Chapter 15 Tucker
TUCKER
Iwas shocked when Harper suggested drinks, but looking at her now, tripping over her own feet in an attempt to learn to line dance while tipsy, this was absolutely a fine idea.
I pulled her into me and put my lips close to her ear, “Sugar, would you prefer to ride the bull?”
Her eyes widened in surprise. She spoke loudly, “I think I’ll need another drink before I do any riding.
” A hand flew over her mouth, and she erupted in laughter.
Shit. I could listen to that sound forever.
“That’s not what I meant. I wouldn’t need another drink to ride you!
I’d do that sober. The bull is a different story, though. ”
I felt a heat creep up the back of my neck. I was going to assume this was the booze talking. That Long Island had a ton of alcohol in it, but I couldn’t help imagine her riding my hard, aching cock. Her thick thighs straddling my muscular ones.
I shook the thought from my head and discreetly adjusted my hardening dick in my jeans.
I leaned down to the side of her face so she could hear me.
With her being more than a foot shorter than me, I felt that if we stayed in this loud bar, my back would be the one to suffer.
“Honey, I’m not sure you need another drink.
Maybe some fresh air would do you good. You want to get out of here?
” I really was hoping she wasn’t thinking I wanted to take her somewhere to fuck.
I mean, I did, but I was a gentleman. That would only happen on her terms while she was sober.
“Sure!” She was beaming up at me like I hung the stars.
I laced our fingers together for the second time tonight and walked her up to the bar to pay our tab, then back out to my truck.
Lifting her effortlessly back into my truck, I shut her door once she was situated.
I took a second before getting back into the truck to think.
I felt like when I was around her, I couldn’t do that.
Anytime I saw her, my brain short-circuited.
Harper was truly a work of art. She was the prettiest woman I had ever known in my almost forty years of life.
Being around her always reminded me of a sunset.
She was something you wanted to stare at because there was so much to look at.
Being with her made me not want to blink for fear of missing out on something.
I loved the way her bright pink hair looked against the contrast of her rich brown skin, she was breathtaking.
I loved the cute little outfits she wore during the summer when we were fixin’ up her place.
The massive shirts and tiny shorts worked well for her.
She was curvy, and her ass looked amazing in the jeans she was wearing tonight.
But his whole time, I thought she was with Cameron Callahan, especially after sending me to his house to pick her up.
I saw him staring at us through the window.
Did he think it was one-way glass? I had done some work for Cam some odd years ago, but I assumed he still remembered me from us working together to get Harper’s home in order.
I thought I should let Harper know he saw us, just in case it made things weird when she got back over there.
I climbed into my truck. Fuck, I was getting too old for this shit. I think it was time to trade in my monster truck for something smaller.
“You, okay? It took you a pretty long time to get to the other side of the car.” Her expression was unreadable, but I think sitting alone sobered her up a bit.
“I’m okay. But there’s actually something I need to ask you.” I sighed and turned my body toward her. She looked at me with an eyebrow raised. “Look, I know we aren’t anything and not sure if this will go any further, but I have to know… You and Cam, is there something there?”
She chewed her lip for a few seconds and sighed. In a hushed tone, she spoke three words: “I don’t know.”
I was officially confused. “Sorry, Sugar, you’re going to have to elaborate. How do you not know? I saw him looking at us after we kissed, and when I backed out of the driveway.” I wasn’t mad in the slightest or jealous, but I didn’t want to be in the middle of anything either.
She huffed and took out her phone. She unlocked it and handed it to me. The text she showed me was from Cam, and it read: I am sorry I took so long to do something about us. He’s a lucky man. You deserve a great night after everything. Have some fun tonight, Shortcake.
I handed her phone back slowly. “I think I’m still confused. What’s going on, Harper?”
And with that, the word vomit came. “So, I have had a crush on him for years, and apparently, he felt the same but didn't say anything about it. Our unresolved feelings were hidden behind jokes and sarcasm until one morning, a little over a year ago, he made a comment, and I kissed him. After he told me that wasn’t the end of things, but never acted on it again.” She took a deep breath and continued.
“Then the house shit happened, and Wren told me I could stay there. He told me the kiss was a mistake and meant nothing. And truthfully, that hurt me so deeply. After waiting a year for him and having the worst day of my life, he says that. He heard me crying later that night, and we ended up talking and doing some other stuff. Cam told me it would be different this time, and it wasn’t.
He didn't want me until he saw me with you. So, no. There’s nothing between us. ”
I nodded in understanding. “Do you want something between you two?”
She laughed uneasily, “Honestly, Tucker? I’m tired of waiting, so I don’t know.
What I do know is I like being here with you.
” She rested a hand on my thigh, giving it a light squeeze.
Her brown eyes met mine, and my breath caught in my chest. She was truly something of beauty.
The dim light streaming from the bar through my window caused shadows to dance across her face.
Her full lips tugged into a smile. “What? Is there something on my face?”
I smiled, looking down at where her hand was on my thigh.
I covered her small hand with my larger one and pulled it up to my lips.
After I pressed a chaste kiss to the back of her hand, I spoke my truths.
“Darlin’, I can’t tell you how long I have waited to take you out.
I didn’t think it would be professional for me to ask, and now I understand why you didn’t ask sooner.
” I let out a small sigh and intertwined my fingers with hers.
“I would love to take you out on a proper date. And I know you have feelings for Cam, but I need you to know I am fine with that. I truly believe we are capable of loving more than one person at a time.” Her eyes widened.
I let out a soft chuckle at her surprise.
“I am polyamorous. After years of relationships and figuring out what I wanted, I can honestly say that’s who I am.
I have been in a few polyamorous relationships, and that's where I was the happiest.” I didn’t know how she was going to respond to this, but I needed to be honest with her and with myself.
Her grin on her face grew slowly until she was beaming ear to ear.
“Really? I am happy you told me. It must feel really good to be honest with yourself. I totally agree that humans are capable of loving two partners at the same time. I’ve never been in a polyam relationship, but I definitely would consider it.”
I couldn’t help myself, I reached a hand to her face and said, “I’d really love to get to know you better, Miss Harper.” Her eyes glimmered in the shadows.
“I’d love that, Mr. Hayes.”
And with that, I closed the space between us, kissing her like my life depended on it.
When I pulled away, she was breathless. I smiled as her blush deepened. “Let me take you home, Sugar. It’s getting late.” And then, I drove Harper back to the Callahans’.
Truthfully, this girl already had me wrapped around her finger.
I remember getting a call from Reed asking if I was still a contractor.
He let me know his little sister needed help fixin’ up an old place, but I didn’t expect to meet her.
I remember my heart skipping a beat when I saw her for the first time.
She was wearing an old T-shirt about forty sizes too big for her.
The front was tucked into the waistband of biker shorts that perfectly hugged her thick thighs.
Her hair was pin-straight with the cutest butterfly clips in it, similar to the ones she was wearing tonight.
Her first sentence to me was, “Are you a cowboy or a contractor?”
I responded, “Well, ma’am, both.”
Then she went off on me about calling her ma’am, and I’ve been taken with her since.
* * *
We pulled into her driveway a little before one in the morning.
“Harper,” I said, shifting my truck into park. “I really would love to do something with you again.”
A blush crept up onto her cheeks. “That would be great. I am also very excited for us to work together on my currently shitty house.”
My stomach dropped. How could I forget that’s the reason we went out? “I’m so sorry I can’t make it any cheaper, Harper. It’s a big job with a lot of men, but if I were able to do it myself, I wouldn’t charge you.”
“Hush. I didn’t go out with you tonight for a discount.” She laughed loudly. “I’ll wire you five thousand and continue to pay you on a plan, if that’s okay.”
I smiled. It was reassuring that she was here tonight with me because she wanted to be. “Whatever works for you will work for me, darlin’.”
She unbuckled her seat belt, indicating she was ready to get out.
I unbuckled mine and rushed out of the truck to help her out.
It’s definitely time to get a smaller truck.
I opened her door, took her purse, and helped her down.
We walked arm in arm to the porch. When we got to the door, she turned to me and met my gaze.
“Tuck, tonight was really nice. I hope we can do something again soon.” She was rocking from heel to toe all of a sudden, seeming nervous.
“I’d love that, Sugar. I hope you get some sleep tonight.
Don’t worry about anything, okay.” I took a step forward, resting a large hand on her shoulder.
She peered up at me, and I pulled her into a hug.
Even though she was a foot shorter than I, I caught her scent in the fall breeze.
She smelled like strawberries and vanilla.
I craved her. I was hoping she couldn’t feel my hardening cock against her stomach, but I knew the way she took a small step back, she definitely could.
I pulled my arms from around her, dropping one down to grasp her hand. I used the other to tilt her face up to mine. On instinct, she closed her eyes, and she moved up to stand on her tiptoes. I closed the distance to kiss her.
And that’s when the door opened.
Cam stood in the doorway, just staring. His expression was unreadable.
He opened the door and walked outside barefoot.
Cameron had a natural beauty as a man. He was fit, tall, muscular, and covered in large tattoos.
His hair was a tad shorter than mine, falling onto his shoulders.
It was ginger or maybe auburn. It was the type of orange that reminded me of when the leaves turned during fall.
His eyes were an unreadable icy blue. He was shirtless, showing off his large chest tattoo.
His plaid pajama pants clung low to his hips.
The thin fabric left nothing to surprise.
Dude was packin’. And hard? I caught myself staring and trailed my eyes back up his abs to his eyes.
My hand was still holding Harper’s, and a finger pressed beneath her chin. I glanced back at her, dropping my hands. She looked pissed. If her eyes could shoot fire, I think the entire world would be in flames.
She spoke through gritted teeth, “Cameron.”
He gave her a sheepish grin, scratching at the back of his head, “Hey, Shortcake.”
I glanced between the two of them. The nickname from the text was starting to make sense. “Because of her hair?”
Cam erupted into laughter, “Oh my God, yeah! No one ever gets it!” He walked over with an outstretched hand. I was about to shake the hand of a man with a now softening boner, while none of us acknowledged said boner. I shook his hand with a smile on my face.
“You guys comin’ in? I can rewind my movie.” Cam threw a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the house.
Harper was stunned. Her mouth moved like a fish. She looked from me to him, back to me. I leaned in close to Harper while keeping my voice very low, “This is the part where he kills us, right?”
She couldn’t hold back her laughter. Hearing her laugh warmed my heart.
Fuck it. “Let me go turn off my truck, and then I’ll be in.”