It didn’t feel quite so reassuring that she wasn’t as eager to see me as I was to see her.
She hadn’t called or texted.
She hadn’t said anything about being busy tonight.
Then again, we hadn’t really made plans, either. We generally didn’t have to lay out exactly what we were doing.
Harlow and I always spent our weekends together, so in my mind, something was definitely…off.
I said my goodbyes to everyone, and left Hudson’s place not quite sure what kind of welcome I’d get when I got to Harlow’s apartment.
Harlow
“Are you okay, honey? You sound a little tired tonight,” my mother said in a concerned voice as we chatted on the phone.
I took a sip of my wine. “I’m fine, Mom. It’s just been a busy week in the lab.”
It felt good to be able to actually talk to her honestly about work again. For a while, I’d had to avoid the topic because I’d never told her I’d resigned from Montgomery.
Luckily, I’d never have to tell her.
It was taking me a while to get back into the flow of working full-time again. After being away from Montgomery for so long, I’d had some catching up to do. I’d done some late nights at the lab so I could clear the backlog, and leave a little more free time to spend with Jax.
“I’m surprised you’re not with that handsome man of yours tonight,” she teased.
“He’s doing some guy time with his brothers. Taylor and I had a baby shower to attend earlier,” I explained.
“I’m not trying to rush you or anything, but I wouldn’t mind a grandchild or two,” she said in a wistful tone.
I nearly spit out my wine. “Mom,” I said once I’d swallowed. “We’re not getting married. We’re just in an exclusive relationship right now.”
“You’re in love with him, Harlow,” my mother said gently. “And it’s completely obvious he feels the same way.”
I sighed. My parent didn’t miss much, so I wasn’t surprised that she knew. “I do love him, but we haven’t been seeing each other that long. Give us a little time.”
“I guess I can wait. It’s not like you haven’t found the right man this time. I’ll get my grandbaby, eventually. Jax is nothing like that other horrible man,” she said, sounding relieved.
I smiled because I knew she had a hard time even saying Lance’s name.
There was nothing my mother didn’t know about that relationship.
“No, he’s not,” I agreed, knowing she still worried about me, and it had been years since those events had happened. “I’m happy, Mom.”
My life was nearly perfect, which was almost frightening sometimes.
I was back into the job of my dreams. I was doing something important as a Last Hope volunteer. Most importantly, I had the most amazing man I’d ever met.
I set my wine down on the table as I heard Molly bark. “I have to go, Mom. Someone is here. I’ll see you around lunchtime tomorrow. If he’s not busy, I’m sure Jax would like to see you, too. I love you.”
“I love you, too, honey,” she said before she hung up.
I placed the phone back into the charger, and stood up nervously.
I could hear both of the dogs barking now, so I was assuming that Jax was home.
I can do this. I trust him.
I’d already had my suitcases in the car when Taylor and I had gone to the baby shower.
God, I hope I’m making the right decision. Maybe I should have called and discussed this with him first.
My actions weren’t exactly the way I’d planned on letting Jax know that I missed him, and I wanted us to live in the same home.
I was so tired of not seeing him when I got home every night.
But I’d been waiting for something from him, and I’d suddenly realized that maybe it was time for me to step up, and to stop delaying.
Jax had been the first one to make himself vulnerable to me plenty of times in the past.
He was more than worth tossing caution to wind.
To be honest, this wasn’t even a risk because I trusted Jax Montgomery completely. The man would do anything to keep me from getting hurt, so I wasn’t even sure what had taken me so long.
“Harlow!” he bellowed from the garage door.
Obviously, he’d seen my car outside.
I stopped just inside the kitchen, wondering why he sounded…frantic.
“I’m here,” I called as the dogs raced past me.
“Thank fuck!” he cursed as he strode into the kitchen from the laundry room. “I went by your