Liam’s partner? Kiki.
He’d lost it.
But there was nothing to do to change it. Their record label and the show had already struck up a deal. The contracts had been signed, sealed, and delivered. And Liam wasn’t exactly in a position in his career to be making demands of the caliber it would take to change it.
The tie-in with the show was an obvious one, and it was going to give Liam a hell of a lot of exposure. As his album was coming out in a matter of months, exposure like this wasn’t something he could really argue with.
So he was just going to have to suck it up and deal. He didn’t have to be happy about it, though. And really he needed to push all of the nonsense to the back of his brain for now. It wasn’t what he should be focused on when his plane landed at the airport in Tallahassee.
No, what he needed to be focused on was the fact that he was going to see Harper. And that he was meeting her parents for the first time. For the moment that was all that was important. A really good first impression was a must, and him being in a bad mood wasn’t going to help that in the slightest.
Add to that the fact that he had a serious case of nerves that he was going to see her—What? He couldn’t help it. The woman messed with his emotions—and he was more than a little sluggish.
He was now surviving off of five hours of sleep and two massive cups of coffee. One beer with Isaac and Hunter easily turned into two and he hadn’t made it back to his hotel until just before one in the morning. But late night or not, he didn’t have to fight with his alarm when it had gone off at six o’clock. He heard it the second it started and was out of bed and in the shower within minutes.
But the moment he saw Harper all of that sluggishness disappeared. Instantly.
He spotted her the second he rounded the corner to the exit. She was standing on the other side of security wearing a knee-length green dress that clung to her breasts but hung loose at her waist. Slight waves were in the black curtain of hair that hung around both of her shoulders.
She was pacing, back and forth between the wall and the set of chairs in the middle of the space. He was about twenty feet away when she turned to make her way back to the wall and looked up. Her gaze landed on him, those violet eyes of hers widened and she froze. Well, for the most part, she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth as she took a deep breath, her shoulders rising and falling.
When he was about three feet away her lip fell from her teeth. “Hi,” she whispered just a little bit nervous herself it seemed.
“Hey.” He closed the gap, setting his guitar case on the ground before he reached for her. His arms wrapped around her body, pulling her in close.
Harper came willingly, her arms sliding around his waist as she pressed her face into his neck. They both relaxed in unison, all of the tension and stress melting away with one simple hug. But really there was nothing simple about it. Nothing simple about anything that involved him and her.
Liam didn’t realize it until that moment—until the moment he was able to press his nose to her hair and inhale that sweet honey scent that drove him out of his mind—but it was like he’d been holding his breath since the last time he’d seen her. And the relief of having her in his arms again was almost knee weakening.
“You’re here,” she whispered against his neck, her breath hitting his skin on each syllable.
“I’m here.” His mouth was now at her temple and he couldn’t stop himself from pressing his lips to the spot.
Harper turned her head, and before either of them could say or do anything else, their mouths found the other’s. His hand moved up, his fingers spearing in her hair as he tilted his head and deepened the kiss.
After a minute—or two—Liam forced himself to pull back. He cradled her jaw in his hand, running his thumb back and forth across her cheek as he looked down into her eyes.
“I could stand in this airport and kiss you until the end of time.” A soft laugh escaped her mouth, and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward and capturing it with his lips in another lingering kiss. “But we probably shouldn’t be late.”
“No, we shouldn’t. You have people to meet.”
“Very important people. I’ve been preparing myself all day on winning your mother over with all of my charm.”
“Is that so?” One of her eyebrows rose high as she gave him a sideways smirk.
“Yup.”
“We had a bit of a heart-to-heart before I came to pick you up.” Her palms skimmed up his chest, her hands on his body driving him out of his mind.
How in the world was he going to make it through the next few hours?
Going to her parents’ house tonight was not his first choice. He’d be the biggest liar on the face of the planet if he said he didn’t desperately want to get Harper alone. He had absolutely no doubt that if it was just the two of them in any room they would both be naked within minutes…probably seconds.
Yeah, that was going to have to wait.
“Really? I’m guessing it was good.” He forced himself to focus on the conversation and not the fact that she was about to give him a hard-on in the middle of the airport.
“Yup, very good. But she’s still going to put you through your paces tonight.”
“I’m more than ready.”
“Good.” She fisted her hands in his shirt as she stretched up, her lips hovering just above his. “I’m really happy you’re here,” she said before she opened her mouth over his.
What was he supposed to do besides kiss her back? So what if they were a couple of minutes late.
Chapter Twelve Sleeping Arrangements
So what prompted the heart-to-heart?” Liam asked when they were both loaded in Harper’s Cruiser and heading south to Mirabelle.
He’d been more than a little curious about the conversation she’d had with her mother. Especially as the tension between the two of them had been a constant worry and stress for her over the last couple of weeks.
Harper’s thumb stopped tapping out a rhythm against the steering wheel. She cleared her throat, shifting in her seat. “Uh…our sleeping arrangements.”
Well, wasn’t that a fascinating topic? Liam turned his whole body as he looked at her. She didn’t move, just continued to look straight ahead out the windshield, a slight flush starting to creep up her neck.
He wasn’t sure if she was embarrassed or…something else.
“Oh really now?” He couldn’t stop the grin that turned up his mouth.
“Yeah, she asked if you’d be sleeping on the couch during your visit.”
“To which you responded?”
She hesitated for just a second, the corner of her mouth turning up mischievously. “Probably not.”
Yeah, she wasn’t embarrassed. She was thinking about them in bed together, too. Good, because that was pretty much all he was thinking about. How could he not when every single time he breathed in her honey scent his dick twitched in response?
Down boy.
“And she didn’t like that?” he asked.
“Not particularly, no.” She shook her head, her black hair falling over her shoulder.
“Your mother does know we’ve had sex, right?”
“I do in fact think she is aware of this.” She took her eyes off the road for a second as she glanced over at him, her eyes covered by her massive sunglasses, before she turned back to the road.
“You know, if it would be better to appease your mother, I can just sleep on the sofa.”
The car rolled to a stop at a red light and Harper turned again to look at Liam. “You can’t be serious.” There was no longer a hint of a smile on her lips.
“In the spirit of catching up and all.” The sentence was barely out of his mouth before the smile took over. It was too much for him to keep a straight face as Harper’s eyebrows had bunched together in disapproval.
Yeah, he objected to that statement just as much as she apparently did.
“He’s got jokes, ladies and gentlemen.” She turned back to the road as the light turned green and her foot eased down on the gas pedal. “Don’t quit your day job.”