Take a Chance

Grant

Harlow sat curled up in my arms with her hands in my hair, playing with it. I had considered cutting it because I’d kept it long for a while. But the way she ran her fingers through it made me decide I would keep it like this. She obviously liked it.

I wasn’t sure why I’d decided to play rough with her earlier, but I’d wanted to. She always seemed so fragile, and I treated her like something precious and cherished. Because she was. I had wanted to see how far she’d go, though. I had pushed and waited for her to balk, and I would’ve quit. She hadn’t. Sexy little ass stuck up in the air, and she’d been squirming for more. Fuck, that was hot.

I hadn’t checked outside lately. Rush had called and asked if they were here yet, and I told him they were. He said they had some paparazzi camped out at his place, too. I knew I couldn’t keep using sex as a way to distract Harlow. I was going to have to go out there and face those nosey shits soon.

“I think I need to go out there and talk to them,” Harlow said as she wrapped my hair around her fingers.

“No,” I replied, closing my eyes so I wouldn’t see her eyes if she decided to beg.

“They won’t go away until they talk to me,” Harlow told me.

“Good, because if you keep playing with my hair, I’m flipping you over and going for round two,” I warned.

Harlow tugged at my hair. “Grant. You can’t use sex to keep me under control.”

I smirked. “Yes, baby, I can,” I replied.

A small giggle only made me smile bigger. I peeked at her through half-closed eyes. She was looking at the door with her bottom lip between her teeth. She was thinking hard about something. I wished I could read her mind. I hated not knowing what she was thinking. I was always scared that she might be planning to leave me.

“Dad said this won’t go away until they have their story. I should just answer their questions. Maybe they’ll leave him alone if I do. He has Emily to worry about.”

She wasn’t referring to Emily as her mother. I didn’t understand that but I figured it was like finding out you were adopted. That biological parent didn’t raise you. Emily wasn’t a part of Harlow’s life. Just hearing that she was alive didn’t make Emily Harlow’s mom.

Hell, I knew my mom and didn’t even call her Mom.

“His problem, not yours,” I said.

“Dad will do something stupid if he feels like she’s being threatened in any way.”

Her dad was Kiro Manning. He made it his life goal to do stupid shit. Did she not watch the news?

“Not your problem,” I repeated.

“Yes, it is. He spent his life protecting her and me.”

I didn’t see it the same way. I felt as if Kiro had protected Emily because he didn’t want the world to know he had a weakness. I didn’t believe he was protecting Harlow. He just didn’t have time for a kid. He saw Harlow’s grandmother as a perfect solution and ditched her onto the woman. Granted, it turned out better for Harlow; but it was because she was lucky to have such a good grandmother—not because of anything Kiro did. The dude was a selfish dick. He ignored Nan her entire life. And then there was Mase. The dude didn’t give a shit about his dad. That said a lot.

Mase, however, cared about Harlow. He had called three times already, and she had sent his calls to voice mail. He was gonna come barreling into Rosemary with his cowboy boots and his damn gun if she didn’t talk to him soon.

“You need to call Mase back,” I told her.

She sighed. “Yeah. I better before he does something stupid.”

She started to sit up and I held her to me. “Call him from right here. I don’t want to let you go,” I said.

I could tell by her little frown she didn’t like that. Did she want privacy? Why? What the fuck did she have to tell Mase that she couldn’t tell me?

“Okay,” she said and reached for her phone and dialed her brother’s number.

I was somewhat mollified, but I sure as hell was going to listen to this conversation closely now. If she intended to get the cowboy to come ride in and take her off to Texas, I’d take on the whole damn state. I didn’t give a fuck. She wasn’t leaving me.

“Hey, yeah, I’m fine. I’m locked up in Grant’s apartment,” she said.

I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I could tell from the deep sound of his voice he was worried and being bossy.

“I’m going to have to talk to them eventually,” she said.

“No, I haven’t . . . I know that . . . not your business . . . yes it will . . . just let me handle it . . . I know you are . . . I’ll call if I need you . . . promise . . . okay, love you, too. Bye.” She hung up the phone and let out a heavy sigh.

“I need some alone time to think. Do you mind if I take a bath and soak a little while?” she asked me.

I wanted to soak with her but I understood she wanted to deal with all this shit, and if I was with her we’d have tub sex. “Go enjoy yourself. I’ll be right here if you get lonely,” I told her.

She grinned and pressed a kiss to my mouth. “Thank you.”

After this was over she would believe me when I told her I loved her. They wouldn’t be weak words. She would believe them because I would have shown her just how much I loved her. There would be no doubt in those big eyes that had hooked me the first time our gazes met.

I waited until the water was running and the bathroom door was firmly closed before I got up and went to look outside again. The crowd hadn’t waned any. It was still there, and so were the cops. This was bullshit. Why was a fucking rock star’s private life so damn important? My phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket. It was Rush again.

“They’re still here,” I said.

“They will be until she talks to them. Not sure she needs to, though,” he said.

“Not going to let her.”

“You seen any of the news?” Rush’s tone bothered me. He knew something.

“No, why?”

“Stay away from it for right now. Give Harlow time.”

What was that supposed to mean?

“I’m keeping her from it.”

“You, too. Stay away from it. She needs you right now.”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Call if you need me,” Rush said and hung up.

I walked over to the counter and grabbed the television remote and turned the volume on low. Rush was hiding something, and I wanted to know what the fuck it was. If I was going to keep Harlow safe, I needed to know what from.