Love at first sound.

Yeah, none of that was going to happen.

Definitely not. Especially as he couldn’t deny the feeling that she was running again. That she’d experienced something she wasn’t sure she wanted.

And she wouldn’t talk to him about it. That was the part that was really killing him. The part that made him want to down the rest of the amber liquid in the glass that his hand was currently wrapped around.

Instead he took another sip before he set it on the table next to him.

The door behind him opened and he looked over his shoulder as Harper stepped out. She was wearing one of his oversized T-shirts and a pair of cotton shorts, her wet hair pulled over her shoulder in a braid.

“Can I sit with you?”

“Never have to ask that.” He pulled his feet from the banister as she crossed over to him. He held out his hand and she grabbed it, letting him help her as she settled into his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder, pressing her lips to his jaw.

They sat there for a good five minutes, Liam silently willing her to talk to him as he ran his hand up and down her back. His other hand rested on her thigh, tracing her knee in slow circles.

“I’m sorry we had to leave early yesterday,” she finally said.

Both of his hands stilled and he moved the one from her leg to her face, pushing her chin up gently until he saw her eyes. “You don’t need to apologize for that, Harper,” he said as he shook his head.

“The first half was really good.”

You mean the first half before something sent you into a panic attack so severe that you made yourself physically ill? Well, that’s good to know. But he couldn’t exactly say that now could he? So he just nodded.

“Sofia liked it. She was moving around more than ever when you were singing. She loves the sound of your voice.”

For just a second he forgot everything besides the words that had just come out of her mouth. For just a second all he could think about was that his daughter had been moving around in Harper’s belly while he’d been singing. For just a second all he could think about was that his daughter had been affected by the sound of his voice.

But only for just a second.

“Harper, what happened last night?”

Something flickered behind her violet eyes, and the small window that had been cracked for just a moment closed with a snap. “I told you. I just got overwhelmed. I—I’m fine now.”

He really wanted to ask her if she promised…but there was a part of him that believed she wouldn’t tell him the truth. He didn’t think he could handle it. Didn’t think he could survive her swearing on a lie.

And it killed him that he was pretty sure that was what was going to happen.

So he said nothing instead. He just nodded and did everything in his power to not lose it, because all he could think about was that he might be losing her. That he might be losing everything. Because in the end she was everything to him.

And it was that fact that he couldn’t get out of his head when they went to sleep that night. That fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about as he held Harper in his arms. That fact that he knew he had to fix.

Had to. There was no other option.

Now that he’d had her in his life there was no possibility of going back. Now that he’d tasted her lips, woken up with her in his arms, held her hand, felt their child move.

No going back…

At some point the thoughts of a life without her morphed into a nightmare. Him coming home to an empty house. Harper marrying another man. Them sharing custody of Sofia

God no.

*  *  *

Liam woke from his nightmare with a start and the second consciousness hit him, he knew he was alone. His arms were empty and even though the soft orange light from the pre-dawn glow of the sun was doing nothing besides showcasing the vacant side of the bed, he groped at the empty sheets.

Harper was gone.

No. No, that wasn’t right. She wouldn’t have left. There was no way.

He pulled the blankets from his body, forcing himself to wake up as he stumbled out of the room and down the hallway into the main part of the house.

Harper was on the opposite side of the kitchen, her back to him as she looked out the window at the lake. She had a glass of cranberry juice in her hand, and when she lifted it to her mouth it pulled the bottom of her T-shirt up, flashing just a glimpse of blue lace.

Liam stood there, staring at her as he repeatedly told himself she was here… in this cabin…not gone.

Not gone.

His heart was still pounding out of his chest and he hadn’t caught his breath. Her eyes landed on his reflection in the glass and she jumped just slightly as she spun around.

“You scared me.” She put her free hand over her heart. “Are you okay?” she asked as her eyes focused. She set the juice on the counter as she crossed the room, stopping in front of him.

He shook his head.

“Liam, what’s wrong?” Her hands touched his chest as she looked up into his face. The warmth of her palms did nothing to combat the cold that had settled into his bones.

“I thought…I thought I could do this. I thought we could do this. That we were figuring this out. Moving forward.”

Her hands stilled, her eyes going wide. “W-we are.”

“No. We aren’t. We’re right back to where we started. I’ve been terrified to talk to you, terrified to push because all I can see is you running again. All I can think about is what it was like to wake up four months ago with you gone. And I swear to God, Harper, I woke up just now and I thought you’d left.”

“I’m not running anymore.”

“You aren’t? Then why have you been lying to me since the concert?”

She took a step back, her hands falling from his chest at the same moment her eyes left his, her gaze moving off to the side.

“You’re not going to deny it?” he asked.

She shook her head, a low sniffle filling the kitchen as she reached up and wiped at her face.

Her crying was breaking him…everything about this moment was breaking him.

“I asked you flat out what happened, and not once did you mention Kiki. I know that she was there. I know that she might not have been the catalyst for what upset you, but she was part of it. And whatever that catalyst was I think it was much more than you being overwhelmed. You don’t think I see that you’re scared, Harper? Because I do.”

Her head came up and she looked at him again. That fear was right there at the center of her eyes, but it was surrounded by hurt and anger and confusion. “What do you want from me, Liam? It’s scary, okay? It’s scary that you’re famous. Scary that you’re only going to get more famous. That you get up on that stage and almost every woman in that audience wants you.”

“I don’t want them back.”

“It doesn’t change it. It still is what it is, and it’s terrifying. It’s terrifying to see a line of more than willing and able women.”

“Don’t you trust me? Don’t you believe me when I tell you that you’re all I want?”

“I do trust you, but that’s not what this is about. It’s about not being able to control…any of it.”

“You don’t think you have control?”

“No, I don’t, Liam. I can’t control those stupid tabloids and how seeing you linked with someone else makes every part of me hurt. Or this thing with Kiki, and her vendetta against you and now me. Or how much it hurts when you’re gone for weeks on end and I don’t get to see you. How much it hurts me when I wake up and you aren’t in bed next to me. You’re scared of me leaving? Well I’m scared of the same thing, and a life with you will always involve you leaving me.”

And there it was. The truth.

“But I’m always going to come back.” He took a step forward, reaching for her, one hand at her waist and the other palming her cheek. “I want this life with you. I want to build something with you. I want our daughter, and God willing more kids, running around a home that’s ours.”