Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,125
errand to run but we can grab some lunch at Nan’s first.”
“We have an errand?” she said.
He nodded and she grinned at him. “Are you going to tell me what this errand is?”
“No.”
She laughed. “So secretive this morning, Simon.”
She studied the tattoos across his upper chest. “Are you ever going to ask me how I know your real name?”
“Figured Gideon told Grace or Kira and they told you,” he said.
“Grace told me. She only told me because after we slept together the first time, I was kind of freaking out about sleeping with a guy whose actual name I didn’t know. Otherwise she wouldn’t have told me,” Addie said.
“It’s fine,” he said. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
“How many people in Harmony Falls know your real name?” Addison said.
“You and Gideon and Grace. Probably Kira if Gideon told her.”
“He hasn’t. I asked her once if she knew your real name and she didn’t, said Gideon wouldn’t tell her. Why do you go by Preacher?”
She could almost feel his discomfort. He looked away from her. “It’s just a nickname.”
He wasn’t telling her the entire truth, but she let it go. “What’s your last name?”
“Wells.”
“Simon Wells,” she said. “I like it. It has a good…”
“What?” he said when she trailed off.
“Your initials are SW,” she said.
He didn’t reply and she tugged the sheet down to stare at the barbell in her nipple. “SW is engraved in the barbell.”
She glanced up at him. “You had your initials engraved in the barbell before you put it in my nipple.”
His cheeks turned red and he cleared his throat before pushing back the covers. “I’m gonna go have a quick shower.”
He pressed a kiss against her mouth and left the bedroom. She stared at the SW on either end of the barbell before leaning back against her pillow and staring at the ceiling. Preacher had his initials engraved in her body jewelry. He got pissy and jealous as hell if he even thought another guy was interested in her, he went to the bar last night to stop her when he thought she might sleep with another man, and then made her come so many times she forgot her own damn name.
A slow smile crossed her lips. Preacher could deny it all he wanted, but he was into her. Hell, he might even be developing some feelings for her.
Maybe. But don’t confuse that with love.
She wouldn’t. But if Preacher wanted to date her, she was all for it. Why shouldn’t they date?
Because you’re completely different? Because he’ll eventually get bored with you? Because you’re already in love with him and it’ll break your heart when he ends it?
She pushed those thoughts away immediately. She wouldn’t dwell on negative crap like that. It was like she told her students… positive thinking led to a positive life.
Maybe to other people she and Preacher were complete opposites, but she’d seen glimpses of the real Preacher. She’d seen Simon, the guy who was sweet and kind and brought her tea in bed and looked after her when she was sick. The man who made her laugh, made her come, made her feel alive for the first time in her whole life.
Who cared what other people thought anyway? Let them gossip. Spending time with Preacher – that’s what really mattered.
* * *
“Why are we at a storage place?” Addie said as Preacher punched in the code and the gate swung open.
She followed him inside and they walked in the hot sunshine toward his storage unit. She was walking slowly, and he grinned at her. “Hurry up, slowpoke.”
“My thighs hurt,” she reminded him. “And it’s all your fault.”
“Technically it’s your fault for thinking you could fuck someone other than me. If you’d been my good girl, you wouldn’t have been fucked last night until your thighs hurt.”
She stuck her delectable tongue out at him. “Be nice, Preacher.”
“I am being nice. I got us an Uber instead of making you ride the bike to Nan’s or to here, didn’t I?”
She shuddered and reached down to rub at one thigh. “Oh my God, I would have died.”
He glanced around. The storage place was empty, with not even an employee lurking in the lot. He took her hand, linking their fingers together as they walked. He didn’t want to admit how fucking nice it’d been to have lunch at Nan’s with her. To sit in a booth and eat lunch and chat about the tattoos he would be doing this week and how Addison