Rock Me Faster (Licks of Leather #4) - Jenna Jacob Page 0,87

you let her ghost continue to torture you. Why are you letting an accident you had no control over keep you from living a happy life?”

“That’s easy… Atonement, princess.”

“For who?” Harmony asked indignantly. “Lily or the baby?”

“Both.”

Harmony scooted off the bed, then, hobbling on her good knee, wedged herself between my legs. Cupping my chin, she lifted my face, forcing me to look at her. The anger flickering in her pretty blue eyes combined with the tears streaming down her face confused the hell out of me.

“Let me get this straight. You’d rather spend your life atoning for a drug addict who wouldn’t stop poisoning her blood and the innocent blood of your unborn child—a child she didn’t have the decency to tell you, the father, she was carrying—rather than spend it blissfully happy?”

“Someone has to,” I bit out.

“Normally, I would say yes. The universe will find a way to balance itself with or without our consent. But in your case, it already has. It balanced itself out the instant your car crashed. Karma, Fate, and the Universe combined and righted the wrongs Lily was inflicting on you and your innocent unborn child.” Harmony pressed her warm lips to mine and whispered, “Please, stop sacrificing yourself for a debt that’s already been paid.”

As her words penetrated my pain, the ugly weight of guilt and despair began slowly lifting.

“You can’t be at peace with life until you’re at peace with yourself. And the only way you’ll ever find closure is to realize you deserve a better life than the one you’re living.”

I absorbed every word she said, but tinges of shame remained.

“I just want to go back in time and change the past.”

“What would happen if you could?”

“Lily and our baby would still be alive.”

“Maybe. Or Lily might have left you and taken your daughter in her fifth, seventh, or ninth month of pregnancy in a different kind of accident, like an overdose.” Harmony’s words sent a chill slithering through me. “The universe spared you as much as it could, but it still left you with plenty of lessons. I’m sure you learned about acceptance in rehab, but you’re refusing to learn the rest.”

“Learn the rest of what?”

“To live and laugh again,” Harmony replied, forgiveness beaming in her blue eyes. “But the biggest lesson of all is to learn to love again. It doesn’t matter who, where, how, or when, but you have to give yourself permission to love again, Ross.”

I brushed the hair from her face, cupped her cheeks, and hovered my lips over hers. “I already have. The how is becoming clearer every day. The where and when were in the restaurant downstairs at breakfast. And the who…that’s simple. It’s you, princess. I’ve fallen madly in love with you.”

“Oh, god,” she whispered.

Happiness and hope lit up her face as I carefully lifted her onto my lap.

Cupping Harmony’s nape, I slanted my lips over hers, drowning her in all the love and passion overflowing inside me. Drinking down her kitten-soft moan, I finally found the peace and serenity I’d lost so long ago.

The room was getting hotter, or maybe our mutual hunger was to blame. Either way, I had to cool things down and give her body time to heal. Gently laying her across the bed, I eased from her lips and trailed soft kisses along her jaw. Then I sat up and drank in the contours of her pretty face, praying that she might be willing to give a fraction of her big, warm heart to a traveling drummer who was finally learning to love again.

“Do you think you might want to try being my real girlfriend for a while?”

“Hmm.” Her brows furrowed as she cocked her head, pondering my question. “What if I’ve been pretending to be your pretend girlfriend all this time, and I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with you?”

My heart nearly leapt from my chest and a wide grin stretched my lips. “Then I’d say when we’re ready, we’ll have a storybook wedding that we can tell all our kids about.”

“On the mountain?”

“Anywhere your heart desires.”

“How many kids?” She grinned.

“As many as you want.”

She cupped my cheek and looked deep into my eyes. “I love you, Ross.”

“I love you, too,” I drawled in a raspy tone and kissed her with every ounce of love that was in my heart.

Our stomachs growled in tandem, and our fervent kiss ended with Harmony consumed by a fit of giggles. I plucked up the phone on the bedside table and