Take a Chance

Grant

All I wanted to do was get Harlow naked and back in that bed. But I was behind on work and we both needed to leave the room and get this Nan shit over with.

I let Harlow get dressed while I cleaned up in the bathroom. I couldn’t watch her dress because we’d end up back in bed. Screw work. Once we were both dressed, I opened her bedroom door slowly, just in case Nan was standing out there, waiting to pounce.

Harlow waited behind me and I was pretty sure I heard a sigh of relief when we saw the hallway was empty. I reached back and took her hand as we walked out of the room and to the stairs. I didn’t think Nan was going to jump out of a damn corner and attack, but I still felt safer with Harlow as close to me as possible.

I wasn’t going to let Harlow stay here alone until I was sure Nan was over this. I didn’t know what she’d say to Harlow, and I wasn’t going to let her lash out at her without me there to protect her and shut that shit down.

“Hungry?” I asked her as we reached the bottom step with no Nan sightings.

Harlow jumped when something made a loud noise in the kitchen. Guess we wouldn’t be eating here. “I, uh . . . probably not a good idea,” she said, staring at the kitchen.

“Want to just leave?” I asked.

Harlow shook her head. “No. I live here, too. I want coffee before I leave. I won’t hide; this is my home, too.”

The way her shoulders straightened reminded me that behind the sweet face was a spine of steel. She’d been through a lot. I just nodded and let her lead the way.

If she was getting coffee then so was I.

Nan was standing in front of the microwave and turned to glare at us when we entered the kitchen. Her eyes dropped to our joined hands, and her glare turned to pure hatred.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me. Really, Grant? Holding hands? My God, you have lost your mind.” She snarled and jerked the microwave open and pulled out a small bowl.

Harlow let go of my hand and walked over to the coffeepot. I had to make myself stand still and not run after her to guard her. She wanted to do this and I was going to let her.

“He gets bored easy with your type. I don’t know what he’s telling you but he likes excitement, which you could never give him. Don’t let that little heart of yours get involved, because you’re not Grant Carter’s type,” Nan said in a haughty tone as Harlow went about making coffee and avoiding her. When she set her mug down, she turned and gave Nan her full attention.

“He may get bored with me, but that isn’t your business. It’s mine,” Harlow replied.

I had already realized I would never get bored with her. She was so damn fascinating, no one could get bored with her.

“Grant likes to fuck. He isn’t into hand-holding and talking about your feelings. He likes it rough. Right here across this counter, he’s thrown me down and ripped my panties off and fucked me. He loves it, and he’ll be back for more.”

Yeah. That was enough. I started walking toward Harlow to get her the hell out of there before Nan gave her any more details I didn’t want her to hear. She didn’t do well being reminded of my past sex life.

“Then I guess that makes you the slut, Nan. Not me. Because I’d never give you details. That’s just trashy.” Harlow picked up her mug, then turned to me. “Ready?” she asked, as if Nan hadn’t just given her a play-by-play of something I didn’t want her to know.

“Uh, yeah,” I replied, and glanced back at Nan, who was seething. That only made me smile. Damn, my sweet girl could cut deep with no drama. She just did it with ease.

I slipped my hand around her waist and led her to the door, where she grabbed her purse and keys. When we stepped outside, she moved away from my touch and looked back at me.

“That’s done now. I told you I could handle her. I missed tennis so I need to talk to Adam and apologize. Thanks for going with me yesterday. It meant a lot,” she said, then pressed a kiss to my cheek and started to walk toward her car.

What. The. Fuck?

I went after her and grabbed her arm to stop her. “Hey, wait. What was that?” Because it sure as hell felt like a brush-off. And that wasn’t fucking happening.

She smiled at me sadly and shrugged. “My way of putting distance between us. I need it.”

Distance? “What the hell? I thought after yesterday that we had moved past distance.”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t do this. I’ve never done this. That’s probably why I’ll have the image of you jerking Nan’s panties off and screwing her on the counter forever etched in my brain. Before, it bothered me; now, I have visuals. So I need distance.”

I wanted to hurt someone. Particularly a certain redhead in that damn house. “Harlow, don’t do this to me. That was before. I didn’t know. I was fucked up. It was after we found Jace’s body, and I lost it there for a while.”

“I’m sorry, Grant. But I can’t. I’ve been protecting my heart for years. I can’t stop now. You’re dangerous. That sexy smile and those sweet words are hard to resist, but I can’t let something that could possibly destroy me into my life.”

No. Fuck no. She was not going to do this. “I’m not going to go away. I want you, Harlow. Just you.”

She reached up and brushed her thumb over my bottom lip. “I believe you right now. What scares me is who you’ll want in a couple of weeks.”

Then she turned and opened her car door and got in. Had I not just told her this morning that I had never felt this way about anyone? Were Nan’s fucking words that powerful? My chest ached and I put my fist on it to ease the pain. I wouldn’t let Harlow do this. I just needed to find some way to prove to her that I was serious. Completely serious.