A Demon's Harmony - E.C. Land Page 0,7

him by his skin color.

To me, we’re all the same no matter the pigment.

This is what you’ve always wanted. Stop being a scared chicken shit and go for it.

But what if he hurts me again.

Stop living in the past.

I can’t help it. It’s still burned in my head.

Got to let it go sometime.

Staring at Tanner while I internally battle with myself, I realize exactly what my answer will be.

We deserve to give this a shot. Maybe we can make it work. If not, then we know we at least tried.

Nodding my head, I give him a small smile. “Fine. We can try this but I’m not sure how well this will all work out.”

Tanner grins and pulls my body flush against his toned one. “We’ll work out. Trust me, Alexis, we were meant to be together and I won’t let anything go wrong. Let’s get out of here and home to eat dinner. I hope you got enough for me as well,” he says before releasing me to pick up the discarded bag of Chinese I’d dropped.

“Oh shit, I hope it didn’t spill out,” I grumble as my stomach reminds me exactly how hungry I am thanks to my lunch being spoiled by making the decision to remove Lori from my life.

God, I don’t know when life got so complicated.

At least you have Tanner again.

Yeah, but for how long.

Chapter 4

Tanner

I don’t think I’ve ever been more nervous yet determined at the same time. I thought I was gonna have to carry Alexis out of the apartment over my shoulder to get her to leave with me. Seeing the expression on her face when I told her I owned the building she was staying in was priceless.

Back when we took ownership of Music Lullabies, I’d made an investment buying the apartment building and remodeled it. Hired a rental management company that runs everything by me before renting out an apartment.

Finding out Alexis was looking to rent one of the apartments I didn’t want to charge her for it, but I knew she’d never take it if she wasn’t able to pay for it. She’s not one for accepting handouts.

It’s one of the main things I love about her, yet it drives me fucking crazy. Alexis is the most stubborn, hardheaded woman I’ve ever met. Always having to do things the hard way, never asking for help from anyone.

Maybe that’s what attracted me to her back when we were in high school. She was shy but when you got to know her, she didn’t have a problem speaking her mind. Nowadays at the shop she manages the band like a pro but never comes to the gigs unless it’s necessary.

Asking her whether she could take me for who I am was playing dirty. She’s never once acted as if it was, but I wanted her to think that was on my mind.

I know I’m an asshole, but right now I don’t give a damn. Long as I can finally have the woman who fuckin’ owns me in the same bed as me. If it takes me playing her right into my hands, the way I’d strum the strings of my bass, then so be it.

Now standing here holding her hand in mine as we stand in the middle of my bedroom it’s taking everything in me to not throw her on the bed and make her mine again.

“What did you do with my stuff, Tanner?” Alexis asks, her voice so soft I barely hear her.

“Your clothes should be in the boxes in the closet. I packed those up and brought them here while the movers gathered everything else. The rest of your stuff is in one of the spare rooms for now, until we figure out what to do with it,” I say, letting go of her hand to wrap my arm around her.

“Well I’ll just go find it and a room to stay in,” she murmurs, not looking at me.

“That’s not how this is going to work babe. You and I are married. We’ve seen each other naked several times. We’re staying in this room together.” That announcement got her to lift her head up to meet my gaze, eyes wide as hell.

“Tanner, that's not a good idea. I’ll just stay in another room. There’re plenty here to pick from.” Ain’t that the truth. Each of us has our own wing in this place. You could pretty much say our wings are like apartments connected by stairs, the living room, and