Chapter 29

Twenty-Nine

Roc

Ilet my hand hover over the door, hesitating before I knocked. I hadn’t seen Jack since I’d returned from the shoot with Harlowe or since she’d told him that we were involved. I’d wanted us to tell him together, but she said she couldn’t keep anything so important from her parents, and she didn’t want them to read about us in the tabloids first.

So far, the tabloids hadn’t latched onto the juicy gossip of a rising starlet dating her orc bodyguard but only because we’d managed to stay out of sight, but that wouldn’t last forever. As much as I wanted to keep our relationship a secret, Harlowe insisted that she didn’t want to hide me. Step one in that was telling her family. Step two was me joining them for dinner.

I gulped as I lingered on the threshold of the house. I hadn’t been this nervous since I’d stood on Harlowe’s doorstep, startled that the girl opening the door wasn’t a girl anymore.

Finally, I rapped on the wood and stepped back, jumping when the door was flung open. Jack stood on the other side, just as tall as I remembered but with gray in the temples of his short, brown hair. Despite looming over him, my heart hammered in my chest. I might be bigger and stronger, but he possessed something I desperately wanted—approval.

“Jack,” I managed to croak, my voice unsteady.

The man eyed me seriously for a moment before his face broke into a smile. “Come on in, Roc. It’s been too long.”

The breath whooshed from my chest as I entered the house, my nerves still jangling. He looked just like the Jack I’d known for years. Just as friendly. Just as welcoming. Maybe Harlowe hadn’t told him after all.

He thumped a hand on my back as he led me through the foyer and into the open living room. Jazz was playing in the background, and the air held the distinctive aroma of grilling burgers. “I’m glad you could join us. Can I get you a beer?”

Okay, she definitely didn’t tell him. I paused before he could lead me to the sliding glass door that opened onto the back patio and the grill area. “Jack, I think you should know—”

“Harlowe told me.” He gave my back a harder thwack. “I’m not going to say I wasn’t surprised, but she assured me that she was the one who pursued you. Chased you down, is the way she put it.”

My face warmed. It would be a lie to say that I wasn’t a fully invested participant in everything that had happened between us. “Our feelings are mutual.”

Jack smiled. “I’m sure they are.” He shook his head. “Not that I need to know anything more about it.”

I put a hand on my friend’s arm. “I want you to know that I never allowed my feelings to affect my work in protecting her. I would never allow Harlowe to be hurt, and I would never hurt her.”

Jack held my gaze as an understanding passed between us. “I know. Like I said when I called you, there isn’t anyone I trust more than you to protect my daughter.”

The glass door slid open and Harlowe rushed in with a happy yelp as she jumped into my arms. I took a step back as she curled her legs around my waist and kissed me hard. So much for easing her family into the idea of the two of us together.

It was hard to remember my plan of restraining myself around her family when Harlowe’s lips were pressed against mine. When she pulled back and grinned, sliding down my body until her feet hit the floor, she grabbed my hand and tugged me forward. “Come say hi to the rest of the family before my dad decides to steal you for himself.”

I shot Jack an apologetic look as I followed his daughter, but he just shook his head. “Now you understand what I deal with.”

Harlowe’s mother gave me a hug as we walked onto the back patio, and her two little sisters ran up and wrapped their arms around my legs, begging me to walk around with them. Despite Harlowe telling them to stop pestering me, I was happy to walk around the back yard with the two girls clinging to my calves like sloths and giggling until they fell off and rolled around in the grass.

“Jack is thrilled you’re here, Roc,” Harlowe’s mother told me once her younger daughters had run off to play on the wooden swing set. “You can help him balance out all the girl energy.”

“If anyone can, it’s Roc.” Jack had taken up his post at the grill and now wore a red-and-white striped apron over his jeans and green Henley.

“I’m happy to be here.” Despite my initial nervousness, I was glad to be with Harlowe’s family. It had been many years since I’d spent time with them, but it felt like no time at all, as I slipped back into the comfortable and familiar routine of talking with Jack while his wife sipped wine and let him grill dinner.

The only differences were that now Harlowe shared a glass of wine with her mother as they stretched out on lounge chairs on the flagstone patio, watching the younger girls playing. Jack handed me a beer as I stood next to him at the grill, the savory aroma of burger meat making my stomach growl as we talked business.

When Harlowe joined me, linking her fingers in mine as her dad carried the tray of cooked burger patties to the table, she squeezed my hand. “How does it feel to be back?”

My throat was tight as I peered at her. “I feel like part of the family again.”

“You were always part of it.” She leaned into me and rested her head on my chest. “You just forgot.”

I kissed the top of her head as warmth spread through me. “Thank you for reminding me.”

Harlowe tipped her head back, giving me a wicked smile. “The pleasure is all mine.”

A growl hummed in the back of my throat. “I assure you it isn’t.”

“Maybe not.” She lowered her voice. “But that sounds like something we should settle later when we’re back at my place.”

“Or mine.”

She squeezed my hand again. “I love having you here again. It feels so right. You feel so right.”

I knew exactly what she meant. Being together had always been our destiny. It had just taken us a while to find each other again. “I love being here with you and your family. I love you.”

Her pupils flared. “Oh yeah? Well, I love you more.”

Impossible, I thought as my heart squeezed so hard it ached. “I should warn you, now that we’ve found each other again, I have no intention of ever letting you go.”

“Good. I’d hate to have to chase you down again.”

“Food’s ready!” Jack called from the table.

As Harlowe turned to join her family, I pulled her back and whispered in her ear. “I’ll always let you catch me.”

“Well, you can try to catch me,” she teased as she scooted away from me. “But I make no promises.”

“Game on,” I laughed as I followed the woman I adored. “Game on.”