The next shot was of Hunter driving down a dirt road like a maniac with a massive grin on his face. A woman with caramel skin and black hair rode shotgun next to him while she hooted and cheered, throwing her arms up in the air. The shot panned out to the bed of the truck where Liam and Kiki were sitting. Bags surrounded them and she was holding a T-shirt to the cut above his forehead.

The video played on. The three couples doing various illegal deeds mixed in with steamy shots of them all over each other.

She’d really thought the ones with Liam would kill her, but they didn’t. Because that look in his eyes when they were on Kiki? It was all an act. It was nothing, nothing, to how he looked at Harper.

She needed more time? More time for what? To figure out if this was what she wanted? That Liam was what she wanted? He said they had to fight together, and she was walking away…no, running away. She was about to fly away from him when what she needed to be doing was proving that she was all in this.

All. In.

There was no dipping her toe into the shallow end of the water to adjust. Nope. She’d already jumped right on in to the deep end. Which had been more than shocking at first, but that was the reality. There was no getting out. No un-jumping.

This whole time she’d been trying to figure out how to adjust to having another man as her life raft. But Liam wasn’t the life raft. He wasn’t the thing keeping her from drowning. No, he was the person who was by her side learning to swim with her. Learning to survive it all. Together.

“What the hell am I doing?” she whispered to herself.

“Well, you could move forward.” She jumped at the sound of the voice next to her.

She turned to the man in the suit, before she glanced back to the line that had shifted. Almost half of the people in front of her had been helped.

“You’re right. I need to move forward. And there’s no going back,” she said as she grabbed her suitcase and walked out of the line, heading straight for the doors.

*  *  *

It was a damn good thing that none of these recordings of Liam singing “Forever” were going into the actual video. Because God help anyone who was forced to listen to that crap. He had a pretty good feeling that the extras out on that floor were in about as much pain as he was.

It was getting ridiculous.

But really, what in the world was to be expected? He was in the actual building where he’d met Harper, singing the song he’d written about her, and it was torture.

He shouldn’t have let her leave like this. He should’ve fixed it. How? He had no idea, but he should’ve figured it out.

“Cut!” Jim the director shouted for what was probably the twentieth time. Liam had worked with the guy on a handful of other videos, and the two had actually become friends. Though, Jim looked like he wanted to throttle him at the moment.

“Can I get a minute?” Liam pulled the strap from his shoulder and set his guitar down, leaning it against the speaker.

“Sure, I’m getting a smoke,” Jim said before he moved away from the cameras.

“Five minutes,” the woman next to Jim shouted to the room.

As the crowd dispersed, Liam’s manager Gary moved from where he’d been standing on the edge of the room and went up on the stage. “Man, you really need to not look like someone just killed your dog.”

“I need a fucking shot.”

A small smile turned up Gary’s face. “You and me both. Whiskey?”

Normally that would be Liam’s poison…but not now. “Tequila?” he asked, thinking about the last time he’d been in that room doing shots with Harper.

“Sure thing.”

Both men jumped off the stage and headed for the bar. The man behind it was actually one of the regular bartenders at the Second Hand Guitar. Everyone in the crowd got two free drinks. It was part of the ambience after all.

“Cheers.” Gary held up his glass in the air when they got their shots.

Liam clinked it before they both tossed it back.

“What’s going on with you?”

“Harper left today. And this stuff with Kiki is making her second-guess everything.”

Gary knew everything about Harper. Liam had to tell him what was going on as the days around Sofia’s due date were off limits to booking anything. There was also the fact that Liam wouldn’t be in videos where he was acting out anything of the love variety with another woman. And last but certainly not least, the Kiki fiasco bullshit bomb that was about to explode.

That’s what managers were for, right? Well, that and drinking a shot of tequila in the middle of the day. But it was five o’clock somewhere.

“You’re pretty torn up about her, huh?” Gary asked.

“I love her more than I’ve loved anyone, but she doesn’t know if she wants to spend the rest of her life with me.”

“And you need to make her realize that she does.” Not a question from Gary, but a statement of fact.

“Yes.”

“You finish this shoot up today, you can be on a plane to her by tonight.”

“Seriously?” Hope flared in Liam’s chest.

“Most of this video has to do with the other three couples. They get all of the shots with you and you’re done, my friend,” Gary said as he reached for his pocket. His phone must’ve been vibrating because he picked it up and put it to his ear. “This is Gary.”

The murmuring on the other end was barely audible as the crowd of people around Liam talked.

“What?” Gary asked, his eyes coming up and landing on Liam. “Okay, I’ll be right out.” He hung up, sliding his phone in his pocket. “I’ll be right back.” He reached out and grabbed Liam’s shoulder. “You get up there and kill it. Understand?”

“Yeah.” Liam nodded, taking a deep breath before he turned around and walked through the crowd.

He got back up on the stage, grabbing his guitar and pulling the strap over his head. He glanced up, catching Gary as he passed by Jim. The two men spoke for just a second. Gary probably telling the guy that Liam was going to pull his head out of his ass. Jim nodded before he headed back to the camera.

“You ready to get this shit done?” Jim asked as he settled in.

Liam took a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah.”

“Then let’s go.”

His fingers strummed the chords of the guitar as the lights focused in on him. “Love at first sight was something I’d never seen. But you walked in and became every one of my dreams…”

It was at that moment that he saw her. The crowd disappeared and it was only Harper standing in the middle of that room and looking up at him.

“Violet eyes and the lips of a goddess. I knew I’d want more than just one kiss…”

Her mouth curved up in a smile as she watched him, and her eyes closed for just a second as her body began to move to his voice.

“A day, a week, a month, a year. It would never be enough. I want forever, honey. Forever, honey…”

Her eyes opened and she looked up at him again. “Forever with you,” she sang along.

He kept going, Harper’s mouth moving in sync with each and every word of the song until he got to the very end. “I need forever, honey. Forever with you.”

The second his fingers strummed the last chord he was pulling the guitar from his body and jumping from the stage. The crowd parted and when he got to her he pulled her into his arms, his mouth coming down hard on hers as his fingers speared in her hair.

He tasted her mouth for a good minute before he pulled back and looked at her. “You didn’t get on the plane.”

“I didn’t get on the plane.” She shook her head. “I was wrong. I don’t need any more time Liam. No more catching up. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. None of the other stuff matters. This is what matters.” Her hand moved to his chest, her palm over his heart. “You and me.”

“No more running?”

“I’m done running away from us. As long as you’re next to me, I can handle anything.”