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I took a deep breath, not realizing how clipped and hurried my apology had been until I was finished and found no oxygen left in my lungs.

“I’m sorry, Harper,” I repeated, afraid if I didn’t, she’d convince herself I hadn’t actually said it the first time.

And then everything about her softened. Her expression. Her shoulders. Her hand on the door. The rise and fall of her breasts against her shirt.

“It’s okay.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and my dick felt like it cartwheeled against my fly. “I shouldn’t have slapped you. I’m sorry.”

A rueful grunt slipped from my throat. “I’m pretty sure you should’ve,” I admitted, my jaw flexing. “But I don’t want it to be okay, Harper. I want…I want your forgiveness, so I’ve come with an olive branch.”

I watched her eyes widen at the same time as the color in her face deepened and the flutter of her pulse became noticeably faster against the column of her neck.

Shit. She thought… There were parts of me that would’ve been more than happy to give her that olive branch. Several times at this point. Hell, there were parts of me that were ready to hand her the whole damn tree.

Clearing my throat, I shifted my weight and pulled a card from my back pocket, using the opportunity to widen my stance and take some of the pressure off my dick.

“I’ve arranged an olive branch, I guess I should say.” I held Marc’s business card to her and she was careful not to touch my hand as she took it. “I’ve worked with Marc in the past on a bunch of marketing campaigns for Levi and Rolex and Stetson. Anyway, I asked him to come up and do a full promo photoshoot for your honey—your business.”

Her eyes bulged and her jaw dropped as she looked at the card, flipping it from front to back.

“It’s on me, if you’re okay with it.”

“If I’m…” she stopped and swallowed. “Of course, I’m okay with it. I just can’t…I can’t believe it. Thank you,” she gushed, flattening her hand to her stomach. “Thank you so much.”

I went still.

There were markedly few times in my life that I’d been genuinely thanked for something. Sure, people said thank you to me for stuff—photos, autographs, a successful whatever—but the gratitude was always for a job. A character. For something that was all an act. When it came to my personal life, I was the one usually thanking someone—most of the time, Wade—for fixing whatever problem I’d caused.

“It’s nothing,” I told her and shoved my hands into my pockets. “So, if I tell him this week then…”

“Any day,” she said eagerly. “I-I mean, whatever works for you. I can be flexible.”

My jaw pulsed. Harper being flexible wasn’t the imagery I needed right now.

“Okay. Probably Thursday, but I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

“Sure, yeah. Great.” She smiled at me—really smiled—and it was like the sun had shone for an instant in the middle of the night. And then it was gone. Even an olive branch couldn’t change the impression I’d made nor the truth I’d let her believe—that if she was too much of anything around me, even honest, I’d assume it was a lie.

“Thank you, again,” she murmured and extended the business card back to me.

“You’re welcome,” I said hoarsely even though what I wanted to say was don’t thank me.

Especially because when I took Marc’s card from her hand, I couldn’t help but make sure my fingers brushed over hers.

And then I went upstairs and headed straight for the shower, refusing to touch anything else with my right hand until I could wrap it around my throbbing cock and chase the image of Harper in her pajamas all the way to release.

Chapter 8

Harper

“Harper, this is Marc Dell. Marc, Harper,” Blaze introduced me to the photographer who’d just parked his Mercedes G-Wagon in front of my house.

“Harper, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The classically handsome man with Mediterranean complexion extended his hand to me with a raffish grin. A second later, I understood why when, after I placed my hand in his, he lifted it to his lips.

“Nice to meet you, too,” I murmured as he placed a kiss on my skin.

“This is a really beautiful property you’ve got here,” he said, releasing my hand as his stare roamed around. “It’s places like this that make the city seem so gray and dull.” Marc glanced at Blaze. “No wonder you picked this spot to shelter. The views are exquisite.”

He definitely looked back at me when he said the last, and I felt my cheeks heat.