Chapter 6 #2
Ross cleared his throat. Her look went from relaxed to something else.
.. As though she knew what he was feeling, as though she was feeling the same as him.
For a moment they seemed frozen. The short space between them snapped with awareness.
Her throat worked. He saw everything, the pulse under her skin, the slight parting between her lips. ..
All he had to do was take three long steps.
To have his hands on Harper again. God, just the thought made him ache.
"It's late." Harper let out a shaky breath and squared her shoulders.
Don't go.
Ross blinked as the force of that thought hit him like a damn truck. What the bloody hell was he thinking? He wanted her to go.
She gazed at the boxes, her eyes going sad and disappointed. They'd failed to find anything resembling the notebook. "There are more boxes," he blurted. Her gaze swung to him, and the small bit of hope in her eyes killed him. He cleared his throat. "At the distillery."
He dragged a hand through his hair, annoyed with himself for wanting her, and for caring about her feelings. She'd never cared about his. "There's no power out there," he added, "so it'll have to be tomorrow."
"That'd be great." She worked her lip. "Thank you. For doing this. I know it must be hard to—"
"No. Don't worry about it." He walked to the attic door. "I'll give you a lift home."
In the end, Harper refused his offer for a ride, claiming she needed the fresh air. Everything inside of him wanted to let her go, grateful that she refused, grateful not to have to spend another minute with her. "It's dark, Harper."
"I made it here just fine, remember? It was dark then, too. It's a full moon. Plenty of light."
"Aye, but I can't knowingly—"
She held up a hand. "Ross. Just leave it.
" With that she turned and walked down the front path to the driveway.
He watched her for a long minute, then stepped off the front porch, his long stride easily catching up to her at the front gate.
He fell in step beside her to the sound of her annoyed sigh.
They crossed the bridge and went past the abandoned buildings of the distillery in silence, only the sound of their shoes crunching on dirt and gravel filling the space around them.
Ross kept his hands shoved into his jacket pockets lest he do something daft like try to hold her hand.
He wanted to ask her why. Why she had let him go.
Why she hadn't met him the night before he left Kentucky like he'd asked her too.
He wanted resolution, an answer, an ending.
Part of him wanted a confrontation, for her to know how much she had hurt him.
But that of course, meant she'd know how much it had.
He'd turned her into a selfish bitch in his mind. But now, seeing her again, knowing her again, that just didn't fit with the person walking next to him.
As soon as Balmorie came into view, Harper increased her pace. "Thanks for walking me. I can make it from here."
"Harper."
She was already several steps ahead of him, like she couldn't get away fast enough. But at his voice, she stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"
He had no clue why he said her name. But he covered quickly. "Noon. Meet me at the distillery at noon."
She nodded and then hurried down the road.
Ross stayed rooted to the spot, watching her go down the long, gentle curve of the old track and toward the castle. She crossed the lawn, passed under the lights of the front entrance, and disappeared inside.
He still cared about her.
"Brilliant," he muttered, rolling his eyes to the moon and then shaking his head as he turned to leave. A car door shutting made him look back to the car park at the castle. Tail lights from Liam's truck came on, followed by head lights.
"Even more brilliant," Ross said, making his way up the road.
Wouldn't take long for Liam to pull up beside him. And he wasn't in the mood to deal with his brother right now.
But he couldn't avoid it as Liam's truck eventually reached him.
Ross got into the passenger seat and as soon as Liam opened his mouth—no doubt to inquire why he was walking in the middle of the night—Ross told him to shut up and drive.
He'd probably encountered Harper as he left.
Surprisingly, his brother actually listened and didn't say a word until he turned off the road, crossed the bridge, and pulled down the drive.
As Ross opened the door, Liam said, "She was crying."
"What?"
"Harper. When she passed me in the Great Hall. Her eyes were wet, like she'd been crying."
"And your point?"
Liam gave his brother a disgusted look. "My point is that you're a fucking idiot."
Ross got out without responding and shut the door, ignoring his brother's words as he went inside, shut down the house for the night, and headed upstairs.
In bed, he tucked his hands behind his head and stared at the shadowy ceiling.
So she'd been crying. Not his problem. She could have very well been thinking about her father.
Might not have had a damn thing to do with him, them, or the past.
And if it did, well... Too bad.
He let out a heavy sigh and told himself it didn't matter. He might still care about her, but at least this time he knew better than to act on it. He wouldn't open his heart to her again only to be rejected again. Once was enough.