“You’ve been holding out on them?” Liam put his drink down on the railing and rubbed his hands together, grinning. “Any of you guys country music fans? Tour’s coming this way in a couple of months.”

“See, I knew I liked him,” Finn said.

“What makes you think you’re guaranteed a ticket?” Baxter asked.

“Yeah? If anyone’s going to get tickets, it’s going to be Grace and me.” This from Jax.

“And how the hell did you figure that one?” Tripp raised his eyebrows skeptically.

“Because, my wife is best friends with Harper,” Jax answered.

“Then I’m just as likely to get tickets as you are,” Bennett argued. “My wife is best friends with her, too.”

“Hey, hey, hey.” Preston shook his head. “It’s already been established you get to go to hockey games, so you, my friend, are out of the running for concerts.”

“And besides, Finn and I would beat all of you out anyways,” Shep said.

“Oh really? And how in the world did you figure that one?” Brendan frowned.

“Harper and Hannah are like this.” He held up his hand with his fingers crossed. “I grew up with Harper. Finn grew up with Harper. Hell, Finn is practically Dr. Laurence’s other son. And the icing on the cake? Harper is godmother to baby Nate.”

“Bullshit.” Jax shook his head. “You just pulled that one out of your ass.”

“Hey babe?” Shep called out to Hannah who was a few feet away, her feet propped up as she leaned back in a lounge chair. She was chatting with Paige who was right next to her in exactly the same position. “Who are baby Nate’s godparents?”

She glanced over just long enough to answer, “Finn and Harper.”

Shep didn’t say anything, he just grinned hugely as he took a drink of whiskey.

“Sorry boys, I still win over all of you,” Brendan said, looking around the circle. “Not only is Liam here my sister’s best friend’s boyfriend. But he’s also my wife’s best friend’s boyfriend’s brother. That makes us practically family.” Brendan clapped Liam on the back.

Liam laughed. “How about this? I’ll get all of you tickets.”

“Well, that was easier than expected,” Tripp said.

It was at that moment that Harper came over, her arms now empty…well, they were for a second before she wrapped them around Liam’s waist. She placed a kiss on his mouth before she pulled back to look at him. “Hey.”

“Hey.” One of his hands went to her waist while the other reached up, and he pushed a strand of her hair back and behind her ear.

She turned from him and looked to the group of men. “If you all will excuse me, I’m going to pull him away before the show starts.”

“No problem.” Finn nodded.

“Yeah, I should go find my wife.” Bennett looked around and spotted Mel on the opposite end of the porch. He headed off in that direction as Shep, Brendan, and Jax also broke off.

“Lead the way,” Liam said before he stole his own kiss from her lips.

One of her hands slipped down, grabbing his that was at her waist and twining their fingers together. She took a step away before she pulled him down to the opposite side of the porch, him following behind her.

“You leading me into dark corners?” he asked.

“Mmm, hmm,” she hummed. “Easier to do things in the dark.”

“What sort of things?”

“You’ll find out now won’t you?” She didn’t stop when they got to the empty end of the deck, instead rounding the corner and leading him up a flight of stairs to the second floor…and then another flight of stairs to the third floor.

Shep had explained to Liam earlier that the inside renovations had yet to be completed on the top story of the building, so no one was occupying these rooms. Not only that, but the automatic floodlights hadn’t been set up, either. Besides the moon, stars, and glow of the lights from the first floor, they were almost in total darkness.

The moment they got to the far side of the porch Harper turned and looked up at him. Her face was half in shadow, but he could still see the reflection of the moonlight in her eyes.

“You have a good time today?” Her free hand ran up his abdomen until her palm was flat over the center of his chest, her thumb moving back and forth.

Could she feel his heart beating as hard as he could? Did she know she owned it?

“I did.” He moved closer to her, making her take a few steps back until he caged her in against the railing. “But you’ve left a few things out in our conversations over the weeks. Like the fact that those people down there are much more than your friends. They’re your family.”

“They are,” she said without hesitation. “Absolutely, they are.”

“I liked seeing that. How much they care about you. That they would do anything for you.” He leaned in, kissing her mouth before he trailed his lips down. “It didn’t take that long for me to get there with you, you know.” He skimmed his nose across her jaw until he got to her ear, his lips brushing across her skin during the journey and making her shiver despite the warm summer air. “Actually, no time at all.”

“To get where?” she asked, more than a little breathless.

He pulled back, looking into her eyes as he spoke the next words. “Where I would do anything for you. Anytime. Anywhere.”

“Anytime? Anywhere?” She raised her eyebrow.

“Yes.”

Her palm moved up to the collar of his shirt, her hand fisting in the fabric and pulling him close. “Kiss me,” she whispered against his lips.

His mouth covered hers in an instant, both of his hands now framing her waist and holding her to him. She sighed as her body molded to his, her hands going up to his head and her fingers spearing in his hair.

“You taste like whiskey.” Her mouth moved against his, her warm breath coming out in huffs.

“You taste like honey…you always taste like honey.” He caught her bottom lip between his teeth, biting down lightly before he pulled it—along with one of her low throaty moans—into his mouth.

A series of pops sounded in the distance, and lights from the opening fireworks shone bright behind Liam’s closed eyes. He pulled back from Harper’s mouth, opening his eyes just as a red firework exploded with a loud boom. It illuminated her face, her eyes focused on his and showing that she was more than a little desperate for him.

Anytime. Anywhere. Anything.

He gripped her hips, spinning her so that she now faced out to the water. He was just able to make out the sound of protest from her lips before another round of booms filled the sky.

“Spread your legs and watch the show,” he growled in her ear as he pressed his front to her back, his hands skimming down her thighs until he got to the hem of her dress. He pushed his palms up and under the fabric, now sliding across her bare skin.

“So soft.” He pulled her earlobe into his mouth, giving it a small nip with his teeth at the same moment that he ran his fingers across the front of her panties. “And warm.”

Four separate streaks of white shot out diagonally from the right, and then a second later streaks of blue came from the left, crisscrossing in the middle.

He pushed the cotton fabric of her panties to the side, slipping one and then two fingers inside of her. He discovered that she was much more than warm. Yeah, she was hot and wet.

And she was all his for the taking. Which he would be doing.

Right now in fact.

Chapter Fifteen No Going Back

Liam, what if someone looks up?” Harper gasped, her head falling back on his shoulder as he moved his fingers in and out of her in slow, delicious pushes and pulls.

The thought of someone seeing them was terrifying…and maybe just a little bit thrilling.

Dear God, these pregnancy hormones were getting a little out of control. Or maybe it had nothing to do with being pregnant and everything to do with the man who was currently working her over.

“Keep your eyes open.” His voice was ragged in her ear. “And if anyone sees us they’ll just think we’re watching the fireworks. They can’t see where my hands are.”