It Takes Two Book 6 (3 page)

I waited for her out on the terrace, where we had first met. The afternoon sun felt pleasantly warm as I leaned across the railing, eyes looking out over the valley without really seeing it. Most of the head pain I had been experiencing had finally gone, replaced by nervousness and anticipation of seeing Harper again. The meds must be working.

“Hello?” Her voice was uncertain, embarrassed.

I almost bit my tongue again, but took care not to; the pain in my mouth was still there from the fall.

“Back here,” I yelled.

I looked back over the expanse of woods and hills, taking a deep breath of the fresh air as I heard the glass door open. I turned away from the beautiful view, finding Harper striding toward me. Her blue sundress matched her eyes perfectly. She reached up, picking up her hair off her neck and letting the breeze hit her neck.

“Nice day.”

I nodded, my tongue feeling like lead again, this time for an entirely different reason than my injuries. “Thank you for coming.”

She edged closer to me, letting her hair back down so it curled around her shoulders, those liquid eyes taking in the view as if it was her first time seeing it. She looked the part of a young, beautiful, innocent woman again, just as she had in the vineyard, before everything had fallen apart. Suddenly her eyes turned to me, taking the sight of me in. Her gaze flicked down my body a few times then traveled back up to my face, zooming in on the stitches just below my hairline. “You look pale.”

“Head wounds do that to you.” I laughed, trying to put her at ease. She smiled a little, still squinting to see the stitches. “I got hit in the back of the head.”

“God, Mason—Asher,” she corrected myself, blushing a little. “What happened after you left the bar?”

“We can talk about that later. Care to sit down?” I gestured toward the loveseat.

I watched her carefully, trying to gage her reaction. She paused for a few moments, thinking, but ultimately she walked over to the seat and sat down, knees pressed tightly together. I followed suit, making sure to keep my distance.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” She looked at me, tears making her eyes look glassy as she met my gaze, then looked down at her hands.

I took a deep breath. “Harper, I need you to listen to me right now. Can you do that?”

She nodded, blinking away her tears a couple of times.

“I’m sorry for being deceitful. I lied, there’s nothing more I can say about that. Yes, I only wanted you to know me for who I truly am, not for all my money like all the clients and the girls at the mixers. I know now that I was wrong, that you aren’t like that at all. You’d never be seduced by wealth. But I had been burned so many times in the past, and even though I wanted to believe you were different, I couldn’t let myself until I knew for sure.”

She bit her lip, nodding. She had never looked so beautiful to me, so wonderful and natural. What I had written on the note I had given her had been raw emotion, and it had been the truth. I had never loved anyone like I loved Harper, even though things had moved faster than I had ever anticipated. I felt as if I had known her in the past, known her all through our lives.

She opened her mouth to say something, taking my silence as her opportunity. I smiled, holding up a hand to stop her. “My turn, remember?”

She closed her mouth and grinned, nodding for me to go on.

“Once I found out who you truly are, Harper Browning, I wanted—I want to give my everything to you. I didn’t know I was looking for love, but I truly believe I found love with you.”

I’m sorry. I love you
. I had written those words and I felt them now, body and soul. Every single woman I had ever dated had always wanted something from me, whether money or attention or something else. Harper had never asked anything of me, but being around her made me want to give her my whole self, all of Mason Asher I could give her. 

“I don’t know how else I can apologize. You just need to know how much I care about you, how much I want you to be a part of my life. And I am sorry, Harper. You know I am.”

I leaned in closer. I could smell the mint on her breath as she parted her lips, waiting for me to make a move, perhaps dreading it. I slid my arm across the back of the loveseat, taking care not to touch her, scared that she might run away. The thrill of the chase no longer enthralled me as it had before; I simply needed Harper.

“I’m also sorry for this...” I pressed my lips gently to hers, tasting the cherry of her lip-gloss.

I pulled away, looking down at my hands. He didn’t try to kiss me again, but he didn’t pull away, either.
He’s a liar
, my mind told me.
You don’t need him
.
He’s just like all the others.
My heart told me the opposite. I did need him, and I wanted to be in his life. I couldn’t imagine a world without his laugh, his smile.

He finally brought his arm back down into his lap, folding his hands and leaning forward, eyes breaking away from my gaze as he looked out into the horizon. “I guess now I know how Jake felt when he lost you.” He looked back at me with a sad smile. “But don’t worry, I’m not going to stalk you like he did.”

“Don’t compare yourself to Jake,” I scolded him.

“I’m sorry. Harper, you need to know something about him.”

I stiffened, thinking of Stacey’s text. “What?”

“I think Jake was the one who hit me outside the bar. I should have told the police, but I wanted to tell you first. I wanted you to know I’m not trying to get vengeance on him or anything.”

I relaxed, grabbing his wrist and giving it a squeeze. He gave me a confused look and I took my hand back, wringing my hands together.

“Thank you for telling me first.” I swallowed, feeling a lump in my throat. “Honestly, I’ve already called the police about Jake.”

“You did? But how—”

“I got a text from his girlfriend. He was at the bar the night of the incident.”

Mason looked at me, then down at his hands, then back at me. “Thank you. I must have taken–”

“I took matters into my own hands because I care about you,” I blurted out.

“You do?”

“Yes.” I struggled to find the right words as I looked over at him. “I came over here not knowing if I want closure or if I want to move ahead in our relationship.” I played with the edge of my dress, fumbling for the right words.

“I see.” His voice was neutral as a faint smile spread across his amazing lips.

I knew deep down I wanted this, I wanted him, but under different circumstances. “I can’t... I can’t be lied to like that ever again, Mas—Asher—” I threw my hands up in the air, frustrated. “What the hell am I supposed to call you, anyway?” I gave a half laugh as I looked up into his eyes.

He looked at me seriously, leaning forward a little more. “Harper, does this mean you’re giving me another chance?” I didn’t reply.  He studied my face, grinning. “Hi, I’m Mason Asher. You can call me Mason. And you are...?”

I giggled, feeling the tension roll off my shoulders. “Harper Browning. I hate being lied to. I’ll just put that out there so there’s no mistaking it.”

“Point taken.”

I leaned in closer, our eyes locking together. Gently, I grabbed his hands, squeezing them tightly.  “Promise me, Mason. Promise me you won’t lie like that to me like that again.”

He brought one hand up, brushing some of my hair behind my ear, stroking my chin softly. His other hand remained firmly planted in my own, our fingers interlacing. “I promise, Harper.”

He brought his lips to mine again. I kissed him back this time, feeling the familiar heat of love and desire course through me, my body giving a little shiver as I pushed my tongue past his lips, exploring his mouth...

“Ouch.”

I pulled away, dazed. “What’s wrong?”

He laughed. “Ah, fuck it. I bit my cheeks and tongue during my fall, but it’s fine. The pain is worth it.”

As he brought his lips close to mine again, it was my turn to laugh. Soon we were both laughing. My stomach began to hurt as I giggled, using muscles I hadn’t used in the longest time.

I myself letting go again with him, how I first felt when we met. Our first date, our first kiss.

“Come here,” he ordered, tugging me close and kissing me again, fully, deeply, in spite of his cut up mouth. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Mason

I sat across from Avery, looking at her curiously from behind my desk. It had been almost three weeks since I last saw her, since everything with Jake had gone down. Her face revealed nothing, not even as I leaned forward. Her eyes traveled up to my scalp, where the scar I had gotten from my run in with Jake had begun to heal.

“You do know that when I told you to go find Harper, I didn’t mean for you to get yourself killed.” A wry smile formed on her lips as she crossed her legs, laying her hands across her lap. Today she wore a neat black dress, her hair pinned up to stave off the summer heat.

I shrugged. “I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

She scoffed as a reply, looking pointedly at my healing head.

“So what are you doing here, Avery? I have to admit I was a little surprised when Natalie told me you had scheduled an appointment to meet with me.”

Avery’s grin grew a little. “Let’s just say I thought about what you told me, how the right guy might still be out there.”

I arched an eyebrow, sincerely impressed that she had come back. Avery didn’t seem like the type of person to ask for anyone’s help, especially from the man who had broken her best friend’s heart. Maybe Harper had talked some sense into her.

I grinned inwardly as I thought of Harper, my Harper. We had finally reached a point that I had always dreamed about having with a woman. Harper had simply cured me from my incessant fears about ending up with someone who constantly wanted something from me, as my relationships had been in the past. Harper wanted nothing but my love, and I had plenty of that to give her.

“So you want to attend another mixer?” I guessed, snapping back into reality.

“No.” She sat up a little straighter. “I want to be a bachelorette.”

I almost laughed. I should have known. Avery certainly
wasn’t
the type of person to ask for help—she liked to be in charge. “Well, typically our bachelorettes pay us a good sum to find them the men of their dreams.”

Avery raised her eyebrows as she smirked at me. “Well, maybe we can just say that you’re repaying the favor I did for you.” Avery’s smirk widened. “You know, pushing you to go after Harper instead of doing nothing?”

I sighed. She did have a point. Finding someone for Avery would be an interesting task, at least. And I knew it would make Harper happy, to see her friend find someone.

“That’s true,” I admitted. “I suppose we could make this work.”

She grinned. “As soon as possible?”

“Of course. Assuming we can find a group of men that meet your expectations.” I couldn’t help but goad her a little as I watched her smirk quickly turn to a scowl. “I’m kidding, Avery. I’m sure we can find the perfect man for you.”

Avery smiled as she got up, making her way to the door, pausing for a moment with slightly pursed lips. “You make her happy, you know. I’ve seen the changes in her.”

“She makes me happy, too.” I smiled.

Avery tilted her head with a half smile as she stared at me. “Treat her right. Or else.”

“I will, I promise.” I extended my hand and was immediately met with a warm hug, catching me off guard. I laughed, having no doubt that I would indeed hear a mouthful from Avery if I ever treated Harper with less than what she deserved. “You don’t have to worry on that account.”

“I certainly hope not. Though, I would like to see my roomie once in a while. Maybe you can have her for a couple days a week and I get her the rest of the time?”

“That’s her choice.”

She giggled, the sound light and friendly. “Well, we both know who she’ll pick.” She gave me a small wink. “I’ll expect a call from Natalie in the morning about my interview and mixer.”  I watched as Avery made her way out of the office and I heard the large front door shut.

I sat down at my desk, tracing the swirls of wood with my fingers as I grinned to myself, thinking how Natalie was going to respond to us taking on Avery as a client. First Harper invaded Natalie’s space, not Avery.  I knew Harper would be delighted that Avery and I were at least on friendlier terms, now, but I didn’t think that would go over quite as well with Natalie. It was time we cleared the air. I hesitated as I dialed Natalie’s office extension. “Have a minute? I’d like to talk.”

Natalie slid into the office, moments later, shutting the great mahogany door behind her. “What’s up Asher?” There was still a slight distance between us. Something we hadn’t felt in our relationship ever before.

“We need to talk,” I said, my mood dampening a little.

It had been a few weeks since the attack, and Harper had stayed over at the mansion multiple times now, but I hadn’t seen Natalie speak with her at all. I respected Natalie—she was like a sister to me, and I didn’t want us to be enemies because of my relationship.

“I don’t see why. It seems you’ve already made your decision, and I have no say in the matter.” Her voice was icy, and the glare that she gave me chilled me to the bone. Usually, she respected me enough as her boss to keep silent about my personal affairs, but today was different. Today we spoke as equals, as friends.

“Nat, come on, talk to me. I don’t want this to be a battle forever between you and Harper.”

She crossed her arms across her chest, purple hair trembling just a little as she stared me straight in the eyes, trying to control her temper. Natalie had a bad temper, when she wanted to have one. I usually tried to stay away from her wrath when she got in moods like this.

“Asher, her ex-boyfriend clubbed you over the head. You could have been killed.”

“Trust me, I know.” I rubbed my head where the stitches once were, remembering the night. “But Jake is in jail, and Harper is the one for me.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’ve said that before, about other women.”

I stood up so I could be at eye-level with her. “She’s different, Nat. I love her.”

“I don’t trust her.” Natalie quickly snapped back at me.

“I wouldn’t expect you to. You’re always looking out for my best interests, and I love you for it. But you don’t know Harper. I need you to trust me on this one. She’s the one for me.”

Her eyes studied me. I didn’t look away from her gaze, or flinch from her critical stare. Finally, she sighed, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. “Fine. If you think this is what’s best, I’ll go along with it. But I swear, Asher, if she or someone she knows hurts you like that again...”

I didn’t hear the rest of her sentence as I walked around to her side of the desk, sweeping her up in a hug. “She won’t. They won’t. Thanks, Nat. And by the way, we just took Avery on as a client.” I smiled to myself as I felt Natalie’s body tighten, but she didn’t say a word. That only made me hug her tighter.