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“No, are you crazy? I’m not calling you a reptile. What I mean is that they’re mysterious. I don’t know if they’re gray, blue, or brown. Hell, there’s green and gold in there, too. They change with your mood and the light. They’re beguiling and haunting, and every time I look in your eyes, it’s like discovering something new. You’re like no one I’ve ever met, and the minute that drunk gladiator dared us to get married, it was the first thing I wanted, really wanted, in years.”
There it was. The truth.
Breathless from his tirade, he observed her from across the kitchen, waiting for her to say something or throw something.
It could go either way with Harper.
She plucked another chocolate from the box.
Look out! Incoming bonbon.
But she didn’t lob it at him. No, she gripped the treat in her left hand between her thumb and index finger, then held it in front of her chest as a sexy little smirk curled the corners of her mouth. “And I thought you only married me for my bonbons.”
This damned woman would be the end of him.
With one sassy retort, she brought him back from the brink, back from an emotional overload threatening to tear him apart.
He concentrated on the diamond glinting on her hand. “What the hell happens next? Where do we go from here?”
She drummed her fingers on the counter, then glanced toward the staircase. “First, we make sure we do everything we can for Aria. I want her to be happy while she’s here.”
He hadn’t expected that.
But he should have.
He’d sensed the girls’ connection when he’d observed them playing piano in the garage.
He nodded, regaining his bearings. “She’s what matters the most.”
And if he meant that, really meant that, he had to do what was best for her. He swallowed past the lump in his throat, then peered across the kitchen and eyed the Steinway. “And maybe you could work with her on the neurodivergent learning stuff.”
“I’d love to. And it’s no trouble. It’s what I do with my online students,” she replied, then frowned.
What was that face for?
He took a step toward her. “Is something wrong?”
“I know what to do when it comes to music, but I’m not as well-versed in how to help her with reading and writing. I know what worked for me, but it may be different for her. With school starting soon, we should mention her learning style to her teacher.”
Dammit.
She’d push him. That’s what she did.
“Harper, I’m not sure—”
“Landon,” she said, cutting him off. “If she had asthma and needed an inhaler to breathe, we’d tell the teacher, wouldn’t we? We want her to have every opportunity to succeed, and if, in Aria’s case, that meant highlighters, some learning interventions, and more time to complete assignments, we’d give her that.”
How could he argue with her?
“We would,” he conceded, and despite the unease roiling in his chest, he couldn’t deny that he liked thiswetalk.
“And on the bright side,” Harper continued, resurrecting her devilish smirk, “even if Aria does act up at school, we’ll know that she won’t be the only sassy kid in second grade.”
“How would we know that?”
“She’s assigned to the same class as Phoebe Gale, right?”
He laughed. “She is.”
“That poor teacher. We’ll have to make sure we shower that woman with kindness,” she mused, then glanced at her left hand, and her expression grew pensive.
“What is it?” he asked.
“This next part is important. In fact, it’s imperative.”
“Okay,” he breathed.
Jesus, what was she about to say?
She touched the platinum wedding band. “We have to commit to each other. And it can’t be for show. It has to be for real.”
