“Always business first.” Charlie rolled her eyes, but it was playful.
“Sorry, it’s great to see you. I didn’t know you were coming back today.” Harper poured the likely over-shaken drink into a glass and placed it in front of a man sitting a few seats away as she said, “Enjoy,” but immediately refocused on Charlie.
“I wasn’t entirely sure. And I wasn’t sure when I was going to get here. It’s been a long-ass thirty hours of work and driving. I wasn’t sure what my plan was…if I was going to drive straight through or if I was going to get a hotel room, and this morning, I thought it might be fun to surprise you. I hope it’s a good surprise.” She smiled sheepishly, as though worried Harper was going to be mad.
“It’s a good surprise. Do you want a little dessert drink to celebrate getting home? You can also just go upstairs and snuggle with Franky if you want. I’m about to make last call, so I won’t be too much longer.”
“If you’re going to be up soon, maybe I could take a small glass of amaretto upstairs with me? The noise in here is a little overstimulating after having been alone in my car for so many hours and at my current level of exhaustion.” Her eyes looked so tired. Harper had a pulling need to be close to her but wantedher to be comfortable too. And knowing she’d be upstairs, snuggling with Franky, made the idea of her leaving the bar bearable.
“Of course. I’ll be up as soon as I can.”
As soon as Charlie was through the door, Harper made last call. Everything inside her was screaming for her to ask Aiden to handle the rest, but she couldn’t do that. There were still too many people sitting at the bar.
Nearly forty minutes later, Harper ground her teeth until they hurt when two people seemed intent on dragging their martinis out until dawn.What. The. Fuck.
“Why don’t you let me close up here?”
She hadn’t noticed Aiden sidle up next to her and tried to pretend she wasn’t startled. “That’s not fair to you.”
“Your girl just got back. Go get her. I don’t have anyone waiting on me, and you gave me the morning off tomorrow, so I’m golden.” He nudged her in the ribs with his elbow. “Plus, with the way you were looking at each other…” He bounced his eyebrows. “What can I say. I’m a romantic.”
“I don’t believe you have a romantic bone in your body.”
“My bone is always romantic.” He laughed, and Harper gagged.
“Gross, Aiden.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. But watching you two together all year? It was really cute. You were two little ice queens slowly thawing each other with little glances, sweet smiles. I mean, I might have pointed out to a couple of men how romantic it was and how I hoped to find my forever person the way you two had. Worked like a charm every time.”
“Wait, you used us to get men to go home with you?” When he nodded, she hit him in the arm with a bar towel. “You really are a dog.”
“At your service, ma’am.” He tipped an imaginary hat. “Nowget out of here.”
When she walked into her apartment, she wasn’t surprised to find Charlie asleep on her couch with Franky curled up in the bend of her knees. She’d left her heels by the door next to a duffel bag and wool coat laid haphazardly across it and had taken off her charcoal gray suit jacket but was otherwise still in the suit she’d been in.
She was apparently sleeping deeply because she didn’t stir when Harper closed the door or took Charlie’s suit jacket from the back of the couch and hung it up. Part of her wanted to let her sleep, but a little piece of her was afraid she would disappear before Harper woke up. She knew it was silly. Charlie wouldn’t have come back if she was planning to run away immediately, but the silly fear took root deep in her, and she sat on the edge of the couch.
Harper ran a finger along her cheek. “Charlie,” she said softly.
Charlie’s eyes blinked open at a glacial pace, revealing those deep brown eyes, but unlike when they’d first met, they no longer seemed full of secrets. Her eyes seemed surprisingly unguarded. A smile crept across her face. “Hey, you. I thought you were a dream for a second.”
“Nope. This is real.”
Charlie pressed her hand against Harper’s, flattening it against her face. “God, I’ve missed you.” She turned into the contact and pressed a kiss against her palm.
Harper’s heart thumped wildly, nearly rattling in her chest. Her emotions warred as they’d been doing for weeks, but the truth came out. “Me too.”
“I know we need to talk, but can we do that in the morning? Can we go to bed? Just to sleep,” Charlie said as though she could hear Harper’s pulse increase impossibly faster. “I’m so tired, and I just want to be in your arms.”
“Yeah,” Harper said. In that moment, it was all she wanted too.
She helped Charlie off the couch and gave her shorts and a T-shirt to sleep in. They brushed their teeth side by side, and despite all the talking they needed to do in the morning, everything felt better in the world when Charlie curled her thighs under Harper’s knees and snugged her head against Harper’s neck.
Charlie had been so exhausted the night before that she could only vaguely remember falling asleep curled against Harper. Waking up as the little spoon, with Harper’s arm wrapped protectively around her torso, was like waking up to find out she was in heaven.
She snuggled back into Harper, wiggling her hips, and Harper’s arm tightened. Charlie gasped when Harper’s hand slipped under the borrowed T-shirt, and her thumb moved back and forth against Charlie’s bare stomach. Heat immediately shot to the juncture between her thighs. She wanted more than anything to lean into the touch and the feelings, but she was certain Harper was still asleep, and they needed to talk before she initiated anything intimate.
They hadn’t talked in weeks, other than by text, and she was terrified that if she started something now, Harper would push her away later, and she would have destroyed anything they could have had. So she slid out of Harper’s embrace and sat up.
