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Harlow heard the shower turn on and she sunk onto the sofa, defeated. “How am I going to change his mind?” she whispered to herself. Hearing that he was interested in her—that he found her beautiful made her heart race. But then, he so easily walked away and hid from her again, that made her furious. She was done letting Ryker push her away. Harlow was done letting him hide from her.
She turned off all of the lights, made sure that the doors were locked, and made her way up to the bathroom. She was going to be brave, even if he rejected her again, she had to try.
Harlow stripped in the hallway and put her hand on the knob to go into the bathroom. She hesitated for only a minute and then took a deep breath, holding it in and then exhaling. She was as ready as she’d ever be—there was no turning back now. She walked into the steam-filled bathroom and shut the door as Ryker peaked his head out to see what was going on.
“I see you still don’t lock the door,” she teased. She wanted to cover herself with the way that he looked her over, but it was too late for that. She’d made her mind up and now, it was going to be sink or swim time. Harlow stood boldly in front of him, letting his eyes look her over and when he looked back up at her, he smiled—actually smiled. She hadn’t seen him do that often, especially around her, and Harlow had to admit, it was nice.
“You have a nice smile,” she almost whispered.
“Come here, Harlow,” he ordered. She stepped closer to the tub, almost afraid of what he’d do next to her. “Closer,” he said. She took two more steps closer, putting her face to face with him. God, he was beautiful. His long, dark hair was wet and pushed back from his face. His piercing blue eyes seemed as if they’d be able to look right through her. And his body—well, that looked like it was chiseled by God himself and then given ink in all the right places. She wanted to trace every one of his tattoos with her tongue.
“You keep looking at me like that and this will be over fast, baby,” he warned.
“You’re beautiful,” she whispered, reaching for him. Ryker grabbed her hand into his own, stopping it from making contact with his chest.
“We need some ground rules,” he insisted.
“Rules?” she questioned. “We’re both adults here, Ryker.”
“Right, but I’m not in this for a quick fuck. Once you step into this shower, you’ll belong to me. Are you sure that you’re ready for that, Harlow?” he asked.
“I am,” she said, staring him down. “Are you ready to stop running from me and saying that I’m too young for you?” she asked.
“You’re way too young for me, but I don’t give a fuck anymore,” he said. She smiled and stepped into the shower, her body brushing his own.
Ryker pushed her back into the spray of water and pushed her wet hair from her face. As soon as he gasped, she knew that he had found her secret. There would be no more hiding now and that scared the hell out of her.
“He did that to you?” Ryker asked, he gently ran his thumb down her scarred cheek, and she tried to pull away from his touch. She hated that her ex left her marked for life and there was nothing that she could do about it. The plastic surgeons couldn’t promise her that they’d be able to fix her face, even if she had the money to pay their hefty bills, so she was stuck with the scars left from the kitchen knife that he used to carve into her face.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Ryker breathed.
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” she said. “You didn’t do this to me.”
“I know, but I hate that this happened to you,” he said.
“I told you that we were high school sweethearts and then, I got pregnant with Iris. He asked me to marry him, and I foolishly agreed. I was young, scared, and well, stupid.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Ryker said. “You had to be scared out of your mind.”
“Yeah, I was,” she admitted. “So, I married him and had Iris. We got a little apartment and Craig made enough money that I could stay at home with her. I was happy for a while, but apparently, Craig wasn’t. He started drinking and staying out all night. Finally, I told him that I had enough and that I wanted a divorce.”
“I’m guessing that he didn’t take that very well,” Ryker said.
“No,” Harlow admitted, “he didn’t. He told me that I wasn’t taking Iris and leaving. He said that if he couldn’t have me, no one would. That’s when I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife from the block. Craig overpowered me and took it from me. In our struggle, he sliced the left side of my face open and left me with this,” she whispered. She cupped her cheek and Ryker covered her hand with his own. “I know that it’s not pretty, but when I look at it now, I don’t see an ugly scar, I see a survivor.”
“You’re incredible,” he whispered. “Tell me that your asshole ex is in prison for a damn long time for what he did to you.”
“He is,” she said, “for five years.”
“That’s all he got?” Ryker asked.
“Yes,” she said. “At first, I was upset that he didn’t get longer, but then, my lawyer told me that I should be pleased that they put him away at all. He could have gotten probation.”
“No fucking way,” Ryker growled. “It’s bad enough that he’ll be out in less than five years now.”
“Yeah, with good behavior, he’ll be out in just a few more years. I’m not sure what Iris and I will do then. It’s part of the reason why I bought the house next door to my mother. I knew that I’d need her help and well, having her close made me feel a bit better. I’d be there if she needed me, and vice versa.”
