Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
BLAKE
“ A re you hungry?” Harper kisses my cheek and rubs her hands over my chest, over my sweatshirt. We’re fresh from a hot shower, dressed, and my stomach growls, answering her question. Her eyebrow shoots up. “That’s a yes.”
“I could eat.” I lean into where she’s sitting on the bathroom vanity and kiss her delectable lips. “What do you want for dinner? I can cook, or we can go out. Whatever you want.”
“I really want Sage and Salt.” She bats her eyelashes at me and bites her lower lip, and Christ, I can’t say no to her.
Here’s hoping Brooks doesn’t find out and kick my ass.
“Then that’s where we’ll go.” After kissing her once more, I take her by the hips and lift her off the vanity. We grab our things and head downtown. It’s still raining its ass off, and I haven’t taken the time to truly process everything that Harper told me on the hike .
I want to burn her ex to the fucking ground.
I don’t understand how anyone could be so careless with her.
So intentionally cruel. She’s one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life.
She’s so fucking brave, upending her whole life to get away from a monster.
She’s loyal to her family and loves them all unconditionally.
I have the utmost respect for her work ethic and how compassionate she is with her patients. She’s so damn sweet. So kind.
“You’re quiet,” she says from the passenger seat, and I reach over to put my hand on her thigh.
“I’m fine, sweetheart. Hungry.”
“Are you a bitch when you’re hangry, too?” She smiles over at me, and it makes me laugh.
“Aren’t we all?” I snag a parking spot, and Harper doesn’t wait for me to get her door. She pushes out and meets me on the covered sidewalk. “You didn’t wait.”
“It’s raining,” she reminds me. “You don’t need to get wet again.”
I pull her against me and kiss her forehead. “Always wait for me.”
Leading her into the restaurant, I press my hand to the small of her back and take it all in.
Way to go, Jules.
This place is beautiful. It looks like something out of a farmhouse magazine, with white shiplapped walls, hanging green plants, and black trim. The menu is a giant black chalkboard behind a counter where you place your order, and it smells fucking great .
“I love it here,” Harper says, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. “The fajitas are to die for.”
“Good to know.” When we get to the front and Juliet looks up at us, every muscle in my body stiffens.
You hurt my brother.
She hurt all of us.
“Hey,” she says and blinks furiously. I’m sure this isn’t easy for her either.
I look a lot like my oldest brother. I haven’t seen Jules in person since she moved back to Bitterroot Valley.
I know that Billie and Beckett have both seen her.
Juliet goes into the bookstore often, and Beck sells her all of her dairy products.
But I haven’t laid eyes on her in fifteen years.
“Hey, girl,” Harper says, oblivious to the turmoil raging in my gut. “This is Blake.” Harper weaves her arm through mine and leans her head on my biceps. “He hasn’t been in yet, but I’ve been singing your praises.”
Jules nods and smiles at me. It’s genuine.
“We know each other,” I reply, nodding at Juliet. “How are you, Jules?”
Her lips fold in for a second, and she forces another smile. “I’m doing well, thanks. Welcome in.”
“It’s a great spot,” I tell her, meaning it. “I hope you kill it.”
She clears her throat, then sucks in a breath. “What can I get you?”
Harper has gone quiet, and her gaze bounces back and forth between us. Her eyes are narrowed just slightly as if she’s trying to solve a puzzle.
One that I’ll have to put together for her later .
Once we’ve ordered our meals and I’ve paid, Harper and I choose a table by the windows. I reach across to take her hands, but she pulls out of my reach.
“Don’t fucking do that.” I shake my head at her, but she licks her lips and still won’t let me touch her.
“Did I just really fuck up?” Her brows are pulled together in a frown.
“Yes. You pulled away from me, and I’m not okay with that.”
“The vibe back there was thick with awkwardness,” she says, shaking her head. “Christ, Blake, you should have warned me.”
“There’s nothing to warn you about.”
“I’d like to know if you and Juliet?—”
“No.” I push my hands through my hair and look Harper dead in the eyes. “No, she’s Brooks’s ex. And there’s a lot of history there, but I’m not the key player in that drama.”
She seems to deflate with relief. “Thank God. I mean, I know there are women out there who you do have a past with, but I love it here. I don’t want it to be awkward because you and the owner used to bang.”
I snort out a laugh at that and then wince. “God, no. She was like a sister to me at one time.”
Her eyebrows climb in surprise, and she folds her arms, leaning her elbows on the table. “What happened?”
Just then, one of Juliet’s employees places our meals in front of us.
“Enjoy,” she says with a smile and walks away.
I take in the fajitas that I got thanks to Harper’s recommendation and feel even more pride. “This looks so damn good.”
“So good,” she confirms around a bite of her own dinner.
“Jules and Brooks were a couple all through high school and college. They were young, but it was serious. We all just assumed they’d end up married one day.”
Harper pauses and sets her fork down, frowning at me. “What happened?” she asks again.
“A lot happened.” I take a bite of my food and think about how much I should tell her.
It’s not my story to share, and it’s something that Brooks will absolutely not talk about.
“There was some betrayal, and I suspect some misunderstandings, although Brooks never told us everything that went down. When all was said and done, they were finished, and Juliet left town.”
“She just left ?” Harper asks, her head tilted to the side. “It must have been a lot of shit that went down.”
“I’m sure it was, but none of us knows the whole story.
Only the two of them know everything. What I do know is that Brooks was never the same.
It truly broke his heart. He withdrew from us for a while until the family basically forced him to let us back in.
But he refuses to speak of her, and no matter how many times we ask him to tell us what happened, he clams up and leaves. It’s not open for discussion.”
Harper shakes her head sadly. “That’s really sad. I’m sorry to hear that. Is that why you haven’t been in here before?”
I look around and notice that Juliet is watching us. When my eyes catch hers, she turns away to wipe down a countertop.
“Yeah, that’s why. I loved her as much as I love my own sister. She was always around. She and my brother were attached at the hip for the better part of a decade. So yeah, I’ve avoided this place.”
“I’m sorry.” My girl reaches across the table and slides her palm against mine, holding on tight. “If I’d known, we could have gone somewhere else.”
“You love it here.”
“Blake, you don’t have to be uncomfortable just because I like the food here. I can come alone.”
“I’m fine.” I give her hand a squeeze. “How’s your ravioli?”
“Fucking delicious. You’d never know that it’s gluten-free. Here.” She holds her fork up to my mouth, and I take the bite from her.
“Fuck, that’s good.”
“Right? So good. We can do takeout from now on if it makes you more comfortable.”
“I’ll be just fine, sugar. Don’t worry about me.”
She tips her head to the side. “I’ll worry about you because I care about you. But I believe you if you say you’re okay. Because I just fell head over heels for this ravioli.”
And I’ve fallen head over heels for you.
“Yes, right there.” She lifts her hips beneath me and turns her head to bite my arm as I move in and out of her at an easy, steady pace.
Her pussy hugs me so fucking perfectly that I can’t help but question if it’s real.
It’s early as fuck, the sun isn’t even thinking of coming up yet, but I had to have her one last time before I take her home.
Because I’ll never get enough of this incredible woman.
“Your body was made for me,” I whisper into her ear. It’s so quiet, so dark, it’s like we’re in our own cocoon, wrapped up in each other. “So fucking perfect.”
She moans and lifts her leg higher on my hip, opening herself up to me more, and I press my hand to the back of her thigh as I start to push faster. A little harder.
I can’t help myself.
“Just like that,” she whispers. “God yes, just like that.”
“Come for me, baby.” I lick my thumb, then press it to her clit, and she squeezes her muscles so tight, she’s fucking strangling me. “Jesus, I’m going with you. Fuck, Harper.”
She grips onto my ass, her nails biting, and that’s all I can take. I rock into her as the orgasm works down my spine, through my balls, and I coat her pussy in my cum. Her back bows, her muscles tighten, and with a low moan, she comes with me.
Burying my face in her neck, I breathe her in.
“Good morning,” she murmurs against my shoulder and presses a sweet kiss there.
“Morning.” I roll us to the side so I can hug her to me but not crush her. “I don’t want our two days to be over.”
She wraps her arms around me and hugs me back. “I don’t either. Let’s quit our jobs and stay right here.”
I grin against her forehead. “Okay. I’ll make some calls.”
“I mean, I can survive in a tent. We could probably pitch it on your family’s property and be fine.”
I chuckle and roll again so she’s on top of me, and with my arms wrapped around her shoulders, I hug her close. She nuzzles her face against my chest.
“We could grow food and sell it in the summer,” I suggest.
“Oh, good idea. Except I have a black thumb and don’t love the dirt.”
“Okay, I’ll grow, and you sell.”
She nods. “Except I hate people. We have to think of something else.”
“I hate to break it to you, sugar, but I think we have to keep our jobs.”