He stopped in the doorway to the bathroom, with his back to me. His head dropped as he gripped the doorframe. His strong back muscles rolled underneath tight skin.

“Don’t torture me Harlow. Get it over and done with.” He said quietly.

“What are you talking about?”

He swung around. “What are you doing here?”

Totally taken back by his words and his behavior towards me, I couldn’t hide my confusion. “I wanted to see you.”

“To break up with me?” he asked desperately.

His words were like ice water on the face.

“Break up with you?” It was the most absurd thing I’d ever heard. I shook my head. “Why would I want to break up with you? It was just some stupid argument.” None of this was making sense. I looked at his beautiful, sad face and felt a another surge of fear. “Heath, what’s going on?”

Now he looked confused.

“You’re not here to break up with me?”

I shook my head.

“Heath, you’re scaring me. Why would you think I was here to break up with you over some stupid fight we had?”

He walked towards me. But instead of sitting on the bed, he sat on the floor with his back to the mattress. Then, without a word he dropped his head to his hands.

Puzzled, I kneeled next to him and removed his hands from his face, holding them in mine. Tears welled in his eyes. But there was also something else there, something I didn’t recognize on him.

Fear.

“Baby … please tell me what is wrong with you,” I whispered.

He hesitated, struggling to find the words.

“I saw you.” His glittering eyes found mine. “Today. I saw you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Back in California.” He looked at me and the anger returned to his face. “With Colton.”

My brain rushed to process this muddled conversation. “Wait. You came home today?”

“I wanted to surprise you. To apologize for our fight. So I took an early flight. Then I saw you …” His eyes filled with sadness. “When were you going to tell me you were back with Colton?”

Whoa … what?

“Back with Colton…? Oh my God, this is crazy.”

It was almost as if I had stepped into this conversation mid-conversation. None of it made sense. Why would Heath think I was back with Colton? Unless … oh hell …

“You saw Colton kiss me,” I said.

His eyes flared across at me. “I saw you kiss each other.”

Mine flared back. “I didn’t kiss him. He kissed me.”

“I didn’t see you push him away. From where I was sitting it looked pretty mutual.”

His words made me frown. I sat back from him, startled by his lack of faith in me.

“I don’t know what you think you saw, but if you think I kissed him, you are wrong. Yes, Colton kissed me. But did I kiss him back? No. Did I get back with him? No. Do I want to? No.” I raised my chin, slightly. “I guess you didn’t stick around long enough to see me punch him in the jaw for it either.”

His eyes shot to mine. “You hit him?”

A small smile flickered at my lips. “Floored him. Then I told him I didn’t want to get back together. That I couldn’t.” I bit my bottom lip. “Because I’m crazy in love with someone else.”

“You’re still in love with me,” he whispered. More to himself than me.

“Crazy in love with you.”

To my surprise his face suddenly crumpled. He pressed his hands to his eyes and then ran them down his cheeks with a moan.

“You’re really not going back to Colton…?”

“Is that what all of this was about?” I asked, confused by the sadness still in his eyes. “You thought I had stopped loving you over a stupid argument and was getting back with Colton?”

When he nodded I straddled him and took his face in my hands, holding him close to my lips. “I’m sorry you thought that. But I love you Heath. I promise you. I’m all yours.” I kissed him but there was still a hesitation about him. I pulled back. “Are we okay?”

He kissed me, this time deeply. He reached up and cupped my face in his hands, his big fingers firm against my jaw. His moan ignited the usual response between my thighs and I pressed harder against his jeans. As our kiss grew in momentum he rolled us, planting my back to the floor as he slid between my legs. His kiss was magnificently tender and passionate, his mouth and tongue keeping perfect rhythm with mine.

I sighed and shifted beneath him, pressing myself against the places that mattered in an attempt to quench the need growing inside me. Pleasing moans rumbled from his throat, pushing me forward, urging me onwards. My body pulsed; my pelvic muscles throbbed, feeling empty and wanting to be filled.

But to my complete disappointment, Heath abruptly ended our kiss and dropped his head to my chest.

I thought I heard him murmur, “I can’t do this tonight.” But I wasn’t sure. Things were weird. Really weird.

The day had rattled him and I didn’t want to push him. We were in unfamiliar territory, especially Heath, and I didn’t want to pressure him with a hundred questions.

He looked up at me. His eyes a dark blue. “I think I’m hung over.”

“How much did you drink last night?”

He sat up and entwined his fingers through mine. “It’s not from last night.” He looked down, his lashes fanning his cheeks. “After I saw you and Colton … let’s just say the flight back to Vegas is a bit of a blur.” He drew in a deep breath as if the thought physically hurt him. “When you got here I wasn’t taking a nap … I was passed out.”

“You drank enough to pass out?”

His dark brows shot in as he stared at my fingers entangled with his. “I just wanted it to stop hurting.”

I waited ’til I could see the blue of his eyes before I spoke. “I’m here now.”

He looked exhausted as he said, “I can’t believe how lucky I am that you’re mine.”

“Nothing is going to take me away from you.”

He looked down at our fingers entwined and whispered, “I hope so baby. I really, really hope so.”

Chapter Fifteen HEATH

I didn’t tell her for any other reason than I’m an asshole and I wanted one last night with her. I’m a selfish ass, I know. But once I told her, she would break up with me and never let me see her again. And I couldn’t blame her. I was a cheating jerk and didn’t deserve her.

Keeping it from her tonight wasn’t the right thing to do, I knew that, but I needed something to hold on to once she was gone.

But my selfish intentions were quick to work against me because everything she did reminded me of just how much in love with her I was. It made my heart ache and I spent the night in agony, knowing she would stop loving me when she found out.

How could I have done this to us?

To her?

Despite my hangover I didn’t want to sleep. I wanted to savor every last moment with her; because in the morning I would tell her and she would walk out of my life forever.

But sleep crept up on me. Lying with her in my arms I was overcome with an incredible peace like I had never known, and in my contentment I fell asleep.

I woke up with a start, just as dawn was breaking across the city.

Harlow was in a deep sleep beside me, her breath quiet, her beautiful dark lashes fanning her cheeks. As I gazed down at her my body physically ached for her.

How on earth was I going to live without her?

For the briefest moment I considered not telling her, but immediately vanquished the thought. That wasn’t who I was. I may have been a lot of things, but a coward wasn’t one of them. There was no other option but to man up and admit that I had fucked up the best thing that had ever happened to me.

When Harlow stirred I kissed her gently on the top of the head and settled next to her, holding her warm body against my chest, breathing in the subtle scent of her, hoping to permanently etch it onto my senses so I could remember it when she was gone.

My stomach ached at the thought. I didn’t want her to hate me. I didn’t want her to leave me. Being with her made me a better person. She soothed my restlessness and turned an indifferent, angry man into a decent human being. But my insecurity had unraveled it momentarily, just long enough for me to fuck it all up.