She might be intense, might be intimidating, might be scary as hell sometimes, but the girl loved with her whole heart. She was kind and witty and had more brains than Logan and Liam put together.
Any guy would be lucky to have her…but would Jace be good enough?
Maybe…maybe not.
But as Liam learned full well, there was no controlling who you fell in love with. And his sister was in love with Jace. Damn.
Adele’s eyes widened in horror, seeing the knowledge in Liam’s face, and she gave a slight shake of her head in denial. A denial he didn’t believe in the slightest.
At that moment the front door opened, and Abby and Logan walked in with their hands filled with grocery bags. Adele shot off the sofa. “You guys need help?” she asked almost sprinting across the room.
Yeah, Adele could run all she wanted. It was going to catch up to her sooner or later.
* * *
By some miracle there was a lull in the downpour that had been going on all day, and it lined up perfectly with Harper getting off work at six o’clock. Liam picked her up when she finished and about ten minutes after they got to the inn, the sky opened up again and let loose with full force.
Though the evening promised to be a much less involved endeavor than the Fourth of July, it still wasn’t all that small.
Abby was in town so it was a given that Paige, Brendan, and Trevor were there. Grace and Mel weren’t going to miss any opportunity to get to know Liam, so they’d come with their husbands in tow. The giggling Rosie Mae wasn’t going to be left out of the evening’s festivities, nor were Dale and Hamilton. And last, but certainly not least, Shep and Hannah were there as their kitchen and dining room were the ones being occupied. It was the optimal cooking space as all three of the Jameses were in charge of making the Spanish-themed cuisine.
Apparently cooking was a talent that all three of them enjoyed. The table was now just a resting place for all of the empty dishes, and everyone was sitting around talking and laughing. Liam had his hand on the back of Harper’s neck, his fingers tracing the very top of her spine.
His hands on her felt so good that she couldn’t bring herself to pull away, which was a problem as she’d had to go to the bathroom for a little while now. The full bladder thing was no joke during pregnancy.
“I’ll be right back,” she whispered to Liam. He nodded, gently squeezing the very base of her neck before he let go. She pushed her chair back and headed down the hallway.
On her way back she spotted Luna and Henry—Hannah and Shep’s gray cat—playing in the living room. Henry was more like a rambunctious little dog himself, and the two of them were wrestling in between playing tug-of-war with an old sock.
Adele’s dog Katie wasn’t having any of those shenanigans. When they bumped into her comfortable lounging position on the rug, she gave them a somewhat disdainful look—well, as disdainful as a dog was capable of—before she got up and headed to the dining room with the adults.
Dale and Hamilton were in the kitchen with Mel and Bennett, stacking dishes on the counter. Harper veered off and headed in that direction instead, stationing herself at the sink and turning the faucet on. As the water heated up, she grabbed the massive glass bowl that had held the paella, wiping away the tiny remnants in the trash before putting it under the steady stream of steaming water.
When she reached up for the soap on the windowsill, her eyes caught on the porch on the other side of the glass window in front of her. Her mind automatically flashed back to last Saturday with her and Liam two floors up, her legs wrapped around his waist while he moved inside her…
Hands landed on her hips making her jump, and Liam’s mouth was at her ear. “This doesn’t look like you coming right back.”
“I’m just trying to help.”
He reached up and he hit the handle on the faucet, making the stream of water stop. And then his hands were at her hips again, turning her around.
“You aren’t cleaning up, Harper. Not going to happen.”
“Liam, I’m more than capable—”
“I know you are,” he cut her off. “But you aren’t going to. Know what you can do though?”
“What’s that?” She looked up at him as his palms moved up along her sides.
“Tell me what you were thinking about that has you all flushed?”
“I’m not flushed. It’s the hot water.”
“The hot water making your eyes dilate, too?” He shook his head, calling her bluff. “You know I’m sure we can sneak out there if you want. Have an encore performance.” He indicated the porch with his chin, his eyes not leaving hers.
“The rain is blowing in sideways. We’d get soaked.”
Something downright wicked flashed in his eyes and he leaned down to her ear. “I think you’re going to have that problem regardless.”
“You’re terrible,” she said, laughing as he pulled back, his mouth split in a massive mischievous grin.
“I am.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Now, no washing dishes for you.” He pressed his lips to hers in a quick kiss before he stepped back and gently pulled her away from the sink. “I got this.”
“And what am I supposed to do?”
“Keep me company,” he said as he turned the water on again and finished washing the bowl that Harper had started. “Tell me about your day.”
“I can’t guarantee that it will be all that interesting.”
“It was your day, of course it will be interesting.”
She leaned back against the counter, the grin on her face not to be helped, as she started talking.
* * *
Liam spent Tuesday at the inn as well, Dale and Hamilton joining them. As both boys had requested more music sessions, Liam was happy to comply. It hadn’t taken him very long to figure out why his brother had gotten so close to the two teenagers. They were great kids and Liam found himself enjoying their company more than he could’ve ever anticipated.
On Wednesday, they all went out to the horse farm that Shep and Finn’s aunt and uncle owned. It had been years since Liam had gone horseback riding, and when he was finished up he was feeling it on every inch of his body. Luckily, Harper took pity on him and she spent the evening showing him just how good her massage skills were…and after that she showed him just how good her riding skills were.
Thursday was way less exhaustive. Liam, Logan, and Jace indulged in a tour of the Sleepy Sheep’s new brewing facility and an afternoon tasting of Shep’s beer. The evening was again spent in Harper’s apartment, with Liam making her dinner. Pretty much any opportunity he had to get her alone, he took advantage of it. Yes, he wanted his friends and family to spend time with her, and he wanted to get to know all of her friends and family, too. But as he was about to be leaving her for two weeks, he was getting just a tad bit stingy.
And besides that, the Jacksonville crowd still had another few days left in Mirabelle, and he knew for a fact that Adele and Harper were hanging out when he was gone. So he didn’t feel all that guilty. Actually, he didn’t feel guilty at all.
By Friday he was settling very nicely into their routine. Had it really only been a week since he’d been in Mirabelle? It felt like it had been much longer, like they’d been part of each other’s everyday lives for years now…and would be for the long haul if he had anything to say about it.
It was something that he just knew, and something that was confirmed more than ever when they went to her doctor’s appointment that afternoon. Beth had worked them in for the last slot at the end of the day, and as they sat in that waiting room he found that he was just a little bit anxious.
And why wouldn’t he be? They were going to hear their child’s heartbeat. He would put money on the fact that he’d never been so excited in his life. And though the anticipation was overwhelming, it was nothing to how he felt when it actually happened.