11. Harper

Chapter 11

Harper

It took the rest of the day and part of the evening to clear out my house, even with all the help. Wilder and Miles both estimated that it would be two to three months minimum before my house is fully ready. They did admit that I would be able to move back in before that, but if I want to wait for it to be finished, I will be waiting for months.

Miles’s guest room and office are now full of my boxes. Surely, he’s regretting his offer to let me stay here since I’ve all but taken over his house. Titan has taken over one of the big fluffy chairs in the family room and he may be a tiny dog, but he likes a lot of personal territory.

I open the first box to start unpacking. I don’t want to do this. Tears start to gather in my eyes. Why am I letting all of this get to me? I’m always the tough one. Yes, it sucks that my house flooded and that everything in my life has been disrupted, but I have a huge support network. I’m fine. I have Miles St. James. Nothing bad can happen when I have him in my corner.

But what if he wasn’t in my corner anymore? What if we blur these lines between friendship and something more and that lands us firmly in the land of used-to-be friends?

I stand and pace the room for a minute, my unpacking completely forgotten. I need to decide what I want. Do I want to put my friendship with Miles in jeopardy or do I want to stay firmly in the friend zone with him forever? That would mean eventually watching him fall in love with someone else, marry, and have a family. Could I be okay with that? Six months ago, my answer would have been absolutely, that I would love to see it happen. Three months ago, I was hoping he would find someone. I know he wants to settle down like his brothers.

Another thought pops into my head, one I hate myself for having, but what if he’s just romantically thinking about me now because I’m convenient? He’s never expressed this kind of interest before and now I’m here in his house, we get along, we have everything in common… maybe he just wants to settle.

“Gah!” I yell, louder than I intend to.

“You okay?” Miles asks from another room.

“Yes, sorry.” Please don’t come check on me. Please don’t come check on me.

A soft knock on my door dashes my hopes of him letting it go. “Come in.”

Miles walks in looking amazing in jeans, a soft grey T-shirt, and bare feet. When did I start thinking bare feet on men were sexy? He’s carrying a beer in one hand and a glass of white wine in the other.

“I thought you could use this,” he says as he hands me the glass of wine. “It’s been a long day.”

“It sure has.”

“Listen—”

“Hey—”

We both begin talking at the same time.

“You first, Harps.”

“Um, well, I was just thinking about what happened this morning.” My cheeks heat and I can’t quite look him in the eyes. “And again this afternoon. I’m not sure it’s a good idea for us to keep doing that.” Although my body is saying something completely different as he sits next to me on the bed. The man smells so good and radiates a warmth that I crave.

“You’re probably right.”

He uses one finger to tilt my face to look up at his, so I’m no longer able to avoid eye contact. “Yeah.” I am a master of words .

“But there’s a problem, sweetheart.”

“What?” My voice is barely above a whisper and our lips are almost touching. This conversation isn’t going exactly like I thought it would.

“I can’t stop thinking about what your mouth feels like against mine. What it would be like to taste other parts of your gorgeous body and just how much I want to get you naked and underneath me.”

Fuck.

I’m not sure how any woman is supposed to walk away from that. I don’t think my legs would support me at the moment if I tried to stand, he’s turned my whole body to jelly. The butterflies in my tummy are doing a full-on ballet and all I can think is that I want all of that too— damn the consequences.

My head tells me that sleeping with Miles is a mistake, but my heart knows that if I don’t, I will always wonder— what if? I’m someone who always follows my head, since following my heart can only lead to pain, but this time… I’m going to follow my heart.

Miles watches me with intense eyes. Not moving toward or away from me. This is my decision, and he isn’t pressuring me one way or the other. Which also helps me know that I’m making the right decision.

I slowly move toward him and take the beer from his hands. I lean past him and put both his beer and my wine glass, which I’ve barely had two sips from, on the table beside the bed. My breasts brush along his arms and we both suck in a breath. That movement releases a floodgate of passion between the two of us and suddenly I’m in his arms as he stands.

“Where are we going?” I laugh and wrap my arms around his neck.

“Too many boxes and stuff in here. I need room. I’m taking you to my bed,” he growls out, sounding a little like a caveman.

Room? What’s he planning on doing to me that he needs more room than the bed’s surface? A flush runs through my whole body and my panties, which were already wet, are now drenched. I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

Miles gently tosses me into the center of his bed and I lightly bounce. His bed is huge and covered in the softest dove-grey duvet. If I wasn’t so turned on, I could see myself falling right to sleep curled up in this blanket. But no way that’s going to happen now, not when Miles is stripping for me at the side of the bed. I don’t want to even blink, so I don’t miss anything.

He takes off his shirt, revealing his toned and ripped upper body, and then he slowly lowers his pants. I saw him in his boxer briefs this morning, but this is different. His long, hard dick is poking out the top, unable to be contained by the fabric. I reach my hand out to touch him, but quickly pull it back.

“You can touch me, sweetheart. I wish to fuck you would,” he groans.

My hand connects with the hard length of him. My hand slides up and down his hard cock through the cotton fabric of his boxer briefs.

“Harper…” he moans. “Touch me.”

I pull him closer with my hands on his ass, feeling braver with every moan from his lips. Slowly and with great care, I lower the waistband of his underwear. My face is so close to his magnificent cock that it almost brushes my lips when it’s released from its prison. Feeling just a little bit bratty, I slightly stick out my tongue and run it along the head of his penis and then return to taking his boxer briefs off with a laugh.

“Oh, is that how it’s going to be?” he asks with a menacing smile.