CHAPTER 18
Special K
Harper keeps trying to explain why she’s here at Yosemite Ranch. “Back then, there was—”
“Save it.”
“I now understand the full story, and I—”
“You need to leave.”
“Kevin, I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry for my actions. You need to know that.”
There’s a deep discomfort in hearing my name come out of her mouth.
It makes me feel dirty, like she assumes she still has a right to that level of intimacy when she does not.
It also makes me feel vulnerable, if I’m completely honest with myself.
Like she’s luring me into a state of relaxation so she can go in for the kill.
“Too late,” I say.
“I see you’re still a real chatterbox.” She smiles and reveals all of her perfect, pearly whites. That killer smile is framed by precisely glossed lips, which means she freshened her makeup before she drove onto Yosemite Ranch. Whatever she’s up to, it’s being staged for my benefit.
I used to be a sucker for her carefully crafted beauty. Now it just turns my stomach.
“I see you remain unworthy of my time,” I snap back at her. “Drive safe.”
That hurts her. I can tell. She wasn’t expecting any pushback from me. She thought I was still her Kevin to do with as she pleases. Wrapped around her little finger. Believing all her lies, especially the one where she claimed she loved me.
That Kevin is dead and buried.
I killed him and buried him, so I should know.
As far as I’m concerned, this little talk is over. I start walking to Dad’s. She’s behind me, her footsteps much slower than mine.
“I only wanted to apologize.”
“Mission accomplished. Sayonara.”
And that’s when it hits me. The real reason she’s shown up without notice, seemingly out of nowhere.
Harper must be up for a promotion. If her clearance needs to be updated, then Naval investigators might reach out to me. We were a couple for nearly two years, and long-term relationships are always fair game for scrutiny. It’s standard.
So, in her mind, I’m a loose end that needs tying off before someone contacts me.
It could be more than that, too. She could be here to make a deal with me, one that carries just a hint of threat.
I don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know what she might hold over my head.
If I refrain from telling the clearance investigators that she left me high and dry, then she won’t let it slip to my family that I was in the brig for attempted murder.
She thinks she’s got me over a barrel, then.
That’s why she’s made the trip out here. She wants to show me how easy it is for her to reach my family. She may have a point, since all of them, except for Cal, believe Harper is the one true love of my life.
She knows how much my family means to me, and how tight we are. She knows that losing their respect is the one thing I could never recover from.
This whole thing is low. Even for her.
“Don’t worry yourself, Harper,” I tell her, still walking at a good clip back to her car. “If I’m asked, I’ll say we broke up because of the distance, which is totally truthful since you were nowhere near the woman I thought you were.”
Her footfalls slow to a stop, but I keep walking.
I want her gone. I want her to disappear. I want her to never have existed, but I know that’s impossible. At this point I’d be happy simply watching her drive away, assured that I’ll never have to see her again. Never hear her name.
It would be wonderful to put a period at the end of this miserable sentence. It would be wonderful to finally heal.
Suddenly, my mind’s eye is flooded with images of Boots. It’s a relief to see her instead of Harper. Boots is a stranger. I don’t even know her name. But she pleases me.
She’s incredibly pleasing.
And not only to the eye. She’s got a sense of humor. I enjoy our conversations. She’s smart. And I want more of her. More conversation. More kissing.
That kiss was off the charts. The way she tasted. Her scent. The feel of her outrageous curves against me. That kiss was rocket fuel to my body and soul.
That’s what I want more of. I’ve been itching all day to get back up to the ridge. Harper’s fucked that all up, since my brothers will now be all over me like sauce on ribs, trying to get the lowdown on why she’s here. And if we’re getting back together.
I literally shudder at the thought.
I hear Harper’s shoes on the path as she starts walking again.
We’re halfway back to her car, and I’m counting the footsteps, eager to see the back of her.
But it’s not meant to be. Evander and Phoebe are coming up the lane in our direction.
Evander cocks an eyebrow at me, and Phoebe looks concerned.
Harper catches up to me, just as Phoebe decides to ramp up her hospitality. I toss Evander a look to stop it, but it’s too late.
“Why don’t you stay with us tonight?” Phoebe offers my ex.
It’s a natural inclination for Phoebe to be sweet and kind. She has no clue how little Harper deserves either. Evander offers me a barely detectable nod of his head in solidarity with me. He may not know why Harper and I broke up, but he can tell I want nothing to do with her or why we broke up
“That’s incredibly generous,” Harper says.
I expect her to finish her statement with a polite, but I really should be going or something similar, because she really does need to go. But Harper surprises me, and not for the better.
“Thank you.” I hear it come out of her mouth, and I turn to her to make sure she really just said that. What the ever-loving fuck? Why would she agree to stay? How far is she going to push this thing?
“I’ll make up the guest room for you,” Phoebe says, and Evander and I watch them walk off together like the fast friends they’ve just become.
“Sorry,” Evander tells me. “Phoebe insisted. She always sees the best in people and goes out of her way to help.”
“Shit.”
“What the fuck’s Harper doing here?” Evander asks me.
“No idea.”
“She wasn’t happy to see me in London, I know that for damn sure. And she gave no indication that she missed the MacLaines. I think I made her nervous.”
“Could be.”
“I was under the impression it was a crash-and-burn ending between you two.”
“Yeah.”
“Then why is she…?”
“Gotta go,” I say, cutting him off. I don’t want to talk about Harper. Or think about her. Or look at her.
I double-time it to my house and once I’m inside, I lock my front door. It’s the first time I’ve ever done that.
An hour later, I’m in my kitchen, drinking beer from a bottle over the sink. I hear someone try the front door but stop when it’s obvious it’s locked. Then, there’s a soft, tentative knock, which I ignore. Since it could be Harper.
Five minutes later, Cal’s face appears at my kitchen window. I figure I better open the sash before he decides to blow it open with C-4.
“Is she up for promotion?” he asks.
“Probably.”
He shakes his head. “Damn. She’s a piece of work. Let me know if I can do anything.”
And then he’s gone, slipping into the woods and out of sight. I spill the rest of the beer down the sink and toss the bottle in the recycling bin. I know where I want to go, where I should go. But everyone’s got their eye on me right now. Especially Harper.
Something tells me that it’s my job to keep Harper away from Boots. I can’t put my finger on why, exactly, just that it is.