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Glancing over at Harlow, I saw her hands clasped tightly in her lap She was nervous Her bottoht ahead Well, shit I’d ignored her this entire ride and she had been sitting over there, nervous

I was fucking this night up completely

I reached over and pulled one of her hands free and slippedinto her thoughts

She turned her head to look atto work If she really didn’t want to go to this da her do this I thought the fact she had dressed to make every man she passed drool meant she was ready for this Maybe not

"You okay?" I asked, squeezing her hand

She nodded and didn’t say anything

"If you don’t want to do this we’ll go somewhere else," I told her, and waited to see what her reaction was She stiffened What the hell?

"Talk to me, Harlow," I said

Her shoulders slumped and she dropped her head to stare down at her hands, still balled up in her lap "I think o home I don’t want to be in the way"

What?

"Whose way are you worried about being in? Has so handle?"

She didn’t look up atat her lap "No I ated to take ood with that Truly, I a to her? I wanted her out of that bitch’s house We were talking about that later tonight But right now I had to figure out rong

"I want you withto you"

"Nan didn’t have to say anything You said it all with your eyes"

Waitwhat?

I studied her, trying to figure out what that meant

Harlow took a deep breath and then finally looked up ateyes were so sad and broken,to explode I had to fix this shit I didn’t wantI jerked the truck over to the side of the road and threw it into park before reaching over to Harlow and pulling her close toyou, sweetheart," I demanded

Harlow kept her eyes fixed on my shoulder "I saw the way you looked at her I’m not blind I kno beautiful she is I know you were struck speechless And it was obvious she would have duust for you Who wouldn’t?"

Well, fuck I hadn’t thought about Harlow thinking anything about usted with myself

I slipped my hand under Harlow’s chin and tilted her face up to look at me She always looked down, and I wanted to see her eyes I wanted to fix that sadness in them I didn’t ever want tonothing but bitterness and cruelty in her eyes I wondered how I hadI wasn’t i there beside el No one can compare to you You’re not just beautiful outside, you’re also beautiful inside I see that and I cherish it I just don’t knohy I screwed around with Nan I guess you saved me"

Harlow continued to frown at me "She’s every man’s fantasy"

I rubbed my thumb over her bottom lip and tried not to think about hoeet that irl Unfortunately, they don’t realize it right away"

"I can’t compete with her I don’t want to"

"There’s no competition She pales in comparison I wish I knehat I could do to convince you that you’re it for irl I once knehen I look at Nan"

Harlow dropped her gaze to studyme her first real smile "I think I believe you"

She had serious trust issues, and I needed to rely Where Nan never needed reassurance that I wanted her, Harlow needed reassurance that she owned me She was too innocent to see just how I really felt about her Even if it was obvious to the rest of the world

"I’ll ain Just know I can’t see anyone but you When you walk into a rooht it up"

She leaned up and pressed a kiss to s like that that set her apart She was like no one else I knew, and I was the luckiest son of a bitch in the world

Harlow

Blaire spotted me the moment we stepped into the ballroo a friendly face helped ease s as she walked It also lanced behind her to see Rush’s eyes on his wife, watching her every move The love and possessiveness that was there on his face for everyone to see

"I’edto decide if I alanced around "They’re not all bad" She turned to Grant and grinned "You look happy"

"I am," he replied, and slid his hand around my waist

"It’s about tireed

I felt like there was a private conversation going on here that I was being left out of

"You thirsty?" Grant askeddown so that his warm breath tickled ive ht back," he replied, and stepped back to leaveher eyebrows