Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Delaney
“You ready, Betty?” Harrison grins at me as he clips the ends of his bicycle helmet straps together.
“Betty, huh? Not Bets?” I tease.
“Bets doesn’t rhyme with ‘ready’ like Betty does. So, are you?”
“Am I what?” I’m distracted by his mesmerizing green eyes and dazzling smile. God, he looks happy, and it’s a fantastic look on him.
“Are you ready, Betty?” I roll my eyes and laugh at him.
“Yep, as ready as I’ll ever be, seeing as how I haven’t ridden a bike in fifteen years.” I make light of it, but I have some reservations about whether I’ll be able to ride a bike again without wiping out. I guess there’s only one way to find out.
“You got this. We’ll ride side by side unless other people come along, then I’ll pull in front of you until the path is clear again.”
I nod at him, mount the bike I’m riding, and start pedaling.
I’m wobbly at first, but it doesn’t take me long to get the hang of it.
Harrison rides behind me for now. I assume he’s doing it to give me time to adjust and gain my balance without him right next to me in my peripheral vision.
When I’m convinced I’m doing okay at this, I allow myself to look around, and I take in the beauty of our surroundings.
We pass lush meadows filled with pretty purple and yellow wildflowers.
When I see red-winged blackbirds and American goldfinches flitting about, I smile, thinking of Mom and her birding.
Maybe I’ll try to get some photos to show her when we stop.
Stretches of the path take us along the bank of the Cuyahoga River.
Harrison pulls up next to me, and we ride side by side.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely. Having this treasure basically in the backyard of Aron Falls and Meadow Creek is amazing. I’m embarrassed I haven’t been here to explore yet.”
“So, you didn’t come with James, then?”
“Huh?” I pause for a few seconds to figure out the context. Then it hits me. “James the engineer? Why would I have come with him?”
“Uh, don’t you remember he offered to bring you here when we dropped those permits off? You said you hadn’t had a chance to explore the national park yet, and he implied he’d bring you here.”
“Oh, my God, he was not.” A burst of laughter escapes me.
“Agree to disagree,” Harrison says, his tone light.
We travel for maybe thirty seconds more before he speaks again. “Wait, you didn’t answer. It’s a no, right? You didn’t come here with him?”
“No, Harrison. I haven’t seen him since that day.”
After that, we ride in silence for a minute or two. This day is off to a great start. I’ve got excellent company, and the scenery is mesmerizing. I know I’m smiling big because my cheeks ache. I can’t remember the last time that happened.
“Look over to our left. There are two blue herons.”
I turn my head, and excitement fills me when I spot the pair. “I’ve never seen one before! Can we pull over and watch them for a few?”
“Of course. I’ll get in front of you and pull off, then you follow my lead.” Harrison moves ahead of me and then chooses a spot and slows, then pulls over smoothly. He’s off his bike before I’ve done anything. So, I apply the brakes.
I don’t want to get too far ahead of where Harrison stands, waiting for me.
So, without thinking, I jerk the bike handles too sharply before I’ve slowed enough.
I swerve off the path and lose control of my balance, now wobbling like crazy.
It all happens so fast, and I’m racing toward the vegetation at the edge of a marsh.
There’s no doubt I’m going down, so I throw out prayers that I don’t land on a pile of snakes or a gang of spiders. I squeeze my eyes shut as I prepare for impact, but it never comes. Instead, a muscled arm wraps around my abdomen at the same time the bike comes to a sudden stop.
When I open my eyelids and turn my head, I come face-to-face with Harrison.
His eyes are bulging, and he’s about three shades paler than usual.
I angle my body toward him, glancing down at his arm that’s encircling my body.
After that, I look for his other hand and find it holding the bike seat in a death grip. That’s how he stopped me.
The first thing that comes to my mind is: damn, that’s hot. The second thing is how close I came to landing in a creepy-crawler haven.
“You saved me from the snakes,” I whisper. I practically dive off the bike and embrace him. “And the spiders.”
“Jesus, you scared the hell out of me.” Harrison’s breathing is shallow and rapid, and it takes several seconds for it to slow to normal.
“I misjudged how to do that,” I deadpan.
A laugh rumbles from his chest. “No shit.”
Five minutes later, we’re sitting in the grass watching the blue herons and the other wildlife, like nothing ever happened. Well, except that Harrison hasn’t stopped touching me.
“I hope I didn’t cause any damage to your bike. They’re pretty top-of-the-line even before the rearview camera and radar system you have going on there, huh?”
“They are, but they’re not mine. And the bike is fine.”
I whip my head toward him. “What? Whose are they?”
Harrison looks at me and grins. “They’re Heath’s. He keeps ‘em at Georgie’s while he’s away. He bought one for himself and one for her, so she’d bike with him. But they’ve only used them maybe four times in two years.”
“Why?” I ask. Harrison turns his gaze back toward the water.
“I think it’s mostly because he’s not here enough.
His main house is in South Carolina, where he plays football.
Otherwise? I suspect he’s looking for something to fill a place in him that feels like something is missing.
He’s always looking for something new and exciting, but he’s yet to find what heals him.
” Harrison turns back to me. “He wasn’t even out of puberty when we lost our dad, and I think that has a lot to do with it. ”
“I’m so sorry. That’s heartbreaking.”
“Yeah. It’s hard to know how he’s really doing with him being so far away. Georgie talks to him several times a week, though, and she keeps us updated on his comings and goings. I’m not sure he realizes just how lucky he is to have her for a best friend.”
“Speaking of Georgie,” I say, “how cool is it that she’s an author? I started one of her books and—”
“You’re reading one of her romance novels? The spicy ones?” Harrison’s pupils dilate, and his gaze drops to my mouth for a second before returning to my eyes.
I chuckle. “Yes. I don’t think she writes in any other genre or niche, so… Anyway, she’s a fantastic writer.”
“Yeah?” Harrison’s eyes get that look, the one he gets right before things turn very sexy.
“Harrison, stop gawking at me like that. It’s not good for our celibacy pact.
” Truthfully, I want to toss the agreement out the damn window, but it’s got a purpose and will help us in the long run.
Plus, I do need to take things slow—like at a glacial pace.
I don’t know if I can afford to let someone into every aspect of my life.
“It’s not my fault—you started talking about reading spicy books, and it’s hot.” I shake my head and roll my eyes at him, feeling my cheeks heat. “Plus, I can still kiss you, right? His voice is rough, and he’s staring at my mouth.
I smile at him. “Yeah, you can definitely kiss me.”
Harrison leans in, threads his hands into my hair on both sides, and brings his mouth to mine.
He peppers me with soft kisses, and when I part my lips, he deepens things.
Over the next several minutes, I get lost in the sensuality of his slow, searching rhythm, and I’m under his spell until my stomach decides now is a good time to roar with a growl—an extremely loud growl.
Sadly, Harrison brings the kiss to an end and rests his forehead against mine.
“Sounds like we might need to get you to the ice cream parlor as soon as possible.” There’s a teasing lilt to his voice. I reluctantly pull away, but I don’t take my eyes off of him.
“Unfortunately, you might be right. Though I’m wondering whether you may have made this ‘ice cream parlor on the path’ up, so I would agree to get on a bike again.”
A deep chuckle rumbles from Harrison’s chest. “All right, I’ll prove it. But before we get back on the bikes, we need to talk about how to stop.”
We spend the next several minutes with Harrison basically giving me a lecture, followed by an oral exam to test my comprehension and memory.
When I convince him I’m prepared, we mount the bikes and ride side by side for another twenty minutes, asking each other random questions like: what’s our favorite color, our best childhood memory, and what were our first pets.
It’s Harrison’s turn to ask a question, and it’ll be the last since the ice cream place is now visible.
“What’s your worst fear?” he asks.
My heart skips a beat.
Not being able to afford to keep my mom where she’s at. Failing her again…
Nope, not going there. Today is about fun, light. I can’t bring myself to tell him all the heavy stuff in my life.
“Bets, you okay?”
I force a smile. “Yeah, sorry, I’m just distracted because our destination is in sight now.” An idea comes to me; a sure way to end the conversation. “Race you there!”
I’m already pedaling as fast as I can and gaining distance on him before I hear his reply coming from behind me. “No!” I don’t slow, and the next thing I hear is a growly, “Damn it!”
Just a few minutes later, I’ve executed a perfect stop. We’ve locked the bikes up on a rack and sat at a table on the open-air deck with our ice cream treats.
“I’m only saying, coffee-flavored ice cream? Ew—that doesn’t even seem like it should be a thing.”
“Says the thirty-year-old woman who ordered ‘Superman’ ice cream.” Harrison lets out a throaty chuckle.
“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it. Do you want a taste?” I hold my cone out for him.
“Uh, yeah. No, thanks. I’ve got a meeting with a client this evening, and I prefer my lips and tongue not to be stained blue.” A playful grin stretches across his face. “Do you want to taste mine?”
I squish my face as tightly as I’m able in exaggerated disgust. “Uh, that would be a hard no.”
“All right then, we’ll just have to agree to disagree about what flavors of ice cream taste good.”
A snuckle escapes me before I can prevent it. Oh well, I guess if we’ll be spending time together, Harrison will hear that somewhat often.
Smirking and with one questioning raised eye, Harrison asks, “What prompted that snort-laugh thing you and Layla won’t tell me the name of?”
“When you said, ‘We’ll have to agree to disagree.’” His expression tells me he’s still uncertain what I mean. “When you said it, the thought popped into my head that I have a feeling we’ll be using the phrase ‘agree to disagree’ quite often.”
Harrison leans forward until he can reach my free hand, and he holds it in his. Then, he places a tender kiss on it, not letting go when he lowers our joined hands to the tabletop.
“Probably,” he says. “Especially if I’m only attempting to take care of you and you continue to be so tenacious.”
My shoulders and jaw tense, and the voice inside me wants to scream, “I can take care of myself.” But I restrain myself and force a smile I don’t feel.
I don’t fool Harrison, and he narrows his eyes. “What did I say wrong? Was it calling you tenacious? I didn’t mean to—”
“No, you did nothing wrong. Sorry—I just had a moment.”
He eyes me warily, worry etched on his face. I’m desperate to return to a few minutes ago when we were them. The version of us that we were that first night, and for most of the day today. But that’s not possible, so I need a distraction.
“My worst fear is…”