12. Harper #2
I tell myself it’ll just be a quick peek to see if he’s home and then I’ll get my ass out of here, which is probably what every Peeping Tom says, but when I get close enough, I realize I can’t see in the window because it’s frosted and it looks like a shade has been pulled down.
I know you can see out them when you’re inside, because I was just looking out them a week ago and the glass was crystal clear, but when I try to look in, there’s nothing but my own reflection staring back at me with a wide-eyed, what the fuck look.
Cupping my hands, I lean closer, but it doesn’t do anything except make me look even more suspicious than I already do, and there’s no seeing past the fancy-ass shades he has or the glass that’s somehow magically turned frosted.
Who the fuck does that? I get privacy, but he doesn’t have any windows that anyone can see through facing the street anyway. To see in, you need to sneak back here like I just did. I know he likes his privacy, but this seems excessive even for him.
Unable to let this go, I keep walking around the side, but when I get to the ten-foot-tall brick privacy wall that surrounds his backyard, I turn around.
I haven’t yet reached the point where I’m willing to try and scale a wall.
Feeling kind of proud of myself that I haven’t sunk that low, I follow the same path back to the front of his house.
I’m almost there when a large hand clamps down on my mouth while a strong arm wraps around my chest, pulling me back against a very firm body.
My heart races while I let out a muffled scream.
I’m seconds away from hyperventilating when I hear Ev’s deep voice.
“Relax, Harper, it’s just me.”
His hand loosens on my mouth, but he doesn’t let me go. When I try to turn my head, he lowers his so his mouth is close to my ear. “What the hell do you think you’re doing snooping around my house late at night?”
The velvety smell of sandalwood mixed with a hint of bergamot fills my senses, so undeniably Ev and immediately evoking memories of the night he’d kissed me.
I’d been surrounded by it then, too, and I’d gone home smelling of him.
That smell shouldn’t calm me, and it sure as hell shouldn’t have me relaxing in his grip, slowly sinking my body back so it molds to his.
I feel him tense behind me before he lets out a jagged breath and drags his nose along my temple.
“You never know when to quit.” He murmurs the words, tightening his hand on my mouth so one finger presses against the seam of my lips before he sighs and lets me go.
It doesn’t last long. Before I can even ask him what the hell is going on, he’s wrapping his hand around my wrist and pulling me through a side door that leads into the downstairs garage.
His Audi is parked in the same spot it was last time, and everything about the place is exactly how I remember it being.
Whether he realizes it or not, he brings me to the spot where we’d kissed before he stops and spins me around to face him.
I thought I was prepared for seeing him this close again, but I’m not.
All the air goes out of my lungs when I meet his blue-green eyes and see the war that’s going on behind them.
He looks like a man who’s being torn in two different directions and hasn’t decided which path he’ll choose.
His jaw is tense, and it’s been a couple of days since he shaved.
The dark stubble covers his face, making him look even more appealing to me, even though that should’ve been impossible.
He’s in jeans and a long-sleeve henley again, this time navy blue despite the heat outside.
His hair looks like he’s recently run a hand through it, and I quickly decide the disheveled look looks very good on him.
“Answer my question,” he finally says, breaking the silence while his fingers tighten around my wrist just enough to let me know my ass is stuck right where I’m at until he decides to let me go.
“What question?” I ask, finding it hard to think about anything other than how close he is and how badly I want him to kiss me again.
The corner of his mouth lifts up, but it’s more of a scowl than a smile. “Why are you snooping around my house in the dark and trying to peek in my window?”
“You saw me do that?” I ask, hoping he’d maybe missed that part of the night’s activities.
“I have security cameras,” he says, making me cringe.
“I saw you as soon as you pulled up, and I watched you try to casually stroll up and down my street before you snuck around the side of my house and tried to look in my window. I also saw you study the brick wall, and I’m thrilled you decided to exercise enough willpower to not scale it and break your neck. ”
“I wasn’t going to scale it,” I say in my own defense. “I’m not that bad.”
That earns me a raised eyebrow and an obvious you sure about that look to go along with it.
“I’m not,” I insist. “I just wanted to see if you were home.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I didn’t really think that far ahead.”
“That’s painfully obvious.”
I try to jerk my hand free, but he tightens his grip. “I could call the police, you know.”
“For what?” I ask with a disbelieving laugh. “Not scaling your wall and trying to break in?”
“For trespassing, smartass.”
“I think you’re making too big of a deal out of this. I wanted to see if you were home, and I did, so I’ll just be going now.”
He still doesn’t let me go. “You sure you don’t want to ask me anything now that you’ve found me?”
“What’s the point? We both know you’re not going to answer anything I ask.”
“Try me.”
I hold his stare, trying to figure out if he’s messing with me, but Ev is used to hiding what he’s thinking. He’d be terrible at his job if he couldn’t mask his emotions.
Unable to resist the carrot he’s dangling, I take a bite and ask, “Why was Sasha on retainer already? You’ve never represented him before.
Hell, he’s never even been brought in for questioning before.
How’d you know to even be there so quickly?
You showed up before he even made his call.
” Once I start talking, I can’t stop, so I just keep going.
“And don’t even get me started on DeMarco.
You can’t find the time for him, but you drop everything for a psychotic Bratva member who butchered some poor woman? ”
When I finally manage to shut my mouth, he studies me for several seconds before saying, “My schedule opened up. Who told you I was there so quickly?”
“What?”
“You knew I was at the station before my client was given his phone call. How did you know that?”
When I stay quiet, he gives a tsk-tsk and says, “Don’t stop talking now. We both know you won’t be able to keep it up for much longer anyway. Do you have a boyfriend on the force or is it just a fuck buddy?”
“What the hell?” I ask, surprised and hurt that he would even suggest that to me.
“That’s none of your damn business.” I shake my head and try to pull my arm away again.
Instead of just squeezing me tighter, he also takes a step in so our bodies are only inches apart.
“I’m pissed at you for even suggesting that,” I tell him.
“That was a shit thing to say, Ev, even for you.”
He doesn’t apologize. He just leans in closer and says, “Or maybe it was your ex Devin.” Ignoring my shocked look, he keeps his face close to mine when he asks, “Are you still fucking him, Harper?”
“He’s married,” I say, appalled at the idea of being some side piece to a married man with a baby. “And fuck you for thinking so poorly about me.”
“That’s the problem.” He brings my bound wrist behind my back, keeping it held there while he pulls my body closer so I’m pressed tight against him. My eyes widen when I immediately feel the hard length of him digging into my hip.
“What’s the problem?” I ask, slowly starting to forget that I’m pissed.
“The problem is that I can’t stop fucking thinking about you,” he says, like it pains him that he hasn’t been able to abolish me from his thoughts. It gives me a little bit of pleasure to know he’s been as miserable as I’ve been.
His other hand cups my face, thumb brushing along my throat. “You need to leave, Harper. You need to get back in your car, drive away from me, and never come back.”
Even as the words leave his lips, he’s leaning in closer, dragging his nose along my cheekbone, and making every part of my body ache for him.
I don’t understand my reaction to him, but I know I’m not the only one who feels it.
He’s just as tormented as I am, and when I hear the catch in his breath before he ghosts his lips along my skin, I drag my free hand up to rest along the back of his neck.
My fingers slide into his hair as I part my lips and meet the intense, hungry stare he’s giving me.
“I’m not so sure I can do that,” I confess.
His thumb grazes my throat, sending goosebumps along my skin. “What can’t you do?”
“Leave,” I admit. My voice is whisper soft, but I know he hears me because he tightens his grip on me and lets out a ragged breath that makes it clear he’s barely hanging on.
“Let go,” I tell him. “For once in your life, Ev, just let go.”
The groan he gives is one of such longing and pain that it startles me, but before I can ask yet another question, he lets go of my wrist, rests the palm of his hand along my lower back and holds me tightly against him while his lips crash into mine.
The tension I’ve been feeling and carrying around for the last week melts away when I part my lips and feel his tongue brush mine.
Our desperate groans and ragged breaths are the only sounds I hear as everything else fades away.