You have quite a green thumb.”
“I’ve always loved gardening, and flowers make me happy.” She walked over to his shiny black motorcycle and ran her hand along the seat. “Probably like this makes you happy. Can I sit on it?”
He put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer, his eyes darkening seductively as he said, “You want to straddle my hog?”
Her heart raced. “That’s a loaded question if I ever heard one.”
He didn’t say a word as his grip tightened around her waist, and he lifted her off her feet like she was light as a feather.
“Gavin!” she squealed, grabbing his shoulders as he moved her over the center of the bike, her long skirt waving around her feet.
“Spread ’em, sweetheart.” He lowered her to the seat with a look of sheer satisfaction. “You’re officially the first woman to sit on my bike.”
That made it even more thrilling. She grabbed the handlebars, feeling strangely powerful. “It feels even bigger than it looks.”
He climbed onto the bike, wrapping his arms around her middle, and kissed the side of her neck, sending goose bumps skittering over her flesh.
“You might want to be careful what you say, or I’m liable to slip up and say something you’re not ready for.” He pressed a titillating kiss to her neck and then spoke in a gravelly voice directly into her ear. “Like, how about I carry you into the bedroom and refresh your memory about something that feels every bit as big as it looks.”
Yes, yes, yes!
Her fingers fell from the handlebars to her thighs, and she told herself to calm down. He covered her hands with his and said, “We wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable, would we?”
His voice slithered beneath her skin, burrowing into her core. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was bone dry.
He squeezed her thighs, and in the next breath he said, “So, how about we take her for a ride?” He leaned back, putting space between them, as if he, too, needed to break the spell he’d put them both under.
“A ride, yes, that sounds good,” she said shakily. But first I need to change my underwear…
He helped her climb awkwardly off the bike and said, “I love this sexy skirt, but you should change into jeans for the ride. Gotta keep my girl safe.”
My girl…
Her swooning heart sent her eyes to the ground for fear he’d see how much she wanted him. Even the press of his hand on her back as they went into her cottage made her needier for his touch.
Her mind raced, but she couldn’t hang on to any one thought as she went to change. She stood in the middle of her bedroom, wanting to barrel into the living room, tear off his clothes, and drag his fine ass into her bedroom to do all the naughty things they’d done in Virginia. She was desperate to feel him buried deep inside her and to see his gorgeous green eyes silently saying everything they hadn’t been brave enough to give voice to that night. She wanted to hide away in the cottage for days, rediscovering each other’s bodies like the outside world didn’t exist.
Stop, stop, stop! She turned away from the door and grabbed a pair of jeans and tossed a pair of socks on the bed. She pulled on her jeans, and then she exhaled a long breath and sank down to the edge of the bed, clutching the bedspread in her fists as she tried to regain control of her runaway emotions. She closed her eyes, but she could still feel his lips on her skin, his warm breath heating her up as his words sent flames to her core.
“What is going on with me?” she mumbled as she put on her socks and shoved her feet into a pair of boots. This was ridiculous. So what if they got along like they’d known each other forever and he understood her like no one else ever had? Just because the sight of him made her entire body flame didn’t mean she had to jump his bones.
Right?
She hadn’t wanted to jump anyone’s bones since the night of the festival. And that night, she couldn’t have helped herself if her life had depended on it.
Was this crazy, or could it be fate? Is that why she’d never stopped thinking about him?
Are we meant to be together?
She stared at the bedroom door, hope rising inside her. With her heart in her throat, she pulled it open. Gavin stood a few feet away, looking at a picture of her and Brock he must have taken from the bookshelf. His eyes met hers, sweeping slowly over her face, her body, and then their eyes collided again, and her heart tumbled inside her chest.
“Hello, beautiful,” he said. “Ready?”
She huffed out a breath and strode across the room. “Almost.”
She grabbed his face between her hands and kissed him hard. He crushed her to him, feasting on her mouth, making her greedy for more. Her emotions reeled, skidding and soaring, making her a little dizzy. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew this was unfair to both of them, but if she didn’t get the neediness out, she’d never make it through the day. When his hand slipped to her butt, she forced herself to break their kiss. She was panting, her skin was on fire, and he was looking at her like a starving lion who’d just zeroed in on his prey. And holy cow, she wanted to be his next meal. But she made herself step back. She smoothed her shaky hand down the front of her tank top, feeling her erratic heartbeat against her palm, and tried to think past the rush of blood in her ears.
“Now that that’s out of the way,” she said more confidently than she felt, “I’m ready to go.” She grabbed her keys and headed straight out the front door.
TORTURE WASN’T A strong enough word to describe the feeling of holding back with Harper any better than scorching described the heat coursing through Gavin’s body as they rode his motorcycle toward Provincetown. Exquisite agony was a much better description for both. Harper’s soft body was pressed against his back, her hands clutching his stomach. Thank God for the cool air whipping over his skin, or he might have caught fire. He’d brought two helmets, knowing he wanted to take her for a ride after the way she’d reacted to hearing he drove a motorcycle, but he hadn’t thought to bring a second vented jacket, so he’d given her his.
They parked at the pier, and he helped her take off her helmet. Her silky bl
ond hair tumbled over her shoulders. She shook it out, grinning from ear to ear.
“That was amazing!” she exclaimed. “I’m going to write a biker into my next script.”
She was so damn hot and happy, he had to kiss her, but he was careful to make it a chaste one for fear of walking around aroused for the rest of the day.
“Just don’t name him Gavin,” he said as she peeled off his jacket. “The last thing I need is more fangirls.” He put the jacket in the compartment and locked the helmets to the bike.
Over the past several months he’d wished he’d had a picture of Parker aka Harper. He pulled out his phone as he draped an arm around her to take a selfie.
“Smile pretty so you can say you knew me when…”
She smiled brightly. He took a picture, then kissed her cheek and took another. He pocketed his phone and reached for her hand, heading for Commercial Street, the main drag through Provincetown. “Let’s see what fun awaits us.”
The artsy community was home to galleries, restaurants, nightclubs, and eclectic shops, attracting thousands of tourists over the summers. Flags hung above the crowded sidewalks and streets, proudly displaying the LGBTQ rainbow. They passed an artist painting a caricature of a man and his Great Dane. A group of people watched a pantomime outside a bakery. Street performers and musicians were standard fare on street corners and the lawns of the library and the town hall.
“I love it here,” Harper said as they made their way down the busy sidewalk. “Do you have any place like this back home?”
“No. Oak Falls is very rural, known for horse farms mostly. I bet you can gain a lot of inspiration for your stories here. Do you ever come here to write?”
“I have, but it’s more fun to people watch and not have to worry about work.”
“Thanks for letting me read your scripts today. They were funny and interesting. What do you consider them? Drama?”
“Not really. When I think of drama, I think of This Is Us, seriously heavy stuff, which is about all I’ve been able to write lately. That’s not my normal voice, so while I love This Is Us and dramas in general, my writing feels crappy because it’s too heavy for my voice.”
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