Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Harper
S he could hardly believe she was heading back to Cape Wilde. She’d left Portland a few hours earlier in her new car, a secondhand Subaru. With every passing mile, her heart beat faster, and her palms grew sweaty where she gripped the steering wheel.
It felt like forever since she’d last seen Logan.
Three long, long months.
There were meetings with Isla’s record label and with lawyers, accountants and publicists. It had taken Harper a matter of only hours to realize she needed an agent and an assistant of her own.
She’d been run off her feet, and that was before she and Isla got into the recording studio.
After that, all she’d had time for was eating, sleeping and recording.
The days had passed in a blur, one merging into the next until the album had finally been finished.
She and Isla hadn’t had the energy to do more to celebrate other than order takeout and pass out on the sofa watching TV.
But all through it she’d missed Logan. Everything reminded her of him. The songs she had written were woven through with memories of falling in love with him.
She never thought she’d see him again—until last week.
King had told her he’d heard from Logan’s brother Mason. Harper had been making herself a sandwich in the kitchen of the apartment she shared with Isla.
“Oh?” She’d replied, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably. She’d put the sandwich on a plate and moved to sit at the dining table to eat.
“He’s been working himself to death, apparently.”
Her stomach lurched. She pushed her food away, no longer hungry.
“Is he ok? Why? Is Mason making him stop?”
King smirked as he leaned on one of the dining chairs. “That answers what I was going to ask.”
Harper shook her head. “I’m lost. What are you going on about?”
King just smiled. “If you want to see him, go back to Cape Wilde and tell him how you feel.”
Harper chewed her lip. Things were slowing down now that the album was finished, and soon there wouldn’t be anything holding her here. Just endless rounds of meetings, and she could do those by video call.
She hadn’t realized she’d made her decision until her hand was on her cell phone, searching for flights.
She’d packed her things, made some bookings and called Mason. A few days later she was heading back to the east coast.
Back to Logan.
The changes in the months since she’d been there were stunning. The trees that lined the road into Cape Wilde were covered in golden leaves. Harper could see why so many ‘leafers’ came to Maine just to look at the changing colors.
She eased the car around the winding roads, passing through the town and heading out toward Logan’s home.
What would he think when he saw her? How would he react? Would he be happy?
What if Mason and King were wrong? She should have called. It would have been so much easier to call.
Oh god, why didn’t she call?
But what she wanted to say couldn’t be said over the phone. She wanted to see him in person. To smell him, weird as that would sound if she admitted it out loud. She didn’t want a long-distance relationship with anyone, let alone Logan. If she was going to do this, then she was going to do it right.
She’d never told a man she loved him. And she felt he deserved to be told to his face.
She turned the car onto the road to Logan’s house, and before she knew it, she was pulling up next to his truck.
Harper sat with the engine running, half convinced she would pull out and drive away. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it would burst from her chest.
She pursed her lips and switched off the ignition, the engine quietening. Nothing for it now but to face the music.
Of all the upheaval she’d experienced in the past few months, this was by far the most scary. Everything else she could handle.
Her dad turning out to be a complete jerk. Facing her anxiety about singing in public. Getting to know her big sister again, this time without the forced distance between them caused by their dad’s meddling lies.
She found something in Logan she didn’t even know she was looking for. He was like a piece of her heart had slotted into place. Walking away of her own choice hurt, but how much worse would it be if he rejected her?
She’d traveled across the country, packed her whole life up on the hope he’d want her to stay. How was she going to explain that she had a truck arriving with all her things in a week? And what if he...
Harper grabbed her tote from the passenger seat, and opened the car door, stepping into the chill air. Fall in Maine was a hell of a lot colder than in California. She reached back into the car and grabbed her new puffer jacket, the bright pink color making her smile. She pulled it on over her long sleeved henley, doing up the zip and smoothing her hands over denim-clad thighs.
This time she was much better prepared for small-town Maine. Her new flat-soled boots squeaked slightly as she walked to the front door.
Harper bit her lip as she knocked, waiting for a response that didn’t come.
She hadn’t considered that he might not be home. But his truck was parked at the side of the house. She knocked again and the door swung open. She looked around behind her, but it was quiet. No sign of Logan.
“Hello? Logan?” She called, stepping cautiously into the front room.
She wiped her boots on the welcome mat before slowly entering the familiar timber house. It was exactly the same. She ran her fingers over the back of the sofa, remembering the nights she’d sat there curled up with Logan, talking.
The kitchen was clean and tidy, not a dirty dish in sight. She smiled and went to the counter where she’d sat on the stools so many times, sipping the coffee Logan had made for her.
On the middle of the counter sat a small glass vase holding a bouquet of brightly colored flowers. She smiled at the homey touch, and then gasped when she noticed the envelope leaning against the vase with her name written on it.
With hesitant fingers, she reached out and took it into her hands, opening the flap and pulling out a single sheet of paper.
Hi princess. I’m waiting at our favorite place. Logan.
She smiled, the tension she’d felt on the drive easing. Leaving her bag behind, she dashed to the front door and out of the house, running down the path to where she’d written so many of her songs.
Harper didn’t want to waste a single moment more being apart from the man she’d grown to love with all her heart.
Puffing slightly, she rounded the last bend and dashed into the clearing, pulling up sharply.
“Oh my god,” she breathed, taking in what Logan had done.
The old couch had been removed, replaced with a daybed piled high with blankets and cushions. A large rug was spread over the floor, and two huge soft-looking floor cushions were in the middle of the rug.
It was warm and welcoming and absolutely perfect.
She slowly approached, smiling when she saw the picnic basket and wine in an ice bucket.
“I wasn’t sure you’d come.”
She whirled at the sound of Logan’s familiar voice. He’d been standing to one side where she hadn’t seen him as she approached. He slowly walked toward her as if afraid of startling a wild animal.
Her eyes trailed up his body, from his feet encased in those sturdy leather boots, to his muscular legs wrapped in worn denim, to the cable-knit sweater that was snug across his shoulders and chest. He wasn’t wearing his usual ball cap, for once, and his short beard was neatly trimmed.
He looked good.
He looked spectacular .
“I wasn’t sure you’d want to see me,” she said.
Logan’s eyes sought hers. “Princess, I love you. I’m so sorry you had reason to doubt how I felt.”
Harper swallowed past the thick feeling in her throat, her eyes filling with tears of relief. Then she was running toward Logan as he strode toward her, gathering her into his arms and lifting her off her feet.
She squealed, her arms snaking around his neck to hold on, her hair flying out behind her as he spun her again before gently lowering her to her feet. She threw her head back and laughed.
He loved her. He really loved her.
“I hope you at least feel something toward me?—”
Her eyes snapped to his. “I love you. It’s been really shit without you.”
Logan grinned, his eyes dancing. “Tell me about it.”
She smiled. “Later. There’s something else I want to do first.”
He quirked a brow. “Oh?”
Her lips twitched as she stood on her toes to press her lips to his. Logan’s arms tightened around her, sliding down her back to cup her backside. He lifted her up and carried her the short distance to the daybed.
He lowered her to the mattress and they broke apart, Harper giggling and Logan groaning as he gripped his cock through his jeans. “Jesus, woman. The things you do to me.”
Harper bit her lip and gave him what she hoped was a sexy glance from under her lashes. “Can I do more things to you?”
He shook his head and smiled. “Not yet. Not until I do to you what I’ve been dreaming about for months.”
Harper slowly unzipped her puffer jacket, thankful she had unbuttoned the top of the henley to show her cleavage, when Logan’s eyes dropped to her chest. She pulled her arms free of the garment and leaned back on her hands.
“And what’s that?” She said with a smirk.
Logan bent to undo the laces of her boots, tugging first one off then the other and putting them to one side. He slid his hands slowly up her legs from her ankles to her hips, his eyes never leaving hers. He moved forwards on his knees to kneel between her splayed legs, his hot gaze staring up at her as he licked his lower lip.
“I’m going to undress you, worshipping every bit of your beautiful body as I do.”
Harper bit her lip, her breath coming faster and her nipples pebbling at his words.
“And I’m going to take my time so you are soaking wet by the time you’re naked.”
She moaned, giving up playing at being a temptress as his words washed over her. She had missed him so much. She’d missed this.
How had she ever doubted he’d loved her?
His hands found the waistband of her jeans and undid the button, slowly sliding the zipper down. Her black, lacy underwear came into view, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
“Oh, that is a nice surprise.” He bent his head to kiss her through the lace of her panties.
She shivered and lifted her hips so he could tug her jeans down her thighs and then pulled her top over her head.
Logan growled, his eyes hot as he took in Harper in her matching black lace underwear.
“Fuck, princess. I’ve missed you so much. Look at you.”
He dropped his head to kiss the dimpled skin of her thighs, tugging her jeans to her ankles and helping her kick them free.
Sitting there in her socks and underwear, the cool fall air bringing goosebumps to her skin, she’d never felt more beautiful in her life.
Who needed ballgowns when you had Logan West staring at you as if you were the only woman in the world?