“Because of Vegas?” she asked softly.
He inhaled deeply and brushed the fallen pieces of her hair behind her ear. “I didn’t want you to have to choose between the dream you always wanted and a life with me. You lost your chance at your dreams once before. I didn’t want to be the reason you lost those dreams again.” He paused and considered all that had unfolded between them, stroking the soft strands of her hair. “There has never been a single doubt in my mind that the second we crossed that line and let ourselves feel what we feel, there would be no going back. That’s what kept me at a distance.” Again, he paused before laying it all out there. “I foolishly believed I could touch you and then I could simply watch you walk away. That was my desperation to have any part of you I could before you left me. I was raised to stay in control, to be the bigger man, to think of you over myself. Those are the morals that have shaped my life.”
“And now?” she asked.
“Now everything has changed.” He brushed his fingers across her jawline, and she leaned into him. “I know I should stand by you, hoping you choose to stay here in River Rock, not pushing my thoughts onto you.” He removed his hand, resting it back on his thigh, no longer holding back all the things he wanted to say. “Houdini seemed to know what I should have known all along. He refused to let anything or anyone stand in his way. And I won’t either.” Chase cupped her face. His voice cracked. “We belong together. Houdini needs you. I need you. You need to be with us, or life doesn’t make sense anymore.”
Tears welled in her eyes.
He placed the other hand on her face, hoping this was enough to keep her. “Every goddamn day, every minute, every second of every day, I’m thinking of you, wanting you, craving you. The way you brighten up this world amazes me. How strong you are impresses the hell out of me. Your fierce nature is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. I want you with me, Harper. Always.” He tightened his hands on her face, and he did the one thing his father told him to never do. He thought only of himself now. “Don’t go to Vegas. Stay here in River Rock. Make a life with me. It might not be as fancy or as exciting, but what we’ll have is real and honest and full of love.”
“Okay,” she said with zero hesitation.
He raised his brows. “Okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” She laughed softly, her eyes creasing with heady amusement. “I already decided I wasn’t going to Vegas. You’re right—it’s you, me, and Houdini now.”
Confusion clouded his head. “The boxes in your car?”
She lifted one shoulder. “It felt too weird staying with Faith and Brody now that they’re married. When I told Megan that, she offered me a room at her place.”
Chase’s thoughts stuttered. He had been so sure she was leaving for Vegas when he arrived at her house earlier. “So, you’re not going to Vegas?”
“Nope.” She placed her hands over his on her face. “My family is here. My heart is here. There is no way I could leave. And you want to know why?”
“Tell me.”
“You’re the best man I know, Chase.” Her voice broke and her eyes grew watery. “You’re good and sweet and all mine, and I’ve known we belonged together from the second I came back from Denver and you looked at me with those warm, strong eyes, making me fall for you right then and there.”
Overwhelmed by her, he hesitated. “I love you, Harper.”
She leaned in and her smile took his breath away. “I love you right back.”
No words had ever held such power as those words did now. He caught a whiff of her fruity perfume when he closed the distance between them, and the hints of the wild flowers around them. He pressed his lips against hers, and she moaned against his mouth. The kiss was gentle and warm and filled with promise.
When he leaned away, he brushed his knuckles across her jawline, curiosity getting the better of him. “Tell me this, bea
utiful—if you knew you were staying in River Rock, why didn’t you say something before I went into that whole spiel?”
Her mouth twitched, the sassiness he loved filling her gaze. “I think after waiting nine months for you, I deserved to hear every one of those words, don’t you?”
“I suppose so.” He chuckled, her mouth right there. “Shall I tell you I love you until you’re sick of hearing it?”
“I’ll never grow tired of hearing it.” She glanced down at Houdini between them before closing the distance and whispering against his lips, “We’ll never grow tired of being loved by you.”
Chapter 17
On the opening day of Blackshaw Cattle’s Guest Ranch, Harper sat at the folding table on a hard plastic chair in the middle of the Clayton’s Diner, honing her knives, something she had neglected to do for a while. Some people read to relax, or took a bath, she gave her knives the attention they deserved. She studied the space around her, seeing all its potential.
Only five days ago, Clayton had given her a fair price for the diner, taking fifty thousand dollars off the asking price because of all the work it needed. Chase had offered to draw up the new plans for free, and with his crew doing the renovations, she only had to pay for supplies and the crew’s labor. Those reasons made building her restaurant doable. Sure, it meant staying at Megan’s a little longer since the restaurant took all of her inheritance, but Megan seemed okay with having a roommate, and Harper loved living with her. Especially since instead of paying room and board, Harper cooked dinner for them every night. Of course, that was just Megan’s way of taking away Harper’s guilt for not paying rent.
Harper smiled to herself and wiped the shiny blade with a soft cloth when the front door opened. Newspaper was taped up to the windows next to the door, blocking the view from the outside, which she’d heard built the public’s anticipation. Chase entered the restaurant, wearing his BLACKSHAW CONSTRUCTION T-shirt and dark jeans for the ranch’s grand opening in an hour.
He closed the distance between them, grabbed the back of her chair, and dropped a soft kiss on her mouth. “How’s my girl?”
“She’s enjoying her new restaurant.” She gently placed the knife back in the black leather storage box. She leaned into his touch as he brushed his knuckles across her jawline. “Those big wooden beams were dropped off about a half hour ago.”
Chase straightened, and his gaze fell to the large beams that would soon go up on the ceiling to set the rustic tone. “Things seem to be falling into place nicely. The crew will start Monday with the rebuild.” He hesitated, his head tilting to the side. “You, however, still haven’t decided on the most important thing.”