AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Nine
Harper turned off the hose she’d been using to give her organic vegetables a drink, turning then to watch the low slung sports car as it approached. That it was Liam’s car registered long before the joy suffusing her from the inside out did.
What was wrong with her? She should be angry. He was invading her private property, her personal space! A pity it didn’t wipe the smile off her face.
She stalked around the side of her house toward him, swatting at the fly buzzing around her head. She’d never given Liam her address, she’d never even hinted at where she lived. “Yet here he is,” she muttered.
It was amazing what one could find out when money was freely available. She grimaced as she watched the sports car brake to a stop, a cloud of dust billowing over it. Even covered in filth it’d never fully belong to a place like this...just as Liam would never fully belong to a woman like her.
So what was he doing here?
Then he climbed out of his car and all her questions and good intentions fled. He looked like rain on a hot summer’s day, like bare feet dancing on a plush green meadow filled with spring flowers.
She caught herself from running to him and instead used her most haughty voice to state, “It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since I left.”
He peeled his sunglasses off his face, the dark blond bristles on his jaw somehow enhancing his slick, city look. His blue stare caught and held hers. “And yet I miss you already, wildflower.” He cocked his head to the side. “I’d hoped you might be a little happier to see me.”
She looked down at her dirt-stained denim shorts and gray T-shirt, her canvas shoes with the holes in their toes. Compared to his khaki cargo pants and bright white T-shirt, he could have stepped straight off a Milan runway.
She cleared her throat and looked back at him, his gaze now assessing her, as though reading her every thought, her every doubt. She narrowed her eyes. “I fulfilled my part of the contract.”
He threw his sunglasses onto his driver’s seat and shut the door with a thunk. “You did,” he acknowledged. “But did you really think one night was ever going to be enough for us?”
“For us?” she repeated, swallowing past her suddenly dry throat. How many times on her drive home had she nearly turned back and returned to him? She’d lost count. Only self-preservation and a will of iron had seen her drive straight to her place...her future.
It took everything she had to put steel in her voice. “I thought I made it more than apparent when I left you and didn’t look back that there was no us?”
He crossed his arms, his jaw tightening. “You made it more than clear.” His blue eyes that looked back at her were just as steely. “But I hope you’ll at least consider giving us another chance.”
She fisted her hands, her nails breaking the skin of her palms. “Why would you even want a chance with a girl like me?” Damn it, she didn’t want to sound...needy, like she had to have his reassurances just to make her feel worthy of him.
“I think the more obvious question is why I wouldn’t? I did, after all, bid a quarter million on you.”
She lifted her chin. “I never asked you to spend that kind of money on me, though I’m sure my charity would kiss your toes if you asked them to knowing how many more horses they can now save.” But for how long, though? The feed and medicines alone were staggering.
“I’m glad your charity is happy, I really am. But what about our happiness, Harper?”
She blinked at his use of her real name. It was odd how quickly she’d gotten used to his wildflower endearment, how much she enjoyed hearing it from his lips.
He inhaled, then added softly, “All that I ask for now is a conversation.”
She nodded. She hadn’t exactly been gracious to him, not considering he’d done everything right by her. “Then we’d best go inside out of this hot sun.” She stepped toward the cracked pavers that were a pathway to her front door. “This way.”
